The Channels (Boston, MA)
Jacob (Skinny Bones) posed questions for Wes Kaplan (The Channels)
Jacob Rosati: How do you cope with the “brain in a vat” argument?
Wes Kaplan: I recently heard about a language theory of Wittgenstein saying that you can’t have language without social patterns. So that kind of puts us in a shared interpretation of reality if you take it verbatim. Doesn’t that just put a lot of stock in human imagination to be able to construct such a detailed world? If it’s a matter of faith that there’s a reality outside of my subjective experience, then I have no problem putting my faith in that assumption.
I just read Lila, which is the sequel to Zen and the art of Motorcycle Maintenance, which deals with this question pretty well. It says there’s a third thing called “quality” comes before subjects and objects and so there’s this huge problem which is at odds with laws that we associate with things like gravity…or thermodynamics. You know what I mean? Like social patterns are at odds with biological patterns. Like we think shit and fucking is gross, so we don’t talk about it. And then intellectual patterns are at odds with social patterns.
Sometimes radical thinkers look a lot like crazy people and it’s hard to tell the difference until they all get pushed aside. Each state is fighting for the next level, the ultimate is what is called “dynamic quality,” which you’re not actually supposed to define. When you think about that stuff, why be afraid of the [the brain in a vat idea]?
As a musician, it’s important to be to consider that. There are all of these things that you can objectify about music. I think there’s this tendency in rock music to be anti-intellectual. You look at the defining punk rock bands like The Velvet Underground. You had this conservatory dude, John Cale, who brought his 20th century intellectual ideas and then you had Lou Reed, who had more of what people associate with “punk.” It all really comes down to whether or not it sounds good. Which I know is subjective, but I don’t think those two people or those two ideas have to be at odds with each other.
JR: Do you believe in the existence of councles (cousin-uncle)?
WK: You know, it’s really funny that you asked me that question. Because in my family…I have step parents and my youngest brother is 15 and we have a nephew that is ten. Technically Jake (15) is the uncle even though they don’t have what we socially regard as an uncle-nephew relationship. They’re more like brothers. It’s like twins, nobody really knows what it’s like to be twins. I think that even when you call someone your brother or your sister, it’s not the same as when you have that biological relationship. I think they’re really just super close cousins.
Allston Pudding: So you do believe in councles?
WK: I mean, I don’t say that word but *laughs* I speak from experience.
JR: What do you think BUFU should stand for? *BUFU stands for “By Us, For Us”
WK: Boston’s Unlisted, Filthy and Underpaid.