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# Matthew Ebel: The Manifesto Of A Voice
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/matthew-ebel-the-manifesto-of-a-voice/
- Published: 2011-05-12T11:28:00.000Z
- Updated: 2011-05-12T11:28:00.000Z
- Description: This guest post is by Matthew Ebel, a piano rocker who tells stories using technology. His music has spread worldwide thanks to podcasting, Second Life, UStream and his own subscription. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2011/05/matthew-ebel-the-manifesto-of-a-voice.html]
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: DIY Advice & Tips, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:55

[![image from a2.twimg.com](http://hypebot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451b36c69e2014e885f51ab970d-150wi "image from a2.twimg.com")](http://a2.twimg.com/profile%5Fimages/1042570299/General-Ebel.png?ref=hypebot.com)

This guest post is by **[Matthew Ebel](http://www.matthewebel.net/?ref=hypebot.com)**, a piano rocker who tells stories using technology. His music has spread worldwide thanks to podcasting, Second Life, UStream and his own [subscription service](http://www.matthewebel.net/?ref=hypebot.com) where he releases new songs and live recordings monthly. He's currently working on an album/novel/comic with artist Genesis Whitmore.I am not a revolutionary. I am only a Voice, just like you.

I did not begin as a Voice, I began as a listener. Like many music fans I spent my childhood plugged into radios, tapes, even an [old 8-track](http://www.8-track-shack.com/ford-motor-company-presents-stereo-for-today-p-59526.html?ref=hypebot.com). I listened to the music that was given to me by those who controlled me: Parents, teachers, preachers, radio stations, and record labels. Back then I thought I had no choice.

I became a pianist because, even at age five, I wanted to become more than just a listener. For twenty years, however, I learned to listen and repeat. Bach, Mozart, Rachmaninov- they were all Voices, not listeners. I learned to mimic them for two decades or more, learning how to be a better Voice, if I ever became one.

Meanwhile those with power used their Voices every day. The message remained consistent: Practice well and someday one of *Us* will let you be a Voice. One of *Us* will anoint you and **make you famous**. *Us* chooses who climbs the charts because we make both the Voices and the charts they climb. You can become one of those Voices eventually, but first you must please *Us*.

**I’ve never been good at pleasing *Us*.**

I listened as best I could to my teachers and professors, earning a degree that made me a **Better Musician™**. Still, I was not a Voice. I worked for a record label that made the music I listened to, but still I was not a Voice. I played with some of those who had been anointed by the record labels in venues anointed by the *Us* of the media. Still, I was not a voice. I thought I’d done everything I was supposed to, just as *Us* had been telling me since I was five.

**Then, in 2005, I met *You*.**

*You*, like me, were taught that you were not a Voice unless *Us* decided you were. *You* listened and listened until finally *You* grew tired of the Voices that *Us* fed you. Like me, *You* saw technology as a way to reach more of *You*. Like me, *You* no longer wanted to wait for *Us* to make you happy. You learned that *You* were everywhere.

**I did not find *You*, *You* found me.** *You* anointed me because *You* made yourself into a Voice. *You* created podcasts and internet radio shows, *You* invited me to become a Voice along with *You*. *You* lived in virtual worlds when the world of *Us* did not suit you. *Us* taught me to understand and mimic the Voices, but *You* finally made me one.

Now *Us* is not pleased. Fewer of *You* listen to their Voices, but still *Us* fights to maintain control of *You*. *Us* will tell you that the Voices you choose- even your own – are the “[**Cult of the Amateur**](http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0385520816/ref=as%5Fli%5Fss%5Ftl?ie=UTF8&tag=matthewcom0e-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=0385520816&ref=hypebot.com)“. *Us* will tell you that only through their Voices will anyone else listen. A band is “**just an indie**” until *Us* makes them “**legit**” or “**famous**“. A show is “**just a podcast**” until *Us* broadcasts it with an hour of advertisements to weigh it down. An idea is “**just a blog post**” until *Us* prints it on dead trees.

*Us* wants you to listen quietly, but **no one can stop a Voice**. *Us* needs *You*.

We cannot destroy *Us* – we must not. *Us* is our past and our foundation. Like King David, *Us* is an example of both good and evil. We must learn from *Us* even as we free ourselves from its control. **We do not fight to silence any Voice, we create them.** We transform listeners into new Voices even as we teach old Voices how to listen.

*Us* taught me to listen, *You* made me a Voice. **We must not stop fighting until all become listeners and Voices.**