Ten questions from Nyx #8 What do you consider your greatest obstacle in music?

8. What do you consider your greatest obstacle in music?

People.

That is the short and very pointed answer to that question. Of course I should probably embroider that a bit so I don’t come off as cynical.

People are the primary recipients of music. People are the primary creators of music. Both have serious issues.

The vast majority of people in the world have music in their life. But they are very ignorant of what makes up good music. This is analog to why people eat McDonalds when, while it’s edible, it’s not really good food.

Most people are comfortable with what they know musically. When I was playing in a cover band I noticed people would rather have you do a horrible job playing a song they know, then listen to a flawless rendition of a good original song.

How do people become familiar with music? Mostly via radio. I don’t listen to the radio at all anymore. I find most of the current music absolutely homogonous. It all sounds the same. Even singers in current bands all seem to have the same voice. The reason most music sounds the same is because the men in suite figure if band “A” sells very well, band “B” should sound as much like band “A” as humanly possible.

Frankly, artist development is history. The current rage is exploitation of the young and hopeful. Simply subscribe to the current sonic, fashion, image orthodoxy and perhaps the men in suites will use you to bolster their quarterly reports.

Of course this bring us from the consumers of music (or McMusic), to the creators.

Most musicians are incredibly derivative. They pointedly sound like the musical credo they subscribe to. I saw a guy playing the other day and for some reason the woman running the show sent me a copy of his song list. He had a good number of original songs,and a big pile of song he could cover. All the cover songs sounded alike (ahhhh, McMusic strikes again), but even more disappointing, his so-called original songs sounded just like his cover songs. This guy is very popular, because people are musically ignorant.

Let me try to explain what makes a person a musical artist with an analogy.

Most people can speak. Most people have a vocabulary. But few people are poets. Poets understand the power of words and the emotional resonance they have. Yes, most people can string together words that rhyme, but rhyming words do not a poem make.

Many people can play a musical instrument and make something resembling music. This is their musical vocabulary. Perhaps they can sing in pitch. But they really don’t understand the intangibles of music. They have no distinctive voice. This mean they really have no business playing music. Music is supposed to be an art form, not a craft.

Allow me to put forth examples some artist I’ve seen in Second Life that strikes me as actual musical artist.

POL Arida. Hell I could be the president of the POL fan club. He provides powerful words, dramatic music and a drive that keep things fresh. Nobody sounds like POL but POL.

Peregrine Singh. I’ve really just started coming to grips with this guy. I frankly don’t understand how he does what he’s doing, but it doesn’t matter, he’s freaking brilliant. There are plenty of guitar player wanking off, but Peregrine seems to be able to spew forth musical ideas with manic glee.

Blindboy Gummo. There is a part of me that doesn’t want to like Blindboy. He seems too popular to be cool. But fuck it, I love his originals. He’s got a quirky Blues/pop hybrid sound that is just amazing. Nobody sounds like the Hedgehog. I actually have a long-standing show following Blindboy at Bay Vista. If Blindboy ever drops that gig, I won’t be showing my face at Bay Vista again. Dropping in early to catch his show is my prime motivation.

Oh yeah, lets not forget Zorch Boomhauer, that guy is freaking amazing.