Collaborate bitches!

Collaborate bitches!

I have become obsessed with the idea of musical collaboration. Possibly because of my incredibly fan-boyish nature that renders me incredibly nervous and awkward whenever I encounter one of my idols, e.g. Grayson Gilmour, I have a massive love for a lot of artists and the music they produce. That’s why I make music, that’s why I write about music, that’s why I live for music, because I am inspired and challenged by so many other musicians who do it so painfully well. It is the same for everyone — the ambition to create or do something to equal your inspiration drives you to improve. While this musical nature of mine pushes me to at least try to create music that I can be happy with, it also compels me to try find something new for my ears — a different style, a different sound. This usually happens when you work with someone else. Another brain with different and interesting thoughts forces you to adapt, creating a necessary and exhilarating evolution.

I am musically ADHD. I consume and discard music at an incredible rate, frothing over a couple of bands, albums, or genres and then moving onto the next. I am forever in search of that new sound, or a new version of the same sound. And what could be better than two interesting bands or artists coming together to make a whole new sound for you to consume? The results can be astounding and surprising. You love both artists so you love the idea of them together, and the music they make must surely be the amalgamation of everything you love. That’s the hope anyway, unless they fuck it up. But hey, you’ll still have their old stuff to keep.

So why doesn’t it happen much in New Zealand? Maybe the smaller number of artists in each centre and limited studio access make it too hard or expensive to get enough proper studio time to fulfill the artists’ vision. Maybe NZ musicians are hopelessly self-conscious, and the thought of trying and failing to make something good with someone else out of your comfort zone is a horrifying and paralysing thought — now that I really get. Or perhaps we are stupidly counterintuitive, and get lost in the “take it seriously to make it” mentality that everyone else is competition. I really hope that’s not the case. New Zealand is way too small for anyone to single-handedly “make it” in a music “competition”. I subscribe whole-heartedly to the idea that the “boat rises with the ocean”. We are small, but we have strength in numbers. If we all work together to push creativity, not individuals, we all have a better chance at collectively enjoying whatever “success” is. But more importantly, music is fun. And in my eyes, nothing could be more fun than new music from musicians I already love.

Locally there are encouraging signs. Maybe because of our smaller pool of musical talent, people are mixing and matching band members, putting new names on things, and pushing their creative limits. In my opinion this is being driven by a community called The Attic, which is run by intelligent and generous people who, like me, just want to take the latest and greatest new sounds flowing out of our local bands, get them recorded, and get them out there. Why? Because we feel safer as a community than as individuals — we build relationships and crave friendships because we love the security; we love the feeling of not being alone. It Came From The Attic is a compilation that will be released exclusively through undertheradar.co.nz by the Attic and Auckland’s Muzai Records, and it will be the best thing to happen to our music scene for a long time. Not only will it feature the first ever release one of the best young bands around, Astro Children, but it will showcase the team efforts of local musicians and double-barrelled father figures to the world. It will say that we are good at what we do, but together, we are great.
This article first appeared in Issue 20, 2012.
Posted 5:14pm Sunday 12th August 2012 by Isaac McFarlane.