influence = excellence
Emilie Simon is the kind of artist that makes me think I completely suck at music.
Despite the way that sounds, I'm not taking that to a negative place. Really.
I don't talk about it much, but before I begin work on a new musical project, I always build large "influence" playlists. It's a serious process for me, and I get kinda extreme about it sometimes. In 2004 I meticulously edited my old iPod until it only had music that was acceptably within the spectrum of what I wanted to do with Duchess 33. Nothing else. 30 gig iPod with about 4 gigs of music on it? Yeah, but it was a badass 4 gigs.
Anyway, I've just begun the process of acquiring new music that is in-line with the spectrum I want to hit with my next release, and loading it onto my iPhone. As with D33, I want to make a noticable shift in my sound. This time, for the tentatively titled "Music for Headphones", I'm moving toward extremely sparse arrangements, mood-based composition, smartly written lyrics, and a decidedly programmed sound. Emilie Simon hits that very close to the mark. There aren't too many other artists I can say that about in a broad way. Almost everything else I've got so far is song by song.
I'm rambling. I'll stop now. I guess I was just trying to say that I think, despite improving my music leap after leap (album by album) for nearly 18 years straight, I think there's a decent chance that my next leap will finally be the leap home. Certainly I believe that same thing every time I start planning something new, but this time it feels different. Like somehow I can rise above what I've done on all of these albums and extract only what was brilliant and really inject my experiences and then just... yes. I think... I think I might finally know what my true sound is. The question that remains is whether or not I can finally get it from cerebrum to CD without losing it all in the translation. Honestly, that's the big deal. If I knew how to do that perfectly, I'd surely have had you all freaking out about my music long ago. Maybe I'll get it this time. God knows I don't aspire to release another album to silence.
-m
Despite the way that sounds, I'm not taking that to a negative place. Really.
I don't talk about it much, but before I begin work on a new musical project, I always build large "influence" playlists. It's a serious process for me, and I get kinda extreme about it sometimes. In 2004 I meticulously edited my old iPod until it only had music that was acceptably within the spectrum of what I wanted to do with Duchess 33. Nothing else. 30 gig iPod with about 4 gigs of music on it? Yeah, but it was a badass 4 gigs.
Anyway, I've just begun the process of acquiring new music that is in-line with the spectrum I want to hit with my next release, and loading it onto my iPhone. As with D33, I want to make a noticable shift in my sound. This time, for the tentatively titled "Music for Headphones", I'm moving toward extremely sparse arrangements, mood-based composition, smartly written lyrics, and a decidedly programmed sound. Emilie Simon hits that very close to the mark. There aren't too many other artists I can say that about in a broad way. Almost everything else I've got so far is song by song.
I'm rambling. I'll stop now. I guess I was just trying to say that I think, despite improving my music leap after leap (album by album) for nearly 18 years straight, I think there's a decent chance that my next leap will finally be the leap home. Certainly I believe that same thing every time I start planning something new, but this time it feels different. Like somehow I can rise above what I've done on all of these albums and extract only what was brilliant and really inject my experiences and then just... yes. I think... I think I might finally know what my true sound is. The question that remains is whether or not I can finally get it from cerebrum to CD without losing it all in the translation. Honestly, that's the big deal. If I knew how to do that perfectly, I'd surely have had you all freaking out about my music long ago. Maybe I'll get it this time. God knows I don't aspire to release another album to silence.
-m