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Posts Tagged ‘Transitions’
Snowball Transition
Snowball by redjar (Creative Commons License 2.0)
In response to a message from Igor: Hey Meghan, I wanted to ask you something that I find very interesting. I like to hear musician's stories and I saw your little documentary that you had on your website and you mentioned that you went to university and have only been doing music for couple years. Being a musician I sometimes question myself and I was just wondering if you would share with me your reasons for pursuing music and what inspired you to do it instead of focusing on some other career etc. Thanks -Igor
Gladly!
I actually did the same thing a couple of years ago when I was starting to question where I was going in my life.
I happened to stumble upon an old acquaintance -a cousin of one of my good friends who I also knew from a drama program I attended back in my elementary school days. Fittingly, he decided to make acting his career. For him, he knew what he was meant to do from a very young age. I did not. I have always been left and right brained. I love science and I love art. But art wasn’t a ‘career option’. It was a valuable and desirable set of skills that make one well rounded and help foster creativity. At least that is what I thought growing up. Having always been so excited and curious about almost everything, I went from wanting to be a dentist to an architect, to a marine biologist, to a small business owner, back to an architect, on to an athletic trainer and phys ed teacher, to physiotherapist, back to physical education with figure skating coach on the side, and making an unexpected decision to take the path of grad studies and become a professor in health sciences. Of that list I did become a small business owner (twice), a figure skating coach (counts as a third small business), physical educator (though, my degree doesn’t actually qualify me for teaching … basically, it’s a self-designed Kinesiology degree… long story … how life throws us surprises!) and I did finish my master’s degree in health sciences (the doctoral studies are on hold until it’s the right time to go back. At this point, I can’t see that happening until I’m 60, haha, but it IS going to happen). While pursuing these career options, art was always there with me in various forms (mostly painting, some theatre and then a bit of dabbling with music), but only ever as a hobby; always on the side.
I fantasized about the idea of being a performing artist, but never with the sense that it could actually be my reality. Even when I played the Sims I wouldn’t let my character be a musician, actor, or artist… but creativity was always the first skill I would have them master and they would always be playing instruments or painting in their spare time. I taught myself to believe that art was a selfish pursuit and that in order to be a good person and live a good life I had to have a career that could help people directly (which is why I gave up on architecture and moved towards health sciences). I didn’t think art could do that. I was very wrong. The reasons I pursue music now are 1) because I need to… can’t really explain that … and 2) because it allows me to help people by connecting with them on an emotional level. By overcoming my own fears of expression and judgment in songs, as an artist I am able to put out something listeners can resonate with and find comfort in. That is cathartic and healing. That is helping. Especially if I am emoting sentiments they are too afraid to express out loud in their every day lives. I know my life is improved by the connection I find in other artists’ music in this same way. We humans are so self-torturous!
Over the years I had heard about my childhood acquaintance’s move to the UK to study drama and even back then I was envious. Perhaps that should have been a sign. After re-meeting him as an ‘adult’ (I still have a hard time thinking of myself in such a light) while his cousin/my friend was up visiting, a kind of craziness started to stir inside me. His fantasy was his reality. He was doing what I, deep down, really wanted to do but could never rationalize. Not that I wanted to be an actor … but along the same vein, what I wanted was to be a performing artist. I needed to create, share and, most importantly, connect with people on an emotional level through my creations. And though I always found ways to create in all of my life’s pursuits, I was starting to realize that it wasn’t enough anymore. I wanted to commit fully to creating, not just working it in where I could. I needed to talk to him. Not wanted, but needed. It was something much deeper than desire alone.
So, being the weirdo I am, I called up another mutual friend whom I rarely spoke to since high school, but knew had his number and got it from her. Then called him and, with nerve-quakes like I had never experienced before in my life, asked him if he’d be willing to sit down and talk in person about his decision to be an actor. He said yes.
