“Playing Into The Void” – by Alex Johnson
I met RevRon P. through a Facebook posting I made called “Playing Into The Void”.
My posting was meant to be a “play” on the title of one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs, “Into The Void”… and to conjure up an image similar to “the scream” – only of a musician screaming into the void in frustration – over never being heard.
In that posting I posed these questions:
- As a musician or creator, how do you face “playing into the void”?
- How does the prospect of never being heard, or heard by only a few, affect your attitude towards your music and your creativity?
These questions apply to musicians, artists, authors, poets… just about any creative process these days.
With the ocean of talent out there, and the relatively easy accessibility to high powered creative tools, how can you set yourself apart?
How could you ever be found? How could you ever be heard?
How can you handle the discouragement, and the almost certainty that it will be next to impossible to be “discovered”, or break through the mass of talent already out there?
In this post, Ron and I traded some comments back and forth, and then took our conversation over to our private emails. Something about our conversation led to my telling Ron that I had a couple of older tunes that might be good for him to try some guitar parts on and see if he might like to work together with me on some of my songs. It was just an experiment to see if there might be any chemistry between our playing and styles.
Once Ron got ahold of one of my songs and applied his talents, the rest just started happening. Experienced in playing with a fair number of musicians over the years, I immediately heard Ron’s talent and originality, as well as his professional sound and recording techniques. I knew right away we had the prospect of being able to create some very original music together.
One point I am making here in telling this story of how we met is this:
My “playing into the void” – my reaching out over the internet to other musicians – led to my collaboration with RevRon P.
Reaching out into the void, DID lead to a positive result… it did lead to getting my music out to a larger audience, and one I hadn’t anticipated.
Through my online collaboration with RevRon P. we are reaching a wider audience by presenting a new style of music which blends our two diverse talents in ways neither of us could predict.
So remember:
Despite being periodically discouraged by the giant hurdles of being heard and appreciated by others – by reaching out and putting yourself out “into the void” you will find that this can lead to some unexpected and positive results.
If you are driven to create, you will keep going, despite all odds.
Even when you think you should give up, or may never be heard… you keep going.
You keep creating.
You may never hear the echo, but your music will reverberate through the void –
Once released it becomes part of the creative fabric of our mysterious and unpredictable universe.
Sometimes Inspired:
RevRon P. – Guitars / Synths / Drums
Alex Johnson – Bass / Violin / Synths / Drums