It was Stuart Mayes, writing in his blog about having “a band” of artists, (Project Me 11/11/22) like a band of musicians… that’s what started me thinking. I’m in a band of musicians and the way it functions is very different to life in the studio, working alone. I like working both ways, but have often thought that the world of art could take a leaf out of the musicians’ handbook on a few things.
In the band, we regard the thing we are making as the most important. I am the main vocalist, but some songs, Andy and Ian take on. It’s good to have variety in a set, particularly a long one, and also, some songs just sound better with a male voice, one or the other, they have very different voices. But the thing is, those three voices blend well, so it depends on the song, lyrically, or musically, they might work better with a voice other than mine. A couple of songs we have done just with one guitarist. Ian and I wrote a lullaby that sounds great with just his guitar, so we left it that way. What I have found is that musicians (these musicians at least) are not bothered about ego, they just want to have had a part in making a good song.
Sometimes (not always, but sometimes) visual artists are very much more concerned about their own work, and giving things up to a group is difficult. They might be concerned that their message is watered down, or out of their control if they share any of its making.
The work I make in the studio, particularly at the moment the project I am doing with the twigs, concerning child poverty, is most definitely mine. But there are aspects of the issues I am working with that can, and possibly should, be shared, in order to widen the audience. So in addition to the work that will eventually be hung in the RBSA gallery in May, I have other irons in the fire, working with poet Rick Sanders on a school based project, and also something in the spring in the local park, community based. The details are yet to be worked out, but to have someone to talk things through with, and share the load, is great. It also leads me to things that wouldn’t be manageable on my own.
I have been working too, sporadically with Bill and Helen at Workshop24. When I work with them, I take a sort of empty head. I like to go with no preconceptions about what I will make or contribute, preferring to riff off what happens in the room. Sometimes there’s a prompt, sometimes not. But it becomes like a jam session. We all have knowledge and experiences, that when you get in the room with other artists, if everyone is open to it, you end up with work that would not have been impossible on your own. It is a real privilege then, to see how others work, and soak up what they know, and how they go about things. It is huge fun and always informative.
So I think the idea of a Band of Artists is a really good idea. Maybe we can borrow some of the other language of the genre, to remind us it’s a different way of working? Make an album… Jamming… Riffing… Verses and choruses? Drum solo? Maybe not… More cowbell?
It doesn’t take away from the solo performance, but adds a new dimension and a bit of adventure and most of all camaraderie. We all need support and friendship.
Lullaby #2 Lyrics by Elena Thomas Music by Ian Sutherland
