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Fate, Karma, destiny, luck, serendipity, chance, timing, all of these
words are used often in discussing the artistic and commercial successes
of musicians/artists. I believe that every musician that has seriously
considered a career in music, who has spent innumerable hours practicing
their instrument alone in a room, who has devoted a great portion of
their lives to pursuing the muse, has at one point or another, considered
the fickle nature of karma, of the almost quantum unpredictable nature
of "success". Ambition, goals, livelihood, career, all of
these words also come into play. Somehow the economic forces that drive
our culture have also infiltrated our sensibilities with regards to
those things which are fundamental to the artistic process.
Oversaturation, marketing, market share, categories, labeling, A&R,
all of these words are artificial constructs that have arisen out of
a purely economically driven modality that I believe goes out of its
way to ignore real creativity, and does everything it can to foster
a competitive environment based on a free market system where supply
and demand are king, and humanity and craft are immaterial. I must know
10 awesome musicians, whose playing is only rivaled by their excellent
humanity, and the truth is that in all likelihood none of you reading
this will ever hear their music or know who they are. And I am sure
that every person reading this knows someone exactly like I have just
described.
Does it matter?
I say yes and no.
On a grand cosmological scale, absolutely not. It is all, every molecule,
every event, every thought and deed, a matter of just so much impermanence
and so much sand through the glass. On a human level, however. it very
much matters. It matters to the people who are living their lives pursuing
their muse. It matters on the soul level of existence because the most
profound truths are often found in the egoless creation of art for the
sake of art. These truths are what transform the world. There are so
many historical examples of powerful art not only mirroring social change,
but also actually inspiring it. Art, Music, vision and imagination can
transform the social fabric, can lift the human spirit and re-awaken
the soul of imagination that is so obviously lacking in the cultural
paradigm. In fact the greatest tragedy that western culture is perpetrating,
is the deadening of the cultural and for that matter, the individual,
imagination. Within the realm of imagination lies the souls true calling.
Can we honestly say that the commercial artistic culture is capable
of social change? When artists are sponsored by large corporate economic
agendas. In sync and Britney Spears selling their product through McDonalds.
Is that really music, or just another type of Big Mac with Fries?
Sting, my favorite pop artist, is a prime example of this confused and
paradoxical merger between artistry and the corporate agenda. Sting
is a truly great poet/lyricist, an incredible musical craftsman, an
original melodicist and in general, a great example of the union between
sophisticated artistry and economics. He is able to both create music
and stories that realistically tap into the cultural subconscious, the
roots of our collective soul, (that is what is what makes him so universally
appealing.), while at the same time, he has clearly navigated the corporate
seas and captained his own ship towards fame and fortune on his own
terms. Something I would imagine lies within the heart of all artists
pursuing a commercial agenda. At the same time he recently decided to
participate in a commercial advertising Jaguars, (the automobile, not
the endangered Jungle cat species.). I have to be honest and say that
I found this pretty offensive. I ask the question why would he need
to do this? Was it some attempt to market his new CD to the Jaguar driving
share of the market that he felt he was missing? I know he doesn't need
any more money or a new free car, so why would he need to be in a Jaguar
commercial? Are the economic forces of advertising and sales so powerful
that even an artist at the apex of the paradigm must succumb to prurient
economic forces?
Here is a simple question: Why is rap music the #1 marketable music
in the world? The answer is simple. It is a totally ambiguous music
form that realistically requires minimum skill and craft and allows
for a high market presence and quick artistic turnover. Thereby constantly
satisfying the ever-changing and volatile youth market and the ultimate
laws of supply and demand. It is also a key ingredient in mollifying
the underclass working poor. It is an unsubstantiated false mythology
that somehow the chance exists that a good rapper, and or DJ, or Producer,
can strike it rich and leave the ghetto paradigm. This false mythology
is so occluded by falsehoods that the average kids on the street in
Compton or Harlem, or wherever, has no idea of the political forces
and the economic forces that are actually marshaled against that possibility
happening. An individual has a better chance of being struck by lightning
during sex, or winning the lottery, than achieving commercial success
in almost any field of the music/entertainment paradigm. This does not
mean that it is not possible, nor is it a fixed given that talent will
not win out in the end, but the path is extremely difficult and the
reality is that the exception more often proves the rule. I am also
not saying, that there are individuals out there, whose poetic and rhythmic
sensibilities are not transformative or powerful in their ability to
effect change. I am not saying that rappers with vision and poetry in
their souls do not exist. I am saying, that it is highly unlikely that
those individuals, and what they have to say, will surface. The corporate
economic agenda won't allow that to happen because profundity incites
change and revolution. A lot of marketing energy goes toward paying
homage to the Rock'n Roll rebel, but how rebellious can you really be
when the very economic forces that are supporting your artistic endeavors,
are realistically the same economic and social forces that are preventing
rebellious and dramatic social change? In fact it is in the interests
of the corporate community to maintain the status quo, both social and
artistic, because the status quo at this point in time is entirely a
consumer mentality, based on soul gratification through the acquisition
of material wealth, and diversion through insubstantial entertainment.
What happened to the willingness to seek out musicians of depth and
soul? Why is someone like Alan Holdsworth largely ignored and the Spice
girls lauded as the second coming, (no puns intended there.) I am curious
as to whether most people even understand the degree to which marketing
forces are allied against them and dictate their listening and musical
tastes. If I say to most people that I think that Stevie Ray Live and
Jimi Hendrix's Axis Bold As Love is great to me, and in the same breath
I say that I am also amazed by The Mendelsohn E minor Violin concerto
and The Preludes and fugues of Shostokovich, most people tune out. My
love of music is derived more from the depth of humanity that is communicated,
and the passion, commitment and intellect that is conveyed, by a well
played or well written piece, than any piece of Pop music I can think
of. I am amazed by Oscar Peterson's improvisations and endless imagination,
his will to swing and be conscious and present with every note, Eric
Johnson's articulated sonic presence, Trilock Gurtu's Rhythmic virtuosity,
etc, etc, etc... I am bored by the adolescent and prurient nature of
music as flavor of the month, lyrics by kids with no real sense of having
lived in the world, and a political engine that is entirely self serving,
selling the world its vision of music, motivated solely by greed and
ambition.
We create our own worlds. We choose the path that life takes us on.
In Bhuddist theology one of the fundamental precepts is that the Path
itself is the goal. That is a rather large idea. That the journey itself,
all the ups and downs, the Joy and hardship, are actually the entire
goal, and that all of the events along the way are rather circumstantial.
A musician that enters the path of music as livelihood must at the very
beginning, surrender to fate. That is a hard concept to swallow, but
in truth it is that surrender that allows possibility to arise. Music
is about communication. It is also unfortunately about business. The
two are not necessarily exclusive, but in truth the spirit of music
and what it teaches, evokes and communicates, has nothing to do with
the business of marketing music to the global music market. We all make
our own fate. Carl Jung says that if we do not turn and face unconscious
world, those unresolved dilemmas become our fate. I believe that we
need to create a world where the things that mean the most and do the
most to heal the soul of the world are what is considered important.
All the rest is simply short-term thinking that serves no one and simple
makes the world a smaller place to live in. It is the role of the artist
to communicate the soul of the world and to expand others vision of
what is, and is not possible. The more that we as individuals aspire
to reaching out and meeting people on that humane level, the better
the world can be. Keep on playing, make music that comes from your soul,
ignore the rest.
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