I don’t get shaky like that even at the most important of shows, so despite the fact that my brother and I had started a band and I was taking music more seriously than ever before, his reappearance in my life was the light switch. Up until then I was writing, with fervour, by match light; struggling to maintain illumination for my project with the risk of dropping the flame on my paper, while a room full of bookcases, maps and other resources were always there … but invisible in the shadows. For the first time in my life I saw that being a performing artist WAS a possibility. The proof: someone I knew was doing it and making a living with it because he wasn’t compromising his quest to follow his heart.
Having the opportunity to connect with another human being on such a deeply buried issue changed everything. It didn’t matter to me that I wasn’t fresh out of high school anymore and possibly my most ‘marketable’ (aka early twenties) years were in the past (the industry is changing, by the way), my mind was opening up to possibilities that weren’t purely academic, in the ‘let’s publish a research paper!’ sense. Art (and research on, with, and through art) has been institutionalized at the university level, so it too is academic in such a context. Then you’ve got the whole Arts vs. Sciences bullshit. I would go on to argue that science is art and art is science, but I’m getting off topic, so that’s a conversation for another day.
… where was I? Oh, yes…
So, the remaining year and a half of my master’s program was brutal. I almost quit. Not because I couldn’t handle the work or because I wasn’t interested in the research, I actually quite enjoy doing research, but because I still had not fully committed to pursuing my art. Knowing that I wouldn’t quit, because I always force myself to get to the end, was making my life more frustrating on every level. As an aside: I’ve started learning that sometimes it’s much healthier and more prosperous to quit … if done smartly and with purpose -see Seth Godin’s “The Dip” (2007).
Back to the frustration: I did go through a brief rebellious phase, however, when my advisor and I were butting heads (we are both stubborn but are in many ways like family now. I miss you, Phil!) and I basically called a moratorium on all things thesis-related. I still went to classes (which in grad school are infrequent, it’s more independent) and did that work, but did only as much as I had to to get by because I was holding my own personal songwriting retreat. For 2 weeks I took a portion of my grad funding, bought all the songwriting and music business books that I could find and read, wrote, and sang at my friend’s place while I house/pet-sat for them when they went on vacation.
This process took me another step towards committing, I was starting to see myself more as an artist and professional, but I still wasn’t really letting myself do it yet. I was thinking of career options in terms of how the job would afford me the ability to pursue my music, instead of just pursuing the music. Though destructive for me, this actually works really well for some people! Chris Addeny (Wax Mannequin) is a school teacher who capitalizes on summer vacation and other flexible scheduling to tour all over the world.
Initially I was still planning to start my PhD right way and was thinking about moving to England. Though I did find an advisor who was willing to take me on (and happened to be numero uno in our field), I didn’t receive the funding I needed to go and the personal reasons I would have moved to England for became complicated on my end and with great sadness I cut that cord. Still ultimately in ‘safe mode’, I decided it would be smarter to try pursuing a ‘real’ job and music at the same time, so that I could afford to do music. While my actions suggested I was pursuing a career in health research, my intentions were becoming more and more focused on music, though I kept it on the down-low.
Underneath it all though, everything after graduation was really about music and, as such, I moved to the city that would surely take a lead pipe to my knees and make me cry trying… I moved to Toronto. Home of the harshest critics and the fiercest competition in our country, I knew that if I was going to give everything else up to make it happen, it had to be here: where it was the hardest, where there are the most lessons to be learned and the greatest chances of failing and remaining in obscurity, where you are forced to rise to the occasion or give up and go home to where it’s easier to be successful as an artist … but also where there are so many other like-minded individuals to draw inspiration from and strategize with, endless possibilities for networking and venues for performing, numerous educational resources and conferences to attend, and an incredible buzzing energy so vibrant that it makes you feel like your progress is moving as fast as the cars on the 401 (excluding rush hour and Friday afternoons on long weekends … and any time or day when it rains) and as if your ambition is as concrete as the CN Tower, pointing one long finger (I won’t say which one) up towards the satellite stations in the sky declaring “Hey World! You couldn’t miss me if you tried!”
