What is art?
dictionary.com says:
the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.
The dictionary’s definition of art is as elusive as art itself. It sort of doesn’t make any sense. It sort of defines itself as something that is different for everyone. Hard to pinpoint something when everyone says it’s something slightly different. If I take a dump and pinch off each little turd into an exact sphere and make a picture in the toilet bowl, is that art? Did I just lose half the people reading this by being gross? Is that art? What do you mean “That’s why 90% of your readers are men?”
Let’s go more specific. What do you have to say, musically? If what you want to write and play isn’t popular enough to make a living, do you change what you’re doing to become more popular, or do you pick a different way to make a living and “relegate” your music to being a “hobby?”
There’s that awful, awful word: hobby. Used in the sentence, “Oh, it’s JUST a hobby.” That sentence was designed as an excuse for why you’re not doing what you love full time. There’s a really good reason most of us do music as a hobby: we have to pay our bills. Some people will tell you that you can’t make great music as a hobby. I think they’re full of crap. But it’s also true that the quality of your work is related to the time you put into it.
People who “make it” to the point of being known nationally and making a lot of money usually have one thing in common; a desire to be a star at all costs. Nothing else is as important. Family, relationships, financial stability, friendships, nothing matters as much as “making it.” This is usually accompanied by a massive belief in themselves, aka a huge ego.
A lot of people will tell you that you have to put your “blinders” on and not have a backup plan and that’s the only way to “make it.” But it’s not the only way to make art. I love how some of these rock icons who made a career in an industry that supposedly doesn’t have any rules will tell you all the rules you need to follow; no backup plan, all in, blah blah blah.
I also love the advice the old fart rockers give: don’t try to do everything yourself, they say. You need other people or you won’t make anything good, they say. Did Mozart hire string players to write their own parts? Did Beethoven hire brass players because he couldn’t write brass parts? And yet somehow if you try to write your own bass, drums, and guitar parts, you’re not doing it right. Bullshit.
Today’s young musicians are ignoring all of the old dinosaur rockers and making their own music. Good for them. But back to the subject. You can make your art full time or part time. If you make it full time, you probably will have more time to put into it, but you might struggle to pay your bills. If you make art part time for a “hobby,” you have no rules and you can do whatever you want, but you won’t be able to put in the amount of time you’d like. There’s no right or wrong way to make art. Or is there?
When you make art and that provides income for you, and you get to a certain level of popularity, you’ll likely get sucked into the Maroon 5 situation, where you start as a rock band and you end up as a pop brand where the songs you sing are designed by committee and market research tested and you make even more money but your art sucks. Is there anything wrong with that? Not that I can see. An artist makes decisions. Money vs. Art. Money usually wins.
Some people make the argument that you do music as a hobby BECAUSE you want to keep the integrity of your art. It is true that when no one cares what you do, you can do whatever you want. But personally, if I got a phone call from Hollywood offering me a hundred grand for one of my songs and they wanted to change the lyrics and have someone else sing it, I’m signing that contract right now. That won’t happen, but I can dream.
We all need art in our lives and we all need to make a living. No matter what we decide, people will judge us. Let them judge. Do your own thing, whatever that thing is. Who cares what anyone thinks? Make up your own rules. There’s nothing more rock and roll than that.
