Fire And Stonewalls

http://www.maxturnermusic.com/ Directed and edited by: Max Turner, Co-directed by: dillentante, D.O.P and Camera: Losan Piatti Post production: Luca Gasperoni, Art direction and costumes: Max Turner, Card tricks : Mr Oliver Character acting: Prashanna Khadka, Mr. Oliver, Carlo Antoncelli and Max Turner Un ringraziamento speciale a tutti coloro che hanno aiutato: Endo Vassallo, Sybila Musiani, Roberto Lombardini, Mayco Livi, Italo Bosetti e Simon Smith per la locazione del monolocale, tutti a Pomaia, ILTK e la Pieve. Music written, produced and performed by Max Turner Mixing and additional production by Marzio Arico Vocal recording engineer Tobias Levine Mastered by Sam John at Precise Mastering Fire and stonewalls is a subconscious journey into the origins of inner and outer conflict, the psychology of war and how it manifests. The two figures at the card table represent the creative and destructive forces playing a game in our minds. The croupier is a representation of all of us in that he fuels the game by dealing cards to the players who in turn react to what is at stake through the channels of their own perception. Footface, the destructive one, preferring to set fire to the table instead of seeing the legitimate outcome of the game and Silverhead, the creative figure, simply going about his creative processes and playing piano and not judging the destruction by grace of his ability to reflect which is represented by bubbles. The shape of the globe and the bubbles are a metaphor for the world essentially being what we view it to be, thus suggesting that is is possible to change the world through our own perception. When the moment arrives that the players put down their cards both have royal flushes, one with spades, the other hearts, as both creation and destruction are equally powerful forces that only differ though their outcomes, as we see in war or peace, happiness or sadness. Both hate and love essentially make use of attraction but use its electricity with two different charges, one negative and positive. Although the game is technically a draw as Footface puts down his Royal flush of spades and Silverhead puts down the same value in hearts, he intuitively draws his gun to triumph by way of negative domination, but as Silverhead pulls out a joker that is decorated with the words DON’T JUDGE a brief moment of conscious perceptiveness enters Footface mind as he flashes back to a mirror reflection of committing negative acts. The destructive force is momentarily tamed and Silverhead uses the opportunity to lend him his keyboard and have a go at being creative, the fire that surrounds the globe on the poker table extinguishes but the smoke makes it hard to see through things and the croupier decides to leave the premise. He walks through a wall of cards and suddenly enters an alternate reality where he has overcome the duality of his own judgement to find the creative and destructive forces within him dancing together. This track was produced in 2021 but written in Istanbul in July of 2016, where Max Turner found himself stuck in the dangerous predicament of an attempted coup d'état and the subsequent political turmoil. The lyrics explore the notion of being forced to submit to hazardous circumstances and surrendering to those circumstances in a spiritual way: "When you wake to the sound of F-16's breaking the sound barrier overhead and see tanks on the Bosphorus bridge and undercover police outnumbering civilians in the aftermath of a botched coup, a different mind set kicks in." This theme is one that relates to the circumstances that the world is currently suffering: "The time spent locked indoors in Istanbul pushed against the walls of one's thoughts and in fear of one's life reminds me of the Covid-related lockdown. If anything good came from having spent several months on the cusp of civil war in Turkey, it is coming to terms with a less human enemy." Fire And Stonewalls Whats on today? Are there roles we're to play? History's spiel on repeat Cards are shuffled, tricks are cheap Lick our wounds , battlefields Wash our hands of ordeals Not a sheep ever followed Our leaders to sorrow Woe lord find me a place to call home With no trading fire and stone walls Standing where cold faces froze When we're all but a pebble on roads Heart and spade lie Buried deep on front-line Headless beast blind missile Same scenes throughout time Lick our wounds , battlefields Wash our hands of ordeals Not a sheep ever followed Our leaders to sorrow Woe lord find me a place to call home With no trading fire and stone walls Standing where cold faces froze When we're all but a pebble on roads