That’s what they tell me on YouTube. “They sure as !@#$ don’t write &#*$ like this anymore!” Or some such statement. Is it true? They also say that fairly new stuff like Oasis’s Don’t look back in Anger is genius. I know that’s not true – Noel Gallagher said so himself. So what gives? My conclusion here would be that YouTube users in general have no idea what makes music great. I’m a YouTube user too, so that sucks! Of course, since the advent of the internets, more and more artists are getting publicity (sweet!), which means the truly good artists stand out less (lame!). However, the whole concept of “popular” music is still relatively new, which gives me hope. Perhaps over time, people will feel the same about this decade as they do about the 60′s and 70′s. (The 80′s are not helping my theory.)
So to my modern musician friends: Write with soul. Sometimes exploring new territory can mean the loss of a solid melody. Not good! Be transparent, but look outside of yourself for inspiration, not inside.

It’s finally here! After lots of work, etc., I have finished my first album, If Music be the Food of Love. It will be on iTunes September 15, but you can download it right now at www.imbtfol.com, or right here at Seventeen Pencils. I’d like to thank Michael Golus, Joshua Mayfield, Caleb Sherer, and Joshua Davis for their help with everything from playing the piano to doing cartwheels, etc. Enjoy!

Stephen

I’m coming down to the home stretch with my new album, If Music be the Food of Love. Something tells me that this could be exciting! I’m shooting for August 15, which is less than two weeks away. There’s a certain satisfaction to doing everything by yourself, but I definitely want to try a different approach next time. It just isn’t time-effective to write every single note of every instrument by hand. I hereby vow to reach out in a non-hermit-like manner, and join with other fabulous musicians to make a more beautiful sound! I have one more food song left to finish, so I should be good with my deadline. Oh wait, I’m releasing my album in India a week sooner… YIKES.

One of the hardest things about music is actually feeling it. It’s too easy to just write what sounds decent, and not really put my heart into it. So when a song can really make me feel deep down, I’m intrigued. In my experience, the emotional quality of a song has to do with escaping the mundane, both lyrically and musically, and presenting to the listener a vast spectrum of sensations. Two of the main ways to do this are through long distances and long periods of time. That’s why I love Enya – she does an excellent job of spanning an incredible range of feelings. Her ethereal sound includes stark elements from the past and the present – fleshing out orchestral arrangements with electronic sounds. And her lyrics bring together years of circumstances, shrouding modern life in the expansive mystery of the past. Trains and Winter Rains I think shows her strengths the best of any of her songs.

I followed Derek Webb‘s little scavenger hunt all the way to Nashville last night with my buddy Christopher Plemmons, and I was severely disappointed. Sure his new songs were great, but I already knew that. I wanted him to do something! Like… play some music?? He didn’t even stick around for me to meet him. It rather seemed like a waste of 12 hours of driving, but maybe it wasn’t. Nashville was still a pretty cool place to visit, and I pulled my first all-nighter to boot. Amazing.

I’m trying to write an upbeat love song. It’s not going so well! I think the idea I had for it was good, but I always seem to end up with a cynical undercurrent. That’s not the worst thing ever, but it kind of ruins the mood if you pick up on it. So I’m trying to make the lyrics just cheesy enough that some people will understand what I’m really saying, but most people will still be able to enjoy it as a lighthearted love song. The EP I release this fall will probably include it, so you can judge how well I did when you hear it. It’s called Mary Kate.

So far this summer, which has been about a month and a half, Weezer has been my main musical input. The first time I heard them was on the Buddy Holly music video included with Windows 95. Obviously I was confused – what a great idea for a music video though! Spike Jonze is cool, yo. I think what really sets Weezer apart from similar bands is the clean, almost timid vocals (and the lyrics that correspond with them) set against the gritty guitars. Pinkerton was especially revealing, almost awkwardly so. Rivers’ attitude towards being a rockstar is often disarming – what is there to dislike? That’s why I was a little disappointed with the Red Album – they lyrics had mostly lost their distinctive honesty and self-deprecation, and seemed more pop-ish. I’ve really been inspired by Weezer though, and I’ve been trying to integrate more honesty into my own lyrics, with mixed results. It’s hard to tell people what’s really in your heart! I sometimes hope they’ll think I’m joking…