That fine fellow Paul Simpson and I probably share a lot of ideas about what “music” can (and should) be, and it seems we’re both delighted by Warren Ellis’ recent blog entry about creativity.
Warren’s descriptions are spot on, and he expresses perfectly the exhilarating natural high that I feel when I’m making music and things are going well. I know there’s a lot to be said for getting together with some mates and bashing out covers of your favourite songs, but for me, nothing quite matches the feeling of hearing a new composition start to take shape in my little studio. It’s as if a part of my brain has taken over and is hurtling into the unknown while my conscious mind can only watch from a safe distance, going “cooool… that’s exactly what I would have done”. That only happens occasionally, but those precious moments are worth all the practising, all the failed experiments and all the frustrating times when too many mundane chores stop me from even switching on the equipment.