The Long Distance Musician - Harry, Slash and Peace of Mind.

The thoughts of the long distance musician.

HARRY, SLASH AND PEACE OF MIND.

Time, space and the inner calm of a genuine peace of mind are rare moments in any person's life.The modern world seems to ever encroach on these valuable moments. In a professional musicians world they are extremely rare. Even rarer is the chance to share these golden moments to coincide with family and friends as they are in their time and space and hopefully peace of mind. Musicians perform or teach when others are on their time and space. Musicians perform when others are usually on free time otherwise no audience.

Restrictions have brought considerable anxiety to freelance musicians and there is no doubt our world has changed forever. Peace of Mind is not on the benefit list of lockdown right now but actually time and space are.

I have found much can be learned from biographies and autobiographies of those present or long gone, regardless of their profession. In this time of restrictions three biographies have made it from my coffee table to be devoured, enjoyed and have inspired me in my time and space.

The Brothers York by Thomas Penn a brilliantly written account of the rise of Edward IV and conflict with his two brothers Clarence and his younger brother the much maligned Richard III.

Underneath this book on the coffee table for some time was Slash by Slash and Anthony Bozza:

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.... and just finished Face It: A Memoir by Debbie Harry best known as the unique lead vocalist from Blondie.

So what on earth can a classically trained trumpet player with time and space on his hands gain from reading about the lead guitarist from Guns and Roses and the first lady and pioneer of New York's punk rock scene?

Apart from fuelling my love of biographies and rock music both these successful musicians hit very poignant times in their lives where I currently have laid my hat. A crossroads. One of many faced but not always knowingly. The crossroads I stand at presently is a very important one.

Slash tells his extraordinary life of the usual rock star. The rise from nothing to fame, fortune, sex, drugs and rock and roll and decline. One wonders how he is alive to tell his life story let alone keep passionate about making music. Slash took a huge decision, a momentous risk, to leave the biggest rock band on the planet at the very height of their fame. This decision to do this at this time fascinates me.

He left because he felt he was no longer in control of his creative energy and the band had moved ever away from its roots and what had inspired them to write the incredible songs they did. In other words he was becoming a slave to corporations rather than staying true to his creative integrity and artistic desires. At the start Guns and Roses had passion, belief and took risks in the pursuit of a love of performing rock. Performing and writing on their terms.

Global success had taken Slash away from his very being, the truth to himself. He tried to be understanding, compromising and gave ground for the sake of the whole - the band. However in time he came to a point where he had lost his identity and had become the institution that had become Guns and Roses.

Slash left. Everyone thought he was mad, insane, throwing away fame and fortune but once the decision had been made he felt like a very claustrophobic and restrictive straight jacket had been removed. He could stretch every creative limb to the sky. No longer was it about pleasing everyone to make hit records, now it was about Slash returning to who he truly was, a creative musician who had a voice and could let his talent ride again. He had found time, space and peace of mind as a musician.

Debbie Harry fascinates me as well. Again her book is a punk rock upstart with much to say starting from nothing rising to fame, fortune, sex drugs and punk rock. There were band bust ups as usual. What inspired me in her memoir has been Debbie Harry's desire and passion throughout her life of absolute determination to keep creating, experimenting, risking and trying different influences. Not just music but art such as Andy Warhol who was a close friend, underground films in which she appeared in many, literary and fashion

Debbie Harry's willingness to see fashion in a whole new dimension at the time, was deemed outrageous. Who can forget the outfit made out of bin liners on the video for Atomic or a long dress made from blunted razor blades. These outfits would now be considered almost unmentionable.

Debbie Harry has never allowed the opinion of others, the pressure to record another hit song, or convention to take away her creative soul and her desire to look forward. She has had hard times but also I believe genuine moments of true peace of mind at times. This is because she has refused to buckle to the demands of others to do what they want. Submission to this would take away her creative soul and that is when an artist loses their genuine peace of mind.

As the international trombonist Ian Bousfiled recently said in his brilliant podcast no 24 When Was Music Better when this world emerges into a 'new normal' the world has changed dramatically. Classical musicians in particular can no longer roll out concerts as they did before the pandemic. As Ian spoke so eloquently, the striving for perfection as a top priority may have dropped down the agenda of what the world and its audiences want from the concert platform. What people want is human identity, passion. It wants artistic risks, creative individuality and honest personality. It will want to see the artist’s peace of mind speak through their art.

When I was listening to Black Sabbath and Rush when I was a teenager it was considered at the time very odd for someone who loved classical music to also love hard rock. I never ever understood this and still don't to this day. Rock musicians have looked to classical musicians for inspiration and support. To name just three Randy Rhodes (guitarist with Ozzy Osborne), Ritchie Blackmore and Freddie Mercury all had huge classical influences in their learning.

Now is the time, as classical musicians, perhaps we can learn from the likes of Slash, Debbie Harry and Ozzy that creative individuality and artistic risk is a path worth taking to find that true artistic peace of mind for each and every one of us. There is no doubt classical musicians have that in their locker room as they used to in the 1940's 1950's. We just need to take the perfection straight jacket off and reach every creative limb to the sky.

And what did I learn from the excellent The Brothers York? That internal squabbling and fighting achieve very little and the elation of victories are only skin deep and that genuine peace of mind is much more.