People often look up to musicians as emotional mediums who survive purely by the will of their marvelous talent, but anyone who’s refrained from a Tolkien obsession surely appreciates the less fantastic truth: the vast majority of artists out there have a second gig in order to live at least semi-comfortably. In the indie world, you’ll be hard-pressed to come across a project that isn’t the tip of the human glacier that appears majestically above water (meaning there’s necessarily more going on in their lives).
Those projects include the work of Minneapolis-based artist and friend of the site Justin C. Meyers, whose newest album, Struggle Artist, is conceptually all about the ongoing injection of artistry among other life happenings, some of which have proven to be personally taxing. According to the press release, Meyers created Struggle Artist “initially during lunch breaks and in hospital waiting rooms,” and he finished it after being laid off from his job. Whereas his prior 2016 release Negative Space (1981-2014) was reportedly a commentary on chronic illness and “near-death experience,” the theme of this newest album can largely be extrapolated to apply across the independent music scene. There are plenty of doubtlessly intended synth breaks on Struggle Artist that possibly symbolize the interruptions that Meyers experiences creatively.
Check the video teaser below, and experience the struggle for yourself May 11 , when the album is released on Shelter Press.
Struggle Artist tracklisting:
01. Ambient Role Play
02. Draw Distance
03. Balloon Étude
04. NPC Loop 1
05. Self Portrait
06. Limit Break
07. Ambient Role Play (End)
08. Granular Opportunities 1
09. Granular Opportunities 2
10. Expectations
11. Expectations 2
12. NPC Loop 2
13. Noise Artist Cosplay
14. Struggle Artist
More about: Justin Meyers, Meyers
