The Enigma of Tipper and the Mastery of Art

I took a brief break from writing as I was gearing up the energy and resources to make it to Tipper’s last shows at Red Rocks. The weeks following, I had been processing what I had just witnessed. As part of that processing I tried to capture, in writing, everything I have been feeling since those shows. There is really so much to say about it, and yet at the same time nothing can really be said at all. I decided to share anyway for those who might resonate with these ideas, and I thought what better piece to inaugurate the birth of this website with.

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“The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.” -Albert Camus

I have been thinking about how Malcom Gladwell proposed the idea that it takes around 10,000 hours to master any skill. This might be true generally speaking, but Tipper shows us what 50,000 hours looks like, maybe even more.

Its like the multiple degrees of black belts after the first one. To some, attaining black belt is the ultimate goal, a proof of mastery in your respective martial art. But the reality is that the black belt is just the beginning. Mastery is the price of admission, your ticket to ride. Welcome to the show. Tutorial complete. You now have the skills to play the real game. Electronic music production is very similar, even as the barriers to entry get lower and learning is more accessible than ever. It often takes years of learning to even play ball, and if there was a 9th or 10th degree black belt in this art, Dave Tipper would surely be a member of that elite short list. (As would Mr. Bill, which is partly why I think he was such an excellent choice for the last set before Tipper’s finale.)

Tipper created his own world and then became the master of it 10 times over. To see him go out on his own terms, I couldn't help but be filled with an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Gratitude that I got to witness a true master of the craft, someone who pushed themselves past the limits of where anyone had gone before, over and over and over. He is the lone spaceman launching himself into the creative cosmos on a mission of his own making, sacrificing everything to propel forwards in his virtuosic journey.

Tipper notoriously never spoke to his audience from the stage. Yet, the energy I felt as he finished his last set was inspirational and inviting. If he were to speak, I felt he might say “Now it’s your turn.”

There is also significance in how he played his unreleased song “Summer in the City” to close, and how he chose the last day of Summer for his final show. Even though the Summer of his career has ended, its luminous brilliance lit a torch within each one of us who were open to receiving that light. Not just the people who made it to Red Rocks, but everyone who has been inspired by his art to create more art over his decades long career. We all carry that torch with us, and keep the flame lit. We are the initiates of that flame. These are the energetic mechanics of how inspiration passes between us, and Tipper lit a mighty big fire.

Another important aspect of all of this is that his music contains almost no lyrics. He is reaching for a place far beyond language, somewhere that strikes at the very heart of what it means to be alive, far past the symbols and iconography and abstractions of language that feed the Ego and hold us captive from the Eternal Now. 

“What music appeals to in us it is difficult to know; what we do know is that music reaches a zone so deep that madness itself cannot penetrate there.” -Emil Cioran

This is the place that all music should strive to reach; lyrics or no lyrics, it cannot truly be spoken, only experienced. Language is like the finger pointing at the moon.  It can point but it is not the real thing. Stop reading my words… stop looking at the finger…

The Way that can be walked is not the eternal Way.

The name that can be named is not the eternal name.

The nameless is the beginning of Heaven and Earth.

The named is the mother of all things.

-Tao Te Ching Ch 1

Of course there is also Tipper’s infamously enigmatic ? logo in play, which can mean absolutely anything and yet absolutely nothing all at the same time. The ? is almost like a mirror, reflecting the observer’s own projections. And yet upon opening my heart and receiving this gift of deep inspiration I cannot help but have my own ideas of what it means.

A big aspect of the ? to me is destiny. “Ask and ye shall receive.” - but what is your question? Figuring that out is the hard part. How will you know which path to walk? Again, the hard part. For everything you want you already have, everything you want to be you already are. So just ask, and the path will open. But you still must choose to walk it.

The ? also represents the unknown. Faith in the unknown is the key to unlocking the door to your destiny. Fear of the unknown is your greatest barrier to manifesting that destiny. At a certain point of the journey there are very little guides, no more classes, few teachers. You have to trust yourself and trust the process and most importantly TRUST THE UNKNOWN.

When you knock on this door of destiny, there is also a price. An offering must be made. That price, that offering, is your mastery and your hard work. Your ticket is bought with good old fashioned blood, sweat, and tears. You must be this >|dedicated to ride this ride. All of this lies in your faith in the process, and your dedication to it. And on the other side of this door? Freedom.

This might seem overwhelming, but remember you can only take one step at a time. The distance between getting started for the first time and having everything you have ever wanted is the same. One step. Another step. Another step. Focus on the step, and not the fruits or outcome. Finding joy in the steps is the key.

“Therefore, giving up attachment, perform actions as a matter of duty because by working without being attached to the fruits, one attains the Supreme.” -Bhagavad Gita 3.19

This is how cycles are broken. This is how the Supreme is attained. One single step. That's all it takes. If you feel paralyzed because you need to move a mountain - well, have you tried asking it to move?

With one step at a time, we can achieve mastery at all levels of our being in perfect harmony of the physical (Earth), mental (Air), emotional (Water), and spiritual (Fire). This is the alchemical process known as “completing the Great Work.” It is a process of breaking yourself down to rebuild anew. In this reconstruction of the Self, dualities merge to become something greater than each of its halves. 1 + 1 = 3 This is the formula for creation.

Solve Et Coagula. 

Or in the words of another artist who created their own world and mastered it: 

“Burn Something Down to Create It.” - Fire Will Exchange - the Disco Biscuits 

Ill leave it there for now before I get too off track. I am honestly still assembling my thoughts (marble hunting) on the subject and feel like I have already written half a book at this point. Plus, like I said before, there really isnt anything that can be said at all anyway -  this is all just a finger pointing at the moon. Thank you for reading nonetheless.

Before I close my thoughts, I have to give my love to the fans and the scene. Every single person I met over the last dozen or so shows was an absolute gem of a human being, every soul bursting with love and creativity. Something very special had been fostered beneath the banner of the ? - I think it will be a long time before we can process just how special it was.

Thank you to everyone who we met along the way. Thank you Chelsea for bringing me into this madness.

Immersing myself in this music and scene over the past year has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I will carry that ? emblazoned torch with me on my journey forever, as I pass this light forward as much as I possibly can. I learned so many things about myself that I already knew somewhere deep but had lost my focus on. It was a process of remembering. Coming to these realizations has helped me reframe how I process my own existence and creatively repackage it within my participation in the Divine Work.

You might be wondering how it’s possible that all this came out of following a DJ around the country but that is frankly just the magic of it all. All that’s really left to say is thank you Dave.

As for me, Ill be writing.

“The journey of 10,000 miles begins with 1 step.”

-Lao Tzu

See you on the other side.

?☉⎋୭