Although it was terrific fun walking around town shooting up cop cars while armed with two hot chicks and some paint-ball guns, I decided we should quit while we were ahead, go to the mountain and finish off the Jack Daniel’s. There, in the drunkenness of the early morning, I began to climb down the dark mountain side. I was hoping the girls would follow me so I could ask them important questions like why their shoes didn’t match their hair. It was then I lost my rapport with gravity and tumbled head over heels a hundred and fifty feet down the mountain. I was lucky to land on top of a lonely tree.

It was on that lonely tree where I began to reflect on my life which, up to then, had been completely devoted to music. If that sounds like a noble thing, I can assure you it is not. My biggest mistake was trying to create music for the art of it. I realize now that music and art have nothing to do with each other. I have since checked my idealism at the door, along with my soul.

I got into music because I thought it would be a good way to express myself. I have always valued individuality. As a kid I constantly strived to express it. Recently though, I have come to the conclusion that musicians these days must essentially be characterless. Why try to create something new and original when it is so much easier, and the rewards are potentially so much greater, to copy something that has already been accepted?

I often become frustrated when I realize how many aspects of my life I have sacrificed in order to try to create something new and interesting only to show up to a gig and have some chick say, “Oh, he’s so cute.”

Fuck off.

“I like the way he makes that little pouty face.”

Fuck off.

“But I wish he would smile more.”

Fuck off.

“What’s with the hair?”

“That’s alright,” I tell myself. “One day there will be a beautiful princess who will get it. She’ll understand and appreciate the thought and dedication that has gone into doing what it is I do. She will be the one.”

But if there is one thing I learned during my recent conversations with God, who I affectionately refer to as the “Ol’ Cocksucker”, it is that I have been dreaming, and there is precious little space reserved in this world for dreamers.

On the lonely tree I thought about a girl I used to know. She was the most beautiful girl I ever saw. Not that I would ever tell her that. She knows. They all know, even the ugly ones. I imagine it must be somewhat disappointing to them when they first realize how simple men really are. I wonder why I never tried harder to get her. I’ve never been one to be afraid of girls and sometimes I actually find them to be quite amusing. Maybe I feared the disappointment that was sure to follow when I discovered that even the most beautiful girl in the world didn’t get it.

Sometimes I wonder what is so special about being human. Like monkeys we spend enormous amounts of time mimicking other monkeys we see on TV. If I was in charge of the world, which will probably never happen because you have to know the right people to get that job, and I wanted to control the other monkeys I’d make sure there were plenty of examples on TV for the other monkeys to follow.

I would reward psychotic behaviors of all kinds. I would feed the monkeys drugs then lock them up for being evil enough to use them. I would encourage the monkeys to fight each other over such stupid things as the color of their fur. If I was feeling especially energetic I would start a religion. I would say, “I know you’re a monkey, but pretend you’re not. Just sacrifice all your monkeying around in this life then in the next one you will have a hundred monkey-whores feeding you grapes.” Then, just when the monkeys were about to give up their hopes and dreams and their faith in the greatness of monkeykind, I would fake a Mars landing.

Paranoid monkeys have a fancy word for this type of thing, and it’s the paranoid monkeys who know what’s really going on. They call it “imprinting”. They say imprinting is used by the head monkeys in order to encourage certain types of behavior in lower class monkeys, like musicians. I dare say that if the whole idea of imprinting doesn’t deeply disturb you, it probably hasn’t dawned on you yet.

Just then I heard a concerned voice call from the top of the mountain. “Are you alright?”

“I don’t know yet,” I answered as I checked for broken bones. My right knee appeared to take the worst of it but my ego also took a bruise.

“Good thing you’re so cute cuz you’re dumb as shit.”

As I climbed down the lonely tree I began to understand why the Ol’ Cocksucker invented Jack Daniel’s. I started my gallant quest towards the top of the mountain but this time I was especially careful because just like art and music, gravity and Jack Daniel’s don’t mix.

I wrote this song in Room 8 at the Caribou Hotel in Quesnel, British Columbia after doing many dumb things the night before. The song “Amazing” is set to a 1937 cartoon called Educated Fish. Recorded with Sean Reynolds on drums in an old church. (Creative Commons License)

The world recently lost a truly unique and special individual in Daeron Skye, a.k.a Ham Salad, but best known as Skye.  He was undoubtedly my biggest music influence. Ten years ago he helped me transform everything I thought I knew about music into a brand new paradigm. This is the first in a series of posts that I will use to document my relationship with Skye and the music secrets I learned from him.

I first met Skye while working at The Sanctuary Studio, an old church in Vancouver that had been converted into a recording studio by engineer, David Jones. I was asked by David to come in and help get guitar sounds for a project on which he had been working.  When I got there I met this character who was unlike any human I had ever met.  I honestly couldn’t figure him out.  He wore a purple silk disco-shirt and a cheap cowboy hat. He talked Negro and seemed high.

During a break in the session Skye proceeded to tell me how he used to be kind of a jazz snob and then one day after breaking up with his girlfriend he heard the song “Under the Bridge” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. He said it was then he realized that whether it was Charlie Parker, Miles Davis or Kurt Cobain it all came from the same place.  From then on every time we hung out I listened to Skye lecture me about music.  He enjoyed sharing his insights.

Skye was a master at the theory of music and he loved learning as much as he loved teaching.  He took it very seriously. Skye’s approach to music and theory was completely different from what is taught in music schools and colleges. He discovered hidden music secrets through his own experimentation and desperately wanted to share them with anyone who had the ability to understand. Most musicians try to hide their secrets and pass them off as ”black art”. Skye though felt obligated to share them. “Music is free,” he would say. His was no scarcity mentality.

