A post about chasing a relationship with creativity

A quote that got me thinking while on the road

I’m currently travelling in a camper van with my wife and kids. It’s the one time of year I try and switch off.. but it’s also a time where I end up thinking a lot as my mind has the mental space to actually do that. It’s also the one time when I read fiction books, and take a break from making music. I’m currently reading the Midnight library by Matt Haig and the last trip I read Rivers In The Sky by Elif Shafak… both have made an impression on me and got me feeling inspired in different ways. As I’m reading I always find a way to make elements of the story about me or relevant to me, which is a reason I also love music. Music historically started as a way to build community, to express, to tell stories and to pass on knowledge and lessons. More commonly now that is less often the case in terms of the literal purpose of lyrics, but still we write our own lives into the music. They tell our story, we place ourselves in it, it speaks for us and to us.

The difference between purpose of music in the past and now is going to become the theme for my next project that I’m already working on the concept of in the back ground at the moment (more on this soon). today though I’m thinking about the purpose of music as a practice. Musiking. The actual process and act of making, playing, composing, improvising… and all the technical layers that come with that now we use DAW’s. Why do we make music, and where does this making for how it makes us feel get tangled up with making to make a life we want. And all the grey in the middle of these things. If you’ve read my posts in the past you will know I think about this a lot, mainly because I have worked with so many musicians and artist both professionally and as a educator, and our relationship with music and the idea of happiness we paint for ourselves.

So, when I read this from the midnight library I wanted to share it here for everyone to read.

I wish it was an age thing, that the people around me have a troubled relationship with creativity and music, but I speak to between 60-200 young people a year who want to work in and around music in some capacity and even more on socials through being a music artist.. and I can assure it’s not. So reading something like this hit me, and felt like the type of words I wish I could say more often. People want to hear Russ quotes about how “the worst advice they ever got was to be realistic”, not my mantra which is that I want to build a life where I have a healthy relationship with music for my whole life. At least that’s what I used to think, but more so each year we all seem to be looking at our relationship with music differently, or at least being forced too. I think if you zoom out this is one of the positives to come out of the impact major tech and the major music companies have had on music as an industry over the last 10-20 years. We are being forced to look again, to look inside ourselves and ask why, what matters, what makes this me, and why would anyone care. Long term this is a good thing.