Grimes or Claire Boucher is an electronic musician originally from Canada who, despite not being on the radio's top 20 hits, has managed to lead an interesting life, interesting enough to capture the attention of music blogs and news outlets around the web. Back in 2009, the musician garnered press for illegally trying to float a self-made houseboat with a friend down the Mississippi to New Orleans, loaded with with chickens, twenty pounds of potatoes, a sewing machine, and a copy of Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn to boot.
But that's not what I'm really here to post about. I wanted to tell the odd tale of the non-relationship relationship Grimes has with Catholicism. Why would I care about what a twenty-something lesser-known musician's view on religion is? Because it's important to understand the perceptions of others and their upbringings if we are ever to begin dialogue with the world at large. That's why. Well, that and the fact that I really enjoy her music a lot, and she tends to write and talk about interesting things on the web. So here goes.
The Vengeful God
One of Grimes number one singles dubbed "Genesis" is accompanied by an otherworldly video that some would consider bizarre, strange, or just downright offensive. But the story behind the production for the music video is what caught my eye. In an interview with the popular music site Pitchfork, she explained:
But that's not what I'm really here to post about. I wanted to tell the odd tale of the non-relationship relationship Grimes has with Catholicism. Why would I care about what a twenty-something lesser-known musician's view on religion is? Because it's important to understand the perceptions of others and their upbringings if we are ever to begin dialogue with the world at large. That's why. Well, that and the fact that I really enjoy her music a lot, and she tends to write and talk about interesting things on the web. So here goes.
The Vengeful God
One of Grimes number one singles dubbed "Genesis" is accompanied by an otherworldly video that some would consider bizarre, strange, or just downright offensive. But the story behind the production for the music video is what caught my eye. In an interview with the popular music site Pitchfork, she explained:
It's loosely based on this painting by my favorite painter, Hieronymus Bosch, called "The Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things". I wanted to play with Medieval/Catholic imagery. I was raised in a Catholic household and went to a Catholic school, and my childhood brain perceived medieval Catholicism as an action movie: There's this crazy omnipresent guy who can destroy you at any moment.
Even today, the fear of a vengeful, world-destroying apocalyptic God is still present among some of the Catholic community. This is a familiar association for many celebrities/musicians/public figures who grew up with a strict religious upbringing or private religious education. God = Fear for far too many and a lot of doors are closed because of that.
Is Religion Only The Sum of Its Parts?
In a later interview with telegraph she talked about producing her acclaimed album Visions :
Is Religion Only The Sum of Its Parts?
In a later interview with telegraph she talked about producing her acclaimed album Visions :
She was inspired by The Hunger Artist by Kafka and Hildegard of Bingen, the Christian mystic, to try fasting to achieve lucidity. Though raised a Catholic, she is not religious but "obsessed with the concept; it's really strange to me, really interesting. I feel like there's something going but I'm not sure what it is. Music is a religion to me and my friends. If you look at the way people behave at shows, icons are now musicians, they are the people that we worship."
Regardless of the fact that many musicians leave the religion of their upbringing, there is no doubt that it has an effect on their lives, whether reactive or proactive. There is strong pull towards a level of pseudo-mysticism in the lives of musicians and this is where the culture of music fills the space where religion formerly was in the heart.
Claire talked about her own experience with The Scotsman:
Claire talked about her own experience with The Scotsman:
“I’m really nostalgic about my previous ability to believe in God,” she tells me. “I’m not a religious person, but apart from now, that was the best time of my life. The world was this fantastic place and God existed. I would go to church and there was Jesus nailed to the cross, people crying, Mary holding her dead baby, and this choir singing. It was such a messed up, powerful thing. I’ve always been attached to that feeling.
The music scene has also, in many cases, adopted the various supposed "religious elements" of organized religion. For the throngs of fans, the music scene has become a religion in and of itself (if religion is only really the sum of its parts). Elements such as powerful positive feelings, the self-searching for meaning in life, the highly relatable bible of song lyrics, and much more become a package that satisfactorily replaces religion for many. And the idol of worship? The very real musician who is loved by her fans and seemingly loves them back.
Don't get me wrong. This isn't entirely bad. Because of the religious movement within music culture, adherents of organized religion such as myself and others are forced to ask important questions about what we believe and what religion really is. We can't simply dismiss it as superficial substitution for the real McCoy. We have to engage it and address it because millions stand by it.
Sex and the Church
In an interview with AnotherMag, Claire talked about her introduction to sex, fantasy fiction, and paganism with the popular title The Mysts of Avalon:
Don't get me wrong. This isn't entirely bad. Because of the religious movement within music culture, adherents of organized religion such as myself and others are forced to ask important questions about what we believe and what religion really is. We can't simply dismiss it as superficial substitution for the real McCoy. We have to engage it and address it because millions stand by it.
