The Church and Art

January 23, 2009 | Art | Church

I recently watched this video a few days ago and it got me thinking.

We as a church body have gotten behind when it comes to art.

When was the last time you heard of an awesome piece of music that moved the genre in a brand new direction?  When did you last see a painting that pushed the way people painted?

As a body of artists, it feels as if we have become followers.  In music, we have Christian versions of almost every kind of music.  Rock, Rap, R&B, Pop, Urban, Country; you name it, we probably have it.  This is good, and we should express the Gospel message and Christian ideals in these forms.  Yet, when I hear a band or artist with a new sound I’ve never heard before, it’s not a Christian artist.  Why is that?

Now, granted, I have a few Christian groups on my playlist that I can’t compare to anyone else.  Anberlin, for example, I love, and I just can’t seem to put them with anyone else.  The Classic Crime, while they don’t call themselves a Christian band, have decidedly Christian overtones, and are on Tooth and Nail, which carries mostly Christian artists.  These guys have brilliant writing, in my opinion.  The exception that make the rule, I guess.

Here’s the point: We as Christians carry with us the greatest news of all time, we know the God of the universe and can speak with him every day, yet we generally only follow others in their artistic methods?

This just feels odd to me.  If we truly know God, shouldn’t we be able to find new awesome ways to glorify Him?  Should we not be leading as well as following?

I am a Christian artist myself, as I have said a few times on this blog.  I don’t have the answers.  But as a Christian and an artist, I want to be moving in a new direction.  My influences are all evident in my art, so in some ways I will always be following them.  My goal is to create something new that no one has quite heard before.  I may never get there, but I’m sure going to try.

I want to see all Christian artists doing something a little different.  I want to see the church become a center of another arts movement.  I want God’s glory shown in different ways than just what’s already been done before.

Does any one else feel this way?  Got any cool Christian art to share?  Leave a comment, let me know.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

Silence

January 18, 2009 | Art | Writing

In our daily lives, there is little silence.  Almost every moment is consumed by something; whether it is music, work, radio, television, the list goes on.  However, we should still remember the importance of silence.

Silence can be deafening.

It’s ironic, but life is full of those ironies.  Like being alone in a crowd.

Example: In music, a composer will write in silence to emphasize a loud part immediately following.  Hey, John Cage wrote 4′33″ with a lot of silence.  Interesting tune.

Most important, silence forces us to think.  It forces us to listen, both to God and ourselves.

I think we should take some time to be silent.  Take time to quiet what we do most often.  If we can take a step back from our projects, from our daily grid, you never know what you just might find.

For example, I took some time to myself (partially because I got sick, but we all need a push sometimes) and sat down to read a book.  It was a book I never thought I’d enjoy.  Boy was I wrong.  I finished the whole novel in less than 3 days.  Usually it takes me a week at least.  I’ve found another book I love, and I’ve found a few more tricks to use in my own writing.

You can’t run forever.  If you constantly pursue without relent you will burn out.  This is not changing focus or loosing passion.  Those are different.  Endurance runners don’t run every 100 meters in 10 seconds.  They would never make it the whole way.

Give yourself a little time to just sit.  Go to a park and watch the animals.  Go read a book you didn’t see before.  In order to be honest in our art, we need to overflow from our hearts.  If we’ve drained everything from our hearts by never taking a moment to be silent, we will not achieve anything but adding more noise.

If we are to be real in our art, then it should overflow from our hearts.  If our hearts are never silent, we will only add more noise.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

Balance of Control

January 14, 2009 | Music | Technology

After seeing much news about copyright control, the RIAA, and others, I am getting frustrated.

I just read this article from Mashable that YouTube is muting audio to respect copyright.

Okay, hold up a second.

You’re saying that you’re going to force places like YouTube to coform to the old rules about copyright in a completely new medium?  I think these folks need to read the writing on the wall.

First, a disclaimer: I understand the spirit of copyright.  I am a writer and musician.  If a song I write gets out into the mainstream, I want compensation!  I want to receive something for the effort I put in to the song.  People who put effort into construction receive something.  Why shouldn’t artists?

That said, art is (and has always been) a place where imitation, copying, and using are good for the whole.  Let me explain.  When you contribute art to the community, other people get ideas.  Other people use your ideas to inspire their own.  They inspire you, and the cycle continues.  If we place too harsh restrictions on music (i.e. You can’t even use one bit of my recording or I can sue you for everything you have), then creativity is stifled.  The art as a whole is diminished.

If someone wants to make their own crazy video of themselves doing a “music video” to to your tune, why is that so bad?  People know who you are, people want to know what that song is.  It just might get you another fan, you know, the one who buys all of your special edition albums?

