creativity

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The gig that helps sustain the Gig that sustains the Spirit

May 13, 2011 in creativity, entrepreneurship by George | No comments

A lot of great comments on my recent piece for TuneCore, but one in particular sort of got my wheel’s spinning.

Ken Shane and I got in a bit of back and forth about – generally – what constitutes success in this music business model.

In attempting to address Mr. Shane’s point I suggested that for virtually every other artistic endeavor aside from music there is little-to-no expectation that most people will make their living engaging solely in this activity.

For example, few people think, “I’m a fine art photographer, and I should be able to just take fine art photos.” The vast majority of fine art photographers I know subsidize their gig by doing non-fine-art work (weddings, photo-journalism) and/or work completely unrelated to photography (stock brokering, etc.).

Same is true, of course, for writers, actors, painters…mimes, et al.

None of these people (particularly mimes) feel that they are somehow deserved of the right to mime and mime only — they have some other non-mime gig to subsidize their mime-itude.

Musicians, for some odd reason (and, arguably, actors too) tend to feel doing non-music work is somehow beneath them/hinders their ability to create great art. They often seem taken aback when it’s suggested that perhaps they have to do some other job in addition to creating their art. (Yes, I’m generalizing, but, in my experience, only a little bit.)

In reality, of course, it’s not just a bifurcated life that artists must live — having multiple jobs.

Who doesn’t have several jobs? My wife is a full-time mom who also does educational consultation and teaches bellydance. Don’t even get me started on my crazy-ass schizophrenic activity. Frankly, most everyone I know is juggling several “jobs.”

And yet musicians want one job: musician.

In any case, the message here isn’t that musicians are solipsistic, but rather what I tried to convey in my response to Mr. Shane’s comment to my TuneCore post: that we all must have jobs that allow us the time/money/freedom to pursue the work that makes our life meaningful (our art).

In other words, we have to have: The gig (lowercase) that helps sustain the Gig (uppercase) that sustains the Spirit.

Of course, the old adage of “do what you love, and never work another day” isn’t necessarily wrong, it’s just reductive.

No one is so monochromatic as to have a single thing they love; we all have a variety of interests, and, thus, we all do many things.

Some things we do because they align with our values and purpose, and some things we do in a purely mercenary manner so we can do more of our purpose-driven things.

Such is life. Thank goodness.

Into your arms, Into your arms

December 29, 2010 in creativity, marketing by George | 4 comments

There’s a very specific mental and physiological unity that occurs when a parent holds his or her arms out to their approaching young child.

If you’re a parent you know precisely this moment. I’ve dissected it:

The knees bend, the arms outstretch, the gaze is intensely focused on your approaching child, and you smile in the most natural and unself-conscious way.

Your mind, all the while, attempts to propel love and confidence and joy directly to your child.

Once in your grasp, your eyes involuntarily close, your smile widens, you don’t breathe, and you raise your child briefly over your head, open your eyes, and look intently into their face.

You then bring your child to you, close your eyes again, kiss the top of their head, smell all that is good in this world, hold them as tightly as you can without holding them too hard.

You note almost subliminally that time has stopped, put them down, and then breathe again.

The moment is really all about the embrace. What happens before and after, however, defines us.

What or who we choose to embrace defines us.

All the work we do — as parents, as partners to our significant others, as friends, as good business people as good artists — on either side of those all-too-infrequent embraceable moments define the quality of the embrace.

If we imagine what we want that embrace to feel like — and remember, it’s only an embrace if it’s emotionally and physically symmetrical — our actions, pre and post-embrace, improve.

In business we call this imagining a “Vision Statement.” You imagine, in the most granular detail, what you want your business to look like, and how it will lead to the accomplishment of your mission (I prefer “purpose” to “mission,” but you know what I mean).

So, as you think about your businesses, whatever they may be — from the investment banker to the folk artist — consider that moment of embrace. That moment when the deal works for everyone, when the audience and artist are unified, when a piece of prose or a photo or a song transcends and it’s no longer about creator/constituent, but rather about the intertwining.

