The Most Popular Way To Fail
June 7, 2008
It's been a good bit since I've posted on here, so bear with me-- there's a huge glut of stuff I've been sifting through online about creativity and hope and art that you will be made privy to.... now!On Doing Creative Work:
On Hope:
On Failure:
On Being Inspired:
Because of these and all things rolling around in my head, I've decided to do a mini-project. Minute (small) Minute (60 seconds) Month: three one-minute songs a week for the month of June.
And I've done three so far, and I think I'm living up to the whole "making mistakes in public" thing-- because each of the three so far feels like a mistake. The first is a song that is fine, but not terribly memorable-- and the second and third have come out of the cracks of technical difficulties. (My MBox and laptop aren't playing nice, and every vocal take is subject to some amount of pops, clicks, and static.)
But enough whining. It's *strange.* Strange to be creating these super-short song babies. Babies that don't quite work. But like Ze Frank says...
Each day I live in mortal fear that I've used up the last idea that'll ever come to me. If you don't wanna run out of ideas, the best thing to do is not to execute them. You can tell yourself that you don't have the time or resources to do em right. Then they stay around in your head like brain crack. No matter how bad things get, at least you have those good ideas that you'll get to later.
Some people get addicted to that brain crack, and the longer they wait the more they convince themselves of how perfectly that idea should be executed. And they imagine it on a beautiful platter with glitter and rose petals, and everyone's clapping, for them! But the bummer is most ideas kind of suck when you do em, and no matter how much you plan you still have to do something for the first time and you're almost guaranteed the first time you do something, it'll blow. But somebody who does something bad three times still has three times the experience of that other person who's still dreaming of all the applause:
So what am I trying to say here? It's 5 in the morning, and I still haven't gone to sleep. Having many online discussions with friend Elaine about giving yourself permission to be be earnest. And about becoming the best version of yourself. And, well, of course, about Ze Frank.
Here's a collection of quotes culled from a recent Ze Frank post:
Hope is the thing with feathers - Emily Dickinson
A quote I always come back to is from Journey to the West. Monkey is talking to his teacher: "Sounds difficult" said Monkey. "Nothing is difficult, it is only thinking that makes it seem so."
"If you are not nervous about your latest venture or push, you are not far enough out on the ledge...nothing revolutionary happens from the comfort of a safety harness."
"Playing things too safe is the most popular way to fail." - Elliot Smith
Posted by Olga at 3:25 AM | Comments (2)
I always say that everyone should give themselves the opportunity of doing bad art sometimes.It may not be meant for posterity but the simply chance of doing that is usually much more fun and enjoyment than if you always stress yourself following an strict set of rules --then again,I've always been a fan of B-movies and kitschy stuff,so take my opinion with a grain of salt.
Now,that minute project is interesting.Graphic artists keep sketchbooks and even sketchlogs,so I always wondered if musicians did something similar.
I love that-- the idea of it being a musical sketchbook. I do have piles of unfinished bits on my hard drive-- a snatch here, an impromptu recorded lyric there. And then I forget-- there's something probably very good about putting them out into the open like this, so they actually become something.
I think bad art is a good thing. It paves the way for good art. It's how you cut your teeth. In theory. In practice, sometimes it's very hard to sit with the not-so-good art. It's almost Buddhist in a way-- like meditation-- having to sit there with it, regardless of where it takes you, and just staying with it. Because eventually it will teach you how to be better.