Creative Differentiation

Hollywood

As a music student in LA in the nineties it was a case of instant immersion into the world of opportunity, bravado and capitalism. My Academy was in Hollywood, had an unbelievably prestigious faculty and delivered masterclasses by industry leaders every evening. I was in awe.

As a South African I had embedded insecurity from years of cultural sanctions and isolation from global music and art. It caused many South African creatives to severely doubt their self worth on the international stage, because there was no interaction or benchmarking. As a result arriving in the USA, the home of my revered musical icons, was daunting to say the least!

Bad Old Days

Some context here is that as a kid in the Eastern Cape I was obsessed with music, rhythm and the drums. I was hungry for quality and pursued good music like a golden thread. The so called ‘townships’ offered me the best available learning experiences and I was welcomed with warmth and hospitality. The fact that the country was under a State Of Emergency and that I often entered these areas in the boot of a car (as it was illegal to be there as a white 14 year old) never even raised a sweat. I was there for the unbelievable informal mentorship and rich music styles.

Push To The Front Of The Line!

Fast forward to LA and music school.  The American students in my orientation week scared the hell out of me. They were confident, talked the talk and everyone seemed to be good friends with Dave Weckl. (a helluva thing in 1995!)

For almost eight months I was too intimidated to force my way into performance situations, and the only way forward when competing for elbow room with 300 fellow student drummers is by force!

However, I slowly recognized that 95% of the talkers couldn't actually deliver.  They had great music reading skills and had developed expertise from the incredible high school music programs, but they couldn’t feel music or improvise or really groove. Especially in a unique way.

A caveat here is that the American students that could do everything were incredible. Hence the Steve Smith’s, Dennis Chambers and Omar Hakim’s of the world.

With new found confidence, I started to play and thrive in this competitive game.  I was rewarded with much positive feedback, mostly because I sounded different. You see the American students came from the same school system and aspired to similar role models, so that they all sounded the same. I realized that instead of trying to sound better than my fellow students a much more powerful approach was to sound different.

Cultural Authenticity

The way I achieved this was simple: I drew on my upbringing and the cultural palette embedded in my DNA.  French wine makers have a word that sums this up: ’terroir’. This alludes to the holistic environmental triggers that cause a unique taste and texture. It is no no different in music and creativity.  Cultural Authenticity is what makes something attractively exotic.

There is no point for a band from Cape Town to recreate the Chilli Peppers’ overtly LA sound or for a rapper from Soweto to replicate Jay Z.  A waste of energy and globally uninteresting.

Externalize: Learn skills, theory and expertise from the big global markets.  Internalize: Create and disrupt in a culturally authentic way.

That right there is differentiation in the market place, and the bedrock of sustainability.