After learning about this new approach to music my entire method for creating and listening to it changed .  I studied Charlie Parker and realized the secrets.  I studied Nirvana and Black Sabbath and J.S. Bach and realized the secrets.  According to Skye, Igor Stravinsky was the greatest.

It is somewhat tragic that for all his eagerness to learn and his extreme attention to detail Skye never found a way to put it all together for the world to hear. Instead he lived his life constantly experimenting and trying to take his discoveries to the next level.  Occasionally, he talked about “taking over the world” and “becoming famous” but I don’t think he ever really wanted to do that.  I think he just enjoyed making discoveries.

He spoke constantly about music and what he had learned.  There was the time when the band Yes had locked out the studio to write its album. Skye used to spend a lot of time bustling about on the streets downtown.  He had great rapport with the street community and less fortunate folks in general.  One day he came in off the street. He had been gone for 3 days and was dirty and on edge. Steve Howe, the guitarist for Yes and one of the world’s top guitar players gave Skye a condescending and disapproving look.   Oblivious, Skye took a classical guitar and started ripping “Confirmation” by Charlie Parker note for note. Steve Howe and Skye became friends after that.

There was also the time when Allan Holdsworth was in town. Back then a strong argument could be made that Holdsworth was the greatest guitar player in the world.  Skye began pointing out  mistakes that were in Holdworth’s book of transcriptions called “Reaching for the Uncommon Chord” which contained some of the most complex music ever written.  Even Holdsworth acknowledged the errors.

I am thankful that Skye chose me to be one to whom he revealed his music secrets. He left me with charts and recordings for pretty much every note he wrote.  He also left me with sheet music of classical pieces he thought I should learn and study. He especially thought that “Cordoba” by Albeniz was an important piece. I hope I will prove to be a worthy steward for this material.  Skye went out of his way to compliment me when he thought I had done something well. There was no political agenda behind his appraisal.  If he liked it, he said it.  He was very positive and he inspired me to work harder so that I could come up with something else he might like. His approval was a great reward. In closing I want to thank you Skye for the music, the inspiration, the encouragement, the positive words and the attitude. You were a true original and are a big part of every note I play.

Remember when the days were long and
The radio played our favorite song
And we knew
Our time would come to be
Remember when we’d talk about the day
We’d leave our things and run away
Together you and me

And how we would stand so tall
And how we would never fall

Then the skies turn grey
All roads are strange
Just trying to find some way
Then the morning comes
And everything’s gone
Remember the song will never change

Remember when we had to say goodbye
To all those dark and endless nights
And find a different way
It’s funny how the things that we passed by
Seemed more then

[Special thanks to Cap'n John Peer and John Dean for their awesome keyboard contributions.]

For those rare musicians infected with a desire to create true original music an understanding of the relationship between a composer and his work is beneficial. At the core of this relationship is the idea that music reflects a musician’s values. What are values and how are they expressed in music?

A value is something that is important to someone. It might be a cold beer on a hot day, the trust of a friend, or a state of mind: anger, peace, freedom. It might be crack-cocaine or a new bass guitar. A value can be defined as “that which one acts to gain or keep” and therefore it is the object of an action. ‘Something’ is of value to ’someone’ and that ’someone’ has to act in a certain way in order to acquire, achieve, or maintain that ’something’.

In order to create a particular type of work a composer must make those choices during the selection process that best allow him to realize that type of creation. If goals and values are related then goals should properly be based on values. The process of musical selection, of choosing which elements are important enough to include in the music, and which are not, is based on those values a musician holds in both music and daily life. What type of mood does he wish to manifest? What types of notes and sounds will he need to use in order to support this mood? What kind of groove is required for this expression? Will the nature of the expression be dramatic, or subtle? By answering these types of questions insight is gained into a musician’s values.

In some music, particularly pop music, there are different layers to these expressions. Pop music is an art form where collaboration is the norm rather than the exception. In other words, there is often more than one person involved in the music creation process. A composer might write music while a lyricist writes words. A group of musicians may then perform selected songs with the guidance of a producer who provides direction based on an overall concept derived from the individual songs, the performances, and the expectations of the marketplace. At each stage specialists in their field are making value judgments. This brings us to the concepts of synergy and compromise.

The concepts of synergy and compromise are opposites when considering collaborations. If collaborators on a project have similar music values and each participating party has similar end goals then the resulting work is often a product of synergy. In such cases the parties choose to create a relationship whereby decisions are made according to an end concept mutually agreed upon by the collaborators. The resulting work created by this type of synergy may be more fully realized than it would be otherwise. Contrarily, if music values are not similar between collaborators and an end concept is not agreed upon at some point during the creative process the resulting work often deteriorates into a product of compromise and inferiority.

Understanding how the process of music creation and values are related can give those musicians who dare to be different the confidence to stand alone in the face of great opposition. By being aware of values and how they are being expressed in music an artist can be psychologically armed to protect himself from those who do not share his ideals and in fact, may resent them. He will be able to see how other’s criticisms arise directly from a comparison to a set of values which may have been compromised, or sold out, in favor of other values. It takes epic effort to create something truly unique and original. At every turn there are those who argue that it is impossible to create something new and that it is a waste of time to even try. They ask questions like, “How dare you try to be original?” and “What makes you so special?” Because of this, extreme confidence is a key ingredient for those musicians who crave to be original. This special breed of musician must have a deep-rooted belief that his work is strong and valid even in the absence of something obvious to compare it to. Non-conformity is not recommended for most but for some, it is the highest power. There is no right or wrong way to create music; the art simply reveals the artist.