Drexcia, DJ Stingray and The Hermit (The Hero)

Ok so I am playing a show in two weeks time with a one DJ Stingray 313...Now I had never heard of him before but according to some friends of mine who are flying him down and hosting the show, this guy is a hero to many and somehow related to Drexcia, whom, I must confess, I know very little about as well. What I did know, was that when a few of my friends mention Drexcia, they get real quiet and serious, as if they are uttering the actual name of God himself. So sure enough, I was surfing the web tonight and stumbled upon a very rare interview with James Stinson, one of the two dudes behind Drexcia. As it turns out, James died at the young age of 32 in the year 2002, and since then, the other member has remained completely anonymous. Listening to this interview and the little snippets of music they overdubbed, I began to understand why my friends cherished this group's music.

Ill tell you what really struck me though, is that this guy embodied the hermetic life of the musician who is shrouded in mystery. His career and life ended just when myspace and facebook were really taking off, so he was one of the last truly mysterious electronic musicians in the sense that there were only a handful of interviews, and that there was no public image whatsoever involved. James also talks about how he is 100 per cent dedicated to his craft, despite that fact that most people, including friends and family, didn't support him. He describes going into his cave, isolating himself, and focusing on the concepts behind the music rather than going out into the world for inspiration, or for that matter, the club. In fact, he says he doesnt even listen to other music during these "cave" periods.

Well, I can relate to much of this...and i found this interview solidifies things I already have learned from people like Joseph Campbell and James Joyce, who both describe the artist's quest as a Hero's Journey, to the land of darkness and then back again. So...what do you think about the hermetic life of a musician? Do you embody hermeticism yourself? What are the sacrifices you've made? The difficulties? And how do you shut off the "world," in a time when a tool like the internet can give you virtual access so easily to it?