You should watch this first: http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CHEQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DfSoRty8LmN4&ei=Cr6zT4nXKIme8gSBsuiJDw&usg=AFQjCNGoPkqUI-2Zs-V4OYYvnRGFBEi7BQ
It’s only 6 minutes. When I was shown this video, my first reaction was, “Huh. Well, that’s cool, I guess. Yet another composer trying to define what music is.” Since I’m not all that intellectual during my sleep-deprived days, the weight of it didn’t really drop on me until today, when I was zoning out in the shower.
I was familiar with Philip Glass’s stuff before, so I laughed a bit when he acknowledged the criticism that his stuff was the same thing, over and over. And I thought it was pretty cool that he responded, “Well, you’re just not listening hard enough,” even though I didn’t really get the full depth of what he was saying at that time. I just saw an experienced musician who was old enough to just brush off the critiques from people who weren’t his audience.
But today, I think I got it. Because I was thinking about imitators, the Skrillex/Flux Pavilion/Xtina wannabees. And I thought about his “you’re not listening hard enough.” Because — the video is about his answer to “what is music,” and his answer is “music is a place” — Philip Glass was talking about his place when he said that. His place, the place he’s wanted to go to and take people to all his life, that he’s “heard” probably ever since he was young and didn’t know how to really write music.
So yeah, if all people hear is the same stuff over and over, they aren’t getting to his place, and they aren’t listening hard enough. It’s not stung ego that made Glass say that. He wasn’t making a defense of his music against people saying, “Um, this sucks.” It’s him saying that they just haven’t gotten there yet, like they’re still on the plane.
Maybe listening hard isn’t the right word for it, because that implies paying attention and doing “hard work,” like “they’re not working hard enough.” Maybe listening in a certain way? Listening carefully? Anyway. If you’re a musician, and you’re reading this, you probably get what I’m trying to say.
So, back to the imitator thing.
I hate using the word “wannabee” because that’s an insult, and I don’t want to insult anyone. Being a wannabee isn’t bad, but I think it’s childish — a first step on the road toward being a total artist. I can say this because I am a good imitator, myself, and I’ve been caught in the web of dubstep-rockstar-shinynewthing wannabee, myself.
But if you look at young kids, they see something they think is cool — they admire it — and they start imitating. Because it’s a way to be closer to the thing that they admire. If they think a character on TV is cool, they want to dress up like it, Captain America and Superman and all that. It’s a way of claiming that coolness for themselves.
I think musicians do the same thing — at least I do. I’m easily distracted by any new shiny object on the horizon (or new to me), and I immediately want to start doing it, too. Because I admire it and think it’s cool, and I want to be part of it.
But oddly enough, the one thing I never wanted to do was “make sounds like Skrillex.” When I first heard the free release in 2010, I immediately knew, though I didn’t have the words for it, that this was Skrillex’s place. It was new, bright, and shiny, but it sounded unique to him. No one should imitate it, because no one is him. Just like no one should imitate Portishead, because that is their place.
As a listener and music appreciator, I don’t want to hear the work of a “Skrillex admirer” or a “Maroon 5 admirer.” Forget that! I want to be taken to someone else’s personal, unique place, with the best craft that they can wield. If I want to visit Planet Nero, I’ll just listen to Nero. I’m interested in new places to travel.
Now, there is nothing wrong with wanting to be popular. To do music is to want to entertain and communicate on a mass scale, and there is nothing wrong with wanting to have as many people get access to your stuff as possible.
But no one needs to do something just because it’s popular, and they’re afraid that they’ll go unheard if they don’t. That’s not why we’re in this game. There are 7 billion people on this planet. I’ve never met a person who was truly boring, just unexpressive. Chances are, your musical place is well worth visiting.
And, when you do forge your own island and get people to come, there’s nothing wrong with presenting the same scenery to them over and over! I’ve gone to the same restaurants over and over and gotten the same thing. When I go to my friend’s house to play video games, I don’t want any surprises (unless it’s a new game…) because that’s exactly what I want.
Outsiders will criticise you and say, “It all sounds the same!” And you can say, “Yes, and that’s the way we like it.”
Do I have a point? I don’t know, I got 4 hours of sleep last night. I guess, whenever I feel like imitating, I always try to ask:
- What do I admire about this, and why? If it’s a technique, I learn how to do that technique so that I can put it into my own music. (Thanks, Wideboys, for the UKG tutorial!)
- Am I just attracted to the genre and energy?
- What is the place I’m really trying to create?