Just read an interesting article:
http://whiteraverrafting.com/pretty-lights-bassnectar-community-speculation/2015/01/16/
(First off, I’d like to acknowledge how friendly and constructive the tone of that article was. It’s really inspiring to read a piece like this which questions things in such a kind, respectful way.)
Anyhow, the issue for me isn’t as much about the setlists, and more about what’s really going on in my sub-culture.
What inspires me?
There is a mystique to the simple human sensation of experiencing something overwhelming which I do not understand, and cannot verbalize or rationalize, yet I am swept away by it. When this happens, my experience is more immersive, more enchanting, more deeply impactful then if I can see behind the curtain, figure it all out, understand/analyze every last inch of it.
When I go out to a nice restaurant, I looooooove ordering really healthy, fresh, delicious food. I also admit I appreciate ambiance: the lighting, the crowd, the aura, the music, the details of the tables & settings, and all of that. It would be a different experience if I was a chef, and worked tirelessly sweating away in the back with a bunch of stressed out screaming kitchen staff dealing with an entree that just caught fire, or seeing a bunch of rats or roaches or the dumpster after a night, or all the grimy behind-the-scenes nuances which obstruct my ability to just enjoy the purity of that restaurant experience.
Same with film… it is my single favorite medium to experience because I have carefully avoided getting behind the scenes. When I watch a good movie (I’ve seen a lot lately, like Birdman, Whiplash, Donnie Darko) or a series like True Detective, I’m so thankful that I am easily swept away into another world. I love not knowing what a key grip is, or not seeing the director and the producer arguing heatedly, or knowing what a pain in the ass some actor was to work with, or how carefully the lighting was altered or colorized. In fact, I don’t even want to read reviews or see a trailer… I want to go in COMPLETELY blind, and ready to be taken on a journey. I don’t question the motives of a director if they prefer I not read the script, and instead just take the ride.
Same goes for music… the live shows I create (along with my awesome crew & team!) at a festival or on the road ((and along with the awesome people in the crowd who are energetically contributing MASSIVE amounts of personality and intensity and who are responsible for all the reflection… whose “aura” I sense, and in response steer the ship of the set into unexpected directions)) are EXTREMELY raw, personal, creative “pieces of art” for me… I work an insane amount on each one (I work full time on music and my career in general, but when on the road each individual set gets hours – like 5-8 hours EACH – of individual thought and preparation; fine tuning new loops or variations, or creating new remixes or rendering out new loops, or re-assembling parts so they can be improvised in new orders, or whatever… alot)
a lot a lot a lot 🙂
I always cringe when I think about someone in Missouri watching a Youtube clip of a set which happened in Seattle, and then catching me in Miami and having their experience affected by the clips they have already watched. For obvious reasons these Youtube clips or “live recordings” are such sad, flaccid renditions of the actual thing with criminally whack sound quality, and just such a frail 2 dimensional replication of the omni-dimensional experience of being in the thick of it: surrounded by your friends, or maybe all alone, eyes closed or maybe wide open – soaking up the light and the visuals and the immense multimedia art installations and projections and production…with the sound painstakingly dialed to not only sound as good as possible…but to FEEEL as good as possible. Experiencing it all live, and being a part of each moment as it bursts into existence.
(more…)