Music with Harper

Work through it, whatever it is.

For communication for abstract aesthetic ideas and for kicking your ass

Basically take care of all the things that support your art before you barrel headlong into the work and trip over your own feet.

Hey I’ve had too much coffee. References are a useful tool and sometimes the only way we can communicate abstract aesthetic ideas. But context is king and each sonic universe should have its own set of internal natural laws or physics that emerge from the vocalist and from the song—and we should do our best to respect and follow through on those “laws” (which real are just externalizations of our...

I’ve found the only thing that insulated me from the highs and lows of people’s criticism and positive feedback is to develop self awareness of both my strengths and weaknesses, so that I’m not surprised and so that my opinion of my work for better or for worse is based on thoughtful self examination not hinged on a need for outside validation.

If you're struggling with getting started the first and last step is to show up.

Instead of asking yourself "what do I want" ask "how can I help." The ways you can best serve the situation will define your most authentic self.

It’s a lesson I just keep relearning. And it helps me to always think long term. It mitigates small disappointments and makes the success feel better. It also means that there’s room for creative development and change. Committing to the long haul gives you control over your path and makes things feel less random and more earned.

That's all we have in the end: our opinions and our trust in them. Even trusting someone else's opinion is a kind of choice. In the end it all comes back to us, so the only question is do we acknowledge our role in creating our art, our lives and our world, or do we look away in hopes someone else will make the creative choices for us?

What I think this really means. ‘Trying hard’ is often confused with strain and stress. If I can cultivate a better state of mind the doing gets better and the trying gets less. Today I tried really hard and didn’t get much done. 🤪

We’ve demystified the mystical so we can package it and sell it as a tutorial or a course. Learning is good. Sharing knowledge is good. Conversations are good. I always watch my friends talk about what they’re good at I constantly bug other musicians for help. I’ve learned and been given so much amazing information and wisdom by my colleagues. I am grateful. But The cult of the expert is less good...

Finding your sound is about following your own creative instincts over a period of time and being open to where ever that takes you, rather than picking a box that you fit all of your work into. 

It’s not only because it will make you feel bad (although it certainly might). It’s because it will lead you down the wrong path. You can only ever be an A-rate version of yourself and you will only ever B the B-rate copy of something or someone else. The only way to escape unfavorable comparison is to avoid comparison altogether....maybe????? I honestly don’t own what I’m talking about.

Always ask people for their opinion on your music out of a genuine curiosity and respect for them as a tastemaker or artist —- never out of a place of insecurity or a need for reassurance or a quick fix of validation. (I learned this the hard way). The positive feedback can be just as distracting and confusing as the negative feedback if you aren’t really grounded when you get it and if isn’t comi...

Thinking about the difference between song writing as a craft and writing for yourself, as an artist. In the latter case It sometimes isn’t enough that the song is good, it’s almost more important that the song is lined up with your voice and your larger aesthetic perspective. Whether you wrote the song or not, as an artist, you have to believe what you are singing/saying and it has to feel natura...

I see so much stress and anxiety among artists around releasing music. I think that so much of it is caused by putting pressure on the song / music to achieve arbitrary goals. I think it can be good to take the pressure to achieve off of the music, and just let the music be itself. Growing your career is a long term project that you can take on if you choose. If you put too much pressure on a song...

Everyone, including myself is a perfectionist. And it really is not a good thing. 

How to hang in there for the long term.

I've found it's not so much about looking super hard for your voice as an artist. Maybe it's more about creating a little space so your voice can appear.

The importance of sending your creations into the world and moving on with your life. Don't be scared kids...