Davy Holmes once told me that punk music was his favorite kind of music because of the "joy" of it. After some more explaining, I finally got out of him exactly what the "joy" was. It was the fact that because it was all done on the first take by kids just fooling around with instruments, you could hear the enthusiasm with which they create their art. Ben folds used the fact that he recorded every take 27 times a day and he spent 16 hours in the studio remixing to his advantage - you can hear the broken, flat, emotionally scarred note in his voice, and that is the exact sound he is going for. But what cannot be abided (abidden?) is the same emotionally scarred, pained tone in every single band trying to outdo one another in an effort to make their music more appealing to the buyers. A person like Davy Holmes can only take so much of that, so he gravitates toward a genre of music and a lifestyle that doesn't believe in perfection as a goal; in fact, the more raw, the more corrupt, the better. Because those are the only people that take art seriously enough to enjoy every minute of it. Grafitti art, underground music, the so-called "high concept" artists, in many cases - they don't realize they're an ironic joke by people who enjoy them because they represent the wrecked nature of society, or if they realize, then they're in on the joke, too.
With people as demoralized as they are, I don't think it's too much to ask that we, the youth, make a stand that isn't punk music. What about me? I try hard at my art, but i don't kill myself over it. So what? I enjoy making it, every second of it, and I think you can feel that when you listen to my music.
What about you mr john? I get a feeling you see this in every second of your movie(s); that we are not a joke, we're earnest, but we have resolved to maintain our integrity even at the expense of quality because there is a segment of society that needs us, that has been craving what we do but had not found anyone to give it to them. We do not suspect we can make it on pure talent; but we are smart enough to see a need, to fill the gap between perfection at the expense of joy and joy at the expense of any quality whatsoever. We have a desire to fill that need, and we suspect that there is a market that will respond to us alone; not a big market, but one we know exists because we are a part of it.
Perhaps I make too bold a statement concerning your motivations. If so, please respond in the comments and set me straight.
I do not believe that an artist can change his aim. I think he is set that way in stone, and the goal of his art will always remain the same. Me, I'm aimed at listenable but never at the expense of my joy in creation, so that my art will always retain that liveliness that you can hear in so many first albums but none after. It means that you continue to hear the joy, and that's why people continue to contact me after years of non-communication begging for one or another of my tracks.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Getting to this a bit late because I have fallen behind on my blog-reading and am just catching up today.I don't do a lot of (enough?) reflecting on what drives me, personally, to continue my artistic pusuits these days. I used to do a lot more of that sort of reflecting, and each time have emerged with a different idea.
ReplyDeleteStill, I think your assessment here is just about accurate. I create both to feed my insatiable hunger for cration, and to hopefully reach an audience that will be entertained or feel otherwise enriched by what I do. Both of these desires are potent and I do not wish to sacrifice one for the other. Listenable but not at the expense of joy in creation, indeed.
And I most certainly hear the joy in your work, now as much as I did six years ago.
I HUNGERRRR...
ReplyDeleteFOR CRATION....