What Do You Want to Hear?
It’s fall. Or Autumn? I think I prefer that word. I updated my “feels” playlist. It took me a few hours so give it a like or a heart or a + or whatever Spotify has changed it to this week. I’ve haphazardly added a lot of these songs to my own library over the last couple years so y’all get the highlights :) They’re songs that I really enjoy. The artwork I commissioned from Alethia Lunares. I love it. It still holds up, which I think is harder to do than most people think.
Whenever I put together a “heavier emotional” playlist like this I get quite introspective about what I’ve made, and what I want to make. I think that seems to be the hardest thing a lot of the time. “What do I want to contribute?” I usually start with thinking, what do I want to hear? It seems obvious to say that if you don’t like it, you’re fucked from the get-go. So at least start there.
I don’t think there’s too much point in making music you “think will help get you signed.” Even if it did get you signed, if it’s something you don’t believe in, it’s going to cause more distress than joy in your own life. Also I think it’s genuinely impossible to predict what people actually want to hear. We see this constantly in music. A true innovative smash happens, something genuinely inspired, and then the lifeless imitations happen for the next few months and they don’t feel as fresh or as exciting as the original. So strive for the former piece of music in that example, not the latter.
Ultimately though I think that’s a really hard thing to do. To show up constantly and be brave and take chances and stand behind something that maybe is a bit weird and a bit more personal. To be inspired by the things that have moved you, and interpret them into your own work in a way that feels fresh, not just a cheap remake. It’s a lifelong practice, something maybe we get better with over time. Be patient with yourself, think deeply about why something moves you, try to make things like that, and enjoy the ride. We need more of that.
-felix