COSMICK VIEW: Hello, Mark! Welcome to The Cosmick View. Thank you for taking some time out of your day to chat with me, it's greatly appreciated.
Mark Mangold: Thanks Mick.
CV: Mark, in your opinion, how powerful is music? Can it create change?
Mark: A very good question and one that I think about, and wonder if other people do as well, as a number of these songs do have messages…even may be considered “protest”…in the old school sense. No one talks about that much anymore but music used to be an important release and, at least when I was growing up, spread messages and said things that made people think, reconsider, question things… maybe even enlightened people. I certainly hope it can and I do think that in the past it has…but we still can see how quickly things can unravel…and we need to start all over again. I would never give up trying…and, given the options, it IS a very peaceful and benevolent way to express views and try to create change.
CV: Should artists be responsible to assist with ushering in change or even to “educate" their audiences on social, political and economic issues? Or can it be a conflict of interest…could it be looked at as more of a personal agenda based on the artist's own beliefs and desire to use their celebrity status to gain supporters and create awareness not only for their causes and pet peeves, but for their careers as well?