#51 - Creating near each other

…and settling down in Richmond, VA

If you’re new here, good timing! You’re joining me as I return from a hiatus during which we began to sort out what our lives might look like back here in the U.S.A. More on that and I’ll share work-in-progress as always. But first…

Where did we leave off? I had embarked here in the spirit of sharing musical musings before I overthink them. In the process I developed a new kind of creative momentum. Things came full circle in my latest post as I shared three recordings, which to me embodied the idea of letting a work stand in all its glory without shielding from view its private parts. In so doing, I distinguished “imperfections” from “mistakes.”

I return in that spirit of sharing work openly but moving forward I'll mostly limit posting to when I also have something I want to write about.

Creating in community

By and large, this has been a solo project but even working near other people (cafes and such) has been so important at times. Being among other people working is inspiring. There are distractions but often they are happy distractions: writing and composing in public has led me to some fun connections during this past year’s travels and now again here in Richmond.

A strong example occurred the other day at a coworking session called “Work in Progress” designed to bring people together to work in parallel and share ideas. This happened at a new space called Ours in Richmond’s Fan District and the session expanded my thinking about what a coworking space can be. Certainly a space, first and foremost, but more specifically an inviting canvas of a space where ideas of all kinds can be explored and shared. And in the same vein of sharing art in all its “messiness,” perhaps the best coworking spaces are those where a bit of messiness is encouraged. I guess I’ve often thought of these spaces as intentionally sterile and compartmentalized but of course ideas should be aired and shared and cared for in community. Ours founder Sam Taylor addressed that point earlier today.

Attendees of the first “Work in Progress” session were thinking through mathematical frameworks, working on photo editing and fabric design, preparing for an art residency, re-purposing phones into new kinds of devices… Some share their ideas in Substack publications including Candle Object, Exposure Cinema, and Food (and other) Notes…just to give you a sense of the breadth of inspiring work happening under the same roof.

As for me, I was working on a new piece that sounds something like this:

I play voices

A lot of what I’m playing feels verbal to me, including some of the above. Not in the way that many people would say “I’m saying something through my music,” which is also true, but in the sense that much of what I’m composing takes inspiration from the rhythms of human conversation (and in at least one case bird conversation). And I can’t help but to think that this is another reason it’s helpful for me to have that light background chatter sometimes.

A new city

We’ve decided to give Richmond, Virginia a try and have been feeling pretty great about this decision so far. We’re getting out to see music, connecting with new people, volunteering, exploring parks, pools, and splash pads, and enjoying the free bus system.

It also feels nice that we’re in one place after so much transience, which means I'll have some semblance of a studio before long.

And we’re looking for jobs, so there's that…

Anyway, it’s nice to be here. It's nice to be somewhere.