originality Archives - Haulix Daily

Finding your voice is a journey worth the effort

There is nothing worse in music and art than talented people with nothing original to say. The world is filled with people who can play classic songs, but far fewer that can create them. What separates these two groups is a matter of voice, or more specifically the ability to share one’s unique voice with the world instead of relying on the phrasing and perspective of those who came before.

Everyone is unique, so everyone should have a unique voice. The problem is that most people never take the time to ask themselves who they are when removed from everything that influences them. They get so caught up in the woulda, coulda, shoulda moments in life they forget to think about what is actually unfolding and how they feel about those events as they occur. In short, they never find a voice that is their own because they’re too busy worrying how others – usually those who also have no idea what their voice is – will react.

We human beings have a tendency to get ahead of ourselves. As long as our basic needs are covered our mind is provided the opportunity to consider things other than what we are doing one moment to the next. We ponder questions and notions that we have no business considering because we have nothing better to do with our time (or so we tend to believe). We always want to know what’s coming, where we are going, and above all else whether or not we will be safe throughout this wild journey that is life.

The problem with attempting to live and think this is way is two-fold. For starters, those who live life thinking about what might come next are destined to miss out on the present. They are also wasting their time, as the person they will be when whatever comes to pass actually happens is most likely not the person they are today. People are constantly changing, often in ways too small to notice, every day of our lives. Each morning we awake as a new version of ourselves because we now have the understanding of everything that occurred before we last closed our eyes. To fully experience life one must embrace that constant evolution and live within it, growing with each new moment that passes.

In matters of creativity, getting ahead of yourself is a real problem. In order to find your voice and express it you must first learn to live in the moment. Stop looking at your phone, stop talking to the people around you, and for just a few moments focus on your breathing. Consider everything you are thinking and feeling in that moment as you take in the world around you. Don’t settle for surface thoughts of temporary happiness or easily fixed discomfort. Dive deep into yourself and pinpoint exactly what is motivating you to take another breath. This is not so much something you discover as much as realize over time, and no amount of forced efforts will produce the result you seek.

To have a voice is to be comfortable with who you are in the moment. It means understanding that you are more flawed than not and continuing to push forward in hopes of becoming something better over time. You can fool a lot of people by learning to impersonate the greats, but people will always be able to recognize the true originals. There are few things every human is capable of doing, but recognizing an original voice is one of them, and when those people enter our lives we tend to keep them around as long as possible. Why? Because the fact someone else can be unabashedly themselves gives us hope we may one day do the same. That’s all anyone really wants, after all. To be seen and heard for who they are, not who they promote themselves to be, and to be accepted without hesitation.

It may not feel like it right now, but the world is willing to accept you for who you are just as soon as you are able to do the same. Embrace every element of what makes you tick, both good and bad, and set to becoming a better version of the person you see in the mirror each morning. As you do this, share your journey through whatever means help you cope with the stresses of persistent evolution. Don’t hide the bad parts because those are the things people often relate to most. We may all long to be the hero of our own story, but most of the time we feel like the villain. The key is remembering everyone feels this way and that such feelings are normal. Finding your voice isn’t about showing people you have it all figured out, but rather being able to admit the many ways you are still lost. When you do this you attract others who feel they are in a similar position, and through the bond that mutual understanding creates you can find paths to becoming better people together.

If you’re reading this please understand that I appreciate you desire to become a great writer or creative mind as fast as humanly possible, but understand there are no shortcuts. Finding your voice takes time, and until you understand who you really are you will be unable to fully share your unique experience on this planet with others. Make it a point to look inward and in time you will discover the guidance you’ve been seeking have been with you all along. Just be patient, open, and willing to step outside your comfort zone. Everything else will fall into place if you give it a chance.

In a post on Finnish music that went live last week we mentioned our desire to begin exploring areas of music beyond the scope of our Haulix staff. While we like to believe we know a lot about the inner-workings of the music business there is a veritable world of entertainment we know little about, including EDM.

With this in mind, we have begun reaching out to clients and talent with expertise in various areas of the industry in hopes of sharing a more complete image of life in the modern music business. The latest artist to accept our offer is King Complex, a genre-defying talent who has been working to innovate the world of EDM over the last several years. We asked King to explain how he plans to build on the sound he has been refining up to this point, and thankfully for us he was happy to oblige our request. You can find his thoughts, as well as a taste of his music, below.

When I first really started getting into guitar and playing music around the age of 15 I was heavy into the blues. I was digging Derek and the Dominoes, Buddy Guy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, etc. As a result of my influences I developed a very strict idea of what music is and how it’s brought to life. Shortly after I started getting deep into the guitar, something called dubstep showed up in the mainstream. People were buying systems for their cars and freaking out over a show where a guy stood behind a computer, I was far from amused. I went through the next four years very turned off from the idea of electronic music mostly due to misunderstandings and stubbornness. It wasn’t until I was about 19 that I changed my mind on the matter.

I went to Bonnaroo 2013 with the intention of seeing Paul McCartney and a good handful of other bands. I left Bonnaroo 2013 trying to get my hands on every Pretty Lights record I could find. I spent a long time thinking electronic music was cheating because of all the technology that can be used to correct mistakes and take the human quality out of music. I thought the live shows were an excuse for some egotistic producer to press play and fake a performance for people to lose their minds over. I was in the dark, but now I have seen the (pretty) light.

That Pretty Lights show and most of the shows I’ve gone to since have been unlike any other show i’ve experienced or music i’ve heard. The realization that this was something fresh and original was what opened my eyes to what I really loved about all the music I listened to before and the music I will listen to in the future, it was innovative. The blues players I liked were the ones who brought new elements to the game. The rockers I liked were the ones that brought such a variety of influences to an old formula that it sounded completely new. Without the manipulation of sound and technology we wouldn’t have a good chunk of what’s considered The Beatles best work.

Unless you want to listen to rip-offs of your favorite records or just spin the classics forever, electronic music is the future. It’s the biggest avenue toward originality in music. The idea of using a chord change that’s never been heard before is somewhat absurd, but new sounds have unlimited possibilites. These producers aren’t cheaters, but masters of technology, and explorers of new soundscapes. We also have to keep in mind that this style of making music hasn’t been in the mainstream for very long, there is still a lot of evolution left for the world of electronic music. I think we’ll see a drastic change before too long as more musicians come around to the idea. People still use the old formulas to make good music, but great art comes only with innovation.

The other aspect I want to discuss is the live show/culture, which seems to get a bad rep from a lot of “hipster” bashers. Granted we live at a time where people do things simply to be seen doing them, but who’s to say the flower power movement wasn’t made up of people also looking to join the next cool thing? This is an environment where individuality is flaunted with ridiculous antics and clothing, drugs are heavily associated with the scene, and it scares the old people who claim this is a passing fad (similar to the mindset of many adults in the 60’s regarding the electric guitar and guitar bands). The point I’m trying to make is that this closely resembles the origins of rock n roll and the movement that followed. Perhaps this is the millennial’s rock n roll.