Sex and the Church
In an interview with AnotherMag, Claire talked about her introduction to sex, fantasy fiction, and paganism with the popular title The Mysts of Avalon:
When I first read it I was ten or 11-years-old and it shocked me because it was so graphically sexual and violent. At the time I was attending a Catholic elementary school, and it was my introduction to paganism (in other words, the gate-way to my pre-teen ‘witch’ phase and subsequent years of unpopularity). The best part is when Arthur kills a stag, rubs the blood all over himself, and has sex with his sister, Morgan Le Fey (I’m sure it’s a horrible misrepresentation of the Beltane rites). I was disturbed but obsessed because it was so inappropriate and we didn’t have sex-education in my school and I’d never encountered it before
Some Catholics will dismiss the existence of puritanical attitudes in private religious schools. I beg to differ. An extreme, repressed, unbalanced, and overly modest atmosphere in the Catholic education system can be more damaging to a young mind than one thinks. If healthy attitudes about sex and one's body aren't present from day one, a lot of damage can be done. In many cases, it is these attitudes and enforcement that lead to a reactionary break-way from religion. Human beings are like pendulums, pull it back too far in one direction and it's bound to go full force in the other.
If you don't believe this exists, listen to Claire's experience (Spin magazine):
If you don't believe this exists, listen to Claire's experience (Spin magazine):
Were you raised with religion?
I was raised Catholic. I went to Catholic school. That was hugely problematic for me from a very early age. My relationship with my parents — it’s only in the past couple of years that we’ve had any relationship at all.
Did you grow up in a strict home?
Very strict. I spent my teenage years running away from one house to the other house because it was so intense. Not just religious stuff. My dad was super-strict about food. I had to eat these weird protein shakes and he’d make us go on runs in the morning. I had to do ballet for a really long time. It was always working out and being serious about lots of things, really intensely. By the time I hit puberty, I kind of went insane.
In The Scotsman she talked some more about her strict upbringing:
I really liked Catholic school until I hit puberty and we were told being gay is unnatural, don’t use contraception, and sex is bad. It was awful.”
So she had a lot to react against. “Yeah, I was not good with rules,” she says. “I was always in so much trouble.” Was she a rebel or a geek? “I was the bad one,” she says without a pause. “I’ve never not been in trouble. I’m still in trouble. My parents are super pissed with me right now.” Why? “My dad thinks I swear too much on Twitter and that my image is too sexy,” she sighs. “My parents are really conservative and they’re reading all this stuff that they didn’t know about.”
This is not to say that Grimes hasn't had a lack of faith in the existence of a deity, because she has. Rather, overall I think her open discussions about her religious upbringing are an open door for Catholics and religious folks to really ask themselves two questions: What is my religion really about, do I understand it through and through? and is X practice really a part of my religion or is it an unnecessary and psychologically damaging practice derived from an oppressive/abusive culture?"
References
The boating story:
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20120513111144/http://www.startribune.com/local/west/49134952.html?page=1&c=y
General details about Claire Boucher:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes_%28musician%29
Genesis - Pitchfork Interview:
http://pitchfork.com/features/directors-cut/8929-grimes/
Anti-Drug Post:
http://pitchfork.com/news/56354-grimes-writes-anti-drug-note-criticizing-people-who-edit-her-wikipedia-page/
Fantasy Fiction:
http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/1814/musician-grimes-on-fantasy-fiction
Spin Magazine Interview:
http://www.spin.com/2012/12/grimes-interview-2012-big-year/2/
The Scotsman Interview:
http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/interview-claire-boucher-musician-1-2277532
Grimes didn't believe from a young age:
http://www.t-squat.com/grimes-interview-3/
The boating story:
http://wayback.archive.org/web/20120513111144/http://www.startribune.com/local/west/49134952.html?page=1&c=y
General details about Claire Boucher:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grimes_%28musician%29
Genesis - Pitchfork Interview:
http://pitchfork.com/features/directors-cut/8929-grimes/
Anti-Drug Post:
http://pitchfork.com/news/56354-grimes-writes-anti-drug-note-criticizing-people-who-edit-her-wikipedia-page/
Fantasy Fiction:
http://www.anothermag.com/art-photography/1814/musician-grimes-on-fantasy-fiction
Spin Magazine Interview:
http://www.spin.com/2012/12/grimes-interview-2012-big-year/2/
The Scotsman Interview:
http://www.scotsman.com/what-s-on/music/interview-claire-boucher-musician-1-2277532
Grimes didn't believe from a young age:
http://www.t-squat.com/grimes-interview-3/