So here we are! The first actual post at a new property. Whoo! So clean in here! So much space in the database…
My previous publications have had other focuses, but in my life, I’ve never had the opportunity to apply myself to blogging about, talking about, and playing music. Now is the time that we got that process started.
I’m still acquainting myself with WordPress as it exists today. One thing I’ve learned is that Gutenberg was the functional death of the open source project that was WordPress. I knew that at the time, but what I didn’t know was how much of what followed would be paid-for everything. I’m sure that there are probably still developers working without the free shit, but that kind of development doesn’t hold a lot of charms for me. As much as I’m enjoying the process of creating my web presence – which in fact is just the extension of my musical journey – I would not want to do this for a living.
But whatever! That’s not the point of this site. I’m trying to use this space as a sort of old-school portal to the various types of media I have/hope to soon create: YouTube, SoundCloud, Spreaker and I guess whatever else.
Part of the inspiration for this new project is something I read about Frank Zappa. Among Zappa’s many musical habits, he was constantly recording every performance and then reusing samples of old performances to create entirely new songs, sometimes with overdubs.
To studio executives, this was a nightmare of recycled garbage that couldn’t possibly sell. To Frank, it was “The Work.” There was no single beginning or ending. No special song versus another. Just a constant stream of musical consciousness, always flowing, always changing, never final, never still. I think most of us as musicans can appreciate this sense of songwriting, if perhaps with a pretty common sense of frustration.
Many of us struggle instead with the anxiety of “finishing” songs. Especially in a world where we can hit “publish” and reach millions (or more likely, none), actually getting our work to the point where we feel it worthy of publication is much harder. There’s always something that could be done better or another touch we’re waiting on. But is it really our role as musicians to declare the boundaries of an album that, in my case at least, no one is actually demanding I complete? For myself, the answer is no.
I’m not doing any of those things. I’m not in anybody’s studio. I am most importantly not at work. I’m exploring my musical world for the love of that world. And thus this site is about that journey, for its own sake and for my own. That you read it, dear reader, is just icing.
I’m going to be blogging about music. I’m going to be podcasting about music (I’ve done some already, have you seen Back Beat, Hip Pocket?). I’m going to be posting videos of.. something. I don’t know all the details. But this will be the space to find any of it.
Anyways, if I’m being honest, this blog post is mostly about having new blog posts to be able to work on the theme. Sorry not sorry. Thanks for reading! Hello World!