Aging Indie/Prog Musician Retires, Billions Yawn.

[John Ludi]

People of DU,


I have decided to celebrate 40+ years in music by retiring from it. The reasons for this are myriad, but it is mostly due to my sense that the time has passed for me to do much good in the world with my work as the future trajectory of our civilization (and our planet) seems fairly obvious...and that my output is VERY out of step with most of the musical trends of the past couple decades or so, to the extent that the idea of developing an audience at this juncture seems improbable.

I'm grown tired of swimming against the tide, and it would be against my principals to swim WITH it...so it’s time to let it all go.

From this point onward I will probably not do much more than post the occasional self-indulgent cover tune on YouTube. It is highly unlikely that I will release more original music.

All of that being said, I am planning on getting my current ten albums in front of as many pairs of ears as possible over the next couple of years, thus this email. I am hosting all of these current albums on a file-sharing service called Sync. They are MP3s encoded at 320kbps and each directory includes lyrics, credits and artwork as well. These are all FREE...however, you can always donate at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/johnludi if you feel so moved.

The albums are listed below, along with my best attempt at a description. I’m extremely eclectic and it’s pretty much impossible to lock my work into any specific style or genre...each album is very much it’s own thing.

Feel free to share these albums (or this message itself)...you can review them, play them on your station, annoy your neighbors, frighten your pets, etc., if they appeal to you. As with any other creative work not in the realm of public domain, please don’t use it in commercials or such things without my express permission. If you think any of my songs/compositions would be perfect for your film project or whatnot, just get in touch with me.

Also, my interviews, off-grid living, travel and assorted live/ one-off music videos are on YouTube, if that is of interest to you.

(I also, for the sake of non-grid dependent posterity, am interested in sending out some LIMITED physical copies of some of my albums...in CD and/or DVD collection form. This would be limited to the continental US due to media mail postal rates. Let me know if this is of an interest to you.)

Thank you...and best of luck in the times to come...you’ll likely need it.


2022 - The Quiet Earth Orchestra - World Without Words 2
(Genres - Ambient, Instrumental Prog, Soundtrack)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/0f88b0ef0/buemczpt-qz22gsdk-44uirtrb-sttvgv4x

This is an album of Instrumental Progressive and Ambient pieces and is probably the last album I will ever make. I wanted to go out on an up note. It is fairly innocuous and pleasant to listen to, with lots of layered textures that sound rather nice in a pair of headphones.


2020 - John Ludi - Mistakes Have Been Made
(Genres - Rock, Indie, Prog)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/cd4d39720/7tfk5nf8-uktc942a-egzeza2z-wrrs8w3b

My final album as a socially-concerned eclectic singer-songwriter-instrumentalist. It’s all over the map musically, but could be considered Progressive in the same sense that Kate Bush, Peter Gabriel, David Bowie and Todd Rundgren could be considered Progressive. I consider this the apex of my recording career and the best one to start with.


2015 - John Ludi - Obsolescence
(Genres - Rock, Indie)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/cd86c5fb0/cn5b65xe-5xgsawrm-k9ihes2g-76asmw7b

One of two albums I put out in 2015, it is the “internally-focused” album. It’s an album of songs reflecting on aging, loss, and mortality, for the most part.


2015 - John Ludi - Rage
(Genres - Rock, Indie, Punk)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/419c6df60/ixnrrhhq-kps8djhh-fjpuq45z-bn77ifs3

One of two albums I put out in 2015, it is the “externally-focused” album. A lot of my older “punk” songs from the past were redone, as well as a few new pieces. The topics are generally political, environmental, social...and overall deal with a civilization in a state of collapse.


2008 – The Quiet Earth Orchestra – The Quiet Earth Orchestra
(Genres - Prog Rock)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/b5cff4a30/ijg3q7pq-wt2jqeb7-rnqh54ht-rymn476t

This is my homage to 70’s Progressive Rock, and has occasional elements of Yes, King Crimson, and ELP blended together with a darker Gothic musical and lyrical sensibility.


2008 – Soft War – Soft War
(Genres - Rock, Indie)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/4a539e890/24z6h6py-z3s4zk8b-ye5yx3k6-4e5ws7uu

Much more of a Rock/Indie Rock album, but still very eclectic and diverse in its presentation and scope and a rare collaborative effort (I mostly work alone) that I am extremely proud of.


2005 – John Ludi – Rise Above or Fall Below
(Genres - Rock, Indie)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/3b1eba2e0/7tacia2p-bx54uzpa-yw62ieaz-82j8wtb8

A favorite of many of those who know my work, it is a study in musical eclecticism that is lyrically focused on notions of materialism versus spirituality and transcendence.


2001 – John Ludi – Hell’s Laughter and Heaven’s Ache
(Genres - Rock, Indie, “Goth”)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/cc1f7b710/x9zf5v45-trnqprra-hsbk9w3a-et7gu35n

My first release as “John Ludi”, this album is not the best work I’ve ever created in terms of production, but there are a great many songs that I am extremely proud of.


