Hello, Good Friends,
I hope this finds you well. I try not to overdo these, as I receive a LOT of email myself. Our latest Big Blend Radio and Magazines podcast, “Creative Beginnings,” is out today and I thought of you.
I hope you’ll listen:
- Big Blend Radio: www.BigBlendRadio.com
- Big Daily Blend Channel: https://big-daily-blend.podbean.com/
- A Toast to The Arts Channel: https://toast-the-arts.podbean.com/
- Success Express Channel: https://success-express-business.podbean.com/
The interview will also be featured on:
- Our YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@bigblendradio/
- And on their Facebook page and groups: https://www.facebook.com/bigblendradiomags
To catch up on all my recent media appearances, please go to the Press/Podcasts tab on hearjohnny.com
The urge to create has always been very strong in me. I wrote my first song when I was four. I used to gather other kids in the neighborhood and put on shows in our backyard and entertain my parents’ guests when they came over to visit. There has always been a drive within me to create. There’s an actual need to express my thoughts and feelings as life happens around me and in me. I’ve been writing a lot of music lately. I have a huge backlog of songs and am trying to figure out how to get them out into the world with very limited resources. But it helps to get them on a page.
I’ve written before about how I often wake up around 3:30 am with music swirling in my brain. Usually, lyrics and melody come together, but not always. I sneak out of the bedroom so as not to wake Paco up. Sometimes it’s obvious that the music is coming from things going on in my waking life, but there have been times when I’ve written really sad songs when I’m happy and vice versa. Often a word or phrase comes to me that opens up a whole world of thoughts. I’m aware that I sometimes put myself in other people’s shoes and a song develops. I can’t begin to describe how wonderful it feels to create a song, especially when it starts bouncing off the walls in a room or recording studio for the first time.
When I was in college my English professor really tried to convince me to double major. On three separate occasions she printed out my assigned compositions and distributed them to the class as examples of someone who was applying what she was teaching. Once she said, “This is obviously someone who re-wrote several times.” I kept my mouth shut because I rarely rewrote in terms of physically putting the words to paper multiple times. (This was in the early 80s). But later I realized that I do rewrite a lot in my head. I go over and over things many times and rearrange and try different things. Often, I play with compositions when I go on a hike or exercise. When people say that Mozart wrote whole peices oin a matter of days I often thing it might have been in his head in the same way for a while before he committed it to paper. (Please don't think I'm comparing myself to Mozart, lol.) When I commit to paper I am at a place where I feel like it’s done. The Tape a Talk app on my phone has been very helpful because I can quickly record alternative versions of a song and then refer back to them. And it’s critical to get the initial idea down so I don’t forget, especially if I’m half asleep. I’m not a very visual person, so the auditory notes are more helpful, though I will also say that typing the lyrics and referring to the structure of previous verses is very beneficial. I like to build sub rhymes and references into verses and once I establish the pattern, I want to keep it consistent. I think that has the same effect as repeating notes in a melody, if more subliminal.
In our podcast, several of us mentioned the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. Paco and I went there when we were in Europe and it had a profound effect on me. Getting up close to the paintings and seeing the intense energy that went into layer upon layer of paint increased my appreciation of his work. Hearing the stories of how many of his paintings began as sketches in letters he wrote to others as a way of describing beautiful things he saw around him was a brilliant window into the whole process for me. The creative beginnings of masterworks no one even bought until after he died (well, he did sell one painting) deepens my appreciation for what he did. I’m really grateful that the museum made the effort to spend so much time revealing what went into the paintings. It provides context, just as I have always appreciated when I go to concerts by artists I love and they tell the stories behind the songs. That context makes the experience richer. It’s also why I love to read and watch interviews with artists who talk about their journey.
I’m blessed to have people in my life who are authors, painters, sculptors, dancers, playwrights, (I just re-learned that this is the correct spelling instead of “playwrite”, lol), poets, actors, directors, floral designers, architects, landscapers, filmmakers, composers, singers, instrumentalists, songwriters, and more. I’m always excited when I get to collaborate with them. Knowing them and what they are going through and how they think makes their art more powerful for me.
I don’t know about you, but these are exasperating, frightening, difficult, and uncertain times for me. Many of us have a lot to say about it. I try to find a balance in speaking out about things that matter to me while also addressing themes that more people might agree on. I do know that people’s reaction is their business. I appreciate feedback and have learned to weigh how and if I want to take it to heart.
Raising my voice as creatively and honestly as I can keeps me sane.
I am posting this message to the Read Johnny blog section on my hearjohnny.com website. There is a place at the bottom for comments. I hope you will share any of your creative endeavors there so I and others can explore them. Keep creating. Don’t squash feelings and reactions. Let them surface and then deal with them. See what they tell you about the world around you and the people in it, and what you might need to share with others. Someone probably needs to experience your perspective.
I can’t wait to see what you come up with.
Much Love,
Johnny Schaefer