This is the crux of the new music culture we are in.  And we are there, it has arrived.  As this post from earlier this month points out, people come to you because of your music.  It is incredibly too easy to aquire music for free.  DRM doesn’t work all that well.  It’s also kind of annoying.  I can’t take my iTunes music to another computer without first authorizing it and maybe deauthorizing another computer.  Wait, I bought it.  They are my copies of the song.  Why can’t I move them to my own property?  Thankfully, iTunes is removing DRM (but you get to pay for the priviledge of being a part of the new medium before they removed it, article here).

All ranting aside, here’s the point: music is no longer about the physical recording of the song.  It’s about the music and the people who create musical art.

Once again, I’m not advocating anarchy in the music biz.  I want artists to be rewarded for their efforts.  But I also want to be creative without being stifled.  This is a balance we must find soon, or the music business as a whole may be in for a seriously rough time.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

The Power of the Story

January 10, 2009 | Marketing | Writing

Consider this scene:

A military man is riding home with his family on a train.  His country is on the brink war, as its enemies stand ready at the gates.  As the train rolls close to home, the enemy attacks, unprovoked.  As the train arrives, the attacks come closer, as his home is close to a military base.  This man must stay and protect his country, but somehow he must save his family.  He sends them away, with a passionate embrace, praying he may once again see them.  But he knows he must defend them if they are to live.  He turns and takes his place on the line, praying he will not fail this test.

What does this make you feel?  Why do you feel that way?

Hopefully, the answers were 1) that you feel a little torn and very hopeful that the man comes home again, and 2) because if you were that man, you would do all you could to save your family.

Consider your favorite movie.  Why do you feel strongly about its story?  What does it do to you?  What does it make you want to do?

So, here’s the point of all: stories have strong influences on us.

Our entire lives are full of stories.  When we were small, we were told bedtime stories and fairy tales.  These simple stories carry with them the basic desires and needs of our very souls.  To be daring, to be swept up, to save, to make right, to love.  When we speak with friends, we tell stories.  Stories of our day, stories about days past, stories of days that could be.  When we engage in leisure activities, we engage with stories.  The cinderella sports team, the hero of the video game, the heroine of the novel, the love story of that song.  Even now, you are writing a line in your life’s story.

Okay, so why is this important?

As humans we relate to stories.

If I see a brand with a great story, I will be more willing to engage that brand.  People join the military to be a part of something bigger than themselves.  In other words, to be a part of a larger story.  This is the drive of the human soul, to be a part of the Great Story.

Now, what does this all mean?

One way to make a great product is to tell a great story.  Great books sell because of great stories.  Great art says something.  Great music tells us something.

If you are writing a novel, start by thinking up a great story.  Don’t worry about grammar now.  You’ll have plenty of time to worry about that later.  For writing a song, come up with a great idea to say (or an old idea said a different way).  The lyrics will come.

If you tell a great story, people will come.

So tell me a story.  Make me believe again.  Draw me in.  Give me something I can’t put down because I have to know how it ends.  If you can do this for your brand, you will attract the right people.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

The Value of Real

January 7, 2009 | Marketing | Writing

Here we are in a virtual world.  Digital music, virtual games, ebooks, online dating.  Pandora’s Box is opened, and we can never go back on the digital world.  Not that we want to.  However, as evidenced in declining music and book sales, the value of a real product is diminishing.  It’s too easy to find free products online that compete with going to a brick and mortar store (or even buying through online stores).  So how does one create value?  Here’s one idea.

Catching up on eveything, I stumbled across this article about vinyl record sales increasing.  I chuckled to myself, then I read this:

“They [13 to 24 year olds] were brought up on virtual everything. Their games were on the computer or on the TV. Their music was in a box,” he [Steven Sheldon] said. “I think they also do recognize the difference in sound, but I think holding that 12-by-12 piece of art and holding that record in their hand is creating the buzz.”

The light went on in my head, again.

To add value to your product in a digital age, you need to add something real.  Something intangible and scarce.  That is what people want to have.

As music inches closer to becoming free, we all need to add something to the experience.  Watching your favorite band live is an irreplacable experience.  That night will never happen again, and you were a part of the history of the band.  Being a part of an exclusive fan club for your favorite artist is another experience.  As a member, you can be up to date on inside information.  The artist communicates with this group in a special way.  You have access to special products and/or offers that others do not.

This is the new music business.  Finding ways to connect with others.  Finding something to give your consumers something that no one else can.  Consumers today can see through the ads.  “Look at this, it’s the best ever!” doesn’t work anymore.  Why is it the best?  The best for whom?  How does it compare to alternatives?  If you can offer something that is real and authentic, then the right people will find you.  That is why vinyl records are selling again.  Most consumers don’t have them.  They create some exclusivity to your brand.  This is what you want.