I tried to get a ‘real’ job. I bought the power suits. Went to the interviews. Kept coming in second for the job. I was aggravated, less out of hurt pride, more out of the fact that I didn’t want the job to begin with, yet I was putting so much time, energy and attention into the hunt because I thought I had to get the real job so that I could afford to start pursuing my music more seriously. I did get some meaningless work and eventually realized it wasn’t worth it. After I came back from part 2 of the tour (October 2009), having proven to my family that this isn’t just a phase and having gained their unconditional support in my decision to follow my passion, I went part time and started focusing on creating my own business… putting my art first.
In summary, it was more of a snowball transition than a decision. I fought myself all along the way and eventually what I really wanted came out on top anyway. I just allowed my focus to change incrementally and stuck through the process: 1) Acting upon instincts I don’t understand, but trust (even if only in baby steps) 2) Connecting with mentor-like figures 3) Putting myself in positions and situations that test my dedication 4) Weening myself off of my own, and other people’s, previous expectations of myself 5) reflecting, a lot, and often. 6) Making a lot of mistakes, going through a lot of trial and error, and letting myself hit rock bottom, then embracing it to move forward with a clear, unidirectional vision.
I haven’t given up on other ‘career options’ indefinitely. I still want to pursue other paths (and even other avenues in the music industry), but now those paths are the hobbies and my art, which I pursue with my fullest passion, is my career :) Wow, at the same time it feels perfectly crazy AND totally sane to say that. I imagine it will take awhile to fully break myself of the self-inflicted conditioning and suppression I created over all these years.
Thank you for your message! The process of responding has really helped me. I tend to ramble a bit, so I hope I answered all your questions :)
Cheers
-Meghan
Tracing My Musical Family Tree
“Three Trees” by PhotoDu.de (Creative Commons License 2.0)
Whenever someone asks me what kind of music I play, I always pause before answering; a quizzical look fills my face as if it were the first time I had ever thought about the answer. Sometimes it feels that way, because I’ve never known how to communicate my style to people and so every time someone asks me, it always reminds me that I have no clue what the most accurate answer is. Being a person who believes labeling is akin to caging, I’ve naturally resisted putting any real effort into finding a word to label my music with and have enjoyed the mystery of not fitting into one particular genre or another. I’ve always been that way in everything: In school I never associated myself solely with one group of friends; I don’t have one favourite type of music/food/film/style of clothes; I didn’t train as an athlete in only one sport; and I don’t follow one particular spiritual belief system. My experience in this world has always been choose-your-own-adventure style -never one particular path- and the more I grow, the less conventional I become.
Maybe that’s why I’ve been told my music is “weird” on more than one occasion. Despite priding myself on being a nerd that is a bit of an “odd duck” (a term I was called, affectionately, by my employer when I worked at a hammock factory), on both of those occasions I found myself becoming defensive and insulted. Perhaps because the way they used the term made it sound like my music was bad. It’s hard not to become defensive when your offspring are being attacked. Luckily songs aren’t real children, and mother bear here has become much better at embracing all forms of feedback (it’s all constructive if you let it be). Anyway, I’m going on a tangent (To continue into the bear cave, turn to pg. 101. To go back to the forest path, turn to pg. 76. –okay, so you don’t actually get a choice, this is my adventure and I choose the forest path : )
So I have come to answer the question with “Alternative Pop Rock”. This is the term we settled on for Purl of Surf’s “genre/style”. Not so much because we believed we were a part of this vague category, but because we had to call it something. People just weren’t satisfied with “I don’t know”. One guy actually got angry with us when we were setting up to play our show at the Moonshine Café in Mississauga, ON (Canada). Since we didn’t know what to call our music, he asked us what our influences were/who our idol was. When we responded with “we don’t really have any particular idol and we have a lot of different influences”, he started fuming, accusing us of claiming to be something completely unique (which is not what we were claiming, but heaven forbid it ever exist! *note sarcasm). The bar owner had to intervene. The guy left. Thank goodness! Bad vibes don’t help a performance.
