My Practice As a Songwriter
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Music Department New Audiences and Innovative Practice NAIP My practice as a songwriter Reflective Report Essay for Mmus-degree in Music NAIP José Luis Alexander Anderson Esquivel Kt.: 200594-4369 Vorönn 2020 Abstract The present paper is a reflective report about my practice as a songwriter and the work I have done throughout my studies in the program NAIP: New Audiences and Innovative Practice at Listaháskóli Íslands. My time in Iceland has been one of exploration and personal encounters, resulting in a learning outcome that supports both my professional development and my personal enhancement. The program has given me the chance to experiment with my art practice and expand my interests as an artist. This paper analyzes my artistic development, the methods used to carry out my practice, and a description of my creative process. I also present a sample of the work I have done during the last two years, focusing on a selection of songs to be materialized as an eight-track album and an EP of four songs. Table of Contents 1. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………......................................5 - What do I do?.........................................................................................................5 - About my music…………………………………………………………........…..7 2. INTO MY PROCESS..…….....…………………………………………….......….......9 - How do I write a song?...........................................................................................9 - My personal method………………..………………………………………........11 3. SONG SELECTION...………….…..……………………...........................................13 - Into the Album……………………...……………………....................................13 - Noche, the EP.........................................................................................................17 4. OTHER INSPIRATIONS…….……………………..……………………………......21 5. WHAT COMES NEXT.…………………....……………………..………………......22 6. BIBLIOGRAPHY…………………………………………..……………………...….23 4 1. Introduction What do I do? I am a singer-songwriter, which means that I write and perform my own songs. I was trained as a classical singer and finished a Bachelor’s degree in singing at the Faculty of Fine Arts of Queretaro, Mexico, the place where I was raised and born. Since my first encounters with music at an early age, I developed a unique interest in singing. I remember my grandfather Librado Alexander Anderson performing. He was part of the Mexican National Opera Company for fifteen years and was recognized as the best Mexican tenor in 1980 by the National Union of Chroniclers of Music and Theater. The way he expressed an emotion so Figure 1 My grandfather Librado Alexander Anderson, 1983. Personal Archive vividly, both with his physicality and his sound inspired me. When singing, my grandfather engaged his whole body, supporting the words he sang with corporal movements. This connection captivated me. I started to sing when I was fifteen years old and it was then when I experienced what I describe as a cathartic act; the action of singing led to a state of wellness and lightness. In my personal experience, there is a sensation of freedom and elongation when you sing. The sounds you project become an extension of your whole body that can be manipulated and molded according to the emotional requirements of a song. In my experience, singing can also enact a sense of ease and an awareness of the body. Much research has been conducted on the effects of singing on the brain and body. According to an article published in TIME magazine: 5 The elation may come from endorphins, a hormone released by singing, which is associated with feelings of pleasure. Or it might be from oxytocin, another hormone released during singing, which has been found to alleviate anxiety and stress. Oxytocin also enhances feelings of trust and bonding, which may explain why still more studies have found that singing lessens feelings of depression and loneliness.1 This is one of the reasons why I do what I do, the reason why I sing and consider myself not only a songwriter but a singer too. I have struggled with anxiety issues throughout my life and, at times, the episodes have been very severe. As a child, this kept me away from engaging with other people. During my first years of elementary school, I felt much more comfortable spending time by myself than interacting with my fellow classmates. Despite the fact that I did have a friend or two, I was very insecure about myself. I needed something to free my mind from apprehension. In 6th grade, I decided to make music a place where I could look for an identity of my own. I started learning guitar, first by myself and then via lessons and played it for the next three years of my life. Through this experience, I managed to overcome some of my insecurities in order to unfold my social personality. When I turned fifteen years old, once I had gathered enough courage, I reconnected with my desire to sing and