There are so many dumb ideas we let rule our lives and limit our creative energy and happiness. Even though I have gone to lengths efforts to be free and conscious of my choices, I still find it difficult to start a creative activity that will most likely be very fun. Maybe a fear of the unknown, fear of failure, subtle avoidance of saying yes to life, repression of the creative child self… Whatever it is, I’m sick of it. I have a life to live!
So I have begun a new project in an effort to undo perfectionism and other unfounded ideas about how I ought to make and release music. It’s called Autotelia, which comes from the word autotelic: “(of an activity or a creative work) having an end or purpose in itself.” I think this is the true spirit of life, and I would like to live and create more like that.I’ve been making something new every day and uploading raw early versions of the music to soundcloud.
There are now 6 from the last week and one from a few years back. They’re pretty rough and some are weird, but this is pretty much what my improvisation and experimentation process sounds like for my electro-acoustic music. From these sorts of things, I’ll typically add new elements, subtract other bits, and generally balance and refine the track into more polished gem over time. In the track descriptions I’ve written a bit about the instruments, tools and techniques I used to make each piece, along with any ideas I have about where it could go in future. I have also paired each track with some old photos I took, which is a good use for the hundreds that are sitting on my computer never seeing the light of day.
My favourite is #3 Cicada. It is very much a seasonal vibe, featuring the wind blowing through the macadamia tree in the backyard, and a cicada getting rather excited. I also feel stoked to have programmed some drums for the first time in about 3 years. Super fun!Already this project has already achieved the thing I set out to accomplish, which was to shake up my stagnant mind and creative process. I also want to thank the beautiful people who presented at Nebula, an experimental music workshop that was held week ago at The Base, Newcastle. It gave me a lot of inspiration. Definitely don’t miss the next one if you make music.
Have a listen below!