A Tribute?

Jon Whitney used to think I was a woman. Funny that, last time I checked I was most certainly a man. Anyways, I won't go any further with that except to say that I'm guilty of being a mysterious chap. When I first got wind that Brainwashed would be celebrating a birthday, a broad smile hit me right across the face. Four years...whoah. Four years of ass-kicking bands, brilliant no-nonsense design and a sense of humour that could only belong to our dear Jon boy.

I got my first taste of the Brain several years ago when first hunting for information on Meat Beat Manifesto, one of my all time favorite bands. It was during this search that I came across the offcial MBM web site, one of several hiding nicely under the Brainwashed umbrella at the time. Over time I would return to that web site as well as many of the other Brainwashed sites countless times. As a research tool, as a source of entertainment and as a direct-line to the heart of its creator, Brainwashed was and is second to none.

Over time, I got to know the man behind the sites thanks to our mutual admiration for Brainwashed artists such as Coil, the Legendary Pink Dots, Abba and the afformentioned Meat Beat Manifesto. I am honoured to have been able to watch Brainwashed grow from from a small, grassroots effort into the multi-national corporation that it is today.

Okay, maybe I'm abusing my artistic license as a writer but you have to give mad props to a project that has encompassed a label, multiple artist web sites, a weekly zine, an informatiom archive and more. Even certain violently highbrow intellects at certain avant-music magazines havce even recognised it and given Jon Whitney his well deserved props.

The future for Brainwashed? In the end, I think only Jon really knows. Already hosating web sites for such cutting-edge artists as Kid606, Labradford, Diamanda Galas and Panacea, the sky is indeed the limit for the Brainwashed empire and its treasure trove of information.

As an artist and as a journalist, I hae always thought that if you can affect someone with your craft or with the gift of knowledge, then you've made the ultimate contribution to existance. Jon Whitney and Brainwashed have done that a million times over, each person logging on infected and enlightened by a unique cultural virus.

So here's to another four years of teenage lightning and storming the studio. Keep up the good work Jon boy.

Somewhere over the ocean and high in the air.