Music with Harper: Recent Episodes
Harper James
https://harperjames.substack.com/
Check out the essay on my substack. Sub for free or support me as a member.
felt cute might delete later subscribe to my substack for deeper shit!
https://harperjames.substack.com/
Some musings on where we are at with all this in the wake up UMG taking down cataloged from Tik Tok.
Do we have free will? The answer is a little complicated but it does exist, just not in the way you think.
This is a reading of my essay on "Transcending Existentialism and Postmodernism," published on my Substack here: https://harperjames.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=5bb64
It was one of the more popular posts and gets to the heart of my thinking on metaphysics; kind of my thesis.
A brief romp through non-dualist philosophies and metaphors for understanding it. Companion Episode to "Tree Metaphor & Dream Metaphor"
https://harperjames.substack.com?utm_source=navbar&utm_medium=web&r=5bb64
Not my best episode but a few bread crumbs to keep you on the trail. We just have these titles so we can cram ourselves into these commodity boxes and be used more efficaciously by evil market forces. They mean less than nothing
Hopped up technobros want you to believe that there are two realities and they are the self appointed gate keepers. There is only one reality, the Matrix is a metaphor. This is not a drill.
Techtopian narratives are often pushed by scam artists posing as visionary capitalists. And they always underwhelm when you look closely. The uncanny valley is not a space we are destined to cross it’s a space we get lost in.
Probably not right now. But maybe later today. But for a specific reason. Namely our limited creative energy.
Your voice is at the center of the spiral. That is what every decisions should stem from when making a record. A good record is just a vantage point from which to connect with the artist's voice.
If you're a musician and artist, it's not too late. If you're trying out for the next Disney show, yeah it might be too late.
If you see your fans as numbers or your progress as numbers and yourself as a number then you insult your fans minimize your craft and dehumanize yourself and your numbers will go down. How's that?
Patience doesn't mean being ok with slow results or not pushing forward like an absolute beast. It just means having low anxiety between when a project starts and when it ends, no matter the duration. Impatience is simply a highly anxious state that is only assuaged by finishing something. So it's really a way of missing out and undercutting the process.
Basically take care of all the things that support your art before you barrel headlong into the work and trip over your own feet.
Hey I’ve had too much coffee. References are a useful tool and sometimes the only way we can communicate abstract aesthetic ideas. But context is king and each sonic universe should have its own set of internal natural laws or physics that emerge from the vocalist and from the song—and we should do our best to respect and follow through on those “laws” (which real are just externalizations of our own true reactions, instincts and gut feelings). Try thinking about the wholistic energy of the record and makes changes based on listening to the work you’ve already done and coming up with a path forward. Don’t try and Frankenstein a hodgepodge of “referenced” sounds tougher and call it a record —and #fuckthesnaresound —in other words don’t use references as a way to give up on making your own record and doing the hard work of discovering your own sound. BAUM 💙💙💙♾♾♾ [Edit for clarification: I’m not saying don’t use references. I hoped that was clear but I went pretty hard on em today. We loved our references. This is a post about the potential pitfalls of over relying on them]
I’ve found the only thing that insulated me from the highs and lows of people’s criticism and positive feedback is to develop self awareness of both my strengths and weaknesses, so that I’m not surprised and so that my opinion of my work for better or for worse is based on thoughtful self examination not hinged on a need for outside validation.
Instead of asking yourself "what do I want" ask "how can I help." The ways you can best serve the situation will define your most authentic self.
It’s a lesson I just keep relearning. And it helps me to always think long term. It mitigates small disappointments and makes the success feel better. It also means that there’s room for creative development and change. Committing to the long haul gives you control over your path and makes things feel less random and more earned.
That's all we have in the end: our opinions and our trust in them. Even trusting someone else's opinion is a kind of choice. In the end it all comes back to us, so the only question is do we acknowledge our role in creating our art, our lives and our world, or do we look away in hopes someone else will make the creative choices for us?
What I think this really means. ‘Trying hard’ is often confused with strain and stress. If I can cultivate a better state of mind the doing gets better and the trying gets less. Today I tried really hard and didn’t get much done. 🤪
We’ve demystified the mystical so we can package it and sell it as a tutorial or a course. Learning is good. Sharing knowledge is good. Conversations are good. I always watch my friends talk about what they’re good at I constantly bug other musicians for help. I’ve learned and been given so much amazing information and wisdom by my colleagues. I am grateful. But The cult of the expert is less good. Everyone’s path is different and we have more of the answers than we think. YouTube is great for learning hotkeys and not as good for learning an art or deeper skill. In the end my bet is that you’ll be your own best teacher. I could be completely wrong
Finding your sound is about following your own creative instincts over a period of time and being open to where ever that takes you, rather than picking a box that you fit all of your work into.
It’s not only because it will make you feel bad (although it certainly might). It’s because it will lead you down the wrong path. You can only ever be an A-rate version of yourself and you will only ever B the B-rate copy of something or someone else. The only way to escape unfavorable comparison is to avoid comparison altogether....maybe????? I honestly don’t own what I’m talking about.
Always ask people for their opinion on your music out of a genuine curiosity and respect for them as a tastemaker or artist —- never out of a place of insecurity or a need for reassurance or a quick fix of validation. (I learned this the hard way). The positive feedback can be just as distracting and confusing as the negative feedback if you aren’t really grounded when you get it and if isn’t coming from the right source or at the right time in your process. Some people are so grounded in what they do that weird feedback doesn’t set them off course but for many of us we need to shield the creative process a little and give it space develop on its own time according to its own internal rhythm.
Thinking about the difference between song writing as a craft and writing for yourself, as an artist. In the latter case It sometimes isn’t enough that the song is good, it’s almost more important that the song is lined up with your voice and your larger aesthetic perspective. Whether you wrote the song or not, as an artist, you have to believe what you are singing/saying and it has to feel natural. Otherwise it’s like wearing a nice suit that doesn’t fit— there’s just something silly about it.
I see so much stress and anxiety among artists around releasing music. I think that so much of it is caused by putting pressure on the song / music to achieve arbitrary goals. I think it can be good to take the pressure to achieve off of the music, and just let the music be itself.
Growing your career is a long term project that you can take on if you choose. If you put too much pressure on a song to do anything other than just be true and good—if you see the music as a means to an end rather than the end in itself- the creative process will get crushed under the weight of your expectations and you’ll begin to believe the music is failing you. Not good. I’ve been there.
If you set arbitrary goals and timelines, it just makes you more likely to feel like a failure, and it will take away from the pleasure of creating (and increase your chances or burnout). Pick a few persistent thoughts around putting out music that are making you miserable and let them go. See what takes their place.
I've found it's not so much about looking super hard for your voice as an artist. Maybe it's more about creating a little space so your voice can appear.
The importance of sending your creations into the world and moving on with your life. Don't be scared kids...