This mixtape is called Trust

Welcome to Season 3!

A few weeks back I started a playlist that I titled 'Begin/Trust' to start work on my first 2023 mix. It was mainly a label to remind myself what I was working on. Initially the playlist had just been called 'Begin', as I had a fleeting thought of "maybe this will be about beginning the year". I quickly jettisoned that idea. Not due to 'beginnings' being a bad prompt, it just felt a bit forced.

I'm not sure when I added '/Trust' to the title but I do believe it was in response to listening to the first dozen or so episodes of the Traeger Method Podcast. I'm not a super duper podcast guy but when I do find one I tend to go hard in the paint with it. Subject wise this podcast is pure Larson catnip as it's investigating a few specific music scenes (and things adjacent) via conversations with friends who were there. Via this show I have finally been able to wrap my head around the term 'Post Hardcore'. Although like many labels/genres I still the term unhelpful.

Of the many things I love about the podcast perhaps my favorite aspect is (especially in the early episodes) Jason Traeger's intros/outros where he's wrestling with the 'why' of making his podcast. Several of his interviews also touch on how the struggle to create is endless yet also endlessly worthwhile.

Trusting in the process is tough but if you submit to it sure does make things easier.

Trust me.