SECULAR ERA & DREXL BOWIE
Q: What was the inspiration behind this song, or what compelled you to write this particular story?
The original inspiration comes from my desire to write a concept album about the dark side of humanity. With this in mind, I felt that societal collapse was a must in terms of theme, so naturally I made sure to discuss that. As the process went on, though, my anger and frustration regarding climate change began to seep through and that became the main idea behind the track. My hopelessness and desire for change eventually compelled me to combine the two concepts, climate change and societal collapse, as at this point they’re very closely related in my mind.
Q: The words of “While Nero Played” appear to draw parallels between the fall of Rome and the modern world. How did this historical metaphor come to be the linchpin for the song?
While I was brainstorming and researching societal collapses, the images that kept coming to mind were those depicting the Fire of Rome, which I find extremely interesting for many reasons. For one thing, the art of such is visually striking. Another reason is that Ancient Rome is perhaps the most famous example of a grand civilization crumbling into nothing, and, while the fall came long after Nero’s reign, the Fire is the most common image I see used to visualize it. The parallels between the Roman Empire and modern America are not an original observation, yet I felt using them would not only attract listeners (as there is definitely an excitement among many people—men especially—regarding Rome), but could convey messages that might go unnoticed when discussing a less known civilization. In addition to all that, I found the symbolism of such apathy in the face of imminent destruction to be too profound not to use. Playing the fiddle while the world burns is, in many ways, what we’re doing as a species at this very moment, and the ironic part is that I don’t think we, like Nero, appreciate the magnitude of the situation.
Q: You have used quite vivid and apocalyptic images in the lyrics-the sky gets poisoned, and fire rains from above. Can you explain in what way those images carry that message you wanted to send through it regarding society?
Those images have several different layers of meaning I’m looking to convey. The most obvious is that they’re carrying an environmentalist message, looking to invoke extreme weather events like wildfires as well as poisonings such as the train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio that released toxic chemicals into the area. This is to convey that we as a society are already experiencing these things and allowing them to happen anyway; that these events are not from a distant future. Another layer is meant to suggest continued war, the fire being bombs and the poison being the ash and pollutants from the explosions. How can we hope to mitigate climate disaster, when we as a people continue to commit disaster after disaster upon ourselves? Upon others? Finally, these images can be seen as an expression of the anger and discontent that not only society feels, but I myself feel. It’s figurative fire and figurative poisoning, the idea being that our rage sometimes leads to a loss of perspective, a dehumanization of ourselves and others. In the same vein as Nietzche’s aphorism: “He who fights with monsters should be careful lest he thereby become a monster. And if thou gaze long into an abyss, the abyss will also gaze into thee.
Q: This song repeats the phrase “We have numbered days.” Is this idea of numbered days literal or figurative-a countdown to a disaster, so to speak?
I meant it as more literal in terms of the climate crisis growing to a point of no return, though it can be seen as figurative, since the line of disasters are seemingly endless anymore. It can be interpreted as a countdown toward the next atrocity for certain. The next bombing. The next school shooting. The next war. Etcetera.
Q: There’s an overriding environmental theme throughout the lyrics, from “ash” to “oceans rising.” How much does climate change and environmental devastation play a part in your work?
Other than in “While Nero Played,” those concepts have not really found home as much as they should in my work. I allude to them in several songs and short stories I’ve written, though with my coming album being about the dark side of humanity in general, I felt I shouldn’t dwell on those topics too much, out of fear of being redundant.
Q: The song says, “No amount of knowledge known can keep this race from killing home.” Do you think that as far as salving the planet is concerned, humanity has passed the point of no return?
Unfortunately, yes, at least when it comes to our species having a secure place within it. Even leaving out the rise of facism and authoritarianism across the world, all the exploitation, the genocides, and the endless wars, the future seems beyond bleak due to our unwillingness to fight climate change. We’re already seeing it rear its head with all kinds of extreme weather events: the wildfires, the floods, the record setting heat, the increase in the strength of hurricanes and such. This is only going to get worse and will be exacerbated by a number of other factors. Ecosystems are going to collapse. Water is going to become more and more scarce and wars will start over it. The melting of the polar ice caps will raise the tides and put coasts under water. Entire regions will become unlivable due to the unfathomable heat and the destruction of resources, which will cause migration crises like we’ve never seen before, sewing only more discontent among the racists and haters of immigrants. At this point, the data is clear and we really are past a point of no return. I don’t see how we can have a hope to survive even a few more centuries when rather than attempting to combat this meaningfully, we throw billions and billions of dollars a year into war, which is one of the driving factors behind climate change: the emissions set loose by our military and the relentless bombings. No, as much as it hurts to say and believe, I don’t think humanity is capable at this point of saving itself. All I foresee is a worsening climate catastrophe that will drive us into further wars, further madness. We do not learn, or at least not fast enough to meet this moment sufficiently.
Q: The image of Nero playing while Rome was burning is just such a fraught image. Do you think that we, as a society, are similarly distracted or unmoved by crises?
