Morning Coffee Session - I Lost My Chug - SO Many Metal Influences - An Originality Dilemma

I've always found that noodling to music that I don't typically listen to or even enjoy can be a great way of getting out of that writer's funk. Forcing yourself into unfamiliar territory is key to expanding your musical language, in my opinion. After a little while, you find yourself trying to improve things in songs you otherwise wouldn't have cared about. You'll find SO many great musicians that barely listen to the kind of music they make... There's always a cure for a stagnant musician, and sometimes that does mean just taking a break from it all 🧡

you should write some legato open chord ethereal stuff and then go back over with some chugs and see what happens. sometime the answer isnt either or, its both

I’ve always had this problem. I have about 30+ songs I’ve recorded over the years and never release them anywhere lol. But I still love writing so much, it comes in waves. I actually will listen to a lot of 70s-80s synthy horror and sci-fi scores, the compositions and vibes are so close to brutal metal just in a different medium!

Thank you Geebz

Longer fasts seem to always open a Floodgate of creative gems... :)

I for one am glad that I do not have a single creative bone in my body so I can just enjoy all the art made from others from the surface

Just keep plugging away man! Something will happen 😊

Everybody is influenced by something or someone. it's all about stirring it all in a pot together and like you said let it ring.

You seem lonely, my dear Geebz. If 'Metal' has ever taught me anything, it's that the spirit of desperation can seep through any composition, regardless of production quality and strike the listener with that jolt of lightning which hits when the Vagus Nerve and Amygdala are linked together (I call it, "getting hit in the balls"). This is beyond words. The bands you referenced are very technical, with a tendency toward high production quality. When I need to get hit in the balls again, I always go to something PRIMAL. Bands which have the true Heart of Metal coursing thru them. Melvins - Houdini Down - NOLA Darkthrone - Transylvanian Hunger Search for whatever gave you the base elements of what speaks to you and meditate on that. Pantera Black Sabbath Judas Preist Mercyful Fate Motorhead There are many who passed the torch to us, the flame will never be extinguished.

I looove your introspection. You have such keen insight!

Relentless, fearless exploration and experimentation, and expressing yourself authentically seems to lead to it eventually, but it should come from your own curiosity, feeling and inner compass/intuition, rather than obsessing about and forcefully trying to be different.. I think that's all :) Allowing oneself to find inspiration outside of the medium of creation is a big one too, it's everywhere isn't it! P.S. What's the background sound here, sounds very serene and beautiful!

Spend some time snoozing with your headphones on running low volume random mixes of lighter metal/hard rock/folk rock. Throw in some classical to the mix. Maybe Sibelius would fit.

Man, I've had a very similar conundrum. Meshuggah & Gojira can be especially transfixing at times. so much so, parts of my own music will have small pieces of meshuggah intertwined hiding within lol. Its a tough one sometimes concerning originality/creativity.. In terms of listening to music, I have found that starting with lighter music in the daytime and transitioning to heavier stuff later in the evening helpful in my own writing. Too much heavy too early gets me a bit one-track minded. Frigging Meshuggah :) (I love them so much) Something that interests me is to follow what you are hearing yourself. Like what is the humming going on inside your skull? Steve Vai particularly talks about following his ear and surprising himself so to speak. He seems intensely attached with his instrument and what it has to say, and I always find he has an excellent way of reframing our view of music and what it means to the individual/common collective (great guy to listen to if feeling in a creative rut). Listening for " what I would like to hear" is different in itself for me, especially having played in bands for a long time where you have to Fit the mold vs pure improvisation. Personally, I wish to improve my improvisation with this slight mindset difference in listening. If you have a small inkling, you can always follow it. Or reel it back in if it gets too much. Also, I very much so agree with taking a break or "sitting on your hands" and waiting for a little bit to see if something springs upon you. A lot of material can appear out of the blue that way! Thanks for being very open Geebz, I felt I had to say something.

its all been done before whether youve heard it or not, dont worry too much about originality and just make what you want :)

yeah its pretty common for people especially 7 string players to have this dilemma thats why people like tim and abasi even tho they get tons of praise they bring out a different side of the 7 string that motivates me to find new ways to voice with the instrument and find its unique corks

I hear you. The famous French writer André Gide once said: "there is nothing that has not already been said". Just chill with that. edit: yeah I had to google that quote

As a person totally unqualified to have an opinion on this I would say we're at the point where almost everything has been done especially if the production of this material is constructed through theoretical knowledge only which is obviously necessary to some degree but there are other factors and these are personal. An artist may have very limited theoretical knowledge but compensate for this with individuality, art, emotional content, etc. Paul Weller had writers block so participated in a bit of wacky backy and created great material. On that basis I would say alternative feeling and thinking is a critical factor in creating something with some level of originality.

I vote heavy/chugging deep sounds

Hi Geebz, Here’s a good one. So a co-worker of mine mentioned something about salt junk. I said “That’s funny, that’s the name of my industrial metal Abba cover band” He said. “Seriously?” and I said, “No” He replied, “Well you’re definitely going to make that happen now.” Want to be in my band?

In the words of Misha, “Don’t try to be original and it will still sound like yourself.”