
Adam Sherburne is perhaps best known as the charismatic frontman and guitarist for industrial/hip-hop group Consolidated. Known for its radical activist political stances focused on human and animal rights, ecology and a sustainable civilization including advocacy for vegetarianism and the perils of capitalism and nationalistic chauvinism. Listen to any Consolidated album and there are no bones made, no vague mincing of words and yet all informed by a sharply observed statements and a playful sense of humor that is as inviting as it might put off those who for whatever reasons oppose a more progressive political worldview aimed toward making the lives of all and not just humans better.
Early on in the live Consolidated live performances the group passed microphones to people in the audience to discuss and comment on the songs as part of a process of “inter-active democracy” (according to an article in Trouser Press penned by j. poet and Ira Robbins). This attempt to blur the line between band and “audience” with a paticipatory approach has been part of what has made Consolidated different from many of its peers. And in recent years Sherburne has come up with a concept he calls Free Music that takes that concept to another and deeper level as a way to deconstruct and transform the way music is made, shared and distributed as a collective, culture project rather than simply a commodity. Below is his chart of “Music Industry Vs. Free Music” plotted out with a direct simplicity that, whether you agree with him or not, is easily accessible and easy to implement. It may not be an approach for everyone but anyone who has been part of the music world in recent years or really for decades the industry, such as it is, has been largely dysfunctional, predatory and anti-art and culture in the end. Seeing one’s way past the context of one’s existence in the capitalist paradigm can be challenging and tricky but once you can conceptualize a path out of that and being defined in terms directly relatable to that paradigm it’s not so tricky to understand that your whole life can be liberated in ways you had perhaps not thought of before. Even if you have to keep participating in that system to survive or even to function as a musician and artist you need not have your aspirations and imagination colonized by it to the level of your identity and system of values. Should anyone’s life and all things in the world really defined by your temporary utility to the dictates of an arbitrary and far from benevolent economic system? Whether or not you end up subscribing to the ideas of Free Music it’s a question implicitly posed by its theoretical foundation in praxis.
Back in December we were able to discuss these concepts with Sherburne at length and a bit about his development as an artist and activist in the wake of seeing Consolidated live with Front 242 in September. Consolidated released its latest album We’re Already There in 2021. You can listen to the interview on Bandcamp below the chart and also linked are the new album as well as the group’s active Facebook page.

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