[Hump Day Diversion] Jugga-life

Music is amazing, it brings people together and inspires community in a way almost nothing else can. I’m often reminded of a little pull-out quote from an article in Paste Magazine (from back when they were still a print entity) about Belle and Sebastian‘s Stuart Murdoch that reads: “When Murdoch started Belle and Sebastian, he wrote songs for daydreamers and eccentrics, the sort of music fans who’d do anything for human connection, the sort of fans who needed a voice on the radio to make them feel like they weren’t alone.”

And isn’t that what music is really all about? Feeling less alone in your experiences as you sing along in the car, wave your Iphone Zippo App in the sell-out crowd, post obsessively on Bonnaroo rumors message board threads, or regularly read a music blog like this one right here?

True music fans take their shit mad serious and the followings that have grown up around certain bands are beyond die-hard, not to mention the entire subcultures that have been spawned by a genre’s emergence on the musical landscape.

And so, dear readers – we take our first plunge into our diversion series of explorations into the Cult Of Musicality with the nearly inexplicable fandom that is the followers of Insane Clown Posse (or ICP for you Juggalos and Juggalettes out there). What is a Juggalo/lette you ask? Well, as one self-identifying Juggalette named “Maniac” puts it, the term may be defined as someone who is “down with the clown ’till they’re dead in the ground” — and that’s true fandom, friends.

Now I’m not going to pretend that there is better investigative reporting on the Jugga-lifestyle than the following presented by 59-year old Ray Mead as he goes deep into the annual Gathering of “The Family” and you can check that out from a safe distance below…

However, if you’ve got the time (and the stomach for it) you can watch this 23 minute documentary film on what it means to be An American Juggalo…

Or if you want to get right to the source and spend some time with the band themselves… you can watch them watch Carly Rae Jepson’s video for “Call Me Maybe” in a little MST3000 style…

If you’re inspired now and want to join your clown-brethren… here is ICP’s official guide to The Gathering…

After catching a glimpse of the Dark Carnival, perhaps you’re in the mood for a little romance… you can head on over to this incredible Tumblr featuring the Juggalos of OKCupid and find your Juggalifemate (“because Juggalos need love, too”).

And finally, let’s get spiritual. Pop open some Faygo and ponder the mystical mystery that are magnets. Feeling diverted, yet?