Anonymous asked: hi ever since i got serious about song writing and trying to find my "sound" i found myself only listening to music that i want to have an influence on me. like i thought that if i listen to this type of music exclusively i will eventually have original ideas in that sort of style. do you think thats silly? is there any sense in doing that? kind of like ur music is the Juice, your brain is the Mixer and the music you listen to is the Fruit going into the mixer.
i think i sort of do this but it’s not really as deliberate as what you are describing. like i don’t think i really deliberately decide what music i want to be influenced by but i do kind of view my listening habits as being part of the overall creative process and generally spend more time listening to stuff that inspires me to think creatively than i do to stuff that doesn’t have a lot to do with what i am doing at the time. like i try to retain the capacity to be impulsive and to get surprised by stuff and to allow myself to be inspired by and have ideas about music that just kind of enters my life randomly as opposed to via a deliberate attempt to curate my listening habits in a way that influences my music
but on the other hand i like, haven’t listened to the frank ocean album. like i am sure that as a listening experience it is entirely worthwhile and i believe all of the people who have told me that it is great and it will enrich my life when i decide to go listen to it. but i just know from what i have heard and what i’ve read that it has just like, absolutely nothing to do with what i do. i’m not really going to be able to get into it and give it the attention it needs until i can block off a lot of time for just listening to stuff that has nothing to do with what i’m doing, that is not for inspiration or any kind of creative thinking but just like, being a listener and an audience for the fun of that
i think overall like, the brain is the most powerful and useful musical instrument and so yeah like watching what goes into it is really important if you have some kind of investment in what comes out of it
