ONES… Read Full Bio ↴“Try keeping a secret in the age of the diode” (from Circuit Court)
ONES & ZEROS: the building blocks of data in our modern world. Our internet is made of it-our governments in thirst to find out what everyone’s doing with it…
“from the quaintest living room to a huge industrial boom we thank it’s name
…Let’s just hope he’s nice” (from The Best & Brightest)
ONES & ZEROS put to the test. Ultra-Artificial Intelligence out of control? Where’s the rulebook for countries to play by?
Who’s going to have the first one? What will they do with it?
“I never thought my chances of contentment would be determined by a transistor” (from This Is The Future)
ONES & ZEROS inside us all. Making us…”better”. Who wants to improve? Should we all? Will we be made to?
“How much would you take from your very own children…for more life would you spare any cost?” (from Life At Any Cost)
ONES & ZEROS extending life until the decision to join a digital mausoleum…a final “home in the clouds”…
These are various aspects of our future possibly on their way to becoming commonplace. These are the things on the mind of 3RDegree and make up its fifth and first full concept studio album ONES & ZEROS: vol. 1-their first for label 10T Records. All songs offer a unique take on the issues and ethics associated with the rapid progress of technology. Ray Kurzweil & others have been discussing futurism and transhumanism since the 1970s but only now are we seeing it impact our daily lives. Spearheaded by 1990’s-era members California guitarist Patrick Kliesch & New Jersey lead vocalist/keyboardist George Dobbs, the rest of the band shortly pitched in different songs-all closely associated with the overall theme. As with previous albums, both fully-fledged and skeletal ideas were created and passed between band members via the Internet and worked on in the flesh soon after.
ONES & ZEROS: vol. 1 continues to embody the musical direction envisioned by band founders Robert James Pashman & Patrick Kliesch in 1990: to create interesting and engaging music that mixes accessible melodies and catchy hooks with the intelligence and complexity of Progressive Rock. Releasing a debut cassette in THE WORLD IN WHICH WE LIVE in 1993 (w/Pashman on lead vocals), 3RDegree decided to step up their game in 1995, adding a world class lead vocalist in George Dobbs and releasing their first CD (second “album”), 1996’s HUMAN INTEREST STORY, which was re-released digitally in 2013, remastered. After playing many live shows in the New York City area gaining little traction, the band hung it up, leaving much material sitting on the proverbial cutting room floor. Dobbs would continue musical endeavors including solo albums, Pashman and Kliesch would work on projects together and a solo album each apart…but talk of 3RDegree was couched in the past tense until Pashman would make a video collection in 2005, putting together all the band’s music videos and performances onto DVD and basement tapes onto CDs. Discussion of the songs left behind bubbled under throughout that year until the original trio met at a NYC bar where it was agreed upon that the band would record again and later, play reunion concerts at NJ Proghouse in 2007 with original drummer Rob Durham and long time collaborator, guitarist Eric Pseja. 2008 saw the release of NARROW-CASTER (which included the aforementioned songs along with brand new ones) making a big splash in small progressive rock ponds worldwide with the Dutch Progressive Rock Page (DPRP.net) reveling: “It’s not often an album as refreshing as this comes along, and we should treasure it when it does...an album that demands repeated spins, and rewards every listen with some new revelation”. In 2009, drummer Aaron Nobel joined and the band played shows in Brooklyn (w/Phideaux), Connecticut (Marprog), Washington D.C & North Carolina’s ProgDay (w/Ozric Tentacles) later finding themselves working on some tracks with two different themes but with election year coming in 2012, the band decided that their political crop of songs would be particularly timely. THE LONG DIVISION would be released ahead of election day followed by many 2013 mid-year shows performed with IZZ, The Tea Club, Half Past Four, Dreadnaught and others culminating in a return visit to ProgDay ’13’s pre-show-all with new lead guitarist Bryan Zeigler. The album’s single “You’re Fooling Yourselves” made the Top 10 Songs Of The Year at DPRP’s yearly Poll (alongside many, much more “established” bands) and-even now-sits in the Top 10 Albums of 2012 at ProgArchives.com. After two “DIY” album successes, the band nonetheless decided to join forces with 10T Records to open up new ears to the band’s unique take on a loved genre. In early 2014, the band made an appearance at Québec City’s Terra Incognita Festival, w/Glass Hammer-3RDegree’s first show outside the USA.
For 2015, 3RDegree release a new album on a new label and will play a tour that will not only hit the American northeast and Canada, but also the U.K. (England & Wales), Germany, The Netherlands and France. 2016 holds in store a completed second volume of Ones & Zeros as well as additional live performances.
