The Art of Aural Journaling

This is my third attempt at writing this post. 

I find the idea of communicating to others where my music comes from to be daunting. I could speak all day about the technical details - melody, chords, rhythm, etc. - but when it comes to what they are about, well, that's another story. 

There's a reason for that.

I've never perceived any of my music to be "about" things, rather I like to think of each piece as being "inspired" by something. 

I began writing and recording my own music about 6 years ago. It started out of nowhere. I had been playing  for a long time but I had never made anything original. It was strange to have never really composed music before and then all of a sudden have the ability to do so. I remember having put together about 4 or 5 pieces over the span of a few weeks and I had no idea why this was happening. And even then, I knew that they weren't "about" anything in particular. 

​It wasn't until a few years later what I was actually doing. 

The music I was making was a reaction to the things that were going on around me. 

I now like to look at the music as a form of journaling, very abstract, but journaling nonetheless. Each album, EP, or single is an "aural journal", a sonic response to the things that have affected me. 

A longing to return to my childhood inspired Let's Go Back.

​Anticipating going home after spending two years in Florida inspired Closer Than Ever. 

A lousy weekend inspired The Way Things Go. 

Someone who meant an awful lot to me inspired I Am Here and so Are You. 

Still, not every piece I make immediately has a clear inspiration behind it. I sometimes don't realize what inspired me to create until years later. The four most recent pieces I've made fall into this category. I have a vague idea of what inspired them but I probably won't have a really good grasp of where they came from until later on. 

I always reach a point where I feel that I am no longer going to be able to make any more music. I felt that way at the beginning of this year and I currently am feeling this way as I write this, but then something usually happens. I get to go through a new experience, someone I know affects me in a deeply personal way, or I get to travel to some place new. It's then that something musical leaps out from me because I am so appreciative of what I've been given.

Every song is really just a thanks for something I am blessed to experience. 

I don't believe that what I am doing is anything special or that anyone else is incapable of creating in such a way. I truly believe that music is something everyone can make. 

The world could use a few more aural journalists. 

- JZ