The text for "Good Conduct" was inspired by 19th-century etiquette manuals. I am fascinated by the tension between the sedate refinement that these manuals aspire to and their bossy, domineering tone. Reading the text through the megaphone makes that tension even more pronounced, as that medium lends an abrasive surface to even the most bland statements. The etiquette rules I wrote for the piece begin in the realm of the believable but become increasingly surreal, confronting the impossibility of maintaining our composure in the face of our own mortality. – Nick Lantz