1995 - The Quiet Earth Orchestra - World Without Words
(Genres - Ambient, Soundtrack, Worldbeat)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/34dee06f0/imqmbeqr-cx7cm7rm-fmptmcf3-gqzndym4

One of the few projects from my earlier years that I have decided is worth putting out there, this is an instrumental work that (like WWW2 from 2022) alternates between ambient pieces and percussion-based pieces. Interesting and (mostly) pleasant background music, basically.


1982-1989 – John Ludi – 4-Track Wonderland
(Genres - Rock, Prog, Experimental)
https://ln5.sync.com/dl/70a4764a0/fsypqh6e-sdi6g3ia-cewdbu7h-7wipmtut

Musical baby pictures, basically...but some of them are pretty decent musical baby pictures. If you find my more recent work compelling in any way, this would be a good way to hear how I started out on the path I followed over the past 40+ years.

[Demovictory9]

1. Happy retirement

[John Ludi]

3. Thanks.

[ProfessorGAC]

2. Good Luck, John

Except for a one time solo performance, I packed it in 13 or so years ago.
For many of the same reasons.

[John Ludi]

4. The saddest thing

for me is that the quality of what audiences listen to has declined in direct proportion to the increasing quality of my own output. I listen to some of the work I did in the 80's and 90's when my work was getting a reasonable amount of notice, and I wince a fair bit.

Ah well...

[ProfessorGAC]

5. I Can See That

We were progressive pop act. Semi-pro. Played 80-85 times a year for almost 20 years. Same 4 guys.
Some self-written stuff but mostly covers. We covered Talking Heads The Fixx, Utopia, INXS, The Cars, etc.
We were better in the 20th year than the 1st, but we could tell people weren't as pumped to hear our stuff in year 20, even as much as in year 15, even though we were tighter than ever. (We went from tight to ultra-tight.)
Even with our big show, we couldn't get hired today, and if we did it would be for half the money.
That's why we pulled the plug.

[John Ludi]

7. I kinda wonder

if you'd get a bit more interest now that the 80's has that inevitable nostalgia draw...though playing live has become even more of an unprofitable slog than ever...and Covid is still an issue.

You bring up a perennial puzzler for me; the tightness factor. Back in my touring days it perplexed me that the better a night we had in terms of our performance, the less enthusiastic the crowds. If we slopped up every third song and stumbled around each other on stage, people went wild. Maybe they liked the rawness of it all.

[highplainsdem]

6. I want to wish you the best, John. And apologize for taking this long to

respond...but my kneejerk response to anyone creative NOT continuing to do creative work is usually to tell them NOT to retire, or to get back to creating if they've already given it up. And that isn't always the appropriate response.

I do want to emphasize, re your "billions yawn" comment in the thread title, that not having become famous in no way means you aren't very talented. Competition is so brutal in the creative professions that offer fame and fortune for the most successful that no one should ever assume that just because you didn't have hit records, that somehow means you're not as talented as others who did. Sheer luck, especially serendipitous timing, has everything to do with it.

Re wanting to change/save the world with your art... Very few artists have, at least in terms of having a visible effect that created what they wanted. The idealistic musicians of the '60s would not have expected Reagan to become president, let alone Trump.

I'm listening to one of your interview videos now, to what you said about hearing an interview where Grace Slick talked about not being able to change the nature of human aggression with her music and message.

And I just paused that, since I can't always multitask when I'm writing.

Anyway, the point I want to get to is that even if you CAN'T see the immediate effect from your music that you want to have, it's still more than likely that you had SOME effect on the people who heard you.

If their minds had been too closed, you probably pushed them open a bit.

If they were already openminded, you probably helped nudge them in a direction they could follow to create change.

Where they shared your music with others, it probably helped them find a common purpose.

And even if no change resulted, your music almost certainly helped a lot of people get through another day, bringing them pleasure, distracting from their personal stresses.

None of us can ever know exactly how much of an impact we have on others. But for every single one of the few very famous people who make headlines and history with what they do, there are a lot of others, including artists, who have contributed to those positive changes, even if their contributions aren't as celebrated.

And you deserve applause for what you did, for so many years.

I'm not going to pretend I don't hope you'll stay creative, in whatever way you choose. A lot of musicians who've retired turn to painting or sculpture. A lot of them teach...and YouTube can be perfect for that.

Whatever you choose to do, I hope it brings you a lot of satisfaction.

[John Ludi]

8. Thank you

for this very kind and considerate response...it brought a smile to a face that hasn't sported many of those the past few years.

"Re wanting to change/save the world with your art... Very few artists have, at least in terms of having a visible effect that created what they wanted. The idealistic musicians of the '60s would not have expected Reagan to become president, let alone Trump."

I always think of the song Imagine by John Lennon. Probably a billion people have been exposed to that song in one form or another...even if it's just as instrumental elevator music. Out of all those people, how many really took the ideals in the lyrics to heart and, out of them, how many tried to live up to those ideals? So if an artist of his stature couldn't make a change, it's sheer hubris for someone on my level to think that I'd have had a shot at it.

But if one is going to have an aim in life, an altruistic one is not a bad thing...even if any effect is just an incremental one. So I don't feel bad about my part in it all.

Again...thank you so much for the kind words, it's VERY much appreciated.