The Role of Compassion in Creation

Hey,

I hope you’re doing well! It’s Monday early evening and I’m at the pressing plant where I've spent countless hours in the last two weeks since the amount of work simply keeps piling up! 

So I have been answering hundreds of emails a day from so many different artists and labels, mainly coming from Brooklyn, Toronto, and of course Montreal. Even if it’s such a wonderful thing to be at the very end of the recorded music chain, there is nothing like being at the very beginning of it — the creative space!

For us artists, we’re moved by numerous things. But to me, I think that compassion is what drives me to be. And like Alex shared so many times, let’s bring compassion into action!

🎧 Music I’m listening to

A Handful of Nuggs EP by Primus & Return of the Live Frogs from Les Claypool

One of the greatest contributors and innovators, to say the least, toward the bass world and community!

Since May 15 and May 22, I simply can’t stop listening to those two incredible musical wonders! So great to welcome more of this very inspiring, at least to me, and quite strange music into this world! 

Listen to the Missive Playlist

📖 Reading highlight I’m pondering

“The more I think it over, the more I feel that there is nothing more truly artistic than to love people.” - Vincent van Gogh

The quote was written by Vincent van Gogh in a letter to his brother Theo in September 1888 while he was living in Arles, in the South of France. Theo was not only his brother, but also his closest confidant, emotional support, and financial lifeline throughout his life.

The context of the letter is really important because Van Gogh, at that point in his life, was deeply immersed in painting but also struggling with loneliness, mental suffering, and the feeling of being misunderstood by most of the society. Rather than seeing art as mere technique or aesthetic beauty, Van Gogh believed true artistry came from empathy, from the ability to genuinely see and love others in their fragility and humanity.

The quote reveals something essential about his philosophy: for Van Gogh, art was never separate from life. Painting peasants, workers, ordinary people, or even landscapes was an act of reverence and emotional attention. To love people was, in his eyes, the highest creative act because it required vulnerability, compassion, patience, and the willingness to recognize beauty in imperfection. 

That is why the quote still resonates for me: it transforms art from something decorative or entertaining into something deeply human and spiritual.

🎙️ Podcast That Inspired Me

Transmissions: Mike Ayers (The untold Story of the 90s Jam Bands) 

I love this Jam Band idea! It truly reflects the spirit and approach to music as something way more than a structure. This is the best part of being on the road: what we gave life to in the studio suddenly opens new paths for us as we commune and share a moment that can become something eternal! 

Live music has the limitations we impose it to have! 

📸 My Picture Of The Week 

Humble but open for greatness!

💬 Shared in the Long Shadows Chat this week

It’s been so inspiring and truly emotional for us to receive so many pictures from you all who attended the Orange Blossom Special festival in Germany last weekend! For those of you who don’t know, this festival is one of the greatest live music experiences we encountered thus far, and we had the opportunity to play there twice already, and both moments have been life-changing. 

Speaking about compassion, action, music, art, community, family, soul, life, and moments becoming eternal, this place covers it all! To make sure everyone shows up at 11:30am on Sunday, they put on a Secret Artist that only Rembert, the founder, and his wife are aware of. When I told him that the first place Alex would like to get on stage for the first time after his heart surgery was at OBS, the number of seconds between his reflection and positive answer never reached one, I’m sure of it...! He was so excited! 

Every time we saw each other afterwards, we had to be careful and discrete, which we both truly enjoyed since that moment, when the curtain went down at 11:30am in May 2024, simply was a moment that will live on forever! Through those photos, I can still feel your open arms and hearts!

Truly can’t wait to share new music with you, which will be quite soon if you read Alex’s latest Substack, and of course, to share those moments with you on the road! 

Miss you all! 

Let’s be great to one another! 

Your friend and Chief Operator, 
Jeff