Let's say I wrote a song about being raped by a Polish man who had 3 arms, a glass eye, and had a half mustache, while it was raining and it was the Fourth of July in Mexico City. If anyone was offended by the song, I would have to ask them if the same thing happened to them to provoke their being offended. If it did happen to them, I would buy them a steak.

This is how the songwriting process works.

What I'm getting at is that in the times that we live it, it is almost impossible to write a song that panders to the interests of one specific group of people. It's not just for songs, either: art, drawing, filmmaking, sculpture- all those who work in these mediums require an audience for the art itself to thrive.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing: bands and artists like Ween, They Might Be Giants, and The White Stripes know exactly who will buy their albums and who will come to their shows. But when a band or writer gets accosted by a group of people (let's say feminists as a hypothetical example) and is told that he doesn't write songs from a female point of view or doesn't write songs about women at all, and is told that that is a sexist act, it becomes difficult for someone to write a song now that he has limitations.

So why do I write about both genders?

Because I am bi, and I find that writing from both points of view helps my songwriting immensely: meaning that both worlds are open up for me.

THE POINT I AM TRYING TO MAKE IS that artists in general should never listen to someone who is trying to tell them how to work in the medium they profit from and enjoy, and you should never pander to one group of people just because others feel that you leave them out. You should do exactly whatever the hell you want just like I continue to do with my music.

In other words, no, Birdstain isn't done with.

-AL