Oh, hello!
I’m Pierce Dowell and this is Overdubbed, an attempt to promote seeking deeper connections with the media we consume.
The why
After having spent more of my life chronically online than I haven’t—nearly two decades frying my brain with social media, short-form content, algorithmic everything, and plenty of other mindless sludge that has weaponized my primal brain circuitry against me—all I’ve been left with is a desperate craving for any semblance of a deeper connection with the media I consume, which I’ve figured out how to achieve by asking the following questions:
What is it about this work that captivates me? Is it a feeling? The time when I discovered it? Who showed it to me? Who I’ve since shared it with? How have these elements worked to create a personal narrative with the work?
What inspired those songs, films, and books? What works similarly compelled the artist and what are their stories?
How do these inspirations overlap with other artists and works? What key sources can be traced back to? Just how big does the web of influence get?
The how
Armed with a roadmap, I’m treating this site as a ‘living multimedia mixtape’—a catalog of works both new and old that I think deserve more attention.
I plan to do this in a few ways:
Artist deep dives: Reviewing history, commentary, interviews, and more to make sense of what makes them “them”, to craft what is essentially a study guide to better understand that artist.
Reviews: A more traditional approach to highlighting things of note as I discover them.
Retrospectives: Personal reflections on an artist, album, or era that has profoundly impacted me in some way.
I hope that through this, I can put you onto something you wouldn’t have found otherwise. Because in a sea of increasingly stale and disappointing algorithmic recommendations, ever fleeting surface-level experiences, and a “more is always better” mentality, it’s more important now than ever to slow down and be deliberate with what we consume, and to then better celebrate what we truly enjoy.
Stay in the loop
The nature of the pieces I like to write and the depth that is often required to craft them means that I publish more sporadically than not, and as to not crowd your inbox, not all of what I publish is sent out by email immediately.
I do however send out a newsletter on the first Friday of every month with a list of music and reading recommendations, and other links I think are worth your time, plus a recap of anything else I published the previous month.
How to help
Years spent playing in bands instilled in me a strong DIY work ethic, so paid promotion, ads, and sponsorships don’t mesh well with my principles. I am currently unable to offer a paid option of support because I don’t feel I can offer enough value or consistency with additional content just yet.
If you find value in my work and feel compelled to help, please consider sharing my work with someone else you think would also find value from it. It would be appreciated far more than I can reasonably express to you here.
