Do you write music that suits your age?


Joseph
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Joseph
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03/23/2002 4:01 am


I'm sure you all know the feeling, that pure level of energy we experience growing up. It's a feeling that we refuse to stifle, something we try to hang onto as long we can. From spending time with of friends, family, and immediate enemies, one would think that we would to create limitations to the noise we experience on a daily basis. But with those loud roaring guitar sounds, and pulsating drums, we find an escape from our lives.

When I first heard Radiohead's 'Kid A' record, I was stunned. Of course my immediate reaction was mere confusion, because I wasn't quite sure what I was hhearing. I guess I expected something totally different, and needless to say I was shocked. But not disappointed, although I was expcting to hear a return to their classic early rock days, I felt something very special. For the first time in a long time, with listening to this record, it was almost like a motion picture. As I closed my eyes, the visual images that came to mind were amazing. You have to listen to this record straight through without any interruptions to experience it's full effect.

I think that's a major accomplishment for a band to provoke that type of reaction with their listeners, it's a monumental occasion, it's something that we only dream of. But it's important to find comfort in our creations, and despite what others think, all that matters is if we were able to see our visions all the way through. I think what truly matters is if you can reach out to that one person, and help them discover new aspects of their reality through sound. And just leave millions stunned, challenging them to discover what it is they have come across.

Today, there aren't many musicians who are willing to take that chance, but still we have to respect that, because we all need to put food on our table. However, I think sometimes we get a bit too greedy. Music, it's an art, it's a way to reach out to others, and most importantly, it helps us comes to terms with who we are as individuals.

For the most part, we feel that our musical tastes will stay the same forever, and that our direction (as a musicians) will never change. I swear, throughout my life, all I wanted to do was to transfer the music that was going on inside my head onto the fretboard (guitar), it's a mission that we all strive for as guitarists. We simply strive to be the best. But not to satisfy the standards of others, but simply to understand what's going on inside our brains.

We listen to vaious types of music, and we question exactly what it takes for us to feel inspired. Well, that's something that we'll question until the end of eternity. *But I think everything starts to fall into place when we stop questioning ourselves, *when we simply just begun to go with the flow. Without fear of failure, or fear of rejection.

Do I write music that suits my age? Not really... Have my tastes in music changed drastically over the past few years? Well, it depends on how you look at it. Do I have an open mind? Most definitely... As a musician, I never ask myself what type of song I'm going to write, or what direction I'll go in, I just let the musuc do the talking. Lately the music I've been writing is very different from what I'm normally used to, but it's an honest represenation of my thoughts, and how I'm feeling. And I'm proud.

So, do you feel that age has a lot to do with the rapid progression of your musical tastes, or is age just merely a state of mind? Do you write music that fits your age?

-Joseph
www.ragmagazine.com
"Swoop and soar like the blues angels."
# 1
educatedfilm
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educatedfilm
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03/23/2002 3:06 pm
hmmmm... I like your posts Joseph... very deep... and I keep giving conflicting oppinoins with my self...
the short answer, would be no... It's not that as you get older you become more mature... it's simply a case of being exposed to more music (which happens with time... that's why it's confused with age)... that's why 30/ 40 year old will like Shinia twian and shaggy, and whatever is in the charts and not much else... while someone like my self, has a very broad taste in music..
Do i write music that matches my age? I've no idea... I dont know what other 18 year olds write.. but i suspect if you listened to my stuff you could tell i was eighteen... you'd probablly be able to tell it's a little amaturish, and maybe not so experienced musically...

About Kid A... When i first hear a "preview" of it from the net (ahem)... I was pretty disapointed... to me it sounded they were resorting to an old trick.. layering and layering and layering and layering untill it all stopped, or you got a guitar /organ part with lots and lots of reverb\ echo... It's something that's used in Ambeince alot... which is something that's not regularly mentioned, is that what radiohead did wasn't new... but because they had a great track record (and quite rightly in my oppinion), becuase of that it was hailed as "genius" and "visionary"... When tracks like idioteque had been done before... and "kid A" was very similar to something done by Aphex twin... but the good side is that the poeple who were already doing this, have started to gain some recognition..
Over the last year or so.. I've mellowed musically alot.. but to be fair, that's only becuase before that i hadn't managed to get my hands on many Bjork/ sigor ros/ cold play / lupine howl/ elbow etc etc albums... and i've found my song writing ideas much more free to explore... now that i dont have to have power chords and distortion or screaming etc etc...
the other thing is good songwriting to me doesn't betray the age of the writer... unless it is specifically like cheese teen angst... or is very very dire...
At the minute i'm listening to alot of joy division... and what they did back in the early 80's would still be considered experimental today... it's very very cool stuff, based on strong song writing.. i'd recomend you give them a listen to if you've got time..
# 2
Joseph
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Joseph
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03/23/2002 3:49 pm
Originally posted by PonyOne

Too many people don't seem to want to admit that intelligence can exist in youth. I've met ten year olds with great taste in music, you know. I've met forty year olds who have terrible taste in music (madonna, shania twain, etc). [/B]


Age isn't always a factor, I think it all depends on who we associate with, and how our emotions are channeled through these relationships. Too many people rely on their immediate reaction when it comes to music, I think if more people took the time to really consider the many possibilities, the many key elements hidden inside their favorite songs, then I think that their lives would prove be much more interesting, and rewarding. Heh, It's too bad that I don't have many friends who really like the approach Radiohead has taken, I guess they just like to live in the past.

-Joseph


www.ragmagazine.com
"Swoop and soar like the blues angels."
# 3
Joseph
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Joseph
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03/23/2002 3:52 pm
Originally posted by educatedfilm
hmmmm... I like your posts Joseph... very deep... and I keep giving conflicting oppinoins with my self...
the short answer, would be no... It's not that as you get older you become more mature... it's simply a case of being exposed to more music (which happens with time...

