Wizard of AUS

After listening to Mirrors for what must be the 15th full rotation, I came about a late-night thread of thought. There's an apparent vibration or magnetism that surrounds Wally De Backer, something of which he himself seems to be at least partially nescient. It begins with the consumption of the music, the deep layers of sound that draw the listener away from their immediate, more concrete reality. But the incantations only begin there....

Once subsumed into the swelling splendor of the music, there seems to be a secondary condition that overtakes those who find the music especially stirring and transcendent. There is a visceral mesmerism that rapidly takes hold. It begins in the deep recesses of the emotional centers of the brain and suffuses through to the heart, the pit of the stomach, and beyond. The listener becomes the follower, becomes the lover. The lover becomes enslaved by a sometimes unnerving connection to the art and the artist. The lover's entanglement with both creator and created becomes a spiritual accord.

I have been witness to this power. I have been terrified by it but myself unable to turn from it entirely. I have seen many others netted by the unseen forces it creates. The embers glow constantly, and when in closer interface with the music and the man, the fire is spurred on with heavy breath till the flames lick upward and tower. At times the burning is so intense it causes one to wince and recoil. Other times we stand in the pyre, welcoming the juxtaposition of agony and bliss.

What is the dark magic produced within these chants? Is the maker of the music some quiet shaman come to cull the ancient spirits? Has he sussed forth the ghosts of Beethoven, Hendrix, Lennon, and other such creators of auditory wizardry?  Has he slipped some seductive substance into his songs to erase all sense of hazard and cause the listener to bend unquestioningly to his will?

There is no denying a certain insensate, almost orgasmic experience in absorbing the music, especially those songs which touch at deep personal realities. The assumed trifecta of mind, spirit and body become magnetized to the experience. As a not wholly transient effect, the creator of the experience becomes a source of lustful energy. It cannot be denied that he who is a somewhat unremarkable figure from some angles becomes a stunning, comely, utterly specious man. It is the force of the internal brilliance coupled with the artist's own passionate experience with his work that hypnotizes. He takes on an etherial aura that remains uninterrupted. He becomes divine, in certain fashion.

I must hasten to apologize to anyone who may find this exploration unnerving. Trust me that I do, as well, which is why it seems to warrant exploration. It would seem evident from images such as these that the process of the music is itself a ravishing experience for the man who creates it. Perhaps we are merely sensing that heat and responding to it as anyone would who shares similar proclivities to the artist. It is reasonable to consider that the tantalizing power of the experience is entirely intended. What else would sufficiently decipher the throngs of impassioned followers that have fallen at his feet?

I consider myself a normally pragmatic, perhaps even starkly reticent woman. But I will not deny my experiences with this music and its maker, lest I be unctuous in my reality as a so called 'super-fan.'

I mean all but respect for Wally De Backer and those who hold him genuinely dear. I mean only to deconstruct the magnetic, almost religious pull he has on his followers. I wholly believe that his intentions are genuine, gentle and virtuous. I truly believe he only wishes to touch the heart a bit as his has been touched before. He wishes to share the glow, for that we cannot thank him enough.

But there is a strange power.....that cannot be ignored.

~~~c. P 2012