I often wonder about the next new band and their impossible originality. Whether it is a small band on an independent label or a big band on a big label, I wonder what brought them to this new sound. Where did they find it?
I’ve been listening to the album Alopecia by Why? www.myspace.com/whyanticon all evening. They have created something altogether new from things altogether old. A friend told me to buy the album and in his description said that it was one of the only bands that he feels is truly unclassifiable. Is it rock? Is it hip-hop? They even went so far to put a sticker on the album cover that reads, “File under Rock:”
So, this gets me to thinking about my music. I often feel that it is unoriginal. It sounds like something you’ve heard before. But then again, what is originality? I created it, without much thought as to how it should sound. I just play. So isn’t that original? Not in the ears of the listener. Bands are constantly hounded for not being original. Most conversations about new music are dotted with a statement like, “they’re talented and all, but I’ve heard it before.”
I guess I don’t have an answer to this question. It’s more of a thought than anything. Or perhaps it is a desire. I want to be one of those people that sit down to play and something extraordinarily impossibly original pops out. But I don’t believe that one can work towards that, they are either born with it or they aren’t. So I am jealous of the Why?’s and the Arcade Fire’s of the world who are born with the ability to be unlike anyone.
