It's generally accepted that industry awards, Halls of Fame, and other mediums of strained and staged appreciation are kind of an American thing. Throughout Europe and other places in the world, the concept is somewhat curious, as if to say, "Why consciously create a mechanism for patting yourself on the back?" This may be why Mastodon's Brann Dailor has decided to weigh in on the subject in a new interview with Ultimate Guitar.
“You know, it’s like when you win an award, you’re like, ‘yeah!’ but when you don’t win, you’re like, ‘I don’t care. I don’t do this for awards.’ And you never [do it] for awards. I think it’s kind of weird," Dailor said. "I guess I appreciate it to one extent because you want validation for all the hard work you put into your art, but on another hand, I think it may be forced. Like, suddenly someone somewhere decided to start giving out awards and suddenly you want one. They aren’t really that compatible because they’re all subject to tastes and popularity and people’s idea of what good art is. It’s all subjective.
“It’s kind of silly to give awards because it usually comes down to being a popularity contest, which isn’t very indicative of art. Art should just be created by people and displayed if they want to, for people to check it out. Maybe it makes people feel a certain way, is it evocative, is it inspirational, does it make you feel good, is there something visceral about it, are you able to comprehend and understand what the artist is trying to say with their work, and is that even important to you? Do you give a shit? Is it a conversation starter? Does it form relationships? Does it get things moving in the right direction? Does it create common bonds? Is it a part of tribalism?
"So I don’t know that you can put awards on what art is meant to do. But hey… I’ll take a Grammy, that’s cool.”
Shoot, while we're at it, I think I'll take a Grammy, too! Mastodon will be back out on the road this fall in support of Ghost and additional guest Spiritbox. You can check out those dates below.
8/26 – San Diego, CA – Pechanga Arena San Diego [Tickets]
8/27 – Tucson, AZ – Tucson Convention Center Arena [Tickets]
8/30 – Austin, TX – Moody Center [Tickets]
8/31 – Corpus Christi, TX – American Bank Center Arena [Tickets]
9/2 – Huntsville, AL – Von Braun Center's Propst Arena [Tickets]
9/3 – Duluth, GA – Gas South Arena [Tickets]
9/4 – Asheville, NC – ExploreAsheville.com Arena [Tickets]
9/6 – Tampa, FL – Yuengling Arena [Tickets]
9/8 – Danville, VA – Blue Ridge Rock Fest (no Mastodon) [Tickets]
9/9 – Trenton, NJ – CURE Insurance Arena [Tickets]
9/10 – Belmont Park, NY – UBS Arena [Tickets]
9/12 – Providence, RI – Dunkin Donuts Center [Tickets]
9/13 – Bangor, ME – Cross Insurance Center [Tickets]
9/15 – Quebec City, QC – Videotron Centre [Tickets]
9/16 – Laval, QC – Place Bell [Tickets]
9/17 – Toronto, ON – Coca Cola Coliseum [Tickets]
9/19 – Saginaw, MI – Dow Event Center [Tickets]
9/20 – Youngstown, OH – Covelli Centre [Tickets]
9/21 – Peoria, IL – Peoria Civic Center Arena [Tickets]
9/23 – Green Bay, WI – Resch Center (w/ Carcass, no Mastodon) [Tickets]
