KIMMO MATIAS - featured artwork "David Bowie In Memoriam"
"The year I was born, David Bowie released his eight album 'Diamond Dogs.'
Needless to say, being born in 1974, I missed on a lot of the early action. I
was one of the kids who spent most of their time running and playing outside,
I started listening to music quite late. I feel like I was the victim and the
grandchild of modern technology because I was exposed to all these new
sounds, the 80's and 90's sounds, all these synths and drum machines - but
because of the new sounds were used for rather superficial music, I had to
make an effort to find all the great songwriters. Lyrics have always been
crucial to me when it comes to music. So I used the library to educate myself
- it was the time before the Internet, people!
Of course I couldn't escape Bowie. Even though he belonged to a totally
different genre of music, a different class of songwriters that seemed to
penetrate the radio waves in my youth. 'Let's Dance' video was my
introduction to his world.
Funny enough, David Bowie pioneered in using the very same modern
technology, the very first machines that heavily influenced the music of my
teenage years. It is remarkable that even though I barely knew his already vast
back catalogue, I was still very much aware of him. Once the introduction had
been made, he was always there. It was almost instinctual. I always thought
he had one of the most distinctive voices of our time. You simply couldn't
mistake him for anyone else. He was original in a world of copycats.
It would be an understatement to say the world would have been far poorer in
terms of music and creativity, in terms of storytelling, in terms of gender
fluidity, if there hadn't been Bowie. He dared to create bold unconventional
characters and present them with such conviction, it gave people what they
crave the most: freedom. Even in today's world, Ziggy Stardust is something
revolutionary. While the attitudes towards androgynous individuals have
changed, it would still make headline news if a male performer pulled one his
Ziggy costumes on and walked into the stage. It would be media explosion.
That says a lot about the size of Bowie's balls, if you will.
David Bowie inspired multitudes of artists and freed them to explore, to
dream, to dare, to be weird - and through many of those artists, future
generations will continue to be inspired by David Bowie. That is what icons do.
They exude a sense of eternal presence, a sense of legacy that doesn't skip
generations - each generation finds them, continues to identify with their
message. David Bowie touched people who lived when I was yet to be born,
he touched people of my generation, and he has continued to touch
generations that, and no doubt he will do the same for those who only now
discover him, and all who will discover him in the decades to come So while
we mourn the loss of this wonderful artist we can take small consolation in
knowing: his brilliance will never fade."
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