From Bad Religion to Bach
This morning when I got in the car, the first thing Apple Radio played was “Lisztomania” by Phoenix. My initial thought was how my tastes had changed in the time since that record was released, because now I’m a huge fan of Franz Liszt. And, in the wake of Brian Wilson’s death, coupled with it being quite some time since I last wrote a blog post, I thought exploring how our tastes change would be a good topic for a post.
Now, maybe you’re saying, “my tastes haven’t changed.” Maybe that’s true and you’re boring. Maybe it is not true and you just don’t realize it because it’s been gradual. I’m not saying you have to be me and go from Bad Religion to Bach, but I’m guessing your tastes have changed.
There are several reasons why your tastes might change, not least of which is simply you were exposed to something new. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, this was how things changed in my youth. Reading about the Sex Pistols and then going and finding the record took me down the punk rock rabbit hole. Seeing Wilco on MTV’s Alternative Nation introduced me to what was then called “alternative country”. Coming across Social Distortion’s Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell through a family friend set me on a course where they’d be a huge influence on me for decades and I’d see them live almost twenty times.
However, as I’ve gotten older, and I wonder if this has more to do with me being a songwriter than being older, my tastes have changed because I’ve moved on. I still love the Sex Pistols, but most of the bands I listened to as a teenager I rarely listen to anymore. That’s not to say there’s anything wrong with Wilco, Social Distortion, Green Day, Everclear, etc., it’s just that I’ve heard it. A lot. And, perhaps with the exception of Wilco, it’s not all that complicated. I still very much appreciate it for what it was to me at the time, and I think all of those folks are great songwriters and talented musicians, but it’s not a pond I want to continue to fish in.
It feels kind of douchey to say this, but 90% of what I listen to is me. I’m always listening to things as I’m writing them looking for ways to improve them, and then, even when they’re “done” but not yet officially recorded, I will occasionally revisit them to see if I hear anything I didn’t hear before. I make a lot of music, I listen to less music because I have less time in the day. And if I have less time in the day, I need to get more out of what I listen to. That could be strictly enjoyment, or it could be inspiration. I know I’m the exception here, especially when it comes to younger people, but I don’t have music on in the background. I’m either actively listening or I don’t have music on.
So, that’s how I got from punk rock to Paganini. It’s how I got from the Sex Pistols to writing string parts. Liszt, Bach, Paganini, Chopin and others help my brain to think about how to use musical notes to achieve the emotional mood I’m attempting to communicate. I’m never going to be a classical composer, but I can always be a better songwriter and so borrowing ideas from them can help me write something better than I could if I went back to the Noel Gallagher well over and over again.
Lyrically, I’m as inspired by novelists as anyone anymore. If you know me or have read this blog, you know my love of Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy. You’ll also find a lot of the Bible, Shakespeare, Ambrose Bierce, Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allan Poe and others in my work if you know where to look. That having been said, I continue to be influenced by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave and others who picked up the quills of their forefathers and continued the work of the literary bard for their own generations. In the case of Nick Cave, one of the reasons he’s my favorite artist at this point in my life is because he continues to challenge me musically and lyrically both.
People will get defensive and say they don’t have to change. I’m not saying change, I’m saying grow. Change implies turning your back on something, I would never turn my back on music that meant so much to me and helped me grow. But, most of those punk rock bands are now like old friends you only visit with when you go home; you reconnect with fondness, but there’s always big gaps of time in between.
For those of you who are not songwriters and have not grown for the reasons I’ve grown, what’s your story? Why have you moved on to other things, or conversely, why have you held onto certain artists? Let me know in the social media comments.