Music in a Time of Conformity

Five Times August's new album "Silent War" has just been released. Here's why it matters.

Executive summary

If there were more musicians speaking out like Five Times August, it would have been more difficult for the government to convince people to take a dangerous vaccine. He’s released a new album Silent War. Can you guess what that is about? I list some of the options to support his work.

Introduction

Dr. Pierre Kory recently tweeted about Five Times August:

Pierre Kory, MD MPA @PierreKory

The most talented, informed, & courageous musician in Covid. Society would have been dramatically more protected from the attack on our personal liberties if there had been hundreds more like him. Never forget this historic failure of the music industry to protest injustice

Five Times August @FiveTimesAugust

SILENT WAR by Five Times August has arrived on all digital music platforms. Download/Stream the album today. 🎶Apple: https://t.co/uAqs3SHvid 🎶Spotify: https://t.co/8eE3ySCaod 🎶Amazon: https://t.co/pwsmWKUgVW 🎶YouTube: https://t.co/Qgg84Adu04 https://t.co/OZa2H8paGW

What is the work of an artist? If you are a millennial or zoomer, you might think that the job of an artist is to support the Progressive Establishment, especially when it controls the levers of power. Most especially when it is state sponsored. This is why it’s not so surprising to see Dave Matthews Band or Rage Against the Machine cutting taxpayer funded PSA’s promoting the vaccines, or masking, or the mandates. But let’s be clear, this is not rebellion- this is total conformity to existing elite arrangements. And their control over our lives.

Court musicians can still make good music, but they can’t make great music because great music makes you think. And no entrenched establishment wants the people to think. Thinking people always run the risk of questioning the establishment’s entrenchment.

Five Times August’s new album Silent War is great music.

Great music makes you think deeply, it makes you challenge existing arrangements, and it has to sound good too. In addition to being great, Silent War sounds great.

Five Times August doesn’t need to performatively rage against some phantom machine because he courageously sings against our current, very real, and very dangerous machine. It’s so easy to wave a “Free Tibet” banner or rail against “Corporate Music” at your concert when your merchandise is manufactured in Uyghur and Live Nation/Ticketmaster charges your fans 50% markups in “ticket fees”. It’s authentically braver to pick up your guitar and sing against the mandates on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in the face of most certain cancellation by Big Music.

In his own words;

I am completely independent operation which means there's no record label or team of suits pushing this music to the public. Five Times August relies entirely on fan support to keep the songs out there and on the move. Your kind contributions help fund new recordings, physical album and merchandise production costs, travel expenses, promotional fees, and so much more. 

Silent War is currently charting at #1 on Amazon and Apple Music’s singer/songwriter charts, and in the Top 100 new releases. It’s about to break into the Top 20!

Here’s a Spotify sample of the album:

Silent War can be found on the following platforms, please listen, stream, purchase, and share widely

Apple: https://music.apple.com/us/album/silent-war/1648715796?app=itunes
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/music/player/albums/B0BHL9XD6M/
YouTube: https://music.youtube.com/browse/MPREb_bmtmbXQ5StK
CD & Vinyl: http://fivetimesaugust.com

If you would like to contribute an artist tip/donation you can also do so through these options: Send via PayPal.Me/Bradley Skistimas or Venmo @fivetimesaugust

Five Times August will also be performing at our VSRF Deep in the Heart of Texas Dinner with Dr. Peter McCullough, MD/MPH and Dr. Aseem Malhotra, MD on Tuesday, November 29th. Learn more and purchase tickets.