Exclusive Interview
CBC Radio has produced a new series called The Nerve. I was recently interviewed for the program. Being a lover of music and and in light of what my duties were in Iraq, I was asked to contribute to the show. Here’s a brief description:
Jowi Taylor surveys the entwined histories of war and music. Military music is meant to stir the blood. In order to achieve this, some instruments, some compositions, some sounds are more favoured than others. The Israelites used trumpets to bring down the walls of Jericho. Coppola’s Apocalypse Now helicopters played Ride of the Valkyries, which was based on an actual practice used during the Vietnam War – and is used today as part of the “Thunder Run” strategy in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Scots went to war with bagpipes. And every army has a band. And music can also be an instrument of torture, as happens today, when the U.S. Army uses music to “forcibly interrogate” its prisoners.
From pipes, to drums, to thunder runs, The Nerve 3 takes a serious look at the dark side of music.
To be fair, I don’t believe that music is “an instrument of torture” by any means. It’s a MEANS to achieving results, but not torture. I do understand that torture means different things to different people. If I had to listen to Puff Daddy for hours at a time, I’d feel tortured too. I’m sure listeners of the YouServed podcasts on BlogTalkRadio.com feel tortured listening to my heavy metal!
I haven’t listened to the show yet, so I can’t say how the interview will be used. I do have a copy of the entire raw interview on disc in case I get misquoted or taken out of context. I don’t expect that to happen, but I think I’ve become skeptical of just about everyone – especially if they’re interviewing ME!
The Nerve: Episode 3 The Pipe, the Drum and the Thunder Run (Music & War), airs on Sat. Sept. 20 at 12 PM (1:00 AT, 1:30 NT) on Radio 2 & Sun. Sept. 21 at 8 PM (8:30 NT) on Radio 1 at CBC Radio. If you’d like to listen to a part of the exclusive interview, click HERE and scroll down to my photo. You’ll see a link to the interview. It’s about 28 minutes long so grab a Hot Pocket and Diet Dr. Pepper and relax.
