Monday, May 10, 2010

Friday Night BBQ's and Nasty Coke Cans... (Friends With Faces)

So about that title...I can't tell you yet, but I promise it will mean something sometime to someone. I didn't mention anyone by name in this post, so fill in the blank. Okay, let's have it.

Friends With Faces

It appears summer has come rather early this year. It's the least the weather can do for us after the crap March threw our way. Officially speaking, we have like a week or so of the spring we never really had. In any note, it appears that this will be a great summer.

As discussed in my previous blog post (if you didn't read it, you should), I finally realized the importance of friendship between fellow musicians. A lot of times we [musicians] play these shows and stick to ourselves, or the group of people there to see us. We say hello and goodbye to familiar faces, and sometimes we go out to eat at the end of the night. We always say, "Yeah, we'll get together and hang out", but those are just empty words. Unfortunately, it never happens. Well, for me, it finally happened, and a lot more came out of it than anticipated.

This last Friday, May 7th, I got together with a bunch of talented friends for my first BBQ of the summer. The night started off with burgers and hot dogs just like any other BBQ. From there, we all sat around wondering what to do. Then out came the acoustic guitars, best move of the night.

We started playing and singing along to some songs including our own (corny I know), but overall we were having a good time. Then the guitarists started experimenting with chords and riffs. I was half joking, half serious, when I said, "Hey let's all combine together and write a song." Much to my delight the others liked the idea. We pulled out three pens, and three pieces of paper. We picked a topic, and began to write independently from each other.

Slowly the parts fell into place. One of the girls started singing, while I laid a rap over it. The other singer's part sounded perfectly like a chorus. We came together to piece the lyrics and change some things. More guitar parts were added, and after we realized it was past 12am, we brought this jam session inside. While inside we continued to work on the song, except now we had a deadline. One of the girls had to be picked up to go home, and we only had about twenty minutes to finish. Don't worry we did, who knows what would have happened if we didn't...

Now it was time to release it to the world. So in the middle of the street, at 1:45am, to the girls mother, we decided to perform the song for the first time. It went amazing, and no one called the cops! I have to admit, the song came out great, and the response we got from the others hanging out and our audience of one, agreed.

It's moments like these that will never be forgotten. I have found the best songs I've ever been apart of have come spontaneously in strange situations. I guess it can be contributed as the "spark of an idea notion followed by chain reaction" (I think I made this up, but it sounds right). So I guess I'll explain my theory because it's quite simple. One person has a good idea, someone else agrees, and it goes down the line. As more people get involved, they begin to add their input. This takes the initial idea and transforms it into a melting pot of a vision. I think that's what happened Friday. We kept pushing until we reached the finish line of our idea. It really was amazing.

I find this especially cool because besides the people in my band, we all have never worked together on anything. We have all heard each others music, and we all have our different styles that "we thought" would never mesh. We were wrong. The song's drastically different from our regular sounds, and yet most definitely a piece of all of us in some way. There really is power in music. Music can transcend, translate, and touch anybody no matter language barrier or preference. When the right pieces are in place, and the right things are said, anything can occur.

These last two weeks for me have been eye openers not only as a musician, but also as a person. I have learned what real driven passion is. Last week, I learned the art of performing, and building reputations and friendships and it's importance for success. This week I learned what these friendships could do when you work along side of them. Sometimes you have to leave your comfort zone, and try something new. I've never rapped to an acoustic guitar before, and I'm sure most of them never sat down in a backyard at midnight and created a song in two hours based off a joked remark.

This yet again proves my point that music can change the world around us. I feel strongly about this. I also feel very strongly about artists collaborating to make something of themselves. The philosophy of "the more the better" applies directly to this. So to every musician out there reading this, get out of your regular regime. Don't take the cautious way, experiment. Don't be a carbon copy of everyone out there. Make the music you want to, and not what everyone else wants to hear. I assure you, you will never be disappointed in yourself. Take those people from the crowd and let them be more than just a "face". Let those people become your "Friends With Faces", and move on from there.

7 comments:

  1. thats a pretty cool story

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  2. awesome job man...and it's so true

    i've heard it called "chain lightning" lol...and yea, it's the best way to get ideas going...keep it up man!

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  3. so so so good. <3

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  4. Music often comes together like that, same as writing. Sometimes your best stuff comes out when your ass is on a deadline. It pushes you to be better.

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  5. To the 3 anonymous, thank you for your similar comments. Al, as always you're awesome. Vin, on point as usual.

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  6. Very entertaining story. Its funny how some of your best works come under some strange conditions.

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