I think our apathy and distracted nature is obvious to anyone paying attention. Not to mention the climate crisis, we as a country aren’t even able to step up to stop school shootings. How long ago was Sandy Hook? We’ve allowed our own children to be slaughtered for how many years now without taking meaningful action? Just look at the genocide Israel is carrying out against Palestine with our weapons, our tax dollars. It’s been over a year of seeing the most horrifying acts being carried out daily, our money being used to butcher and ethnic cleanse innocent men, women, children in the Middle East. Sure there have been many, many protests, and many of them have been violently put down, but would a truly moral country have allowed this madness to carry on in our name for this long? The answer is no, and most of us don’t know, don’t care. The list goes on and on. We’re sedated by sports, social media, television, and such. We embody the “give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt” idea. Most of us care not, as long as we have food, entertainment, and comfort.
Q: What do you want the listeners to hear from “While Nero Played”? Do you want to raise awareness, or maybe provoke the thoughts of people, or just voice frustration?
Really all three of those. I want to raise awareness in the hope that we can at least mitigate the damage that we’re doing in some way. I want to provoke people’s thoughts so that they wake up from their apathetic nature and stand up for a better world. Yet I would be lying to say that there is no sense of personal frustration within the song. It is not the sole or even the main reason for my writing, though the element is apparent nonetheless.
Q: You said the stars, once bright but now dimming, in that song. Is that a loss of hope or more about consequences of our actions?
Both. It’s putting my own loss of hope out there while also warning of the consequences that are beginning to shine through, pointing out that the bright future we all should want is receding before us faster than most of us realize.
Q: How much of your worldview makes its way into these lyrics of “While Nero Played”? Are there themes you are pretty preoccupied with when it comes to your own life?
My worldview is deep within these lyrics. In some of my songs such as “Men of War,” I’ll take on the role of a “character” in order to evoke the desired emotions and ponderings within the listener. However, that is not at all the case with “While Nero Played.” While I do find enjoyment in life and am grateful for all that’s good in it, I find myself often preoccupied with horrors that I cannot in good conscience ignore. Climate change is obviously a huge one. Yet then there’s also the rise of facism and authoritarianism. There’s the genocide in Palestine being carried out with our tax dollars. School shootings and the continuous wars. All of these are things I worry about on almost a daily basis. That’s not healthy, I know, but the alternative would be to turn my back and to turn off my mind, and I find that unacceptable. Part of the way I deal with these things is writing about them, which is one of the many reasons why they find their way into my work.
Q: Outside of “While Nero Played,” have you worked with any other projects or songs dealing with the same ideas-a collapse of society and reflection upon one’s existence?
The only other song that can be seen as dealing with societal collapse would be “Men of War,” which is a condemnation of imperialism and a commentary on the genocide of the Native Americans in particular. As far as reflection upon existence goes, I would say that my coming album fits that bill and people will be able to listen to that on November 1st of this year, “While Nero Played” being the title track. The record is a reflection not upon existence as a whole, but the darker nature of existence. It’s an examination of humanity’s shadow, of the aspects most people ignore and thereby become more susceptible to. Perhaps my favorite single from the album is “A Night Nameless and Eternal,” which puts forth my musings on death. At points in this song, I ponder the nature of existence in the sense of its purpose, its meaningfulness, and whether or not it’s futile in the end. I’ve also begun to record a few songs for 2025, one of which deals with the concepts of fate and free will, and another that presents my own feelings and/or fears as an artist, specifically the ideas of being misunderstood or being disregarded as some mere “jester.”
Q: When you write, do you generally start with a concept for lyrics first, or does the music come before the message?
I always start with the concept first and find that to be the most essential aspect of my writing process. I don’t typically begin lyrics until I’ve recorded a guitar demo, but the concept is key in constructing the mood I want for the instrumental. As an artist, I use my work to explore ideas that I find profound or of dire importance, so that always comes before the music. I may make bullet points of things I want to cover or I may just see where the muse leads me, though I always have some key concept going into every track.
Q: How does your collaboration with Secular Era work in terms of songwriting? Is there a specific dynamic or process when you’re creating songs together?
Before proceeding with the question, I feel I should give some more detail on our name/relationship, as it is confusing and a weird story. Typically we as a band just go by “Secular Era.” I’ve been the guitarist for Era for around a decade, but I wrote a concept album (“Nero”) that was extremely personal to me, so I wanted to perform most of it myself. This is where the “& Drexl Bowie” (me) comes in. With the project being as personal as it is, I wanted to have my name on it and begin another journey where I can express myself more freely. Yet at the same time, I wanted my band mates to have some hand in the recording and I didn’t want them to feel like I was trying to leave. With this in mind, and with their recording the bass and drums for the record, I felt it would work best to credit us both. Hence, “Secular Era & Drexl Bowie.”
When it comes to our writing process and collaborating, it really depends on the song or record. For my upcoming album, I wrote and performed both the vocals and the guitar, while giving Mike Sullivan (Era’s singer) reign on the bass and his brother on the drums once I’d mapped everything out. With some of our songs, I’ll write a guitar demo with some lyric ideas and Mike will go in his own direction with them. Other songs Mike will write everything from the lyrics to the guitar, bass, and synth. Sometimes one of us will come up with a riff and we’ll jam to see where it goes. Other times we’ll both write each piece meticulously together. There’s not a set dynamic at all when we operate outside of my own work.