The Gravity
3rdegree Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
These are extraordinary times if only for a few
Why fear it now? the fate we cannot choose
Such awesome power that no one could refuse
Hope, in this undertaking-hope that we will awaken from the dream that urges us along
Hope, to find the solutions-hope, to be more than human in a future tailored for the strong
I am nothing but ones and zeroes and I'm already primed
A post-human god, a post-human god
And you can slowly feel the gravity as we approach a singularity
And maybe, there will be no war and maybe, we'll hunger no more
The body's a hotel for the mind-it's something to be left behind-it's just a temporary shell and thoughts are only energy-they're stored by so much memory-you only need a bigger cell
So overwhelming it defies my unassisted brain
The law of entropy applies-it will not be contained
Why fear it now? -the fate we cannot choose
Such awful power-it's only ours to lose
Hope, in our home in the cloud-hope, we can see the way down through uncanny valleys we must cross
Hope to find the solutions-hope, to be more than human-be forever with our loved ones lost
Surely, we can't escape the gravity of the coming singularity
Long before the dawning of the age of information
Long before the printing press or the Sumerian tablets
Long before the paintings of the cave wall woolly mammoths
and before we made our spears in the hot untamed savannah
We can't escape…
The lyrics of 3rdegree's song "The Gravity" talk about the current times being extraordinary, as we approach the impending singularity. Singularity refers to a hypothetical future event in which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unimaginable changes to human civilization. The lyrics urge us to not fear this fate, as the power is so awesome that no one can refuse it. The hope is that we awaken from the dream that urges us along and find solutions to be more than human in a future tailored for the strong.
The song talks about the body being a temporary shell and thoughts being only energy, that are stored through memory, and one only needs a bigger cell to contain them. The song also refers to a post-human god, implying the possibility of transcending humanity and attaining god-like abilities. The song leaves us with the realization that we can't escape the gravity of the coming singularity, as it defies our unassisted brain and the law of entropy applies.
Line by Line Meaning
Before we start to prophesize about impending doom
It's time to talk about the extraordinary times we live in, but let's not jump to doomsday predictions just yet.
These are extraordinary times if only for a few
We're living in a unique moment of history that only a few generations have ever seen.
Why fear it now? the fate we cannot choose
There's no sense in being afraid of what's to come if we have no control over it.
Such awesome power that no one could refuse
The idea of having so much power is tempting and exciting, but also dangerous.
Hope, in this undertaking-hope that we will awaken from the dream that urges us along
We need to have hope that we can find a way out of this cycle of technological progress.
Hope, to find the solutions-hope, to be more than human in a future tailored for the strong
We need to hope that we can use technology to enhance humanity, not just create a world for the elite.
I am nothing but ones and zeroes and I'm already primed
Our digital selves are already a part of us, and we're ready for what's to come.
A post-human god, a post-human god
The idea of becoming like gods through technology is both alluring and frightening.
And you can slowly feel the gravity as we approach a singularity
As we get closer to the technological singularity, the pull of its power becomes stronger and more evident.
And maybe, there will be no war and maybe, we'll hunger no more
The promise of a better future, where hunger and war are things of the past, is a hopeful one.
The body's a hotel for the mind-it's something to be left behind-it's just a temporary shell and thoughts are only energy-they're stored by so much memory-you only need a bigger cell
Our physical bodies are just temporary vessels for our minds, which could be stored in a more advanced way in the future.
So overwhelming it defies my unassisted brain
The concept of technological singularity is so complex that it's difficult for the human mind to fully comprehend on its own.
The law of entropy applies-it will not be contained
The chaos and unpredictability of the universe will not be fully controlled, even with advanced technology.
Hope, in our home in the cloud-hope, we can see the way down through uncanny valleys we must cross
We need to have hope that we can navigate the challenges that come with creating a future that is largely digital.
Hope to find the solutions-hope, to be more than human-be forever with our loved ones lost
We need to hope that we can use technology to overcome death and preserve the memory of those we have lost.
Surely, we can't escape the gravity of the coming singularity
As we get closer to the singularity, its pull becomes stronger and more inescapable.
Long before the dawning of the age of information
This idea of technological progress has been present throughout human history, even before the internet age.
Long before the printing press or the Sumerian tablets
The human desire to record and share information has been present long before our current era of technology.
Long before the paintings of the cave wall woolly mammoths
Early humans used art to record their world and communicate with each other, a precursor to our digital landscape.
and before we made our spears in the hot untamed savannah
Humans have always been innovative, using technology to survive and thrive in their environments.
We can't escape…
The idea of technological singularity and its implications for humanity are inescapable.
Contributed by Carson Y. Suggest a correction in the comments below.