How do you think good shit starts?
Do you think good shit starts because the people all say “hey, we’re really good at this, maybe we should do something here.”
Maybe that’s how it works
But I think that’s stupid
I think good shit starts when there’s a force someone is trying to communicate
A synergy that people want to build
And then they start building it.
Me and my friends suck at playing music
But we’re learning to do it anyway
We’re learning how to use GarageBand
We’re learning how to get over the fear of sending our garbage and ideas to each other
Eventually we’ll learn how to collaborate with each other.
I want to share something with the world
I want to feel my resonance in the world
I suck at music
I’ve hit my head against the wall so many times with it
Recording on my iPhone
Getting a mic
Not knowing how to use it
Trying to put together beats
Etc
Me and my friends talk about making a band, we start to refer to ourselves as a band name, we flirt with the idea, but feel like we’re not really in the zone with it.
We poke at the idea always seeming to feel like our ideas fall short. But we give it 4-6 months and we come back to it and try again.
Everything I produce has been low quality compared to like Ed Sheeran
But I realize now that I’m clearly not giving up
I clearly just keep going with it
It’s just like this force that no matter how many times I quit, I’ll come back
I’ll get depressed
I’ll look at Briar’s instagram profile
I get jealous of the people she’s dating
I listen to my angry boy playlist
I feel this lyrical impulse surge through my brain that’s like 75% coherent and 25% gibberish
But I’m too angry and riffing in my own head to write it down
Then later when I sit down to write great music, I can’t think of shit. I either have writers block or hate what I’m writing.
I want to recreate the feelings in that moment
I want to time travel to my jealousy and have those words bleed into paper.
That’s where I think great music starts
That’s the type of motivation I think is needed for that great shit to start.
At least for me.
I need to be depressed or whatever so I have feelings, write music, music sucks, hate my music and I give up.
But then, 1 week later I’m writing lyrics again.
Like why the fuck don’t I just give up?
Then my boy Noah starts asking me about some GarageBand shit and I’m like “oh cool dude, your subconscious thinks about this shit too?”
This makes me feel good
Makes me feel warm
Like I’m not alone in it
I write shitty lyrics for a joke he makes
He reads them to his roommates
They think it’s funny
I make a simple backing drum track
Rewrite lyrics to be a lil more spicy, but still not perfect
He’s like “damn bro, that had no business being as hard as it is 🔥”
I’m like 😅
Embarrassed but empowered
I reopen GarageBand the next day
I explore and find a music pack and make a lil beat and send to the boys
No one seems to care but Noah does, me and Noah are now in this conversation like, “dude check this out”
“Dude, that’s hilarious/sick”
We’re in this spiral building off of each other.
That makes me excited about pushing more of that shit.
I hope that’s how good stuff starts.