The "Front Man" Complex

First off, I think I've decided that I need to dispense with comments on how I go on blog-post-hiatus.  I realize now that while I love blogging on this whole music thing, I get so caught up in life that music (and consequently this blog) gets pushed aside.  ...which is a total bummer when I stop and think about it, as refraining from music--my main creative outlet--and this blog--a catalyst for me to do music--mean I don't end up enjoying a huge part of my life that I potentially could.  And such is my personal history that carries over to other life aspects.  I digress.

In going with the theme of this blog, my catharsis here is about my recent music ventures.  I've recently been challenged with getting a new band together, which has meant coming up with new music--one thing which I've never done, and the other which I haven't done in quite a long time.  Both are causing me to think and grow, and I like it.  I'm hoping that by writing this post, I'll figure some stuff out.

The Band
So I've been getting together with a couple of buddies for some months now with the idea that we can finally do something that we've never done before and always wanted to do.  This process has been a number of things:

1. Exciting.  The thought that I finally have a forum to explore music that I've always wanted to make is pretty darn great.
   
2. Confusing.  When we initially got together, we talked about concepts and styles that we wanted to explore, and found that we were all on similar pages, but I'm finding that with the structure of practicing & writing that we've been using leaves us all over the place and essentially not having moved forward in any direction.
   
3. Frustrating.  In the 2 bands that I've played in, I've basically played other people's music, leaving me to do something that I really enjoy: figure out how to make a part work within a given framework.  We're starting from scratch with this group, which means that if I'm going to contribute to the writing part of songs, I have to switch gears back to big-picture writing, which I haven't really done much of in probably 7 years.
   

In the past few weeks, we've talked about how we haven't made much real progress in term of "product" (finished songs), which has led to discussions about the lack of one of us possessing that "front man" personality (AKA who's gonna be the "a-hole" of the band).  We need someone to keep driving us forward.  We need someone to hold the reins and yank us back when we've spent too much time jacking around or overworking musical ideas.  We need someone to provide some structure for the music we're going to do--and that music should be within certain bounds, yet push those boundaries at the same time. 

I've been elected to be that guy.

The Writing
So what does that mean for me?  I've thought about it, and I think that means that I finally get to bring ideas to the table (and hopefully to the public) that have been looming in my head for years upon years.  And while that's exciting, that's a bit of pressure--something that when it comes to writing, for me, can have a negative impact.

When I was studying music in college, I wasn't the guy that had been playing the piano for years and years--I was just capable enough to learn college level stuff, but didn't have the experience of playing music for people.  At the time, I absolutely loved playing, but I just didn't get why I needed to share the stuff that I'd learned for a bunch of people that I didn't know (à la recitals).  It was my music.  I wanted to play it for me and only me.  And that meant practicing when no one was around; it also meant that if I was going to write my own stuff, it had to be when no one was around.  After all, I was putting my own personal emotions and thoughts and feelings in to this stuff... why should I share my musical diary with strangers?  It took me quite a few nerve-racking recitals and probably both of the 2 years that led up to my senior recital to realize that, whether I liked to admit it or not, I had some level of talent--talent that others didn't have (I say that with all possible humility)--that translated in to enjoyment and pleasure for others that only listening to music can bring.  I realized that I had the chance to stimulate other minds and hearts and should do so--I mean, where would I be without all of the music that had shaped my life?  What if aaaall of those writers and composers had selfishly kept their music for themselves?  I'd surely be a different person and I'm immensely grateful for that music that has made an impact on my life.  With as much narcisism aside as possible, I hope that I can use the gifts I've been given to do the same for others.

Cut back to the present... So I decided that in order to get this song-writing ball rolling, I needed two things: 1) time, 2) inspiration.  I realized that I've got time--I just need to organize it more efficiently.  I've recently made an attempt to apply some GTD (Getting Things Done) principles to track all of my responsibilities, blah blah blah... that's boring though, so I won't talk about that.  Let's just say that I've made some improvements there.  Now to the inspiration...

I grew up listening to "oldies", Blues, Classical music, Christian Sacred music, and a whole lot of Folk music.  I studied Classical piano in college, sang bass in the choir, and found myself highly interested in 20th Century stuff, despite the not-so-aurally pleasing result of a lot of it.  Part of this interest was founded in my frustration while taking Music Theory classes--learning formulas for music got me to realize that everything that I'd sit down to write was really just like something else that someone had already written.  The 20th Century stuff spurred me to get in to Jazz.  The choral stuff got me hooked on the phenomenal ability of big groups of voices to pull off really gnarly dissonances and make them sound, well, pretty.  When I got in to the SW industry, I got turned on to Electronic music--which spurred the idea that I had the ability to orchestrate a large number of instruments on my own; I didn't need to have an arsenal of players at my disposal to pull something off.  All of this got me thinking that if I could just put it all together, I might have the chance to come up with something "new".

Fail.  You don't write something and go, "Wow, no one's ever done this before!"  Well, OK, lots of people say that, but come on guys... We're all just building on our past--and I'm just now realizing this--not realizing like acknowledging, but realizing like accepting and taking to heart.

So in trying to do music that I've always wanted to do (putting all of my influences together) and knowing that it's not really going to be "new", I've decided that I'm going to unabashedly rip people off.  I've decided that my first rip-off goal is going to be Godspeed You Black Emperor (you choose where you want to put the "!"--they keep changing their minds on that dumb punctuation mark.  Silly Canucks.).  I've been working on a piece for a few weeks now, and am actually encouraged that I just might have something here.  On the flip side, I've also come to remember the rollercoaster ride it is in writing music: I love it, then hate it, then love it again, then get totally disinterested...