Imagine, if you will, you as creator/business-person holding your arms out to your approaching constituent(s). Imagine that all you do, all you create, all the businesses you start, all the deals you make are made with the same hopes that every parent has: that their child will see these open arms and accelerate their gait and literally leap into your arms with shiny eyes and open-mouthed smiles.

Happy New Year, and thanks to all who read my blog. I wish you nothing but health, happiness, and accomplishment for the coming year.

George

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“if it’s pure, it hits you like a sledgehammer”

August 16, 2010 in creativity, music by George | No comments

I read the 33 1/3 Series book on Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea on an airplane over the – uh – dirt (and some sea) recently.

To say that the record is significant is an understatement. No more needs to be written on it; it needs to be listened to. (I will add, very briefly, that when in the process of unsuccessfully attempting to license the record for release in the UK, I got to know Jeff Mangum a bit – many phone calls, a few in-persons – and he was one of the more self-effacing, genuinely kind geniuses I’ve had the pleasure of meeting).

In any case, while nothing more really does need to be written on the record, the above-referenced book is good. The author, Kim Cooper, wisely doesn’t attempt too much exegesis on the record. Instead, he focuses on the circumstances leading up to the record, the furor around the release/tour, and a bit (just a bit, thankfully) on Jeff’s “disappearance” post-tour.

If you’re a fan, you’ll like it (or hate it).

What hit me the hardest was the quote from band-member, Julian Koster, below.

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Mouse and Pin Cushion

July 5, 2010 in creativity, music, songs by George | 13 comments

A while back I made a promise to try and engage in more random acts of creativity; things get very dark around the Ponderosa when I don’t.

I’ve done OK with this, but I’m certainly not where I want to be in terms of frequency.

I was thinking about why my output hasn’t been what I’ve wanted, and some of it comes down to my damnable Virgo personality of needing to refine things rather than letting them be/go. While I’ve come to be largely OK with this, it does stand in contrast to much of what I preach with respect to getting stuff out there and refining.

What happens is, I’ll start with a sketch of a song or of a…er…sketch, and rather than keep it as just a sketch — a moment — I add layers.

The question is, do these layers really add anything? Isn’t the essence where it’s at?

I think the answer is that, yes, the essence is there…or it isn’t. Refining is not necessarily a bad thing, and, often, is absolutely necessary. But sometimes it’s more necessary to just create, and let the essence be what it is or isn’t.

I think if there’s something there, you’ll come back with a different eye, a different approach, and you’ll refine. If there isn’t something there, coming back to it a billion times won’t get you any closer to the truth.

To that end, I was taking a break from the jaberwocky a bit ago, and came upstairs from my office; the kids were running around in circles (not kidding), and I picked up my guitar. I’m fascinated and obsessed with staccato rhythms on guitar that imply melody, and am always on the hunt for these. A drop D and a capo later, I had the feel of something. I plopped my iPhone with the voice memo app running on my knee and banged it out.

My intention was to use this iPhone recording to just remember the idea of the tune. But then I started thinking of all the layers I would add to it, and it became less about doing something fun and cathartic and more about planning a time when the house would be quiet, the phone wouldn’t be ringing, etc.

Pretty soon I was tired just thinking about it.

So, screw it. Here’s the iPhone recording. Yes, that’s Henry running around in circles talking about monsters. Yes, that’s me breathing. Yes it goes out of time at one point.

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Mouse and Pin Cushion

Once again, I’m honored to use, with her kind permission, one of Kristin Hersh’s amazing photos as the title inspiration.

If you want to hear real songs, head on over to Kristin’s Site; lots of amazing things going on over there.

I hope those of you who read Ye Olde Bloggee don’t mind these little moments of internal contemplation and their collateral manifestations.

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I’m a lucky dude

April 25, 2010 in creativity, music, Off Topic by George | No comments

It’s nice when songs make you think of someone very acutely. Even nicer when said songs make you think of your wife.

This one comes on, and all I feel is Marci:

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