Entry 7

Last Monday I interviewed someone who is a listener of Folk/Indie music. Instead of typing out the whole thing I will summarize the main points and connect them back to what I found important in my armchair analysis.

One of the first things brought up is what constitutes indie. A point that the interviewee brings up is that indie no longer is "people making music in their basements". This would have been a perfect time to ask why this is? Might it be that because this genre is passed around orally the sound and process of how and where it is played changes?  He also brings up the point that to him, indie is more explorative than mainstream music, again i didn't think to ask why he thought this, but again I think it has to do something to do with how it is passed around and how creativity is greatly valued within this genre.

The way he distinguishes folk is more based on lyrics and their honesty rather than the actual music. This might seem surprising since folk is a type of music and not a literature, but why do lyrics mean so much ? The website http://folkmusic.about.com/od/historyoffolk/a/Folk_History.htm describes that folk ranges to all different sorts of subject matter and that "it is something everyone can understand and in which everyone is welcome to participate". My interviewee also greatly emphasized the 'universality' of folk music, and perhaps this is why lyrics are so important, because they describe things everyone can identify with.

He also mentions that today indie/folk bands are able to play in big venues, but that in the past this type of music was mostly played in smaller venues like bars. That today it is more mainstream music. He also goes on to say that open mics are great for individual musicians who just want to play and see how they sound in such a setting. He mentions that the benefits are that open mics are free and the sound set up is already there, so it's as simple as someone showing up with their guitar with a couple of songs to play. This clearly makes performing and sharing of music accessible to any individual who wishes to do so, emphasizing the community and its open arms.

But when asked the reverse, what type of music is played at open mics, his answer was "all types" and not necessarily just indie or folk. Which can contribute to the idea that the boundaries of folk/indie are so blurred and not precise.

When asked what is valued, creativity or skill? the answer was creativity with skill as a bonus. For example my interviewee states that Bob Dylan wasn't the best guitarist but still he had/has a huge following. And this is because of his message of the lyrical content of his songs, the creative aspect.
Even then, my interviewee states, it's not about how good one's lyrics are but how they convey them, how honest they are with their efforts. He boils his description of folk down to honesty. Perhaps this emotional honestly is why I heard people describe some folk songs as being whiny, in the sense that whoever is doing the singing/playing is too emotionally unstable, and for some this just doesn't fly.

Concerning the topic of how folk music is learned and passed on, my interviewee said traveling, which is interesting because of its implications. I thought he was going to say something along the lines of watching people play or listening to an album and learning it by ear, but traveling hold so much more. it implies that this music is not stationed in one geographic area but gets around and is then most likely learned through observation (I make this assumption because the concept of traveling implies that one is not in any location for too long, so it is most likely that musicians wouldn't have time to write out their songs but rather just show how to play them). It also backs up the previous point that folk/indie has something that is heavily identifiable with, since it can so easily and quickly be picked up by people in a different area. My interviewee also mentions that the oral learning of this music leads to more creativity because there are no rules, just guidelines, and that no one ever tells you what to do. Therefore songs are very heavily open to interpretation. He brings up the point that were a classical musician go to play with a folk musician there would be conflict because a classical musician is used to reading off of a paper and reads the dynamic marks and tempo that are written, but that a folk/indie musician just feels it and these factors are always changing within context. I would argue that this is not really the case, but the point is that there is a distinction between styles and how one takes in the music.

Dealing with the subject of practicing, I went in with a set notion that the average person who plays indie/folk does not really 'practice', and by practice I mean they don't sit down and play scales and do warm up exercises, and then go and work on a piece for an indefinite amount of time using up all their energy and concentration. BUT when I asked my interviewee if a folk/indie musician practices, his reply was "oh no, they practice". But his definition of practicing for a folk/indie musician is getting a record, listening to it, and going home and learning it by ear. This to many might not be practicing, this might be a fun thing to do. And in fact he mentions that "it's actually really fun" and this is possible why I wouldn't consider it practicing, because to me, the act of practicing is a chore something that no one really wants to do but that must be done in order to improve. According to my interviewee it still constitutes practicing because how else are you going to learn these songs! He does also mention that the method is a little bit different today because now there is the internet where countless you tube videos and tabs exist.

When asked about the folk community or scene, the answer was that compared to pop music the scene is much more tight knit and that a lot of the time musicians will go out and play together, and go out tour together and just play, because there is no record company or producer that they are pandering to. He mentions that if they do get discovered it's because they were just always playing for the heck of it and happened to catch someone's eye. This can be reinforced with the fact that a lot of the time these musicians are label-less or just end up creating their own label (as I talked about in a previous post with Saddle Creek Records). He again compares indie to pop and says that indie/folk is an art and pop music is a product made to sell. Again we see the value of creativity.

Towards the end of the interview, my interviewee brings up an interesting point that a sense of community is being broken down because of computers and access to innumerable amounts of music. He describes that today one can learn to learn how to play this type of music without talking to anyone who actually plays it, but that "you're not gonna be as good". There is a great value placed on human interaction. He can't exactly pin point why this is but based on his above answer one can draw a conclusion that human interaction is so valued because folk/indie deals with human connections in various different aspects. For example its lyrics deal with the human condition, the way it was originally passed down is a face to face method, and if one is trying to replicate a video online, where is the creativity? He mentions that this becomes the classical version of folk. Folk is at it's best when free flowing among individuals who connect within the moment and exchange ideas, and this leads to the progression of folk/indie. It's ever evolving; people learn from others but always make it their own.

So maybe one can conclude that the definition of folk is this recycling of music but always in a different manner, but always with honesty and understanding for other's. Maybe it a huge part of it's definition is music that is passed down and ever-changing but somehow remaining the same with its intent. As my interviewee put it, it's reassuring and this is why it's still around. It's reassuring because it parallels one's own thoughts, even if the song is ages old.