Putting It Together
I realize that I've got an opportunity and actually have some things to say musically.  Putting on this "front man" hat is going to be a new challenge for me--kinda like how it was signing up for a management job when I knew I sucked at (partially because I didn't know how, partially because I thought it was dumb) managing people in a job scenario.  I signed up because I knew it would challenge me by exposing weak areas of my personality--and while I've grown immensely, it's still doing that four years later.

Doing this front man thing, for me, will surely be an unconventional way of doing such, but if I can force myself to stick to my guns, I think I'll be really excited to be able to share some new pieces of Steve (and Chris and John) to whoever will take a listen.  Right now, I just have to force myself to put the pieces together and make it happen.  Good thing I like rollercoasters...

The David Bazan House Show Was Awesome

I'm glad I have friends that have social-event awareness or I would've never heard that David Bazan was playing a really cool show tonight in Fresno--a show that I'm sure I'll remember for a long time.  It was one of those events that you wish you could replay the experience on demand time and time again.

GF and I arrived pretty much before anyone (that never happens) and found that the guys hosting the show were a few cool guys from The Aircrash (formerly Help Computer)--a band that The Nancies used to share a practice space with.  Their livingroom was certainly no bigger than the livingroom in my apartment, so fitting the limited 40 people in meant for some coziness, which actually turned out to be just fine.  Bazan showed up maybe 15 mins before the show was supposed to start and hung out with the rest of us not-so-famous peeps, which was pretty darn cool.  That totally exemplified the lack of pretentiousness that he displayed in the many dialogues with the rest of us throughout the night.

Bazan explained at one point during the show that he and his manager came up with the idea of doing these sort of "underground" shows some time ago when he realized that he just wanted to keep touring in the Fall and Spring like he'd always done; not to mention which would also help pay some bills, etc., for him and his family.  Essentially, these house shows are intended to be sans media in order to keep his label happy, but of course puts a smile on the rest of our faces.  All in all he probably played maybe 12 songs--a mixture of old Pedro the Lion stuff, old solo stuff, and stuff on his new album (due out August 25th)--but the greatest part about the whole deal was his interest in chatting with the rest of us.  He stopped every couple of songs and would ask if we had any questions or comments, which led to some really cool stories and insight in to his life.  This, coming from a guy who's songwriting is something I hold at the tip top of my list, was really pretty awesome.



At one point he said that this was one of the best times he's had in a long time playing shows--I wasn't sure if he meant this particular show or just playing these really small house venues, but either way I felt way privileged.  He said he'd definitely be coming back to Fresno after the album came out, so we'll see if that pans out, but man--what a cool guy with some really powerful things to say in his music.  I'm really hoping he does make it back here, as his music is hugely inspiring to me.  Please come back to Fresno, David Bazan!!!

I got a couple bits of songs on my iPhone--they're crap for quality, but worth listening nonetheless.  Check em (probably need to crank the volume a bit--like I said, sucky quality):

The opening 2 songs (off the new album) and "Options", off of Pedro the Lion's Control:

I'm digging this Elbow song

I dig the simple acoustic pattern, with yummy slight dissonances. His voice is great; the multi-part harmonies are tasteful. Drums are sort of Middle Eastern exotic. ...but when that bass comes in--oh man, that tone is so money! Totally one of those cases where the tone of the instrument totally makes the song for me. It really is the little things, I think...

Maybe We'll Make Some Tunes

I recently got a call from a Mr. Jon Hadden (Aspen Hollow, Circles and Circles, Jonah and the Whale, Winter Wardrobe) about getting together to make some music. And I'm way excited. Before I knew Jon, I'd already grown to respect his taste in playing guitar through seeing his bands play. Then I got to know him. What an a.... Just kidding. Nicest guy ever. And I've got to say that making music with great people is the only way to do it.

Who knows what'll come of the whole thing. I'm just excited about the idea. And it's been a long time since that's happened.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

You Might Have Inspired Me

I want to divert from my usual line of writing, which is mostly weighted on the music aspect of the theme of this blog, and write about the other aspect of this blog: inspirations.  I'm watching The American Experience | Reagan, a biography of the man's presidency and the rollercoaster of events that accompanied his terms.  I'm reminded of Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World--a book that walks through the complexities of the aftermath of WWI but focuses on the personalities of Wilson, Lloyd George, and Clemenceau and how they (the personalities of each) played such a huge part the decisions that were made (and weren't made) as a result.  The book describes a number of encounters between the three where each are on completely different levels, which effectively causes negotiations to deliberate far longer than any had hoped.  It also leads you to wonder what the possibilities could have been if the three had actually gotten along. The part of the Reagan show that demonstrates the steps--the little things here and there--that take discussions with the Soviet Union from nil to the agreement of disarmament are really quite moving.  The part that really grabbed me was how on Reagan's first meeting with Gorbachev, Gorbachev's aids note how it was evident that Gorbachev was intrigued and swayed by Reagan's charm and ability to portray his human-ness.  The show doesn't directly draw this parallel, but allows you to draw the conclusion that it was really Reagan's personality that paved the way to the end of communism in Russia. Now, my intent here is not to assess the validity of Reagan's personality as the reason for the relative success of the negotiations with the Soviets, but rather to emphasize the value of one's character traits.  Seeing the effect that values have when relating to people is quite simple, yet quite profound.  These values govern the little things that we do--the decisions that we make on a day to day basis--that slowly compile themselves amidst the chaos of life and affect people and events that we can and could never predict. It's good to have a reminder about the simple things every now and then.