Right. I think if we locked ourselves inside a box for three years, we could probably be content with the same sounds over and over again. But through human relations, something snaps inside of us, we naturally evolve. Although for some of us, we can't understand that it can be a very beautiful experience. Especially as musicians...


-Joseph
www.ragmagazine.com
"Swoop and soar like the blues angels."
# 4
Lordathestrings
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Lordathestrings
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03/23/2002 6:19 pm
I think the age factor comes into play simply because that determines what music you've been exposed to. There's been music in my life for as long as I can remember, which means I was listening to the Country and Rockabilly stuff that was on the radio before I started school. My mother would sing me to sleep with songs she remembered from her youth, (which wasn't all that long before my birth). As I was growing up, I was used to hearing my father's jazz, show-tunes, and movie soundtracks, plus the early attempts by Rock'n'Roll to get airtime. By the time I was a teen ager, The Rock Revolution was in full flower. Then early Metal, Disco :o :p Punk, Hair Bands, New Country, Grunge, Blues revival, Techno, Dance, Rap, and these days of total market fragmentation.

I write what I feel. That can be anything from moody, 'movie soundtrack' kind of stuff, to bouncy jazz numbers, to stuff that sounds like previously unreleased tracks by Peter Townsend or Jimmy Page.

Given the depth of my musical experience, I probably do reflect my age in my music. But that doesn't mean that I only do 'old fart's' music.
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# 5
Bardsley
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Bardsley
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03/24/2002 1:51 am
I think age reflects in some music, but there's a really interesting phenomenon. Rock and Roll music was very much music for youth, but as the youth grew up, they continued to listen to it. It's not so much that you have to be young to listen to rock music, but that you have to have grown up with it to an extent. All these rock stars who seemed like big icons of youth culture when they were young have now got old... and they still rock. What's funny is that it isn't nearly as embarrassing as I think young people might have thought that many years ago. You listen to old rockers and realise; Rock music is not about youth culture that much, it's simply great music. Obviously I'm only talking about a particular genre, and I kinda lost track of the thread, but hey, these are my observations.
"Dozens of people spontaneously combust each year, it's just not that widely reported".
# 6
ZackyH
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ZackyH
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03/24/2002 5:04 am
For some reason I liked Amnesiac and hated KID A. I don't know exactly what it is, I just like that CD better. Oh yeah, I don't really write music yet. I'm still learning the guitar. Maybe in about a year...
# 7
educatedfilm
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educatedfilm
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03/24/2002 11:54 pm
odd, my stuff is odd... I didn't have any musical influnces as i child... in living memory, the only music tapes i remember my parents having was "fairooz", and the fiddler on the roof sound track (*big grin*, god, i remember jumping and singing "if i were a rich man"... that and "match maker" were the only 2 songs i knew, and bothered to listen to... heheh.. it's all comming out now)..
I have a percuiliur sense of timing.. and when i play by ear i can follow notes wise, what i'm doing... it's not jazzy, but it's not in the same key..
I'm very melodically driven, and also song structure is a big part... I dont know why... just am.. but to be fair though I've come across more music than most poeple in the space of only maybe 3 years. Before that i wasn't that intrested in music.. I just had a couple of greenday and nirvana tapes i used to listen to now and again...
# 8
Raskolnikov
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Raskolnikov
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03/25/2002 12:10 am
My writing varries -

If I'm writing with bass, then it's hyperactive funk, or semi chordy basslines... or a mixture there of. Now that I have a fretless and have been listening to Jaco I'm playing around with harmonics more than I had been (though I devised the intro to Standing with tapped harmonics before I listened to Jaco).

My guitar stuff typically has lots of chords and is moody. What melody there is comes from the chord changes. I like really odd "open" sounding chords. I can't name most of them actually.
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# 9
Incidents Happen
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Incidents Happen
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03/25/2002 12:35 am
i'd say that your mind sort of evolves a few times during youth and adulthood, so i'd have to say yes
# 10
kingdavid
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kingdavid
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04/02/2002 10:53 am
Originally posted by PonyOne
...... I've met ten year olds with great taste in music, you know. I've met forty year olds who have terrible taste in music (madonna, shania twain, etc).

Trust me to notice the trivialest of things in a post but,you met Madona?And Shania?I'm asking coz being in their concerts isn't qualified as "meeting":D
kingdavid says,in avery small mickey mouse voice:"Juss Kidding".He simultaneously gives a very disarming smile.Leave the smile there.And now I'm not kidding.:)
But seriously,I think educated is right about this confusion with age.I think the correct question should be
Do you write music that reflects your [u]experiences[/u]?
(And if this doesn't work,the U's you see here were meant to underline the word experiences.if you don't see any U's,then it worked).
I see 13 yr old kids talking about love(like wifey,husband,man to woman love,not parental or friends love)and can't help laughing;what on earth does he know.But then again,what do I know?Some of the experiences under 10 yrs olds in war torn countries have been through would scare any whatever-yr old in other places.Bottom line is,the idea should be to be honest with yourself(and with your audience)when you write what you write.Without,as Bardsley(?)says,the fear of failure or rejection.Being true to your heart,not to what you heard David Bowie or Bob Dylan sing.Or what you heard _______ (fill the blank with your most admired player) played.
That's the only way to let people experience you.If they wanted to experience your idol,they too know where the music store is.It's also the only way to give those 13 yr olds a break.If that's what they really feel,then so be it.Personally I doubt it,but if it is,then,well,so be it.

# 11

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