Reasons to be Cheerful promises to be an ongoing editorial project that will grow and evolve over time. “We hope to balance out some of the amplified negativity and show that things might not be as bad as we think,” his statement continues.

Singer-songwriter David Byrne is a wholly separate entity from R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe, but today the former Talking Heads progenitor has launched a project with the goal of making humanity shiner and happier.

David Byrne came to South By Southwest on Wednesday (March 13) to talk about his Reasons To Be Cheerful project and, in the evening, to screen and answer questions about his 1986 film True Stories. But a little musical discussion was probably inevitable during his 55-minute early afternoon keynote session.