I’m a songwriter first and foremost. That is my art form. To write my songs I have certain tools at my disposal such as guitars, pianos, laptops, synths, vocal chords, poems, journals, musicians, experiences, people, places, feelings and many other things.
I like to experiment with different styles and genres. I also refuse to box or classify myself into a category or “sell” myself to some specific audience. Music is music. Art is art. There are no boundaries. This may not be the path to mainstream success but fuck that. I’d rather be unknown and actually enjoy what I do and be proud of it, without selling myself out and becoming a slave. Oh and I’m also an obsessive-compulsive-madman-control-freak when it comes to making my own music. So if you’re a musician and you want to work with me, that’s the way I roll. No compromises. None. I prefer to do most of it myself and alone.
I live for the song. I use people just as much as I let myself be used by them. Sometimes we get abused and hurt or make mistakes. I try to learn and grow from them as much as I can. That’s what life is about for an artist. We are truly a dying breed. The world is becoming increasingly artless, talentless and loveless.
Everybody is a musician or a photographer or a graphic designer or a celebrity these days. I like to call these people pseudo-bohemians. Pseudo-artists. The technology is there for everyone now. By networking and marketing, anybody can make it. But to create inspired art is another thing. To be talented at something takes years and years of hard, gruesome work. It takes struggle and great suffering to really see the dark side of love and the human condition and to truly understand it – transcend it.
You can’t really buy talent or fund it. Sure, it takes some money to buy good instruments or laptops (or time). But you can’t fund that attitude of actually learning to play something and being furiously passionate about it. Nowadays, record labels fund “products” to exploit talent and artists. They don’t really give a shit about anything else. They want money. But that’s cool because it’s the world we live in. Most people support this system. I don’t. But it is hilarious to watch it and observe how people cling on to it.
Nor is someone “artistic” if they wear some ripped jeans and an iron maiden shirt from h&m with an expensive camera and some sketches in their notebook. That’s bullshit. That’s just the fashion industry and the media dictating how people dress, behave, think and what they believe in.
There is also talent without art. I have yet to see one single artist on shows such as american idol, x-factor, etc. Those are competitions. They are more a sport than an art.
Perhaps the best breeding ground for art is an environment where failure and rejection and misery are part of the landscape. Thus the development of a talent (e.g. in the arts) becomes a necessity for an invidivual to cope with his or her given reality. May the filters of persistance and patience weed out the fakes!
Most people ride the threadmill of modern life without really questioning why. Until it’s too late… Then again, the worse things get and the more desperate the times, the more a need arises for people to experience art.
For me, art and music was never even an option or a choice. It just was there and I have never ever doubted this. There has never been a plan b nor will there ever be. I also genuinely enjoy constantly developing my talents and skills as a musician, producer and songwriter. Every year I am growing as a musician and a man which is a great gauge of success for me. The trend is definitely going in the right direction which may not always seem so for outsiders. My time will come.
I create my own reality instead of being a reactive fucking zombie. I don’t do what is expected of me or play by the rules. I do what I want, when I want, where I want and how I want. The only obstacle is me. I really don’t give a fuck about what anybody else thinks of me (or my music) because I know I can never please everyone.
There are no photos or videos or graphics or logos here on this site for now. Just my songs because I thought perhaps some people might enjoy listening to them. I certainly enjoyed creating them.
When I am not making music, I like to hang out at bars, study the world, drink wine, play chess, find new things to be inspired by and challenge people with their assumptions and pre-conceived notions of how the world operates. Of course I also try to stay open and humble and I will be the first person to admit when I am wrong. Nor do I hesitate making changes in my life to better take me where I am going.
I don’t like politics, marketing, advertising, armies, facebook, violence and I especially don’t like the government. But who knows maybe one day I will when I become dumb, fat, old and ugly and boring. I hope I die before that happens.
I believe in honesty, respect, trust, beauty and love.
I also have a few other music projects that should keep me quite busy for the rest of my life but you’ll have to find those on your own.