The Real Discovery
It’s hard to know what you want to do. We scroll away our days watching other people express themselves. Nowadays anyone can do it. It’s a blessing and a curse, really. We have to watch and listen to anyone. That entails drastic quality differences. Which makes it harder to develop good taste.
How would you know what’s great when you’re constantly exposed to all this noise?
I’m lucky to be old. Old enough, anyway. I grew up without a phone, without the internet and especially without streaming. Great story, pops. Yeah, yeah, but hold on a sec. You know what’s wrong with streaming?
Of course you know. It doesn’t pay us shit. But that’s not even what I’m talking about today. No. You listen to a song, and then the mighty algorithm will play you another one. A different artist, yes, but a very similar sound. The chord progression might even be the same. And then another one, a little different again, but still so very close. So on, and so forth.
C’est terrible. No real discovery happens this way.
Real taste is violent. You need to hate something to be able to love something else. They’re two sides of the same coin.
I remember hearing RATM for the first time. I remember hearing Teen?Spirit for the first time. Or that break on I Want You (She’s So Heavy). My first Eminem on the radio. It ain’t just memories. I vividly remember how I felt. It was a physical reaction. The whole of me going Wait, what...?
These days, many care more about the idea of being an artist, a creator, than about the art itself. That’s all kinds of wrong, pal. It’s not about being this cool, sensitive outcast type. It never was.
It’s about making things. That’s the fun part. The rest is only a chain reaction. I sometimes see people on socials with thousands of followers, and they don’t even have a song out yet. Pardon my French, but what the fuck?
My advice? Cut yourself off of social media. Okay, too harsh. It’s still a powerful marketing tool. Fine. Then don’t rely on it for discovering new music.
Ditch the playlists. Ask people for music recommendations. Yes. The old way. Listen to the same record over and over and over and over again. Like you only have this one to play (yes, that was the reason). Become obsessed with a note, a break, the way a singer pronounces a single word.
Get crazy. Develop your own taste. Only then will you be able to produce something truly unique.
*****
This is taken from?Off the Record, a newsletter that helps independent artists transform their ideas into amazing records.
To join,?subscribe here: baptistesauvage.com/sub/