“Wonk” is a condescending name applied to someone who is studious or hard-working. We often hear it used in US American politics when someone is disparaged as a “policy wonk.” Suss Müsik would think that being conscientious and knowledgeable are fine personal attributes, but what do we know.
When Tina Turner sang The Rolling Stones’ Honky Tonk Woman, she painted a brilliant image of a “gin soaked bar-room” where there is always the danger of being “pull[ed] out of some kind of fight.” We envision a dark, crowded saloon, located somewhere in the American west, teeming with the smell of testosterone and beef jerky.
For this piece, Suss Müsik imagined how a wonky tonk woman (or man) might behave. We asked a female artist/librarian friend to describe what wonky tonk music might sound like. “Computers swearing at each other” was her reply, which we used as a creative springboard.
The piece was composed on two synth emulators run through a Korg Tone Works 411fx processor, a cheesy drum loop, some gnarly guitar feedback, slippery (sloppy) bass, horrid saxophones, fake brass, and a sampled bicycle wheel. We laughed the whole way through it, because the result is so ridiculous.
The piece is titled Gronkytonk. The image is a shot glass.
