Why Do I Write Music That is… Not Uplifting?

I got asked this question either in 2022 or 2021 and it was “Why do I write music that is miserable, Why don’t you write something happy or maybe a christmas song”?

That has been floating around in my head for some time. But today, I would like to discuss it.

Main reason, is personal choice. During my journey into loving music, I heard about a lot of music through friends and family. My Dad got me into Bruce Springsteen and The Clash. I discovered Green Day, Alice Cooper, and various metal bands. During my time at school, the biggest music genres going around were hip-hop, Indie (Arctic Monkeys, Jamie T and Radiohead), and Electronic - Dubstep and Drum ‘n’ Bass.?

Aside from dealing with complete dickheads and pretentious smartarses in my GCSE music class, I slowly began to drift towards the electronic side and found a side of it that brought in Melody, world creation, and not having to rely on big sub drops. It was perfect and so inspiring to me and the progression of my music, and as I got older and during the pandemic, I discovered a side of the music I loved that had personal undertones, songs that talked about dealing with depression, anxiety, and addiction which then led to folk and country music. Moments of honesty expressed through art were the influences that pushed me towards my A.W.B project and I found joy in that because if I was having a tough time expressing my emotions which, during the pandemic and 2021 was quite a big deal because of how I chose to handle my problems. Hiding and repressing them so that I never had to deal with them and people around me didn’t have to know if there was anything wrong with me as well as the fact that TikTok became my main choice of killing time, Not a good idea.?

I was watching a podcast a few months ago and during the podcast, one of the presenters mentioned Nick Drake, a British songwriter who released only two albums before he died in 1974. They had mentioned that depressing music has a place and sometimes listening to someone who has been through some kind of hell as the listener brings a sense of comfort. It lets the listener know that they’re not alone because there is someone who has probably been in the same boat. even though music is very subjective and can be explored in various ways, but it was that podcast that resonated with me and my music because even though it has moments of misery, I would rather do that than listen to an Ibiza Megamix.