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To Live a Life Without Music

Photo by Mia Naome from SUSTO’s Ever Since I Lost My Mind release show

Like most everyone, I’ve had a ton of time to myself over the past few weeks. The South Carolina weather has been beautiful, and I’ve been out wandering barefoot in my backyard, learning to be at ease with the solitude and the current state of the world. In doing this, I’ve had a few very important realizations about my life that I believe will change it for the better. There’s nothing like social distancing and isolation to make you really see your demons up close, so I’ve found.

Perhaps the most important realization I’ve had is that I spend too much time listening to music, and it’s long past becoming a problem.

At any given moment, there is probably music playing in my house, or in my car, or in my headphones, and it has been like that for many years. I’ve always thought that I simply enjoyed listening to music, but this quarantine has shown me that music consumes my entire life. And that might not be a good thing. In fact, that could be a very, very bad thing.

Now, I’ve thought about this for a long time, and the only solution that I can come up with is to quit music cold turkey for at least 30 days. I’ve found a lot of peace out there in the grass, but there has been music playing the entire time, and that means I haven’t found the truth yet. So for the next 30 days, I’m going to live a life without music.

If a car drives by with the windows down, blasting music, I will immediately drop whatever I’m doing and plug my ears for at least 15 seconds. If I’m watching TV and music starts to play, I will immediately mute the sound for at least one full minute. I will listen to no music of any kind for the next 30 days, with no exceptions whatsoever.

And who knows, maybe a life without music truly is the life for me. Maybe this is just the first step in leaving music behind for good.

I’m looking forward to the next 30 days without music, and I plan to release a full report at the end of my experience. Thank you for your support during these strange times.

Any artist reading this should know that for the next 30 days, the Extra Chill editorial team will not listen to any music submissions that we receive. For the sake of integrity, we will still be offering honest reviews during this time regarding album art, song and album titles, and other aspects having to do with the overall presentation of the work.

We encourage you to join us in your own 30 Day No Music Challenge, and take back control of your life.