The Ritual Madness of Rock & Roll: An Inquiry into Aesthetics

Some sacrifice everything for art, but it's not clear what we get in return. What is art, and why can't we live without it? These are the questions gnawing at the back of Keegan Kjeldsen's mind while moving at a breakneck pace through Europe.

Before he was host of the Nietzsche Podcast, Kjeldsen spent a decade touring the United States in doom metal band Destroyer of Light. In 2019, Destroyer of Light ventured to Europe for the first time. Hindered by a punishing tour route, show cancellations, jetlag, injuries, and an irresponsible record label, the band struggled for every successful show. On the heights of exhilaration and disappointment, Kjeldsen wrestles with the philosophical arguments for art's meaning, from Socrates to Nietzsche, from Tolstoy to Barthes.

The Ritual Madness of Rock & Roll is both an honest look at the life of the touring musician and an extended discussion on the origins and functions of art in human life. The lessons here are indispensable for any young musician who wants to prepare themselves for the reality of living in a van for three weeks, or for the inquiring mind seeking to understand what role that art could play in philosophy.