Even my guitar wonders why I can't play
I was invited by my friend Drew to join in on a collective jam with his project Dirty Couches at this year's It's Your Festival New Music Expo stage Friday afternoon. Dirty Couches is a revolving group of local sound abusers made up of various friends and aquaintances from Hamilton. For my part I used a broken tape player that makes crazy tonal sounds when the volume in turned up with an old tape of one of my own private jams, my tin whistle, and gutteral vocal screams.
It could have sounded something kind of similar to this:
I am also playing again this Thursday, which I am nervous and excited for. Everybody has been super cool to me and I know I will be mostly performing in front of friends so it should at least be a supportive/warm atmosphere of open minds.
I don't feel too bad about wearing my influences on my sleeve as I think that due to my lack of mastery what I am producing can't help but take a personal slant and interpretation. One of the biggest influences has been loner folk/acid folk so I thought I'd mention some of my favourites. Most of these albums were private pressings released in the 60s/70s. I think sometimes I am a bit deliberate about my tastes leaning towards whats a bit more obscure/contrary to popular tastes, but I don't care. I guess I just like looking under rocks.
Dave Bixby - Ode to Quetzalcoatl "They look so spaced out, lost and lonely, living in a dream that's hell for them"
I played the most well known track from this "Drug Song" on my radio show last week, and it's been haunting me since I first listened to his troubled, hopeless voice. The most I can tell is that Bixby was a recovered drug addict that had found God, which accounts for some creepy religious undertones, however his music is still so full of despair.
Perry Leopold - Experiments in Metaphysics "When you come to realize that you're just a tool, it becomes so hard to follow rules"
I have been loving Perry for the past couple of years. He released another album after this one called "Christian Lucifer" which is also very good. Although he uses his songs as a platform to preach about typical hippy idealisms like love and peace, his haunting voice couple with the beautiful simplicity of his guitar makes the record feel personal and intimate, which is a quality I find all of these acts share.
Sibylle Baier - Colour Green. "When I pass through the leg high grass I shall die"
One of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. My friend Drew passed this record along to me not very long ago and I can't even put into words how thankful I am that he did. These extremely personal snapshots of a young woman's life set to the icey and fragile tone of her guitar are unforgettable. They capture a kind of essence that I fail to put into words but embody the raw magic and depth of emotions that are so familiar.
The kind of music these people make solidify my desire to stay as honest and as true to myself as I possibly can, especially in terms of musical endevours. I think more than anything people relate to things that are genuine reflections of intense feelings of all kinds, be it love, despair, or isolation. To be able to distill my own ideas, hopes, and fears in some sort of creative form as honestly as I possibly can is all I can really hope to achieve to attain what I myself would consider success. I really like discussing the creative process on my radio show and I think that its something pretty personal to everyone that makes anything. I guess I would agree with T.S. Eliot who said that its not a tool of self expression but a way of getting away from one's self because I feel like everytime I do something that is an honest effort of any sort that comes from a place that is deep within me it serves as a positive release of all the thought demons which clutter and confuse my brain on a regular basis. It's something to objectively examine outside of myself and learn from.
It could have sounded something kind of similar to this:
Click to viewI am also playing again this Thursday, which I am nervous and excited for. Everybody has been super cool to me and I know I will be mostly performing in front of friends so it should at least be a supportive/warm atmosphere of open minds.
I don't feel too bad about wearing my influences on my sleeve as I think that due to my lack of mastery what I am producing can't help but take a personal slant and interpretation. One of the biggest influences has been loner folk/acid folk so I thought I'd mention some of my favourites. Most of these albums were private pressings released in the 60s/70s. I think sometimes I am a bit deliberate about my tastes leaning towards whats a bit more obscure/contrary to popular tastes, but I don't care. I guess I just like looking under rocks.
Dave Bixby - Ode to Quetzalcoatl "They look so spaced out, lost and lonely, living in a dream that's hell for them"
I played the most well known track from this "Drug Song" on my radio show last week, and it's been haunting me since I first listened to his troubled, hopeless voice. The most I can tell is that Bixby was a recovered drug addict that had found God, which accounts for some creepy religious undertones, however his music is still so full of despair.
Perry Leopold - Experiments in Metaphysics "When you come to realize that you're just a tool, it becomes so hard to follow rules"
I have been loving Perry for the past couple of years. He released another album after this one called "Christian Lucifer" which is also very good. Although he uses his songs as a platform to preach about typical hippy idealisms like love and peace, his haunting voice couple with the beautiful simplicity of his guitar makes the record feel personal and intimate, which is a quality I find all of these acts share.
Sibylle Baier - Colour Green. "When I pass through the leg high grass I shall die"
One of the most beautiful voices I have ever heard. My friend Drew passed this record along to me not very long ago and I can't even put into words how thankful I am that he did. These extremely personal snapshots of a young woman's life set to the icey and fragile tone of her guitar are unforgettable. They capture a kind of essence that I fail to put into words but embody the raw magic and depth of emotions that are so familiar.
The kind of music these people make solidify my desire to stay as honest and as true to myself as I possibly can, especially in terms of musical endevours. I think more than anything people relate to things that are genuine reflections of intense feelings of all kinds, be it love, despair, or isolation. To be able to distill my own ideas, hopes, and fears in some sort of creative form as honestly as I possibly can is all I can really hope to achieve to attain what I myself would consider success. I really like discussing the creative process on my radio show and I think that its something pretty personal to everyone that makes anything. I guess I would agree with T.S. Eliot who said that its not a tool of self expression but a way of getting away from one's self because I feel like everytime I do something that is an honest effort of any sort that comes from a place that is deep within me it serves as a positive release of all the thought demons which clutter and confuse my brain on a regular basis. It's something to objectively examine outside of myself and learn from.