Unearthing Burial

‘I’m a bit like a rubbish super-hero …” says Burial, shyly.

So began Dan Hancox’s exclusive interview with the dubstep musician known as Burial. At least, it was exclusive when it was published last fall. Now, the chase is on to grab hold of this (formerly) elusive musical force.

For all intents and purposes, Burial is (or was, depending on the context of your thinking) the closest thing that the music world could ever get in terms of a superhero. Although I had mentioned that prototypical “rock stars” were the equivalent of iconic superheroes (or the ideas of such) in an earlier post, Burial’s case is literally a comic book come to life. If the superheroes of comic books made soulful electronic, reggae-based pop music.

Will Bevan appears to be your average young adult. There’s nothing particularly out-of-the-ordinary looking in his profile. Hell, his online profile for the all-too-famous website Facebook is easily found at the click of a few buttons. At a quick, momentary glance, he just appears to be another kid from London. Like Peter Parker, he would appear to blend into the background to all but those who know him.

And then there’s this other side of him. The side that only a few know about. The side that gets held in higher-than-high regard among those who chomp down on dubstep plates, who consume music factoids at fast-paced speeds. The side that would appear to “save lives” through the serene sounds of soulful, calm, and altogether inventive dubstep – a bastardized combination of UK hardcore, garage, 2-step, electronica, grime, and just about any other electronic-based genre coming out of London. The side that gets pushed to the pantheon of great artists with a Mercury Prize nomination. The side that gets hunted by the tabloid media. Is it Untrue to think that Will Bevan’s alter-ego, Burial, really isn’t some sort of superhero in the music world?

Part of me wonders what will happen to Will Bevan, Burial and their combined musical output after his decision to unmask himself to the public. Done under such circumstances, when his alter ego was viewed with unheralded mythic-like proportions, its hard to tell what the final outcome will be like. Bands – or more importantly, the individuals behind them – get put on the grandstand, but it’s usually a gradual process that their entire beings are emotionally attached to. Even with the “OK Go effect” – where a former one-hit wonder suddenly storms to unseen popularity with the help of YouTube – involved something of a climb, albeit quite quick rather than gradual. But with Will Bevan, Burial was a mask to hide his individuality behind – and a great one at that. No matter what the music press or fans said, he could always physically and mentally distance himself (to what degree, who knows) from the magnetic image of his creation. What happens now will still be in control, but a situation that will no doubt contain momentous pressure.

With that, I have to call back to my main reference point: emo. As mentioned in various previous posts, emo, as a musical creation, is a genre based on normalcy – anonymity if you will. As Fugazi’s popularity climbed in time with the alternative boom, the band members continued to make the decision to separate themselves from the rock-star status that the media and mainstream were shaping the new punk acts into. The members remained, and continue to remain, your average member of society, a point that they strike home in Instrument, the documentary which showcases Fugazi’s blistering live sets next to images of them relaxing in motels, gassing up, and food shopping in supermarkets while on tour. Their rejection of the mainstream allowed them to stay – at least in their own realm – perfectly normal and did not impede upon their creative zest for powerful post-hardcore. And it worked. That same element, coupled with a general focus on regular issues in life that seem to be shared within the lyrics of most 2nd and 3rd wave emo acts, was carried through to the genre’s current incarnate. It isn’t until one faces the operatic stage-pandering of My Chemical Romance that you realize how emo, in some cases, has been absorbed within the mainstream.

And so, Will Bevan is now faced with the first day of the mainstream’s possibly-fatal attraction. But chances are, he’s mighty aware of the consequences of his actions; the short note he left on the Burial Myspace blog has an air of assuredness that can only come from someone keenly aware of their actions. Bevan made the decision to be anonymous, and he made the decision to open to curtains. Although Bevan and Burial were connected as one in the same by NPR back in May and by The Independent before that, it wasn’t until Bevan did the deed himself that the blogs and press have actually begun to stand in attention. Clearly the power and all in Bevan’s hands. Chances are he’ll know what the best decisions are in his – and Burial’s – life.

Burial – Ghost Hardware (fan video):

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MigURCQQA0]