The Weekend

Last weekend was a tremendous amount of fun. I had the honor of collaborating with Mr. Tim Hinck for his latest show. Time is a really interesting individual, and it’s really hard to classify him. He’s a musician, performance artist, and the force behind Chattanooga’s New Dischord Festival.

In October, he and I met to talk a little bit about his most recent project, and he told me that he intended to leave the soundscape up to me. I left our meeting feeling like a) I’d known him for a long time, and b) we should’ve been working together years ago.

 

For the bulk of last week, we rehearsed, and it was an interesting challenge to see what was happening in the scenes and interpret it into a complimentary musical piece in real time. Tim gave me a few distinctions to work with in the two acts, and once I had an idea of the scope of the action, I sketched out my own parameters for what I wanted to strive for with the sound. I wanted things to sound moody, slightly off from time to time because the occasional wrong note engages the ear differently than when everything works, and I wanted things to constantly be evolving.

I didn’t map anything out prior to the show. There were a few things I wanted to throw in as far as texture or rhythm was concerned, but I wanted everything to take place in the moment and to ebb and flow with the action. In many ways, this was the natural progression for what I started doing with my Vacant Outlet Tour last year.

Honestly, it felt amazing to be playing music again. Prior to 2009, I played a lot of guitar and worked with a few experimental rock projects. The show served as a return to form for me (granted, with a few extra tools at my disposal in my setup), and an introduction for several people to that side of me. A good number of people had no idea that I played any instruments, so it was a lot of fun to indoctrinate them a little bit.  

 

I told one of my best friends that if I could swing the time commitment, I would love to be in a band again. I also realized just how blessed I’ve been to exist in such creative spaces this year. Each opportunity that I’ve been fortunate to take has really taught me more about myself. As clichéd (and corny) as this is going to sound, art has truly saved my life and continues to do so. It also makes my life pretty enjoyable, too. I’m excited to see what opportunities will come after this. I’m also hopeful that Tim and I will be collaborating on more projects in the near future. We shall see!