Associating myself with being 50% of Purl of Surf’s songwriting team and continuing to perform the same songs I wrote for the band, it didn’t occur to me that as a solo artist I should consider categorizing myself as anything other than Alt/Pop/Rock, especially since I hate labeling. The unusual thing about Purl of Surf though, was that even though Evan and I wrote the instrumental compositions together, we were two separate songwriters (lyrics and vocal melodies were written separately). So it was like having two solo acts, with slightly different sounds, taking turns playing music for each other during the same set… it sounds like it shouldn’t have, but it worked! As I mentioned, however, we do have different sounds, especially with regards to our vocal styles. Though I love and listen to a lot of alternative music, Evan represented more of the Alt in the Alt/Pop/Rock than I did. I see that now, because Steve was over yesterday and brought up his concern with me calling my music ‘alternative’.
Over the past few months he and I have had a few heated (but constructive) discussions about the image I am presenting and/or am trying to get across in the music videos and the tour journal we have been working on. The problem was that I see my personality (and my music) as being a harmonious blend of light/fun and dark/heavy. Steve didn’t see me as having a dark/heavy side at all. Knowing full well that I did, we butted heads. Beware, you who dare contest to know me better than I do! I am stubborn. I am VERY stubborn when it comes to my newfound sense of integrity (see my last blog: This Week, The Word “Pivotal” Changed My Life).
Through these debates, which at times felt futile and fruitless, an important finding eventually emerged: there is a massive disconnect between who I am and who other people see me as. In reflecting on this theme in terms of my promotional materials, my art, my personal experiences, and the spiritual guidance sessions I had been having casually with my friend Justin (who has been teaching me about energy reading and how to tear down the walls I have been building up over the years), I came to realize that society has trained me to only show my pleasant and cheerful side in public, because anything depressive or aggressive is undesirable and offensive to other people. No wonder I sing songs like Ball & Chain with a smile on my face. WTF?
As a person who is striving to flesh out and release her authentic self unto the world, it is crucial that my “image” represent me accurately, so that what other people believe me to be is consistent with who I actually am. The categorization of my music, unfortunately, is a salient part of my image. Online vendors and networking sites need a genre/style so that they can organize their catalogues, bookers and promoters need to know how to group acts for performances and find appropriate venues, potential consumers/audiences want a bone tossed their way so that they don’t have to visit the MySpace of every band listed in this week’s entertainment directory just so they can find a place that’ll have music they’ll enjoy on Friday night. I am stubborn, but I’m not stupid. I try to pick my battles wisely. As much as I hate it, a label is needed and if I’m going to continue using a label, then it sure as hell better be consistent with my so-called (and, hopefully, genuine) “image” so that I actually identify confidently with it and avoid confusing people when they hear my music. In my perception, the concept of a “Genre” or “Style” to music is like “Theory” to academic research: they are lenses for interpreting information and phenomena. Or in other words, guides for my listeners to make sense of what they are hearing. Now how am I going to guide people to my true self?
First I need to take care of this term “alternative”. Steve suggested that I have more of a “folk-rock” sound. I argued that profusely. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy folk music and respect folk singers, but the only thing that would make me “folksy” is that I look like a “singer/songwriter” on stage when it’s just me and my bass. My songs aren’t intended to be performed that way though, they are done so out of necessity (until I find the right mix of people for a band, it’s just me out there doing what I can with a bass and some backing tracks). His rationale was that when he gave my music to some pre-teens, they refused to put it on their ipods because it wasn’t hard/edgy enough for it to fit with their playlists. They thought it was too “jazzy”. “Jazzy!”, I said. “Hell yes!” There are definitely jazz undertones in my music, I played oboe in my junior high jazz band (bless Mr Stern’s heart for letting us classical instrumentalists be involved, regardless of the criticism from the pretentious Kawanis Festival judges year after year) “but that’s totally different from folk!”
