Saturday, February 18, 2017

Blue Stahli

(Public profile picture from http://www.methodhousestudios.com/writer/bret-blue-stahli/)

Blue Stahli is technically the name of the musical project under which Bret Autrey releases music, but 'Blue Stahli' is functionally a pseudonym for the artist himself. While his cult-following is rather small, his music is present in many popular games, TV shows, and films, including but not limited to Dead Rising 2American Horror Story, and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

His personal web page includes information about himself, his credits, as well as links to the FIXT store; FIXT is the label that publishes his music and sells merchandise. FIXT is owned and operated by Klayton.

While much of his music is instrumental, a number of his lyrical songs are commentaries on society and the media. Personal favorites include:

ULTRAnumb:
His most popular song, it discusses the modern problems of instant gratification, limitless choices, and how they lead to an over-saturated experience leaving you "ULTRAnumb", requiring evermore extreme experiences to feel the same addiction high. The link is to the music video, which I feel helps to explain the music. Except the bit with the restaurant, I'm pretty sure that's an inside joke.

Shoot Em Up:
This song attacks the media for feeding the infamy of mass shooters, giving them their moment of celebrity status and encouraging copycats to become mass shooters for the same reason. This is known as "Media Contagion", a topic upon which a number of studies have been published investigating the link.

I particularly enjoy those songs of his that bring up important issues that our culture faces. Art is a great way of communicating important topics and ideas, and it is for this reason I appreciate his music beyond simply enjoying it. The medium of music allows Bret to communicate emotion alongside the meaning of his lyrics, giving the listeners a more visceral understanding of the song.