Q: What are some of the challenges in writing such heavy, sometimes existential themes into lyrics? Do you ever feel that it may be difficult to convey those ideas in a way that actually resonates with listeners?
It most definitely is difficult and I’m not entirely sure I’ve been as successful at it as I’d like to be. How I convey my ideas takes up a great deal of my focus when I write lyrics, which is part of why I’m slow moving with my work. That’s one of the many challenges that comes with these types of songs, though often the hardest aspect is coming to terms with these themes in the first place. Acknowledging their existence and learning the lessons that come with them. It can be quite emotionally exhausting at times. Yet it’s also difficult to convey specific messages without evoking the wrong feelings within certain people. As many others have pointed out, there is indeed a lack of media literacy throughout this country, and it’s a fear of mine that people will take some of my songs for celebrations when in reality they’re warnings or cautionary tales. I refer to it in my mind as the “Starship Troopers effect” or “Rorschach effect,” the idea being that awful people are going to love awful things, regardless of how obvious their flaws are portrayed. The satire or commentary could be as subtle as a plane crash and still there will be those who either cannot understand or will refuse to. At some point all of this goes out of my control, but it is a challenge that occupies much of my thought, nonetheless.
Q: Have you gotten any reaction from the fans or listeners of “While Nero Played” that surprised you, especially as it relates to the lyrics?
I’ve been surprised that there hasn’t been any blowback on my lyrics so far, considering how rageful and evocative they are. With “Nero,” “Master Morality,” and especially “Men of War,” I figured there would be at least some angry reactions or people attempting to discredit the themes I’ve presented, yet I’m happy to say that reactions have been positive and people seem to get it so far.
Q: And are there influences from literature or any kind of philosophy that inspire the lyrics of your music? It sounds like this song draws on some historical and philosophical ideas.
Absolutely. In addition to being a musician, I’m also an author and have a degree in English, so I’m a huge fan of philosophy and literary fiction. The biggest influences I’ve had in terms of subject matter stem from philosophers like Nietzsche and Schopenhauer, as well as the director Stanley Kubrick and author Cormac McCarthy. Others I’ve taken a great deal of inspiration from include people like Toni Morrison, William Faulkner, Chinua Achebe, Bertrand Russell, James Baldwin, and George Orwell, among others. I also find a great deal of interest in history, religion, and political theory, which certainly make their way into my words as well. When it comes to history, I read into aspects of our past that most would ignore or deny completely. Topics such as propaganda and genocide. As awful as this always is, I do it because I don’t want to make mistakes of the past that have continued to plague us as a society, which is a large part of why I discuss them in my work so thoroughly.
Q: Do you think this is a story for a certain time, or are its themes more universal than temporary?
I believe this song is a perfect fit thematically for this age, though I do see it as universal as well. Even if we’re leaving out the messages regarding climate change, civilizations rise and fall and something new takes its place, whether it’s violently or otherwise. We’ve seen it time and time again as a species, from the fall of Ancient Greece, to Carthage, to Rome, to the Aztecs, and everywhere across the Earth. The decay of society is not a new phenomenon. It’s been part of the human experience for as long as we can remember. I just feel the collapse we’re about to experience will be like nothing we could’ve ever imagined.
Q: As far as you are concerned, how would you define success as an artist in writing such depth and controversial messages into a song?
I define success as opening new perspectives within listeners and giving them a transformative experience. I define it as confronting them with harsh facts in a manner that gets them curious to learn more and to make some sort of stand against the evils of mind that have haunted us. I want to give them, to repeat myself, the transformative experience that I have whenever I complete some challenging piece of art. The pieces that I most appreciate, whether it’s in literature, film, or philosophy, are those that challenge me. That shine a new light on what it means to be human and therefore gives me the opportunity to appreciate my own existence, and the existence of others, that much more. I want to instill in them the same excitement, the same thrill of discovery that I gain when I learn from art, as well as the desire to grow and better the societies we live in.
Q: What is the future with songwriting, and is there any other theme or story you’d want to take on now that “While Nero Played” is done?
I’ve already written four songs for next year and am currently in the stages of tracking drums for them. For the future, due to budgeting reasons, I look to release only four to five songs of my own a year, rather than the twelve that are on the album. Despite this, there will certainly be more coming from Secular Era in conjunction with them, so our fans need not fear a lack of music on the horizon. The themes I’ve taken on currently are those of addiction and fate/free will, as well as my fears as an artist and the growing distaste of humanity amongst many (including myself). For Secular Era, I’ve also written a song that deals with the cyclical nature of suffering: how when enough of it is inflicted, it circles back around and creates the circumstances for future violence. Other themes I’ve not gotten to but am interested in include reproductive rights, propaganda, fascism and authoritarianism, homelessness, wealth inequality, the military-industrial complex, and our abysmal education system, among others.
