I consider myself a huge Blue October and Furstenfeld fan. Having seen them a few times (through good and bad) I believe the talent is strong, the management is awful and Furstenfeld as leader, is too shaky for longevity.
Justin is embarking on an acoustic book tour chronicling his mental health and all I can ask is why? To serve up his songs with vignettes of personal imbalance is not healing to the audience and is self serving to the artist. As a strong advocate for mental health awareness Furstenfeld needs to stop pulling the sympathy card. Using his 'celebrity' in such a way has become tiresome. We know your 'solar bi polar panic disorder' we know you got done wrong as a dad in your fathers rights crusade and we know your ex wife wasn't nice and we know you adore your daughter more than life itself.
Then live for her. Paint a positive and strong picture for Blue so her soon to be classmates don't say.. 'isn't that the girl with the dad who…', its time to lead by example, and to be discreet with your weaknesses. Yeah, it sucks but its not all about you anymore.
Pollstar did a press junket promo interview that I feel compelled to rip off a bit. Its time to work on music instead of becoming a talking head for instability. We fell in love with Blue October but honestly, its time to shift the focus from you to your music. Its as if Furstenfeld invited us to a party only to sell us life insurance.
Heres a snip of it
If we were to ask someone who has been with you these last few years about the biggest change in your life, what do you think that person would say?
He loves himself. The last 10 months I’ve been able to understand what’s important. And that’s not me. I’m not the only thing in this world. I’m not the only thing that’s going on. There are other people around me. Because of that and because of things I can admit that I’ve done wrong and because of the amends I can make and because of the fact that I don’t have to live my life by dragging this ship. I have a higher power who runs this ship. The fact that I can actually sit back and go, “You’re a good person, Justin. Stop giving yourself such a fucking hard time. Stop being so over dramatic about everything that goes on in your life. Everybody’s got problems, bro.” The fact that I can notice that and recognize that makes me love myself. That might sound odd, but I like being able to like myself. So my kids can see that in my eyes instead of self-hatred.
You’ve done some acting. When Hollywood does your life story, who do you think should portray you?
Giovanni Ribisi. He was in “Contraband” with Mark Wahlberg. He was in that movie with Nic Cage who steals all the cars with Angelina Jolie – “Gone In 60 Seconds.” And he’s the little brother who’s always in trouble, who’s always fucking up. Check out the guy from “Contraband.” He’s the bad guy, a drug-dealer guy. He’s got a sweet soul but there’s something I like about him, you just wouldn’t want to fuck with. He just might pop any second.
In the infamous words of me…….shut up and sing.