Bingo! Jazz. I have always included jazz music as being an influence of mine in contemplating my musical style, but I never felt like other people would see it and because I’m not well trained in it (junior high was so long ago, I don’t remember much of what I learned back then and it was a very recreational kind of thing for me anyway), I was afraid that if I officially classified it as being ‘jazz’, people would be disapproving and say that I’m claiming to be something that I’m not. Now that outsiders have picked up on it, I feel like I can finally embrace it with confidence. What’s funny is that in the last 2 weeks, there have been a lot of ‘jazz’ things coming into my life (signs, perhaps?) like a saxophone player from Hamilton who wants to collaborate, being invited to see an experimental jazz performance at MOCCA, unintentionally coming up with lyrics to a jazzy-dance song my guests were playing while I made pancakes in the kitchen, and randomly taking part in a wild musical jam at Chris Cunningham’s birthday party.
So, on the streetcar ride home from work today I started mulling over how jazz fit into my ‘categorization’. Jazzy-Rock? Jazz-Rock? Jazzed-Rock? I like the tense of the latter, it sounds affected, but will it make sense to anyone other than me? Jazz-Rock sounds a bit more legitimate. Let’s Google it to see if it already exists.
Yep: (from Wikipedia) “Fusion or, more specifically, jazz fusion or jazz rock, is a musical genre that developed in the late 1960s from a mixture of elements of jazz such as its focus on improvisation with the rhythms and grooves of funk and R&B and the beats and heavily amplified electric instruments and electronic effects of rock. […]Fusion music is typically instrumental, often with complex time signatures, metres, rhythmic patterns, and extended track lengths, featuring lengthy improvisations. Many prominent fusion musicians are recognized as having a high level of virtuosity, combined with complex compositions and musical improvisation in complex or mixed metres.”
Okay, so I would totally be called a poser if I claimed to be jazz-rock. It sounds more jazz than rock. I’m more rock than jazz. Maybe I should start by looking up “Rock”, since it’s what I feel is the foundation of my musical style.
(Also from Wikipedia) “Rock music is a genre of popular music that entered the mainstream in the 1960s. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, rhythm and blues, country music and also drew on folk music, jazz and classical music. The sound of rock often revolves around the guitar back beat laid down by a rhythm section of electric bass guitar, drums, and keyboard instruments such as organ, piano, or, since the 1970s, synthesizers. Along with the guitar or keyboards, saxophone and blues-style harmonica are sometimes used as soloing instruments. In its “purest form”, it “has three chords, a strong, insistent back beat, and a catchy melody.””
This is sounding more like me. They list a bunch of different types of rock, some I’ve never heard of before.
folk rock – we know this is a no
blues-rock – not me either
jazz-rock fusion – now I know I’m not jazz enough for this one
soft rock – maybe? … some of my songs. I need something that represents all of my music though.
glam rock – hahaha
heavy metal – not even close
hard rock – closer, but I’m not that bad ass yet
progressive rock – heard OF it, but not sure what it actually means. Have to look into this one.
punk rock – love it, but no.
new wave – not really sure what this is
hardcore punk – nope
alternative rock – sorta, but not really.
grunge – oh grunge. I miss those days.
Britpop – not that I’m aware of
indie rock – hmmmmm this one might be it.
nu metal. – metal? Yah, no.
Okay, so that narrows my research down to: progressive rock, new wave, and indie-rock. Back to Wikipedia:
1) Progressive Rock?
“Form: Progressive rock music either avoids common popular music song structures of verse-chorus-bridge, or blur the formal distinctions by extending sections or inserting musical interludes, often with exaggerated dynamics to heighten contrast between sections.” - I don’t avoid popular music song structures, but I do extend sections and insert musical interludes.
