Free Writing #1

What's in the way to gain the fame of the name game. The snow fly trouble bubble doubled into one. I try and surface what is under the cover of lightness and fondness and likeness but it takes a moment of stepping back, letting the light hit my face before I realize what it is that I'm really looking at. My realization of numbers and troubles and stubborn fumbles bumps me back awake. I've seen it. I lived it. I saw it from another point of view. I realize now what I've been missing. It's our time to show each other what we're made of. To take this opportunity, a second chance, to bring to light what's wrong in this place. What's missing in this space. What's needing to be replaced. Concentrate my frustration towards something special, towards something beneficial, towards something and enlightening. Bring it to the masses to spread and multiply and create and procreate over and over until what was once spread can now be held together as one. Bring it close to your heart and see what it does. See the warm and feel the sight of it. Keep the view within but share it with your friend. Free write until your fingers bleed and pick up where you left off the day before.

I saw a man

It was 7:45.  65 on the highway, exit 7 and I stop.  I saw a man standing on this same spot holding up a sign the other day "will work for food".  Just trying to make it by for another day.  Could have been anyone in his previous life, before whatever happened...happened.  For sure he's down on his luck.  Did he deserve it?  Maybe it was meant to be.  He could be the nicest man you'd ever meet or the biggest jerk in the world.  Either way, down on his luck.  You can't help but wonder.  Lost his job at the factory.  Let go on Wall Street.  Stop and say hello, throw a dollar or two?  Try to look busy until the traffic light turns green.  You're off and back to what you do.  Every now and again you look back and see someone do what you couldn't.

I saw a man.

Today he's not there.  No sign, no ruffed up dirty shirt and overcoat.  No missing teeth.  No one to wonder about.  No one to avoid eye contact with.  Maybe he made it.  Maybe he didn't.  You put in your time it's late you're tired but nice and warm on this unseasonably cold afternoon.  You wonder what it's like to sleep on the curb when it's 25 degrees.

I saw a man.

Pulling into the driveway of your manicured lawn, sprinklers were meant to be shut off last night.  The driveways' a mess with toys and bikes.  The things we must worry about.  Open the door, give your wife and daughter a kiss.  Your wife got home early, put a fire on and cooked a nice meal, a little cottage pie.  My favorite.  New York Nightly News announcement: "Homeless man down on his luck gets the break he has been waiting for!"

I saw a man.

Can't be so I turn.  Standing with his sign, his ruffed up dirty shirt and overcoat.  Missing teeth smiling from ear to eat.  Now all eyes on him.  Maybe he'll make it.  Maybe he won't.  No more of a need to wonder or even worry.  Just to think.  What would I have done.  How would I have survived.  What would have pulled me into the next day.  Could have been that one person.  That one kind soul.  That one believer that took a chance and bought him a sandwich and a coffee and a $1 ticket to freedom.

I saw a man.

 

Inspiration and The Creative Process

Inspiration tends to come along at in-opportune times. It can be any time of the day and because of that I always have a pen and paper handy. I often find myself jotting down ideas on Post-it Notes or anything I have around me at the time.

Ideas can come from anywhere, whether it's the reversing "beep" of a semi, or a bird flying by my head, listening to NPR, or even just the wind hitting me in the face as I walk down the street.

I tend to write lyrics first trying to keep to some sort of poetic form. Other times I write in free form pouring everything out of my head as fast as I can to get all of the ideas in there out onto the paper.

In terms of the music and melody itself, I find the best way to create them is by playing around with what I know already on the guitar. I make up new phrases in my mind, applying them to the fretboard, or the piano, using my knowledge of music theory to come up with chord progressions that emphasize a sweet spot in my voice.

I like playing around with time signatures as well and try to make them as unique as I possibly can. Utilizing unusual time signatures has always been a means for me to try and stand out and sound just a little different. It tends to create a tension and release sort of a feel in my creations.

There has never been one standard way in which I approach the creative process. It's something that everyone does differently and I'm always intrigued to hear how others find their inspiration.

How do you approach the creative process?

What's in a Name?

How a band comes up with the perfect band name has always been a bit of a mystery to me. Ever since I had the idea in my head to "build" a band and start playing music, thousands of ideas for band names have been flowing through my mind (and still do constantly) and not one has had the decency to stick around and make roots (until now).

"Perfect"

Really, when you think about it, what makes a "perfect" band name? In the whole scheme of things, is it the most important aspect of your band? I would think it's not the most important aspect. To me (and most others I would assume), the most important thing would be the music itself or the message of the music.

In the time it took me to pull up Blogger to begin writing this article, I began to realize that a band name in the whole scheme of things makes no difference at all and is really only a label or identifier for you. It's the vision that draws people in, and the vision that makes someone want to listen to you and pay attention to what you're saying. It's the way you make the audience feel and the way the audience makes you feel that is what it's all about.

I've always been drawn to artists and musicians and authors and creators that have found a way to completely draw me in and gain 150% of my attention.

What draws you in? A name or a message?

What Inspires our Words to Flow?

What inspires our words to flow from our heads like a river flowing down a snow peaked mountain? It could start with a trickle and open up into a deluge of thoughts and feelings and emotions pouring out onto the paper.

Where does this come from? It could come from the faintest smell of a flower or food you used to love, or witnessing someone doing something profound or ordinary as you stroll through the park.

From time to time a memory will pop into my head that inspires me to write write write and I don't want to do anything at all but pour it all out without stopping. That rush is so incredibly addicting and is more powerful then any drug or bottle.

Someone within earshot could say the simplest of things or the street musician I just passed by on my way to Starbucks could cause a chain reaction, striking a chord and causing an explosion of inspiration in my mind. Inspiration can come from anywhere, anyone.

What inspires you?

When asked "How do you grade yourself?"...

When I was recently asked by Derek Sivers "How do you grade yourself?" I wanted to do more then post a comment on Derek's blog post, I wanted to also ask the question myself and see what responses I would got. This is what I came up with.

I tend to do a lot of thinking, whether it's about the exciting (or sometimes unexciting) things I'll be doing during the day, or what goals I have set for myself to accomplish in the next minute/hour/day/week/year.

I find great joy in creating music and I grade my happiness by the quality and not necessarily the quantity of work I accomplish.

When I say work it could mean creating a new concept for some album cover art, or laying down a new track for a newly created tune, or remixing some previously recording material bringing it ever closer to a "final product" that I can be happy with and one that speaks to people. My ultimate goal is to create something that speaks to people, something that moves them and makes them feel the way I feel when something moves me. That feeling is indescribable and is what I crave every moment of my life. The more moved I am, the more I tend to be happy.

How do you grade yourself?

What moves you?

An Impromptu Mind Explosion...

I sit still and let every outside influence, every sound, every sight, every minuscule inhabitant, whether conscious or not, leave my mind's eye. The ebb and flow .... interruption .... phone rings, done .... ebb and flow.