Influences

When this project was first introduced to the group, my initial thoughts centered around the image of the piece. These images would form the spine of an idea that would grow, twist and develop as the project progressed - this seems to be the basic structure that my mind works with at the beginning of any form creative activity. However, the most prominent influencing effect on my thought process usually comes from what I'm experiencing or being exposed to on a musical level during that specific period. Music - more than anything else - is the driving forced behind the generation of visual concepts and ideas in my mind.

At this point in time, I have been listening to quite a varied selection of records from musicians including Robert Plant, Peter Gabriel, Al Stewart, Bert Jansch, Tim Buckley, Jackson C. Frank,
Joni Mitchell, Kate Bush, Eddie Vedder; the list could go on and on. I like music to have a story and to conjure up vivid imagery that sticks in the brain. All of the artists listed above have
musical roots that stem form either blues or folk music, the music of the soul. The variations of these musical styles have a place in any country on Earth, whatever country you visit there is a unique tribal rhythm. Both Robert Plant and Peter Gabriel have always been artists that draw influence from other cultures and bring this influence into their own music, with the latter being a co-founder of WOMAD (The World Of Music, Arts and Dance festival).

So at this point in time I would really like to create a piece that comes from a musical area of thought, employing the use of real world sounds and music. Examples of this technique being employed in and among my own influences can be located within The Who's monumental 1973 album"Quadrophenia". It tells the universal tale of teen angst through the story of 1960's Mod Jimmy, a boy whose personality is fractured into four separate pieces. The album also uses the sound of Jimmy's life to move the album's story along from place to place, almost like the "wild track" from a film soundtrack. The sound of the sea - particularly crashing waves - feature prominently throughout the album's running time; other sounds include a thunderstorm, the sound of a busy London train station and the melancholic echo of previous Who songs that fit in with the story's time period. These are the microscopic details that help set certain moods and allow the albums tonality to flow, and it is these little details that I would love to include in the finished piece.