Find a way for your brand to add real value.  You just might come up with something big.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

Integrity

January 5, 2009 | Leadership | Marketing

One thing to always remember, whether you are a buisness person, a musician, an artist, a writer, whatever; be somone of integrity.

In this world of growing transparency and information, what you say and do will be seen by someone.  Your business will get word-of-mouth reviews by previous customers.  If you have treated that customer with integrity, they will most likely recommend you.  As any kind of artist (visual artist, musician, writer, etc.) you must be an artist of integrity.  People generally see when you’re creating art for non-creative reasons.  Personally, I think the music business is putting out much that isn’t really art anymore; it seems to be too much about the money.

Here’s an example.  A writer should write for themselves first.  By this, I mean that if writing is not fun or enjoyable or rewarding for the writer, then the writing will suffer for it.  The writer can never please everyone, and if that is the only reason to write, then the writer will always be disappointed.  Example number two.  Why do you think that so many sophomore albums do poorly compared to the first album?  The artist had spent years perfecting the craft of being what they were.  Once that hit big, they were asked to write ten new songs for the next album in a fraction of the time.

Just remember why you started doing your thing to begin with.  Find that passion.  If your work is full of that passion, coming from that integrity, then someone will enjoy it.  And isn’t that the point?

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

Less is More

January 4, 2009 | Music

I was reading this post on sojurnmusic.com about the keyboard and how to play it in a modern worship band, and I thought that some of it applies to all members of the band.

As a musician myself, when playing in a band you want to contribute all that you can.  Unfortunately, when we do that, we tend to create chaos.  So here’s a few things – some from my own head, some from the post above – that I would suggest for a band to become better.

Listen

The most important lesson you can learn being a musician is to listen.  If you don’t listen to your fellow bandmembers, you will never reach your potential.  Listening enables you to hear what each instrument is doing.  If you are listening, you’ll hear when the bass line is sufficent.  You’ll hear where that perfect hit will be.  You’ll hear that you and the other guitarist are playing the same thing and you should back off or play something different.  If you forget to use your ears, the music becomes more like mush than art.

Look

When you’re in a band, you need to look around.  Looking is the act of communication that band members make.  When the band is looking at each other, they are in sync.  Listening can sometimes be deceptive, especially with timing issues.  Just ask any school band member who has played in a gym.  Looking is your confirmation that the band is together.  Also, those perfect hits you were listening for need to be together.  Watch the leader for cues.  Look at the guitarist to tell him to start his solo.  Look at him again to tell him to quit!  If you’ve got your head stuck in the music stand, you’ll miss something.

Learn

Play and practice often.  If this thing called music is your craft, refine it, make it better.  Learn scales, learn licks, learn solos.  Linking back to listening, go and listen to your favorite group/musician.  Learn what they do, try to emulate it.  Music is a language all its own.  You need to learn its ABCs to make words, to make sentences, to make stories.  Music, after all, is a story told through sound.  In addition, learn what your bandmates are doings.  As you play, you’ll begin to pick up tendencies, know where the drummer will fill, what line the guitar will take.  This will allow you to do more listening and looking while you are playing.  Which leads to better playing.

Less is More

Here’s the hardest part.  Less is more.  The crux of the problem.  When we’re doing all these things, we want to do them all the time.  Add little licks everywhere, throw in that cool thing we just learned, try that hit here or there.  The problem is when you do too much, you end up taking away from the music itself.  A fill in the wrong place covers the singer.  A hit is only effective when the song warrents one.  An overdone solo makes the song (and the musician) appear worse.  The perfect solo may only contain three notes.  The perfect fill may be one extra tom hit.  I heard once that you always want to make the audience want just a little more.  If you give everything in the first five minutes, then the impact is lost.

Above all, music is an art.  Enjoy it.

Posted via web from On Life, Stories, and Music

Leading Differently

January 2, 2009 | Leadership

Something I was reminded of today. Attitude reflects leadership.

As a leader, your performance affects the rest of your team. If you lead with an iron fist, your followers will mostly obey, but only out of fear. Not a fun environment. If you lead like a servant, your followers are more willing to sacrifice for you and for the vision. When you are willing to dig in and fight with your team, it makes the team more willing to fight with you.

I think a part of our culture is skewed when it comes to this. We think that we lead by force or by right. While strength, talent, and wisdom are all important leadership qualities, we need to remember that unless we lead like a servant, our leadership is not whole.

So, how do you lead? How does your team think you lead?

First Things First

January 1, 2009 | Blog News

Hello all. Just decided, it being the new year and all, that it was time for me to start myself a blog. I wanted to have a place to say a few things that I thought might be important or interesting. I’m a musician at heart, and maybe a writer too. So, I’ll be trying to update as regularly as my time allows. Hope to see you soon.

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