STRUGGLE AKA MEAL TO PURGATORY PT 1

Current mood: WONDERING...
Category: WONDERING... Music

There's an argument that says, the highest quality musicians can just as easily produce good music with a tin can drum and rusty tape recorder, as with a 72 track digital studio and 84 piece brass band – that talent will always find an outlet no matter the material tools available…

I think it's an argument that, for the most part at least, holds water.

Talent and more importantly, DRIVE, will out. And those who are born to do it, can't help but do it and do it and KEEP ON FUCKING DOING IT until they get somewhere close to where they're aiming at, or die trying….

But this suggests achieving worthwhile success in creative pursuits is as much about strength, stamina and belligerence as natural talent or pure fire ability and this isn't always the case…

There are some who don't struggle materially or critically for long or at all, but who have huge acclaim from day one, like Prince or Michael Jackson…

Then there's those who never get the credit they deserve because they're always in the shadow of their already famous ancestors:

For example, is (as Alan McGee keeps saying) Sean Lennon a criminally underrated and brilliant songwriter??

And what about Julian Lennon? Stella McCartney? And Kelly Osbourne?

Shit, the thing I often wonder is how those who've come in at the top and achieved immediate success would have done if they'd had to put up with the endless rejection and dissapointment that others have faced then dispatched along the way...?

Would Miles Davis have been half the musician he turned out to be if he'd been white, had an easy ride and made £10 million off his first LP??

And would Mark Ronson have been bothered with producing records if he was brought up in a soup kitchen??

I think what I'm essentially wondering is:

Does struggle breed quality or is that another beautiful myth??

Currently listening : Empty the Bones of You By Chris Clark Release date: By 23 September, 2003

1:26 AM - 20 Comments - 8 Kudos - Add Comment - Edit - Remove

	maryJane	i used to think about things like this too. used to write thoughtful and insightful little research papers on it... but, as paloma will tell you, im much to dim-witted now-a-days to even begin to comprehend a question like this. &. i dont care how very over-produced kelly osbourne's music is...i like it more than her dads. Posted by maryJane on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 1:27 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Yes, it struck me as a bit of a teenage question/wondering at the world question as i wrote it out.. This is actually the start of an album review by the Van Allen Belt , but there was almost two pages before i got onto the meat and I felt such a level of procrastination was pushing the limits of acceptability... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 1:33 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	I've not heard KO's solo material... Currently she's the star of Chicago in Londons West End... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 1:36 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Paloma, First Lady of Infinity	who knows? who cares? i think that stuggle does not necessarily breed quality. but, i think that those who tend to produce quality *GENERALLY* tend to struggle no matter what, i.e. are generally mentally unstable in some capacity. *GENERALLY* ***on mJ:...i told her today, "I know you are really smart, even if other people think you are stupid." though, we both tend to look stupid in front of the IT/computer geeks...*** Posted by Paloma, First Lady of Infinity on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 1:36 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Well, I seemingly care... Good point about pro-creatives struggling if they need to or not. I think alot of pro-creats are essentially pretty lazy and they therefore have to have something rubbing them up or else they'll simply do nothing all day apart from talk crap and watch the clouds go by... My maths teacher used to think I was stupid mostly because I never said a word... Her opinion didn't bother me because I thought the maths system we were doing was stupid, so i refused to do it. It caused trouble at the time, but a few years later the system was ditched and dumped (because it was stupid) This was an early example of my futureproof nature... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 11:00 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Paloma, First Lady of Infinity	there you go again with your wacky spelling. "maths?" do you eat bread with dinner or "breads?" :-P paloma Posted by Paloma, First Lady of Infinity on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 4:50 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Do you Americans just do one sum??? (it would explain a lot) Or do you do sums...? Over here our mathematics consists of a collection of sums - the plural is therefore used : maths... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 4:55 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Paloma, First Lady of Infinity	why would you need to add an "s" to a noncount noun? i guess if you have many different varieties of math...which explains a lot...math is math as far as i'm concerned and maths is just hocus pocus. ;-P sums? I don't fucking know. I'm not a mathematician. what would doing one sum explain? i'm just talking nouns. (why am i debating this, I am asking myself?) Posted by Paloma, First Lady of Infinity on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 5:17 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Math sounds like an error to me... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 5:31 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Hijackalope	bad brains, dicks, black flag, you don't need quality, i like 'em them early 80's hardcore, that was the last singular grass roots movement, flock of seagulls no way, grunge was good since they took the lead from them, well, nirvana mudhoney and the melvins, the rest was shite. look at me i'm a music crickett too Posted by Hijackalope on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 2:17 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Well, that was an interesting grassroots movement, but there have been some since - most specifically acid house rave... Of course you Patriotic Americans didn't quite get that whole thing so once again Britain was forced to lead the way... Woof... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 11:12 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	stephen	i much prefer sean's output to that of the snr. lennon (witness me now battening down the hatches in my bunker as the zealots come with pitchforks and torches). but i do, so there. Posted by stephen on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 9:50 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	I saw him do a couple of tracks on TV once, but the whole acoustic man with a guitar thing doesn't really float my boat these days.... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 11:09 AM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	stephen	i'm not at all interested in that myself, but his albums are really lushly textured affairs... bossa nova folk type dealies? that sounds stupid now that i've read it back, but kinda what it's like... produced by one o' the ladies from cibo matto, if that adds any points towards the PG-ometer. Posted by stephen on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 12:58 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Don't know her, but I'll take a go on one of his LPs... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 1:21 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	Colossus	I figure that an essential part of any good art is borne directly from struggle. Another essential ingredient is Satisfaction/lust Life wouldn't require certain individuals to make a racket if they were satisfied with the sounds that were already in the air. My music is the result of disatisfaction with what I have available for consumption. I gotta grow my own shit rather than be satisfied with whats being sold to me (whether it be the sound of birds by my window in the morn or Kelly O on the stage at night). Artists are unsatisfied by nature. Even those who aint suffered were probably spoilt lil brats that had to in some way leave a mark on this world because they wanted to improve upon it's design. The lust for more breeds quality. Artists want MORE. Spider x Posted by Colossus on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 3:34 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	Other aspects are: An inability to communicate themsleves effectively any other way AND A DOUBLE BIG EGO AND SENSE OF SELF IMPORTANCE... Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 4:23 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	John Clay	Damn right. My bands called COLOSSUS by the way. Posted by John Clay on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 4:41 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

	: THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI :	A Colossal Ego then..) Posted by : THE FUTUREPROOF MUSIC BLOG BY PIOUS GIOVANNI : on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 4:57 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]

John Clay

U coming down on Wed night? Message me at the Colossus space...I'm logging in for ten mins there (to do admin) then I'm going to bed...yes I know what time it is but I'm pooped dude. See u soon I hope. P.S Strange Century is back on myspace (our new guitarist NACH has it on his...he's on our top friends)!!!! Posted by John Clay on September 21, 2007 - Friday at 5:07 PM [Remove] [Reply to this]