Dinner at the taco truck.
vs.
Dinner at the hip fine dining place.
Both are wonderful. And they draw out two different conversations. The aesthetic, style of food, pace of service and eating, delivery method, lighting, decibel level, size of table, proximity to others, price, layout of the menu…
It directs us and guides us toward what type of experience we want to have, expect to have and end up having.
For people to become fans they don’t need to love all your songs.
You just need a song they love and a sound they love.
And then when you have these two things you end up getting the benefit of the doubt as it pertains to your other songs. They’re more likely to fall in love with your other songs if you’ve given them the first two things first.
It used to be that a two hundred thousand dollar album sounded ten times better than a twenty thousand dollar album.
It used to be that record companies had an exorbitant recording budget MINIMUM written into the contract that the artist had to spend on making the album. (Of course all recoupable.)
Because it used to be that good sounds were only possible in a few rooms with a few select people at the controls.
Now it’s possible to have no sonic difference between the twenty and two hundred thousand dollar album. Now the record company has to be smarter about what makes a good album. Now it’s about knowing the right people for the job you need done…not just knowing one of the top dogs.
The old way was probably easier but the new way is better.
Ending your tour in your hometown vs. ending it somewhere else.
Ending it somewhere else gives you a longer ride home.
And that ride home is its own thing. It’s special. It’s weird. The after glow, the come down, reflection, savoring, the in between, it’s over but not yet, the last lunch at summer camp.
The full power of the magic of music comes head to head with the fact that you’ve gotta get your tire pressure checked and your neighbors are always putting their excess trash in your bin without asking.
It’s a strange and wonderful ride home. Road life and home life packed into real life.
The only way to make timeless music is to make music for the present moment…to make music that sounds like the present moment and reflects the culture as it stands.
Let It Be is timeless. But if it came out today it wouldn’t be. The sound, lyrical style and content, production elements, the mix…it’s all wrong for today. But it was perfect for back then.
So in turn, that’s the goal…to make something perfect for right now.
Parents with young and school aged kids are doing lots of laundry. So when the laundry detergent company is picking a song for their detergent commercial, they want a song that is going to catch the parents’ attention.
When were the parents born? What music was popular when they were in middle and high school? Is the messaging of the commercial energetic or emotional or dutiful or playful?
If a song on a commercial catches your ear, chances are it was meant to.