A practical system shaped through an audit of lived experience.
A field manual for musicians and other independent artists, writers, or creators of all stripes, looking for clarity, discipline, and momentum instead of stagnation.
A toolkit to overcome resistance, avoid distraction, and end procrastination.
Curse Mackey calls it, "The Sound Philosophy."
In the wake of the Pandemic, lifelong working musician and visual artist Curse Mackey was, like so many, facing life on hard mode. Rather than give up, he undertook a months-long reflection through daily journaling.
During this process, he mined his many years of real work in touring, recording, publishing, curating, running creative businesses, losing momentum, regaining it, rebuilding, rebranding, and trial-and-error. From these experiences, he rediscovered the hard-won lessons acquired across decades living the art life in the creative trenches. And then, he committed to applying them daily in a disciplined, practical, common sense, and no-nonsense way.
The end result?
His output and opportunities didn't just return to their previous highs; they catapulted to greater heights.
The Sound Philosophy is a standalone book that also serves as an entry-level introduction to Curse's process, reworking portions of his journals, illustrative road stories, and anecdotes into 100 micro essays that lay the foundation for a practical, sustainable approach to creative living, which will be expanded upon more deeply in future works.
Curse Mackey is a musician, writer, and multidisciplinary artist based in Austin, Texas. In the U.S. and abroad, he has performed and collaborated with Pigface, My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, Clan of Xymox, David J of Bauhaus/Love and Rockets, and others. His visual art exhibitions have appeared in London, Osaka, New York City, Los Angeles, and Mexico City, and he is the co-author of the books Rides of Passage and DRAW. Mackey has previously worked as the Director of Marketing for a major guitar brand before founding Cool Molecule, an agency for music, art, and production projects.
Multimodal author and award-winning filmmaker Cliff Hensley is the Editor-in-Chief of indie publishing house Subtle Body Press, which he also co-founded. He is the Editor of the short fiction anthology series Body Shots and its novella-focused sister series Body Lines, and Co-Editor of Seecn Story Hotel (7SH). His most recent authorial work, the macabre horror 'prose LP' "Now You See," was released in 2022 through Shiloh House Press, and a new novel is forthcoming. Cliff has also written for the world-renowned cyberpunk-fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Shadowrun and third-party adventures for doom-metal dungeon crawler Mörk Borg. Visit him online at www.cliffhensley.com, where you can also find convenient links to follow him on the social media outlet of your choice.
