Music nowadays is absolute rubbish, it’s just churned out rubbish by millenials and Gen Z’s who don’t have any craft or anything to complain about.
(HINT: I absolutely disagree with this sentiment). I think music is always reflective of the current culture and healthily leaning on what came before to varying tastes. Art is fluid, it’s flux, it’s responsive, it’s empathy and when absolutely needed; it’s iconoclastic.
I am not going to tear down music new or old BUT the one thing I think we can learn lessons from 70’s bands that can translate to living a creative and healthy life.
Cut it live to tape!
Due to limits of technology and the exorbitant cost of tape etc, one able to play as a musician, with minimal mistakes and a capacity to be OK with mistakes. Music and life are like this, in my opinion, in that it’s the process NOT the product that matters. So do that thing, try that hobby, walk towards that goal or reach out that person, the needle stops at some point, but what a privilege it is to enjoy the vibe in real time!
Albums
If you have a look on wikipedia at some heritage or well established bands, you may notice their discography reflects a general fact that bands threw out albums at a comparatively faster rate than those of this century. Again, this is not bashing new acts, it’s simply the calculus and risk assessment is way more frugal and cynical for many labels today.
My point is bands more frequently produced albums, not every album had back to back bangers, but that’s ok! When you saw them live a sort of output Darwinism prevailed, the cream rose to the top! By producing more albums there was a more organic and playful flow and the ‘thoroughbred’ tracks, as it were, congregated in our cultural psyche.
What’s this got to do with me? My point is whether you’re a creative or you’re looking for change in your life, keep trying things on! They’ll either fit for as long as you need them or give you a lesson.
Deep cuts
Also don’t forget the deep cuts, when you get sick of the hits, for when we look back at moments or events that were not so positively regarded at the time, we often either draw a lesson from them and/or learn to see the good in them post-fact.
Make it live!
Hiding away in a studio for years or sneaking off to a tropical island to craft an album is all well and good but it has to exist in the REAL WORLD, with (GASP) other real people. If many of your favourite acts never played live or never released their music to the world, everyone would be much poorer for it. This is analogous with therapy and self development; we can postulate and pontificate about all sorts of fancy theories and frameworks, but unless you DO the change then no one hears the music. Sure it’s scary, sure it’s hard but people don’t really think about us nearly as much as we worry!
Don’t be afraid to be sincere, ambitious and a bit fun!
Remember many bands of a particular area waxed and waned in this ephemeral ‘coolness’ only to ‘come back’ later as cool in the eyes of critics (see Brendan Behan re: Eunics), I’m thinking of Rush, Queen, U2 (ad naseum).
HINT: if you buck the trends, cool is is irrelevant! All there is to do is make your art and live your life!
Seminal therapist Carl Rogers (bigger than the Beatles) warns us not to suffer from the pain of having an ‘external’ locus of evaluation. Be in tune to what you want to do and say and follow it, for the other path only means regret and pain.
Secret Bonus Track/Thought
What we can learn NOT TO DO from 70’s bands is abuse our bodies with substances, have problematic attitudes towards women or those who represent ‘difference’ and....eh engage in a proliferation of bad facial hair....maybe that’s stones in glass houses from me...
So invite you to be #CuriousNotCritical and in the spirit of the excellent retro distilling Dublin band ‘The Minutes’:
''To live well is to change often''
Supernatural- The Minutes
#lyrictherapy#musictherapy#thelisteningcure#thepowerofsong#counselling#psychotherapy#existentialpsychology#thisgoesupto11
コメント