Father John Misty Rips Radio Industry

Father John Misty's set at the XPoNential Festival on Friday (July 22), where he only played two songs and spent the bulk of his time ranting against the entertainment industry, has, understandably, didn't go down to well with Philadelphia's WXPN, the public radio station that puts on the festival. And now, Misty is taking shots at the radio industry, and insinuating that he and his label have had stations play hardball with him.

Yesterday, WXPN's blog, the Key, didn't so much editorialize on whether what he did was right or wrong, other than to put the word "set" in quotation marks and note that he walked off well before his allotted time was over. Instead, they allowed others to voice their displeasure by collecting some of their favorite tweets that criticized it, including a string by Timothy Showalter of Strand of Oaks.

In response early this morning, Misty went on a multi-tweet rant at the way that upcoming artists have to make connections with radio stations, only to have them eventually leverage their power against them. "The neediness and political pettiness of these stations is unreal," he wrote. "Every band hates it. Tour is grueling but you make time to form bonds. I thought I had capital with @wxpn. I ridiculously thought that though much of the audience might not get it they would bc we have history. Stations I've busted ass for hv threatened in an instant to cut support not only for me but my label if I played a show sponsored by a rival."

From the stage on Friday, Misty, whose real name is Josh Tillman, went on a profanity-laced rant about the dangers of the entertainment industry and the use of irony when there's so much to be worried about in the world. He then played an improvised 10-minute song that touched on all those themes and Leonard Cohen's "Bird on a Wire." Misty later said that his rant had been inspired by watching the Republican National Convention and its “demonic clown pageant coronation of our next potential Idiot King.”

Misty, who said that he didn't accept payment for the festival, took one final shot at the station. "F--- your goofy ass article and enjoy your provincial, vanilla chili cook off niche @wxpnfm."

2016 Summer Music Festival Guide