CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT

Search for the new and groovy

We humans are evolutionary beasts, evolving over our lifetimes and between generations. We are constantly changing. As a species, we are also part of a commercial cycle that relies upon constantly shipping new product, at increasingly short intervals.

Although your grandfather’s axe has seen four handles and three heads, the original copy was undoubtedly constructed from better quality steel and more robust timber than the current version. It was built by a human, not a robot.

Inbuilt obsolescence and intensive marketing of modern consumer society have shortened this cycle and worsened the outcome for everyone but the seller and their distribution network.

We accept change for change’s sake. Particularly within the AV industry that relies so much on the churn to ship more units. Being tech based, there is always a trend towards the new and improved. R&D has always been alive and well when there are gadgets involved.

We accept this change because each new feature, each new unit is good for sales. Each sale equals another AV job. This applies to virtual products too. A major new software release brings an upgrade fee, and a support or administration job to go with it.

Yet, while we are happy upgrading vehicles, clothes, and gizmos at a rate that keeps us in, or on the edge of, debt, so many people get stuck in an intellectual rut. The pressures of life as it is being lived can give little opportunity for expanding your horizons, questioning your values (assumptions), investigating the possible or just plain contemplation. It is easy to stick with the ‘known knowns’ without the challenge of upending all of that. Too many take the easy option and vote like their parents, drive the same brand of car for a lifetime and swear undying fealty to a sporting team, regardless of how they perform on the field.

Personally, I like to tip over my conceptual applecart as often as possible. It keeps me fresh, and I feel relevant. Because of that, I have friendships in many diverse areas, across a wide variety of age groups and demographics. This approach also results in constantly learning new things and interacting with new people on a regular basis. It also keeps ideas fresh, and shibboleths challenged.

The most obvious example of this cultural ennui are music tastes. I am frustrated by the number of times I have heard the statement “there is no good music anymore.” It comes from folks of all age groups and was most recently uttered by my 30-year-old niece.

Maddy is a self-employed artist who is making a tidy living as a sculptor. As a relative, I have inherent bias but, objectively, her work is really strong, and she deserves success in this endeavour, where she continues to grow and challenge herself. But I railed hard against her regarding music. Where once we bonded over metalcore, we now stand apart as she closes her mind’s ear to new possibilities. And she is far from alone. Depending on who you talk to, good music stopped in 1800, 1900, 1950, 1960, 1970 … indeed all the way up to last week! In reality, good (or new) music stops when listeners stop the adventures of youth and ‘settle down as an adult’. The tunes and acts that inspire them during their purple patch become the last great bastion before ‘the day that the music died.’

There is serious science behind this proposition. I recently found research that had looked into this exact phenomena: https:// theconversation.com/why-do-we-stop-exploring-new-music-as-we-get-older-200080 As pointed out there, researchers often attribute this to psychosocial maturation but I think a general attitude shift is more to blame. Many folks continue to update clothing or cars while sticking with a musical artist for life.

Singers are not like footy teams. Indeed, the best ones grow and mature over time, most unlike sporting clubs.

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Substack, reading other authors, and interacting with them both professionally and personally. On the whole, I find this platform like social media for writers, with just enough technical and technique discussion to justify it as worktime. Its subscription-based model appeals as a customer, but I fear that the numbers don’t add up to it being sustainable over the long term without adding in advertising or sponsorship.

Time will tell, but my fingers remain crossed and hope reigns eternal.

One of my favourite authors there is New Bands for Old Heads by Gabbie (meandtimory.substack.com/). Her goal here aligns with mine – getting people to find and enjoy new music. Gabbie recently made a recommendation to check out the playlist of artists that you already like or follow. This is premium advice. Doing so will give you an insight into where that act got their inspiration, what gets them excited and will inevitably expand your own horizons. Then rinse and repeat on those finds.

We are not alone. There are other people fighting the good fight in keeping our ears refreshed: Jared Smith (@jaredthecurator), Black Noise by Saint Virgil (check out blacknoisewav.substack.com), and more. YouTube is another great source for aural exploration. Benn Jordan (@BennJordan) is one channel that crosses between technical and artistic. Plus, his direct personality appeals to me. SynthHacker Tom (@SynthHackerTV), Coolea (@coolea) and Trash Theory (@TrashTheory) have some quirky takes on music trends.

In our industry of music performance, it is surprising to me how many colleagues over the years have stuck with their formative tastes. “This new music is crap. They aren’t the same as Creedence, Cold Chisel, Chocolate Starfish, White Stripes…” or whatever legacy act you got stuck on. Well, no – the newer acts are new by definition and every week, every year, and every decade there will be even more new artists and styles evolving and hitting the market. Hint: you will probably be working for them before long, so stay hip to the trends.

Danish musician Maggie Bjorklund (@maggiebjorklund8246) puts it well: “You can’t roll the times back, and we had better embrace the new world with file sharing and YouTube.” More poignantly: “Music is a forum where we share a little bit of ourselves, both as the musician and the listener. Both need to be in it and present in order for magic to happen.”

Going on a journey of discovery is not all about the new and recent either. Following these tune-trails into aural rabbit holes can open your mind to much historical artistic output that was hitherto unknown to you. I recently dug through notes on Youssou N’Dour and found the most excellent Star Band de Dakar, where he was once a singer. My favourite offshoot is Orchestra Baobab. Until that moment, I had no idea they even existed as an act, and I have several friends heavily into Senegalese music. Though the band is now a shallow shell of its peak in mid-late last century, I’m definitely a fan. Through processes like these, I’m regularly discovering old music that is still new or fresh to me.

In amongst so many failing or faltering festivals, I see two sectors that are doing well: nostalgia (for a particular era or style) and cover bands, which have long held their niche. Both of these feel like endless regurgitations of artists long past their use-by date but they do consistently draw in the punters. This means jobs for our techs and sales for our distributors.

Is this reductive race to the safe and familiar a feature or a flaw of our music culture?

Recycling might be efficient resource allocation for physical products, but I find it quite limiting for artistic output. Play it safe in the past, or risk the new and adventurous? Commercial or creative? Grow or stagnate? Ultimately, it’s your call…

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Main Picture: Heraclitus of Ephesus (l. c. 500 BCE) famously claimed that “life is flux.” Image: a line engraving of the 5th century BCE Greek philosopher Heraclitus of Ephesus. (From the Wellcome Library of Portraits)