Thoughts for the Prospective Writer…

People tend to view writing as this delicate and personal activity – and I get that – I’d rather not let someone read my sappy high-school writings. I do, however, think music-writing works differently.

Music doesn’t exist in a vacuum – songs, albums, and artists can always be contextualized, and while our relationship with music might feel private and individual, it’s not. Music relates to emotions and experiences that exist – feelings that can be shared and understood by others. Both the process of creating music and listening to music are inherently collaborative. Artists synthesize the world around them and create an input. Listeners take this input and create an entirely new output – in the way a song might alter your mood or even change the way you see the world. It’s really no exaggeration to say, “what we listen to is who we are”. Breakdown is a space to explore this concept.

Often when I feel inspired to write, it’s because there’s a certain perspective I want to explore. In the case of music writing, I try to take something I understand implicitly — such as a song or album — and express it explicitly. Doing so brings to life the memories and emotions attached to it.

Now, if you’re worried about people liking your music taste, don’t be. You can’t satisfy everyone, nor should you. People are too protective over their music. If you love heavy metal music, you probably wouldn’t like my taste in music. Why would you? That doesn’t make my music taste ‘bad’, rather, it makes it’s characteristically my own. And while I don’t expect to fall in love with heavy metal, there’s no reason why I can’t learn to appreciate it. The goal of this website is to bridge gaps in music appreciation, not promote artists or genres.

This entire rant is really just to say – consider submitting something. This website only works if people engage with it. If you don’t like your writing, scrap it and move on. Not everyone needs to love writing, but I do commend those that try. Whenever I notice myself stalling out creatively – be it with music, photography, or writing – I like to remind myself that everything I create in life goes into my ‘life portfolio’, and that one day, when I’m a trembly old man listening to classical music, I’ll be fascinated to go back and interact with my zany younger self.

Hope everyone’s having a nice week.