The Secret Meaning to My Music
June 10, 2008
Welcome, new visitor! My name is Ari, the man behind Aries9. Here I share my thoughts on music and life, so you can get to know me and my music. Thanks for visiting!
It’s funny how you don’t understand what you have in your hands.
When I put together my music, I knew that there was a theme to it. I hesitate to call it a “story” but I am seeing a few roles and a sense of progression — something happens to them over the course of the tale.
Of course, I’m talking about my own first album.
It’s kind of like putting together a large puzzle. Without ever seeing the completed picture. Each piece is so small, that putting a dozen pieces or so together doesn’t really tell me what it is. But as you diligently put pieces together, there comes a point where all the sudden you realize what you’re putting together. It may turn out that it’s upside down or side way — and you correct it.
A while ago, I coined the term “progressive modern rock” to define my music. That was an “aha” moment (to quote Oprah). My music is not progressive rock. But it’s not plain modern rock or grunge. It is modern, because it doesn’t sound like music from any other decade. The term “modern rock” was made up in the 90s, however, the era of my root. So I was comfortable with that, but it still didn’t really tell me enough. To say “progressive modern rock” (as opposed to “modern progressive rock”) really felt right. This is a modern rock music with elements of progressive music. Not the other way around. (Allmusic.com uses the term Neo-Prog to describe bands like Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree.)
Yesterday, I was revising my CDbaby description. I’ve never been happy with what I put on there.
Then I recalled the advise from Derek Sivers, the CDbaby founder. He says to trash the industry- and musician-talk. To describe music with things like “complex guitar parts” or “soaring harmonies” doesn’t work. He says we should just talk, as if I’m trying to tell a friend what my music sounds like.
So I started doing that. And, all the sudden it just felt right.
Like writing a blog entry — except this is the “meta” entry, the one that explains a big picture.
And in it, I finally hit upon the right way to describe my music’s concept:
“Darkness Reveals the Beauty of Truth is the first half of a loosely thematic song collection, centering around one man’s struggle and disillusionment with his world.”
I wrote that, and thought “ah — that’s what I’ve been trying to describe.”
The key word for me there was “disillusionment.”
My songs are really conversations. There is a protagonist, but the “I” person isn’t always him, depending on the song or which part of the song. And the other party is the voices from his world. This voice throws out all kinds of conflicting messages. It can be enticing one moment, sinister the next.
The songs are like episodes in this arc. Each song reveals a new layer. For example, Shark starts out with the voices of the world, with a series of lunatic invitations. The choruses are the protagonist’s response. Tiny Toon is definitely the voice of the protagonist. It’s him singing “living with the black guns, not knowing where to shoot.” In general, the earlier songs contain more of the voices of the world, while the later songs really expresses the protagonist’s point of view.
I hesitate to discuss more of my interpretations, as I don’t want to define the “official” meaning of these songs — but now I see clearly what my songs are trying to communicate. In the other words, I see the framework of the story — how you fill in the blanks, is up to each listener (including the songwriter himself). But I needed to see that framework, to set the context. To know where to begin.
And I did say this is the first half. The next album is the conclusion of this tale. And I do know how the story ends.
All in all, I’ve been very happy with how my own songs are growing on me. I don’t listen to them everyday, but it seems like with time, I’m discovering more meanings and depth in my own material, that I didn’t know I had. And that’s very gratifying, as I was hoping to create music that stands up to this kind of exploration. It’s sort of an ideal for me — to create music that is catchy enough to grab you on the first listen, but deep enough to live with it for a long time. All the amazing musicians, from Bach to Beethoven to the Beatles and Led Zeppelin, do that. I don’t think I’m anywhere near their heights, of course, but not a bad start for a batch of songs that were mostly written when I was much younger.
I can’t wait to tell the rest of the tale.
Filed under: Music, Reflections |