when I was 10 years old Music came up and licked my ear. It also took hold of my heart and me feel like everything was possible! Combining words and music and visual art all at the same time like the classic rock ‘n’ roll psychedelic albums of the 1960s– could literally create new worlds!
I already had been exposed to big band and jazz music thanks to my dad who played saxophone and clarinet in our house since I was a baby, as well as him strumming acoustic guitar and singing songs about lovesick cowboys, which I really liked.
I took piano lessons for a little while since the age of eight, and sang in the school choir, neither of which completely captured my imagination.
However, when I heard Sgt. Pepper’s by The Beatles, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention album “We’re Only In It For The Money” my mind became enraged with thoughts and visual impressions beyond my wildest dreams. Thats where I got on the horse that was called rock ‘n’ roll music, and started running with it as fast and as far as I could at every free moment.
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WORKING with other artists, or recording my own songs??
there are similarities and differences. When I am recording an artist and helping produce their music, I use the same level of creativity and love for music and sounds that I do when I’m working on my own music.
at every moment I’m trying to make sure that what they are doing sounds as brilliant and impactful as possible.
when I am recording other artists and producing their music, at every moment I am concerned that they are enjoying themselves, that they are glad they are working with me – – and that every single one of their thoughts and creative desires is able to come true to the best of my ability.
when I record my own music and invent songs melodies and sounds for myself, I never think of anyone else in the whole world. I’m just looking for the most exciting thing I can think of and the most interesting music I can make!
I don’t have to worry if anyone else is smiling or having a good time, I just have to make sure that I am really locked into the creative space where music and poetry are freshly made !
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My Music:
I started wanting to write my own music when I was about 16 years old. And at first it was very frustrating because everything I did, when I looked out at the next day – – I didn’t like it anymore! you can imagine how frustrating that was, and it seemed like learning to write music was a very difficult process for me. In fact I feel like I wasn’t really even a natural musician because playing the piano was also quite a struggle for me. something about reading the notes on the page and the mathematics of the rhythm notation went completely against my brain structure I was a very slow student. But my heart was filled with music at every moment and I knew I needed it!
One day, in the mystical Skagit Valley near Seattle, I had a breakthrough. I wrote my very first song called “Broken Glass Again” using a Hammond organ and singing. I had not learned how to record my own music yet but I remembered how to play the song and I practiced it over and over again to make sure I would never forget it .
It’s a song about alien spacecraft (a.k.a. UFOs) crashing into a city by accident and what that looked like in my imagination. In the end of the song it turns out that I was the alien that crashed and I was being rescued and taken back to my home planet. 🙂
I was so very excited that I made my first song, that the next day I wrote another song. And the day after that and the day after that. I couldn’t believe that I broke through the doorway that I had always been seeking… Into the world where my own music and words lived ready to be captured.
from that point on it was never a struggle to write my own music, and a few years later I taught myself how to record it. And that’s what I did for my whole life basically.
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My music part 2:
my new music is continuing the trend I have always been aiming for. I believe that the best art and music is able to show you things and sound like things you have never imagined or heard before. certain kind of human being seem content and satisfied with thinking that they know how the world works and what they can expect from life. That is the opposite of me. I always wanna find something new that shows me that I am a beginner and that the process of life itself is completely mysterious and wonderful.
for me the best artwork and music is the stuff that makes me completely flip out, freak out and go crazy because I can’t figure out how it’s done. I can’t figure out how a human being could have come up with the ability and idea to do it!
when I make a new piece of art or music I feel like I’m connecting with the creative imagination of all of humanity. Past present and future! I guess that’s why I put so much importance on music and art and writing!
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Easier in the past, or now?/ MUSIC INDUSTRY:
I think the music industry is so much easier now. In the old days you had to be selected by some old geezer at a record label, who believed that he would make money off of your music! if you weren’t selected by that particular group of men, then your music basically had no chance of being heard in the world! Now, I can finish a song by two in the morning and make a Photoshop piece of artwork and put it on Bandcamp or SoundCloud or my website Gordotronic, the whole world can hear it the next day and start telling me if they like it or not 🙂
Of course we still have the problem of how to be popular in the world! And how to make a living from our creative work. that has not changed at all since the old days
Not everybody is like Jimi Hendrix who wore the most outrageous clothing and set his guitar on fire and played his guitar with his teeth and played his guitar behind his back! so we have to think of other ways to attract human attention and love for our creative projects
In fact, gaining attention from humans is an art form in itself. Whether you’re walking down the street, making a new song, or just hanging out at a party. It’s all the same thing.
I would tell any person to look into their heart and if they feel the urge to create and perform, whether it’s Music dance art or street theatre:
Follow your heart. Experience as much of that artform as you possibly can every single day! learn the skills learn the techniques learn the philosophy. Get your attitude together and go completely crazy pushing your dreams into reality
if you could tell your younger self something what would you say?”
If I had a chance to meet my younger self, I would definitely smile and give a big thumbs up, then walk away quietly or perhaps fly away.