The Liner Notes: The Manifesto

Off.
Off the chain, off the top of your head, off tap, off the bat, off and on again, off to work, off the radar, off the charts, off limits, put it off, keepings off, step off, lay off, turn it off, take it off, set it off.
A multitude of uses.

Off the Richter.

It’s what life should be, off the Richter. It’s how music should make you feel, off the Richter. It’s how people should think you look, off the Richter. To be off the Richter represents how much you’re giving life, and how much you’re letting it give you. The creationaries at JVL believe that there is no style that is incapable of making one appear beyond the realms of traditional measurement, no music that is incapable of giving one reactions that cannot be charted, no life that is incapable of being off the Richter.

What you have here is an avenue, a pathway to a different way of approaching life through your consumption of music and style. This concept, the idea of consumption, despite it’s increased prevalence in our society, is one that the culturally elite – the hipsters, the commentators, the fringe, the intelligentsia of culture – have made pariah. It is never cool to consume, it is never fashionable to subscribe to a lifestyle that is open in its consumption habits, and it is certainly never acceptable to be seen to enjoy buying, to enjoy being a part of the capitalist machine that makes our society run.

Fuck them!

You have to consume. If you want to get anything out of this world, you have to inject something into it, and the reality is that what you are injecting, what you have injected, and what you will inject into it is money. There is no escaping that. Therefore, why this relentless hatred towards the idea of a consumer society? It’s here; we may as well become an active part of it, not so that we can just lie down and accept whatever comes our way, but in the knowledge that the only way to change something about society is to become part of it; there is no revolution from without, only from within.

Our revolution. A revolution to take the mundane to uncharted heights. A revolution to take the mundane off the Richter.
How does one achieve this? How is one’s life transported from the everyday, from the normal, from the dizzying heights of mediocrity, into the realm of a new perspective, a new way of approaching culture, and all its trappings? Through music, through style, through imagination, people are able to elevate themselves beyond the average. Through Hard Nature and a sense of Sonic Conscience we are able to lift ourselves, and those around us, to a new level of cultural appreciation, for only through effective appreciation of our society and what it has to offer are we able to be appreciated in turn.

Hard Nature.

To be naturally stylish, to be effortlessly recognisable, to be fluently desirable. These are traits that Off the Richter seeks to enhance in those around us. For something to be Hard Nature it must be all of these things and more. For something to possess elements of Hard Nature it must be appealing, it must be coveted, and it must be organic. To be Hard Nature means to be able to sport a look that those around you wish to emulate, to carry yourself in a way that exudes confidence without arrogance, and to do all of this without appearing robotic, without appearing contrived. To be able to throw on an outfit fifteen minutes before you walk out the door and still stand out more than those that preen over their appearance for hours is something that should be recognised, it is something that is worthy of being considered Off the Richter.

Hard Nature.

It doesn’t mean flicking your hair and mouthing meaningless phrases against society and capitalism. It doesn’t mean wearing the tightest jeans you can find because that’s what everybody else is doing. It doesn’t mean wearing outrageous clothes in a manufactured attempt to prove your alternative credibility. It means rocking odd socks because you didn’t have the time to find a matching pair in between waking up and running after the tram you were supposed to be on. It means making your own pants even though you’re perfectly capable of buying a pair, not because you don’t want to fuel consumer culture, but because you like feeling a sense of attachment with your clothes. It means cruising around on an old bicycle with a basket, not because you spent weeks and weeks trawling through stores trying to find one with the exact amount of retro cool, but because it used to belong to your mum, and it’s been sitting in your garage for sixteen years. It means always popping without trying, it means staying ice cold without breaking a sweat, it means being a chiller and making it look hot. Stay fresh to death. Stay Hard Nature.

Sonic Conscience.

We don’t think, we act. We don’t believe, we assume. We don’t listen, we hear. This is one of the greatest crimes of our modern society, this unthinking subscription to whatever is fed to us. In order to truly appreciate music, and life in general, the creationaries at JVL believe that one must have a certain level of personal investment in what one listens to. In order to become sonically conscious, one must develop a Sonic Conscience. It seems inconceivable that people are able to absorb such vast quantities of music without thinking about it – how many out there become immersed in whatever happens to be the latest in musical trends, only to forget about it as soon as the next guitar-wielding, long-haired, tight-jeaned soulful songwriter comes along? The application of musical knowledge, the genuine love of the culture that is associated with any and every genre of music, is what can transform interest into passion, and it is through passion that one’s life can be filled with value, it is through passion that everyday events take on new meaning.

Sonic Conscience.

Affect is an unusual word. It is underused, and when it is put into use, it is often in the incorrect context. The difference between affect and effect isn’t understood. The difference between affect and affectation isn’t understood. To be affected by something means that it has provoked a genuine emotional response. To have an affect on something else means that the change that has been made is more than superficial – it is authentic. Music should have an affect on us, and it can have an affect on us, if we allow it. However, one cannot be truly be affected by music unless one has some sort of personal investment in it – the context is just as important as the content. The creationaries at JVL aim to give you context that you are better served to digest the content; we will provide the moral fodder to give your Sonic Conscience weight.

Being Off the Richter is a state that one aspires to, it is a mindset that as achievable by all, but obtained by few. This isn’t because it sits out of reach, the high culture grapes to our societal Tantalus, but because, somewhat oxymoronically, being effortless takes effort, and this is the one commodity that we have not yet learnt to trade in. The effort to break free from the shackles of perception is a great one, but it is well worthwhile, for what reward is there to be obtained from a life lived without engagement?

Develop your Sonic Conscience. Stay Hard Nature.
Live Off the Richter.