asked my grandfather to teach me. Music became a safe space in my life, something I was doing for pleasure and that granted me satisfaction, purpose and meaning. Singing was a relief from all the traps of my mind. The human voice grants us the possibility of expressing ourselves in an organic way, since it comes straight out of the body. It is connected to all sensorial impulses, allowing us to conceive something as intangible as an emotion in the physical realm when it becomes sound. This resonates with a study by researchers from the University of California, Berkeley who have created an audio map with vocal reactions linked to emotions, in which spontaneous sounds were recorded as a response to emotionally evocative scenarios. The study provides a collection of samples of non-verbal communication. As can be read in the article originally published on the University’s website: 1 Horn, Stacy. “Singing Changes Your Brain.” Time.com. https://ideas.time.com/2013/08/16/singing- changes-your-brain/ (accessed February, 2020). 6 This study is the most extensive demonstration of our rich emotional vocal repertoire, involving brief signals of upwards of two dozen emotions as intriguing as awe, adoration, interest, sympathy and embarrassment.2 About my music: Cross disciplinary influences As I mentioned before, the first impact of music in my life was sensorial and the second one empowering. Parallel to my musical experimentation, I allowed myself to try different methods to get rid of the suffocating riot inside me. Always seeking pleasure and ease, soon I found myself drawing and writing. Drawing has given me the chance to distract my mind while igniting my creativity. Writing is my ally to confess my deepest thoughts and feelings, those that I would have never told to anyone. In fact, I am Figure 2 Sample of drawing, personal archive very fond of keeping a diary. Journaling is a useful tool for songwriting. I mention this because I can track my artistic practice to this period of my childhood, I have hold on to these bases ever since then. My music is the consequence of my personal experiences as a sensate, emotional being. I am still doing what I used to do as a kid: writing down what boils inside and finding chords to support it, to sing it out. I write both in english and spanish. When it comes to writing in english I constantly refer to Leonard Cohen as one of my greatest influences. Cohen’s lyrics and poems have ignited a 2 Anwar, Yasmin. “Gasp! First audio map of oohs, aahs and uh-ohs spans 24 emotions.” news.berkeley.edu. https://news.berkeley.edu/2019/02/04/audio-map-of-exclamations/ (accessed March 24, 2020) 7 flame inside of me to dare to write, looking for my own language to talk from my sensibility. His music has inspired me to talk about my emotions, spirituality, and to explore eroticism. My work in spanish is more rooted in traditional music. For instance my upcoming EP, which is my most recent production in my native tongue, I drew inspiration from Latin- american folk music and Mexican classical composers, such as Maria Grever and Manuel M. Ponce. While assigning a musical genre can prove limiting or inefficient, it is comfortable for me to say it is folk/singer-songwriter music, but I am constantly discovering myself in different realms. However broad the following definitions could seem, I associate my music with them since it is based on the figure of the troubadour: a simple man and a guitar. According to the online music database AllMusic: The term Singer/Songwriter refers to the legions of performers that followed Bob Dylan in the late 60s and early 70s. Most of the original singer/songwriters performed alone with an acoustic guitar or a piano but some had small groups for backing. Their lyrics were personal, although they were often veiled by layers of metaphors and obscure imagery. Singer/songwriters drew primarily from folk and country.3 As for Folk music: The genre usually refers to American and British music that has been passed through the generations by oral tradition. It's simple, acoustic-based music that spins everyday events and common people into mythic status.4 3 Singer/songwriter Music Genre Overview https://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/singer-songwriter-ma0000002855 (accessed March 31, 2020) 4 Folk Music Genre Overview https://www.allmusic.com/genre/folk-ma0000002592 (accessed March 31, 2020) 8 Folk song: is often used in the USA in a loose way, covering not only traditional peasant songs but also any songs which have become widely known by people in general.5 My music aligns with both definitions as it is acoustic, intimate and heartfelt. However, my music is also framed in and informed by the vastness of pop music, and I am constantly consuming music of all sorts and nurturing my own with elements taken from here and there, regardless of genre. Just like before, I keep on building my own personal identity, allowing myself to explore and experiment with who I am and who I want to be as an artist.