Robert Stark talks to Matt Pegas about his book, The Black Album. The Black Album is a collection of essays and short stories, both fiction and non-fiction. The book deals with themes, including alienation, masculinity, incels, serial killers, spirituality, alchemy, philosophy and aesthetics.
Topics:-the inspiration for the title from Joan Didion’s The White Album and the music trope of color-coded albums-Mass shootings as a metaphysical attack against reality-The context of Matt writing himself into fictional stories-Adapting to writing with time limitations-Matt’s struggles with serial killer OCD and POCD in adolescence-the gnostic component to psychology and mental illness-Jefferey Dahmer and the trope that the weird loner is the most dangerous-the archetype of the Emo-coping with malaise and dissatisfaction with life-transcript of a disturbing correspondence involving an online follower-Matt’s essay, Renaissance of The Ritual-Foundational thinking over Traditionalism-A painting of a failed alchemist and why alchemy is legit-Matt’s experiences with Tarot, transcendental meditation, and esotericism-Matt’s Essay, David Lynch, Bronze Age Pervert, and the possibility of inner freedom-Matt’s thought experiment of a based Marianne Williamson or BAPist version of Steiner schools-Matt’s essay, The Politics of Aesthetics Revisited-The esoteric significance of Las Vegas–Revisiting Alt-Centrism-How Robert and Matt manifested Dime Square in 2018