Friday, June 29, 2012

Fearless Creativity


Imitation is flattery.  But that’s all it is.  It’s not inventive or eye opening or explorative. I believe that when bands aspire for a certain sound that’s all that results in the end, imitation.   What is exciting about being in a band or a part of a musical production is the possibility of creating something that is totally unique without trying.  What I mean is don’t be scared to let any and all ideas flow out of your brain, into your hands, and onto the recorder.   I see it all the time.  Bands limit themselves to certain instruments and sounds because their self-image is already married to a specific genre.  Get divorced, or at least separated.  Date some new genres.  Hell invent some.  Post Grunge Metal Core Folkdisco chips is calling your name.
 
The reason the Beatles were so great is because they were on the cutting edge of technology at the time, pushing for new sounds and rebelling against recording industry standards.  I feel like a lot of times we are all scared to defy the “laws” of music/recording that we all hold to be true in our heads.  In a sense it is out of respect for those who came before us. If we really want to honor the greats we should push for new sounds and ideas.  That’s what they did!  I’m not saying force out some weird sounds purposely just to be different.  We have all heard that crap.  Genre: experimental.  But yeah, what the hell, throw that accordion solo on your new wave song.  It might sound cool.  And hipsters like that stuff, and they must be appeased.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Vocal. Is. King


The vocal is everything.  This may seem obvious to most music listeners, but I feel like after recording bands for the past 8 years it is often the most overlooked part by musicians themselves.  Myself not excluded (I am a slow learner). The vocal is the connection to the listener.  It needs to be felt, understood, and delivered with an authenticity that only comes from a place of real emotion.  It is what gives you goose bumps that first time you hear a line that hits you in the soul, consequently begging for many future plays on your ipod.

Sure you can argue that there are huge fan bases for dance music and jam bands.  But the effects of drugs are temporary.  I am talking “test of time”, pluck your heart strings, get you through the worst times in your life type songs.   Of course there are bands and songs that can just flat out rock your face off too.  AC/DC would be a good example.  But if you look at it even these songs have a message that connects somewhere:  “Rock n roll ain’t noise pollution, rock n roll ain’t gonna die!”.    Hell yeah!  I’m on board. 

I think, as musicians, sometimes we get fixated on our guitar parts, drum fills, and bass lines to a point that we lose all perspective on the purpose of the song at hand.  The vocal is king, and the instruments are it’s servants.  Get me a beer bass line.  Make me a sandwich guitar solo.