It’s time to let you in on how I created the song Mars Plastic. I wrote it entirely on piano while still in college in New York. When it was time to form a band to play some gigs I chose to play only with a saxophonist and drummer, though we occasionally added a DJ who did some soundscapes under the music. One of the first performances of the song is Mars Plastic Recital. We performed as a group several times in diferent settings (The group was called ORkAaN ORkEsT) which later became ORkAaN ORkEstRA.
Today is going to be a world premiere. With this post I’m releasing my first ever online broadcast exclusively to my die hard super fans, who signed up to the fanclub to support a musician and help keep the lights on while I produce write and perform music. Handmade music. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to do this and I hope you enjoy this first broadcast.
There are 4 never before released pieces of music in here, plus some additional background information about the making of these works.
So, without further ado, I present “Life is a Killer”
I’ll be playing at a Festival called Hoergang in Munich on 8 October 2011.
It is actually a reading. The event is spread out over one borough of the city, artists and audience will wander from location to location. Performances are 15 minutes, with 15 minutes interludes for the new audience members to settle in. There are 18 locations total and 88 performances! Locations both mainstream and off the beaten track, some really off…(like the sewer canal we’ll be performing in)
For the event I teamed up with Munich poet Christopher Griebel, with whom I’m working on a bavarian crime story of quite bloody dealings in a small bavarian village.
The choice of locations for our blood thirsty knife throwing protagonists:
2x 15 minutes at a Sewer Canal (U-Bahn-Station “Alte Heide”/Einstieg gegenüber “Nahkauf-Markt” (Ungererstr. 130))
1 x 15 minutes at Heppel & Ettlich Theater (Feilitzschstr.12)
1 x 15 minutes at an old warehouse (Herzogstrasse 22)
The thing I like most about playing live is that there are no rules. Of course, there are a million rules, but rule number one is always: Whatever happens on stage IS the show. And therefore I say, there are no rules.
Whatever you want your show to be, that’s what it can be.
In the words of Derek Sivers, “Build your own Utopia”. He refered to building a business such as CD Baby. He did it his way, with his personality poured into the company 100%. His thank you email has become famous.
With that in mind, go ahead and build your own Utopia, your own show. It’s your music, your show, you are the performer, so please don’t just do what you think is right, but instead create something so over the edge that people will start talking about it.
Build your own Utopia. Am I repeating myself?
Well, I guess it’s time to stop typing this blogpost and start building something.
Pause in the rush of work and have a meeting with yourself.
I designed a videobased practicing helper, Musicians Mirror, that’s all about that. Work (using my laptops full screen as a mirror), reflect (videotaping myself and analyse to ID my best performances to build musicianship based on my strengths).
If you ask yourself: What is this thing I do all about? What do I want to achieve.
Are you on the right track? Do you need to redirect your efforts?
I think videotaping yourself is the best way to gain forward progress and the right momentum to keep your practicing on track and fun.
I’ve been working with my little helper for almost a year now and I’ve developed things in my playing and performance that wouldn’t have been possible with just practicing a routine.
In fact, it’s so much fun, that I’ll offer it as a sservice starting on September 1st 2011.
What would happen if you identified a fellow musician who is widely regarded as on the edge in his playing and then tried to outdo him?
Quest #1:
Find any player relevant to you who you beleive is on the edge.
What makes him “on the edge”? his technique, tone, time feel, etc? Write it down.
Now, try to outdo him on that edge.
Quest #2:
Take that same player and ID where he’s not on the edge. Can you make that gap your edge?
Quest #3:
Find a player in a genre other than yours and copy what he’s doing. Add that to your genre.
Quest #4:
Find a player who doesn’t play your instrument. Copy him on your instrument and add that style to your instrument.
Quest #5:
What is your edge? What edge are you known for? If you’re not sure, video tape yourself, analyse it and develop an edge.
