Creativity - striking while the iron is hot
I wrote a song today.
It reminded me of back when I first got involved with my band - actually just a couple of weeks after moving to Graz. I found a band before I found an apartment. Important to have one’s priorities straight.
Most people are surprised when I tell them I sing in a metal band. There’s an obvious stereotype of how a metal band member should look and most of the time I don’t fit it. One man even asked why I didn’t have any tattoos. It’s true that I come from Birmingham, hometown of Black Sabbath, but I don’t share much with Ozzy Osbourne except for a hint of that accent.
The genre of metal is as broad as any other, and my tastes runs towards the progressive end of the spectrum. The music we make in Joker Smile is quite experimental when it comes to time signatures and effects. I only sing clean vocals and sometimes also talk or play flute. I have been known to appear on stage with a hand puppet.
Anyway, to return to my original thought, I wrote a song today, and it reminded me of the very first time I did so. I was so proud and excited and I kept going around repeating it to myself to re-experience the thrill:
As with any sort of creation, it seems miraculous to have brought something out of nothing. Although I don’t write all of the parts, only the vocal line and the lyrics, it always seems to me THAT’S what makes it into a real song instead of an instrumental piece. I’ve breathed life into it by giving it a story, a theme, a message to convey.
But the main point of this post was to share a thought I had about getting the most out of your creative instincts when inspiration strikes.
I recently read this super post by @kadavy, where he talks about adapting your daily and weekly planning according to your fluctuating discipline levels in order to maximize productivity. He makes a distinction between tasks that require a lot of discipline to focus on, and those that require less discipline.
This was an interesting perspective for me, and has helped me to grasp why some aspects of writing seem to be harder than others. Those must be the high discipline tasks.
Normally, songwriting would be a high discipline task for me. It takes a lot of focus and repetition to get it right. Also, I wasn’t planning to work on a song today. In fact I had a whole list of other things to work on…
But I woke up with an idea for the song, and it was like one of those times when you’re inspired to do those difficult chores that you keep putting off. When that happens, you know that you have to take advantage
So I knew that the best thing I could do with the day would be to change my plan and work on the thing that was foremost in my mind. So I’d like to add my tiny bit of insight into the @kadavy’s theory:
That’s how it works for me anyway. Anyone else got thoughts or insights to add? Have you had the same experience of waking up with a great idea?
Yay, you respected the idea when he knocked on your door. Always let him in, before he goes to someone else. Ideas are like icecream. Don't let them wait, or you still have the taste but the shape is gone.
Haha I like that analogy
That's awesome. I can't even start to imagine to write a few lines of rhyming bars, yet alone a song! Are you going to share it with us? :-)
Thanks! It's a song for my band, so not something I can record on my own. Have to see if the four of us ever make it into another recording studio. ..
Fascinating to get to know this (heavier) side of you (well the (metal) core of you, I suppose!).
I agree 💯!! Especially now as a mom, but really, I've always craved flexibility. Like I never committed to anything until I had to, waiting until the last minute to RSVP, for example. Anyway, so happy for you that you woke up with a song in your head! What a lovely way to start the day!
I've been trying to write again, but I've only ever written dark or tragic songs, with a few rare sappy love songs sprinkled in, so it's a real challenge! It feels so awkward and foreign. I've tried writing songs reflecting my life now, but it still feels too forced. Hopefully that will change soon, otherwise you may start seeing me post songs cleaning out chicken coops and changing diapers! Lol!
Sometimes it's just about being in the right mood and being open to "a song", any song. You never know what will come... Perhaps you can do something like you did in your vlog and come up with deep, meaningful analogies for chickens and diapers. I believe in you!
Hey there! I've been thinking about you! Glad to see you on the platform again! Thanks for the encouragement. I was hoping to do some vlogging today, but work up to a 5 year old committing on my pillow. Not what I had planned, but it's all good. We'll roll with it and try again tomorrow! Lol!
Haha! As we said. Flexibility is key!
I'm ill at the moment and supposed to be limiting my online time. Couldn't resist sneaking on briefly though ;)
Checking in! I hope you are doing ok. Missing your entertaining posts and lively discussion.
Thanks for checking on me and sorry for my absence over the past month. I have had a hell of a time, but am hopefully on the way to being better. I missed Steemit and everyone here but honestly couldn't take too much (or really, any) computer time while I was ill. But now the urge to write has returned. It can only be a good sign!
Super cool =), I've just started with music again over the last few months..played for years (guitar/piano), very suddenly stopped 5-6 years ago..kept writing lyrics, nothing to go with em'. I woke up one day recently and ran across an old mix CD that I've had since i was a kid, first track on it was Sublime's Brad Nowell doing an acoustic rendition of "foolish fool". First, i teared up a little bit, dude was a local celebrity when I was a kid, think i was around 5-6 when he died..but it was like i got this rush of ideas and chords came flooding back to me and this part of my brain just like..completely opened up like it had never been locked away. Kinda like waking up with a good idea :p, thanks brad. I practically ran for the acoustic my mom bought for me a few years ago in hopes I'd start playing again, the case was completely dust covered. I pulled it out and was able to play the entire song without the aide of google, then i started remembering all kinds of shit, then i started singing my own words while strumming..singing while i play still sounds raw, kind of like a homeless guy in venice beach trying to make a buck with the handful of full songs he knows..but i'll be damned if it's almost as if i'd been playing this whole time. I'm hoping to get my vocals in sync with my playing so i can get away with telling people that I never stopped playing. Sorry for the mini novel, you inspired me to write a lil bit on here for the first time in a while :p.
By the way, I'm curious about this hand puppet.
Good for you! Important to do it when the mood takes you (both the music and the writing thing) otherwise you never know when it will return. Haha opinions on the hand puppet are still mixed but perhaps he will reappear at some point ;)