“Rhythm: Progressive rock generally tends to be freer in its rhythmic approach than other forms of rock music. The approach taken varies across different works but may range from regular beats (such as 4/4) to irregular or complex time signatures (such as 9/8).” – hmmmm, I don’t think that’s me. Correct me if I’m wrong
“Melody and Harmony: In progressive rock, the blues inflections of mainstream rock are often supplanted by jazz and classical influences. Melodies are […] more likely to comprise longer, developing passages than short, catchy ones.” – yes to the former, no to the latter
“Texture and imagery: Ambient soundscapes and theatrical elements may be used to describe scenes, events or other aspects of the concept.” – Ball & Chain has rain and thunder … does that count?
This one sounds pretty close
2) New Wave? – Turns out to be an extension of punk, so no.
3) Indie-Rock? – Once again, many sub-genres:
lo-fi – not intentionally
post-rock – what is this? I’ll look it up
sadcore – I’m not only sad
C86 – huh?
math rock – sounds too purposefully technical. I don’t know enough theory for math rock.
indie pop – getting away from the whole rock thing here, aren’t we?
noise rock – I’m not noisey enough
noise pop – ditto
riot grrrl – grrrr : ) what is this?
post-hardcore – nope
twee pop – twee? Is that a word?
alt-country – definitely not country.
post-punk revival – punk again, no.
garage rock revival – no garage
dance-punk – not really dance music.
indie folk – no folk
baroque pop – not classical
indietronica.- not electronic
Alright, progress! Now we’ve got Post-Rock, Riot Grrrl, and C86. Wikipedia-me, please.
Riot Grrrl ? – is feminist punk. I certainly do have a feminist side, but not really a punk side. Sounds like fun though, I’m definitely going to listen to some of the bands they have listed while I write this. Bikini Kill is pretty cool!
C86 ? – “evolved into shorthand for a guitar-based musical genre characterised by “jangly” guitars and fey melodies” – what the heck does fey mean? : “1. Having or displaying an otherworldly, magical, or fairylike aspect or quality. 2. Of excitement that presages death” (dictionary.com)… yikes. It’s scary but I kind of identify musically with that … but my music is not guitar based … and I don’t think it would be considered ‘jangly’ either. I could be wrong.
Post Rock? – “is a genre of rock music characterized by the use of musical instruments commonly associated with rock music, but using rhythms, harmonies, melodies, timbre, and chord progressions that are not usually found in rock tradition. It is the use of “rock instrumentation” for non-rock purposes.” – What is this beautiful creature I have found??? Could it be the one?! How have I never heard of this before?!!! I can’t claim that I’m not using rock instrumentation for non-rock purposes 100% of the time, but songs like Ball & Chain are not traditional rock, so I think this applies to my less ‘pop-rocky’ songs.
“The post-rock sound incorporates characteristics from a variety of musical genres, including ambient, jazz, electronica, and experimental.[3] The traditional method of power chords is replaced with timbre and texture for guitar-play while the song and voice is abandoned by its ambience. The rebellious overtones of rock as we remember it is no longer the theme for post-rock groups. In fact, utilizing dub reggae, hip hop, and rave, post-rock manages to create an androgynous and softer means of subversion.” – hmmmm, so the vocal thing might be a problem, but definitely jiving with the softer means of subversion thing.
“The clubs were also a response to the emergence of a new post-rock vibe where musicians escaped musical genre labels and traded ideas.” – Did it just say that?!!! Escaping musical labels? My soul mate!!!
“Post-rock compositions often make use of repetition of musical motifs and subtle changes with an extremely wide range of dynamics.” – Whooo!! Dynamic and contrast are at the forefront of my personal musical philosophy.
“Typically, post-rock pieces are lengthy and instrumental, containing repetitive build-ups of timbre, dynamics and texture.” – I can see this in songs like Ball & Chain, Jack and Jill, and others that have not been released.
