For more interesting music, infuse your life into it
I don’t usually care about making my music more interesting. Songwriting is a personal cathartic passion-led thing…something we can’t help but just do. Still…can I make my songs pop out more?
Some of my best songwriting is not methodical. It’s an intuitive moment captured.
I have my guitar, I vibe with the mood and something comes out. Usually, I’m pretty stoked about it. But if I set out to tryyyy to write a banger, things get nuanced. There’s pressure and suddenly rules or scripts…strategy with some unhealthy comparisons.
The truth is, I do sometimes want to make stuff that’s more interesting and pushes my own boundaries…but I usually end up stressed or leaving the soul behind.
The trap is thinking that “more interesting” somehow means attracting more fans or pleasing the algorithms.
But nay, “more interesting” simply means there’s more of you in the song.
More interesting music = more you (= more authentic)
I swear I’m not hopping on the authenticity trend-train. But there is truth to it.
Authenticity is a measure of ‘realness’ you show up with in your creative work. It’s the easiest hardest thing you’ll do as an artist.
I mean f*ck, I’m still figuring it out.
But the more I capture nuanced authenticity (stuff I thought was boring or too random), the more interesting my work becomes.
Whether it’s songwriting, art or video…it feels more interesting when there’s higher degrees of me and my “boring normal” life in it.
The sound of the electric kettle boiling water for morning coffee (is a riser and a sneak peak into my daily routine).
The moment I buy some eggs from the Japanese konbini is a raw video clip or even an artsy album cover.
That weird story from abroad is a song.
The more I add myself and my daily life into my creative process, the more authentic and interesting my stuff becomes.
It’s ironic…the more I add my boring life, the more interesting and real it feels. It’s almost like Easter eggs or points of interest for the audience.
At least, according to me.
But to make this thing more well-rounded (like any good blogger should do), here are some other ways to make your music more interesting:
Play with juxtaposition (like dissonance to release)
Use interesting instruments
Layer multiple niches, domains or genres on top of each other
Stop writing for algorithms or doing what everyone else is doing (create what comes naturally)
Add unexpected elements (unique or non-rhyming words, strange noises, etc)
