The Liminalist # 267: The Highs & Lows of a Natural Musician (with Alex Rushfirth)

Conversation with Alex Rushfirth on family relations, autism, expression, and art, ancestral patterns, and musical distress signals.

Part One: The Edges of Experience (0 – 39 mins)

First day of lockdown # 2 in the UK, ancestral trauma & living with one’s parents in a lockdown, a test of acceptance, re-enacting childhood, Hermitix podcast, a philosophy degree, the edges of experience, a life punctuated by illness, when reality kicks you down, university life, mind-caused illness, the quest for cleanness, meeting Dave Oshana, to allow things to be what they are, a job interview in pyjamas, life as an anomaly, seeking ways to express, communicating discomfort, autism as a negative definition, Auticulture early days, artists & autists, dyslexia, shedding layers, situating oneself among people.

Part Two: Ancestral Pressures (39 mins – 1 hr 20 mins)

An oxymoronic label, organisms that don’t adopt language, Magical Child, language as body armor, thinking & doing, the tragic consequence of internalizing language, a linguician, why low-functioning autists don’t learn language, symbolic emotional processing, a musical prodigy, pictures of the body, a perfect version of the self, the dishonesty of academia, language as a closed door, ossification and de-ossification through language, parental pressure to succeed, subtle signals of coercion, ancestral pressure, a fraught relation with Dave, and older brother groove, the opportunity of being triggered, conveying the vibe, pushing out the life force.

Part Three: Materializing Feelings (1 hr 20 mins – 1 hr 55 mins)

The need to be oneself, parental programming, a lifetime of frustration, a man’s foes are those of his own household, opposing body languages, inside the Big Brother house, manic performances, a mysterious illness, moving from sport to music, the highs & lows of a natural musician, body distortion and voice constriction, unusually driven, materializing feelings, a problem of communication, esoteric lyrics, constant tension, connecting to heaven & earth, forward motion without height or depth, a point of tension.

Part Four: A Different Orientation (1 hr 55 mins – end)

A distress signal from a taught instrument, when the drive entered, closing down & schooling, a cry for help, an attempt at auto-exorcism, power & sensitivity, the trap of siddhis, trauma and charisma, abducted by aliens, giving up gifts to become whole, feeling a room, back to communal roots of music, attempts at self-promotion, a control dynamic, a different orientation, celebrity neurosis, opening to the unconscious vs. the drive to success, art as communication, creation as discovery, song-writing in dreams, Liminalist music selections.

Alex’s Music

Podcast Art: Martin Jolly

Free Dave Oshana event Sat 28th ~ sign up here.

Songs: “The Power of AW” & “Chasing Time” by Joy Zipper; “Maya” and “Caveman” by Alex Rushfirth.

19 thoughts on “The Liminalist # 267: The Highs & Lows of a Natural Musician (with Alex Rushfirth)”

  1. Observation, if Alex felt comfortable returning home throughout lockdown, all must be well. I have the reverse situation since March. Synchronicity certainly teaching me a lesson. My Son who moved back home at 36 with a girlfriend teacher I might add. All ended for the best even much more complicated. Parental power indeed. Musicians as are writers, creative folk.

    Listening to your podcasts for years now Jasun. Thank you for being a beacon of wisdom and light in these strange times. Haha, Dave.

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  2. I like the idea of this spiralling and i,m not a producer but do guitar in a way where the journey to the note is part of the note and actually affects the tone , like light sabering past the cleaners at the airport floor before boarding . it would work for another vocalist or a collaboration , maybe a female voice to launch the track into another space . It is also a relief for them because they do not have the pressure of beginning, middle and end and also its good for many reasons to collaborate nowadays.
    When I was 12 this giant elm tree was cut down and there was this pond. I had this “slinky” kind of weighted harpsichord i threw into and it took a long time to sink and gargling this compressed sound yet still staying afloat like an inflatable had found its way to the titanic..the talk reminds me of this image . So like the track say Cosby Stills n Nash Carry On https://youtu.be/lh67x9iDCjg. theres a keyboard , conga interval ..reason for this piece s partly we did a jam at the creak , at the call in the transmission and when someone says D I always am implanted with the intro for this song. D is a very optimistic forwarding key , opens the solar plexus and perhaps more for the guitar than other instruments. (not a great fan of the mandolin, as though every string is in D). So i like the idea of the drums following everything which you do and this imploding into something .

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  3. Can you go back to joint-stereo for the mp3s, recently they have been in full stereo which is strange to listen to on headphones. Also please interview more abductees.

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    • LOL; oddly married requests; On the first I thought it was only the Jeff G one that was full stereo… I will def. go back to joint and re-upload this one soon; the second request is about to be answered also, 5 days from now

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      • Thanks Jasun, enjoy the show.

        For the longest time we’ve heard from the same old abductees, who are usually promoting something, or on the book/conference circuit. It’s rare to here from unknown abductees. There is a new podcast called Aliens & Artists that has started doing exactly this.

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        • file fixed.

          like an autist, a true abductee would be cautious to identify as such, IMO

          any god that comes from the outside is a devil

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  4. *note this was written and completed for Dave in the wee hours as I try to scramble his jamble and get some of his enlightenment funds, then shared with Jasun over message- please enjoy 😉

    The big boys have come out for dinner, although certain they must remember,
    For stones are only solid with each step,
    What do they engender?
    A turn to the side, what is that they hide, a balance of books that some man mistook? A rhythm and a shout, a poke to offend, what’s it all about if you loose a friend?
    Jasun was a sailor who walked underwater, a drowning man he’s saved. A lovely heart and who’s beginning to see, what some man has done to he. Love none the less, a guru without a nest, a tuning fork is Horsley, may we slay the masters.
    What will you do when your work is complete? The men that make you, a love misunderstood. May I beseech you on your far away beach, for life’s a bitch, if you don’t teach. Where do you stand on the shifting sands, your poetry is tame, I guess you’re getting lame?
    Death is coming round the bend, the cattle march tail on end. Up the ramps and through the lane, the prod in hand to restrain. May you live long and ware your gowns, let us release you now for we are the clowns.
    Deer should be shot and eaten for their life, how is it the people are in this strife? Test the fences bore some holes, a stick and stone will break your bones.
    Come on mr man, indulge my curiosity, all I want to do is dance for this sidetrance. Hippity hop to the pop, I love you now but the bigger story is yet to be told. A book away, let’s hope for today, fire and water are my sounds.
    The hounds of this world bark and speak, may this poetry find in you release. A laugh will do, how about a chew? Doggie biscuits kill, and rip the ears off our brethren. For you in the white that hides in the night, benevolence we will see, for you have taken the sea.
    My man has stepped into town, may he show you around where we misplace. Tomorrow I dare to see what there is to share. Our time will come my brothers and lovers, we have seen game of thrones. The rape was done, defilement no more, for now the masters we no longer implore.

    The stable and the few, together we knew, that the table must be turned so we can level this fable.

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  5. This was another gem of a podcast.
    I passed two delightful hours indulging in the lovely easy humour and naturalness of this conversation. The northern charm spilleth forth in double helpings.
    Alex is a mature, engaging and insightful guest.
    His description of his difficulties in writing essays struck a poignant chord. To hear it voiced by another and how accurately was really something.
    “ossyifing oneself to get through a door”.

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