What’s True To You

Episode #105: What's True To You    (Song starts at 7:00 ) This is the podcast where you're going to get to hear how it feels to be a songwriter, where the featured song of the week came from, some funny stories, etc. The idea being: to entertain and inform - and along the way hopefully shed some light on what is a very interesting creative process.  Mistakes are a necessary part of learning. That's what came to me, as I was listening back to the this song, reading through the lyrics.  In this episode, I relate some mistakes I made in my life, including falling into a very cold lake, jumping a cliff unintentionally while skiing... And a ‘run in’ with a billy goat.  The thing that linked these events was: I didn't 'listen to those who went before', which is a line in the lyrics. Experience tells you that's not a bad idea. We can look at other’s experiences to find out what's true to us. Somehow, though there’s nothing like experiencing a few ups and downs along the way to early learn something. When engaging with the creative realm, I think you’ve gotta be free and allow yourself to make mistakes.  Keep everything you've learned firmly in hand...Then, as a composer, keep an open ear and an open mind for when a ‘good mistake' happens. It could be a unexpected melody note, a strange bass note , chord, etc.  Ok, sometimes it's like going off a cliff, completely out of control, like goofy - in mid air…(like my skiing accident) Sure.  Other times it's going to be something that catches your ear, your heart. At that moment it becomes a point of difference in your current music phrase - and may prove to be the beginning of the path toward a big chorus melody -  which you never would have hit on if you hadn't been free enough in the first place to allow yourself to make mistakes. Time and again, as I draw comparisons to events in my life with this creative process, it's easy to see being human is a creative process. That's why I've opted for a very inclusive tone and manner in this podcast. You don’t have to be ‘musically inclined’ to understand what I’m talking about here. Music and art should definitely be an inclusive realm. 99% of us have a voice, whether that's singing, playing piano, knitting, counselling, whatever it may be. I really find keeping a diary to be so helpful to sort out ...what's true to me.  It's a gradual unfolding, a gradual understand of the self as you grow up. You learn to accept different facets of your personality as they appear. The thing about mistakes... it’s a good idea to keep an eye on yourself if you keep repeating the same mistakes.  In my diary, things become clear to me somehow, over time. A great way to collect and arrange these diary entries in a concise form is by turning them into art - like songwriting.  'What’s True To You' is song # 585 in my song book. It was written in 2013. You can hear it on the album Don’t Miss The Bus at www.petepascoe.bandcamp.com. The lyrics are on this week’s blog post at www.petepascoe.wordpress.com. By asking a question in the lyrics, 'what's true to you?' It’s a way to get things across without sounding like you’re on some ‘holier than thou’ sort of soapbox.  That is something I'd never want to be doing.  The bridge lyrics are: ‘one step forward, a start it seems, two steps forward, one back it seems...on toward your art….' And that in a nutshell is the creative process. It'll take you somewhere, that's for sure.  So in this episode, come for a wander. I'll take to a New Zealand ski field, a field in the middle of nowhere and a lake in the winter. Oh, and there's some piano here as I chat. I let my hands wander on the piano keys as I talk. Fingers ever at the ready to illustrate a point or ...just create.  I hope you enjoy this week's episode.  Pete.