COTD is about making music where there are no rules, and no one decides or dictates what happens. Leaderlessness. Certainly we're not the first group of people to try this. We're not trying to spread a political philosophy here by the way, just making a few observations, and providing some impressions of how we operate.

The music most directly associated with "anarchy" is punk. Paradoxically, this tends to be quite tightly structured music (occasionally with anarchic elements). The COTD approach is arguably much more "anarchic" from a purely musical point of view. We prefer to patiently work in a non-hierarchical framework towards trying to make something beautiful, rather than making "music to smash things up to". It's worth considering why people who profess anarchistic beliefs, who understandably wish to dissolve power structures and live in a more just and egalitarian world, tend towards what is essentially anger-based music. Something to do with motivation, perhaps - "Anger is an energy!" as John Lydon (née Rotten) sang with PiL. Some of us Droners have a fondness for certain punk bands, but we are drawn towards a non-anger-based approach of trying to cooperatively build (or grow) something better than the structures and systems we don't want around.

Anarchists point out that power structures have an interest in convincing the people that we need those power structures, that without them there would be chaos. It's at least worth questioning these standard assumptions, especially in the light of emerging ideas about self-organizing systems, alternate social models studied by anthropologists, etc. It has been pointed out that the party (not the political kind) is an illustration of a functioning anarchy. A Quaker meeting is another example, as is the idea of Wiki-based media, most famously Wikipedia. These are quite useful illustrations from an anarchist point of view.

Most political anarchists will have experienced people challenging them with questions about all the things that "ought to go wrong" in a world free of power structures. Similarly, people sometimes ask about our collective: What if people clash, or attach themselves to the group unwantedly? This hasn't really happened with us, so it's hard to say. But we would deal with it somehow. What if people get on an ego-trip and try to dominate the music? Again, this hasn't really happened. We all get a bit carried away sometimes, but it's never been a persistent problem.

There is the possibility that conflict may emerge, but we trust that with mutual respect and creative problem-solving, it can be resolved. If the thing falls apart, then so be it. We value tolerance and inclusivity more than the maintaining of some kind of abstract "group identity". Something will no doubt emerge from the wreckage. Everything is impermanent, ultimately.