Der-e-lict “Someone without a home, job, or property.” Derelict can also imply gross negligence in fulfilling one’s duties. OR perhaps it could be referring to the condition of an abandoned ship, or common spacecraft by owner or occupant? Hell, a frothy brew at your local pub can fall derelict in many circumstances. A fallen soldier? Forgotten and lost in a sea of repetitive noise and tribute bands?
Nay! Is the case for Matt Nice when it comes to his rotating cast of musical Bards known as The Derls (not Dirls). Be it a half assed attempt at referring to themselves as half asses, the production and execution of this music is just the opposite. The band was officially formed circa 2018 following the dissolvement of his previous project The Earthtones. All Recording for the Derls is tracked with Analog equipment. All instruments used are of an older mystique or derivative of so. This is not to achieve some sort of clout amongst gearheads or hipster snob globbers, but to achieve a certain intention with music and to preserve what sense we have left of living a proletariat's dream. We Say no to plugins. Outboard! Outboard! Onward! In a sense its intended to be a protest against the oversaturated dehumanizing nature of the music industry detaching itself from sedulous art.
Are we derelicts in the practice of music, art, and love? No! Are we derelicts in the sense of what the capitalist bourgeois expects us to be? Perfection is a myth.