“Vocals are often omitted from post-rock; however, this does not necessarily mean they are absent entirely. When vocals are included, the use is typically non-traditional: some post-rock bands employ vocals as purely instrumental efforts and incidental to the sound, rather than a more traditional use where “clean”, easily-interpretable vocals are important for poetic and lyrical meaning.[3] When present, post-rock vocals are often soft or droning and are typically infrequent or present in irregular intervals. Sigur Rós, a band known for their distinctive vocals, fabricated a language that critics call “Hopelandic” (Vonlenska in icelandic, a term even used by the band), which has been described by the band as “a form of gibberish vocals that fits to the music and acts as another instrument.”[34]” – Yay! I totally use gibberish! For example, the ya-de-di’s in Ball & Chain and hey-ya-hi’s. This is so exciting! Though my vocals are not exclusively non-traditional, I do employ this vocal-texturing intentionally, so I think that counts, even if I’m not a post-rock purest, I am definitely post-rock to some degree.
“However, in lieu of typical rock structures in the vein of “verse-chorus-verse”, post-rock groups generally make greater use of soundscapes. As Simon Reynolds states in his “Post-Rock” from Audio Culture, “A band’s journey through rock to post-rock usually involves a trajectory from narrative lyrics to stream-of-consciousness to voice-as-texture to purely instrumental music”.[35]” – Okay, so I do both. I use typical rock structures, but I also use vocal soundscapes (the ya-de-di’s, etc. which up until now I have been calling ‘vocalization’, as I lacked knowledge of an official term.)
Okay, so my tone closely aligns with it, but my song structure is not purely post-rock (prominent vocals being the major difference). That’s alright. We’ve got something legitimate to work with here. Maybe I should listen to some post-rock artists to get a better idea for the sound.
Cul de sac (90s-now) http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:r9g9kett7q7n I’m not as experimental as them, but definitely feeling it.
Tortoise (90s-now): http://allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:kxfoxqe5ldde also not as experimental as these guys, but instrumentally more similar.
Vessels (2005-now) http://vesselsband.com/vidsmusic/ Yes!!! I definitely feel a musical kinship here AND they use understandable vocals!! (sometimes … check out the “Yuki” video)
The biggest difference I’m seeing is that my music is generally lyric driven (I usually start with the lyrics and add the music to them) and so the vocals are often the driving force behind the tunes. Songs like “Jack and Jill” and “This Song”, where the music came first, are definitely more post-rock. Ball & Chain feels post-rock. This is actually really cool, because I have been wanting to expand on the instrumental composition of my songs (like rise and shine, which is really short) and make them more experimental. Eeeeee!!!! I have a family now! I might be the weird 3rd cousin that never quite fits in during the annual family reunion bbq, but at least now I have a home I know I belong to, whether they like it or not! I didn’t think I would be getting so excited over this. Hahaha.
It is clear that I am not purely Post-Rock though, so I am not going to claim to be. I need to figure out the rest of the puzzle before I hang it on the wall. I’m not Brittany Spears, but I do have pop structure and songs like Whisper, Still, and Rise and Shine have a pop-rock feel to them, so I’d only be trying to fool myself if I said pop wasn’t still a part of the mix. Post-Rock Pop … something’s missing. JAZZ! But where? The first and last words are the strongest (most remembered) and thus should signify the most prevalent and important styles. Post-Rock should go first, it’s like the first author, the inaugurator. I definitely sound more pop than jazz, so … Post-Rock Jazz Pop!!! And it has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? Hmmm what about “Jazzed”, I really liked that. Post-Rock Jazzed-Pop? What do you think? I can’t decide if it’s corny or not.
So, in my mind I feel I’m 50% Post-Rock, 40% Pop, 10% Jazz
How would you break it down? I put up a poll on my facebook wall. You can view the results here.
What do you think? Am I completely off my rocker? Am I actually closer to Progressive Rock and just getting caught up in the romantic idea of Post Rock? Did I miss something important in my research? I don’t want to make the official ‘label’ switch until I get some feedback. Maybe I should ask some post-rock artists. What a great idea! Go right to the source! I’ll post their opinions as well as yours.