Matana Roberts

Anonymous asked: After 20 years, i visited my old school today. In the office there was a moers-festival calender with your picture on it. When i was telling my school friends there was a picture of my favourite saxophon player, they looked very irritated. Why ? A Moers! that’s such a fun festival 2 play+ well, this goes down as the strangest question I’ve EVER received in my random tumblr Q+A sojourns, bt I’ll answer for the puns:). I suppose there are a lot of different reasons for this random irritation: 1. I can generally be pretty irritating, partially bc it is my American birthright( yours too, im pretty sure:)) 2. I’m a 21st century woman who does not generally keep her varying opinions to herself, and prob has way too many outlets to express this… I’m American loud and generally behave badly when it comes to anything earmarked under ”how women should behave” ( not sorry:)) 3. I get easily riled up over issues that involve diversity and arts fairness and i am sometimes overly vocal about it for the sake of others in my random communities, but I have def at times gone about this in the wrong way….sorry,sorry,sorry and SORRY…I’ve made my share of “professional” mistakes, like every other person I know, irritating(and apologizing)to folks worldwide…learning is for the living:) 4. I love the saxophone so much, but I’m not a saxophonists’ saxophonist, i don’t think really? But I’ve never been, it’s not my path. I just want to keep learning and being humbled by my horn and be surrounded by inspiring people, places, things… 5. I’ve gotten some mild attention in this past phase of life and it has been communicated to me on more than one occasion, that this has irritated some …that basically( and im wildly paraphrasing of course), i wouldn’t be getting any attention if i didn’t have ovaries, and were not the descendant of slave breeders and etc, harking on a history in my work etc etc etc… 6. Some folk say my work is too political, and harks again, too hard on the aforementioned history just for the purpose of getting “noticed”…( of course this is ridiculous) 7. some irritated folk have told me my work is NOT political enough. that it sits just on the edge, and is a bit too PC; that i need to present an angrier front, considering what i’m dealing with…( for the record, that’s just not my truth…) 8. In general ive heard from irritated ones, that I “talk too much”, that i “over intellectualize” out loud too much and that art is not about these things….I appreciate this differing opinion, but its just not me…. A good deal of what I do comes from creative instinct, but I’m also a voracious out loud kind of thinker…. I blame my parents. (and im not sorry:)) 9. my standards are sometimes waaaaaaaaay too high. This gets me in trouble often. (still not sorry:)) 10. Some consider my music compositions and art work not based in a concrete creative reality… I’m ok with this assumption… 11. Saxophone wise,I generally play on the “irritating” sharp side. ( nt jackie mac sharp, for those in the know, keeping tally: more Mr. Freeman/ Mr. Anderson:)) Ok! So there you go… Every creative person I’ve ever admired made work that irritated people in life, in death and beyond….I want in on this posse for sure, so maybe this is indication that I am on the right track… thanks for standing up for me(?) Nxt time shoot me a question that really matters.ha. was fun to answer this anyhow. thanks for the support(?) Never not giving up. xm MAY. 9 2017 2 NOTES Notes