Well, quite an interesting week this week, to be sure. Wobbly Bob rehearsal Wednesday, gig with THE MOTHERFUCKING TOASTERS Thursday, a brilliant evening with Tom and Jay remixing a certain track my Mr. Tom Jones (The Sex Bomb That Blew Up Alderaan) on Friday, followed by a frankly awful night’s sleep, thanks to me being too stoopid to put sofa cushions on the floor instead of trying to curl up on a sofa that’s a little too small. Opera rehearsal Saturday, in which I found out I actually know one of the songs already, then another Wobbly Bob rehearsal Sunday.
Wow, what a busy one! Oh yeah, we did some recording on Wednesday as well, getting improvised guitar sounds (disgusting, awesome and fascinating - perfect for my ideas for Red Gold Green). The rehearsal today was productive, if a little… shall we say, high energy. I suspect I caused a bit of a mini-argument with Peter, which is a shame because that’s never my intention. He took it as me saying you’re only a musician if you can read music. And I suspect he’s pretty justified in that to be honest - thinking back on the conversation I really should have been clearer.
Still, it got me thinking. What exactly do we use to define such an abstract idea of musicianship - or indeed artistry? The ability to create your own works? The frequency of your compositions (the musical equivalent of bowel movements)? Skill on your instrument? The ability to read music? To improvise? Theoretical knowledge?
I’m not entirely decided on this one. I think they’re all very important factors in musicianship, but surely a lack of one of these traits is not necessarily a lack of musicianship.
I guess I feel that although a lack of any of these, or anything I haven’t mentioned, doesn’t preclude musicianship, the more knowledge of all of these factors the more rounded a musician you become. Until you become Luciano Pavarotti. Only less dead, hopefully.
It’s odd, but I don’t really think of myself as a musician - music is certainly my life (and my life’s work); it’s who and what I am; but I just think of myself as… well, me. And yet musicianship is something I very clearly had to possess for as long as I can remember.
I’m driven by a thirst to develop my art in every way I can, and an odd passion for theory. I know: that dull, lifeless, monotonous work that few enjoy. And I’m not saying I always enjoy it, but I just sort of stick with it and hope it’ll get more interesting at some stage. Hey, that’s just the way I am. The problem comes, though, when I encounter other people who don’t share the same ideals as me in this area - it confuses me, and frankly I sometimes don’t know how to respond to it at all. It’s kind of like someone who spends their entire life poring over ancient manuscripts, devoting every waking minute to unveiling new secrets but entirely lacking social skills, one day, out of the blue, getting laid. He just doesn’t know what the fuck happened and he’s completely stunned.
So, guys, I’m sorry if I come across an arsehole when I talk about music - it’s usually not intended (and believe me, if it is, you’ll know pretty much instantly). I’ll try and control my knobcheese circuitry, but if you’d try to resist the urge to punch me in the face when I do go into arsehole mode I’m sure we’ll meet in the middle, as we do most of the time.
Well, that’s my week anyway. Here’s looking forward to another good week recording, mixing and spending time with good friends.
Goodnight blogosphere!
