DJ Jim Q's Playlist: Ethos
In the 4th century BCE, Greek philosopher Aristotle identified three methods of persuasion: logos, pathos, and ethos. Logos is persuasion through logic. Pathos is convincing through emotion. And ethos is persuasion through the credibility and integrity of the source. These three techniques are present everywhere in our influencer obsessed world. Advertising, self promotion in social media, political speech, and even our simple interpersonal relationships often utilize one or all of these persuasion techniques. Which approach do you use to convince your friends to eat at the restaurant you want? Or to listen to your favorite new artist or watch your favorite show? It depends on the audience. The best influencers know just what works for which people.
This month we will focus on Ethos. Which in contemporary context has become synonym for one’s beliefs, values, and ideals. The theme was selected by the Asheville chapter. I won’t pretend to be an expert on Asheville, but it is clearly a town with a music ethos. Nestled in the southern end of the Blue Ridge Mountains, the small eclectic city is bubbling with art and well, beer. It has become quite a destination for microbrewery aficionados. But that’s an area far outside of my realm of expertise. What I personally find fascinating about Asheville is it seems less like a place musicians come from and more of a destination where they arrive. It appears to attract particular types of artists with a shared ethos. Just a 5 hour drive east of music city USA, Nashville, Asheville seems less interested in the business of music and more in the art of music. I could be projecting here, but it reminds me of the Washington D.C. and New York dynamics. While musicians often go to NYC to make it big, musicians stay in D.C. to make a scene. I get a similar vibe from Asheville. This fosters a certain ethos, a belief in art ahead of commerce. I want to resist romanticizing the struggling artist archetype, of course everyone deserves to be fairly rewarded for their creations, but there is a purity in art created for art’s sake, independent of financial incentives. No judgement implied on those artists who have been able to leverage their art into monetary fortune.
When I think of music, business, and Asheville, I also think of Moog Music. Situated in downtown Asheville, The Moog Music factory is the legacy of synthesizer inventor and pioneer Bob Moog. Moog instruments have lived on stages, in practice spaces and in studios since 1964, when Bob Moog introduced the first affordable and portable synth, the Minimoog.
Bob was decidedly not a businessman by his own admission. He saw synthesizers as a hobby to be enjoyed and explored, not necessarily as a lucrative business venture. A fact I just learned is that of all the ingenious engineering and technical inventions he was responsible for, he only ever patented his ladder filter design. Wow. Despite the technological engineering successes, the 70’s was a tumultuous time for the Moog company. With declining sales, a merger, increased competition, and against the backdrop of a recession, the company was not doing well. This amalgam of factors led Bob to leave the company and relocate to Asheville at the end of the decade. Throughout the next 20 years Bob taught at a university, worked for Kurtzweiler, and created his own company Big Briar where he bagan to produce modern instrument based on his original circuits. In 2002 after reacquiring the rights to the name Moog, he began another phase of Moog Music creation based in Asheville. Shortly after this boost of momentum, Bob Moog died in 2005 at 71. The company has continued to innovate and produce some of the most truly unique instruments. Over the past 2 decades the Moog name has become synonymous with ingenuity, quality, integrity and authenticity. At the center is the ethos of creativity imbued by Bob Moog.
Drake’s got a Motto, Gang Starr lives by the Code of the Streets, and Janet Jackson gives us Pleasure Principle’s to follow. October’s theme is Ethos. From Sly and the Family Stone’s Stand, to Bunny Wailer’s Fight Against Conviction, to Iggy Pop’s New Values, these songs of conviction, spirit, and values will give us something to believe in or at least something to listen to.
Thanks for tuning in this month. If you enjoy these playlist give me shout on Twitter and be sure to follow me on Spotify. See you next month.