Tuesday, May 20

Band Buddies

Many band members hate each other. Creative tension is inevitable in any group or organization and life on the road and in the studio puts extra stress on everyone. I've heard bands like Weezer don't speak to each other at all, unless the are in rehearsal or about to go on stage.

How creativity perpetuates itself in these situations boggles my gourd. How can you playfully bounce around musical ideas whilst knowingly disliking your bands members? Your personality is your musical personality. I suppose it really breaks down to the dynamic of the style of music you play.

Improvisational music requires pitting your musical personality against those you play with. This manifests itself in a myriad of musical variables. The drummer might perceive a song as dragging and sluggish while the bass player thinks the tune is rushing. A singer might have to strain over the volume of the drums while articulating a passage.

This is different from music that involves no improvisation. This isn't to say that music that is purely compositional isn't creative or malleable.

I just know that the dynamic give and take between me and my bandmates' musical personalities reinforces our friendship (friendships which were present before we started playing music to begin with, thankfully).

And to all the bands that don't get along: music is a unifying force and employing that force will only help your musical efforts.

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