Growing up, the major way to buy our music was to go to a Record Shop and purchase vinyl. It was tangible. It was expensive. It was something I highly valued.

There is something magnificent about the scale of an LP. Not only was it big, it also offered a broad canvas for cover art. I loved the music. I loved the art. I loved the experience.

There is, however, a couple of problems with vinyl. Firstly, it is sensitive – it can warp in the heat (so you never left it in the car on a hot day). Secondly, if scratched, it never plays the same way again.

I am vinyl.

Well, my mind is like vinyl.

Often it is warped through being (over/hyper) sensitive. My perception of 'reality' can become twisted, distorted, bent out of shape in the heat of the moment.

Also, just like my first Album purchases, I can play the same old tracks over and over, over and over, over and over again. Some of these tracks are rubbish – bad compositions, badly recorded.

What do to? I seem to have little power over what to play. In the dead of night, the Jukebox of my consciousness chooses the same old tracks, coming back to haunt me with their accusing or fear-filled lyrics. I know they are warped. I know they are not reality. But they still torment and disturb.

One way to deal with them is to deliberately scratch the recording – to violate the vinyl! I can face my fears and challenge them with powerful questions such as, "According to whom?" or "What would happen if I did?" Or I can dig into the groove with a blunt needle and turn the recording into a parody of itself. For example, changing the quality of the accusing tone into the voice of Mickey Mouse. Somehow an accusational, "Why did you do that?" doesn't sound as intimidating on the lips of Mickey Mouse.

Some people call this a pattern-interrupt. Once you've messed with your 'pattern' the record will never ever play the same way again. It's a bit like standing up to a bully – once you've done it, the relationship will never play out the same way again either. Something has changed forever.

If you find yourself troubled by your thoughts, interrupt them! Interfere with them! Scratch them where they irritate! Interrogate them! Demand that they present evidence to support their statements! The very process will change the way you experience them.

Behind the distorted reality is often a better recording to be discovered or created – something beautiful can be learned. So record a new album…

And then, from your learning, on the cover, make great art!

Lex

A Moodscope member.