On Music and Connections

Is writing about music obsolete?

It’s like telling your dream to a random group of people. Those who know you well can maintain attention and actually be interested in hearing all the details from your senseless story. For those who don’t know you, it will most probably sound like rumbling. Unless it triggers emotions or episodes from their own experience.

My writings about music have the same ambition. They are interwoven with the desire to find like-minded spirits, who can recognize the intention and gain motivation to explore the music I’m writing about. I’m well aware that I could be on the verge of sounding biased, even arrogant or clichèd, but it’s worth a try.

The connecting power of music

Choosing the right priorities in life is the secret of tranquillity. At least for me. The better you organize this hierarchy, the right amount of effort will be dedicated to each one, and there will be no frustration over lost time. I’m still learning how to master this life hack, but there are some priorities in my life that never changed. I consider myself very lucky because music is one of them.

Music led me to some of the most important people in my life, sharing music made me create lifelong bonds, and it helps me express my feelings day by day.

It’s a bit superficial, you might think. It is so personal that it can’t be labeled in any way. The complicity created by shared music taste goes beyond the music itself, it almost has that sense of religious dedication. As described by Zachary Wallmark, a musicologist, studying music-empathy connections¹Empathic People Use Social Brain Circuitry to Process Music by Christopher Bergland, https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-athletes-way/201806/empathic-people-use-social-brain-circuitry-process-music,

…music is about humans interacting with other humans and trying to understand and communicate with each other.

In the ocean of music I love, these artists connect me to the world and people that matter.

Tool

Oversoul by Alex Grey

Living on the passive side of art is never easy. My only gift is being able to recognize the immensity of the sound and the message I wanted to hear. And transform it into soul food.

Tool gave me a bond with music.

I never really took music seriously before hearing Ænima for the first time. It was not just the music, but the endless layers of significations, intended and unintended, that piled up in front of my eyes, like the enchanting ViewMaster²https://www.fastweb.it/var/storage_feeds/CMS/articoli/906/906dbb1fbdf4617c84f628158bc81253/480×270.jpg images. I realized that music listening goes beyond the mere reception of sound. It engages with emotions and memories, it enhances the attention span, increases the dopamine levels. And, if you choose to, it can give you a comforting feeling of belonging to a group of like-minded people. Or even lead you to the man of your dreams.

Nevertheless, the strongest bond Tool created is with my inner self, that part of me eager to devour the meaningful aesthetics of sound, while admitting to being an overthinking drama queen. The safest place in my universe.

Deftones

I’m still my 20 something self through Deftones, proud of the maturity of my musical taste, back in the days of numerous questionable choices, that are a part of the growing up process.

The aesthetics of their distorted sound, the beauty of the melodies and the energy of their live performance makes them one of the most influential bands of my life. They are perseverant and honest, courageous enough to reinvent their sound but stay coherent. A goal we should all aim for.

Fink

Fink’s music has been the soundtrack for some of the happiest and most tranquil days of my life, shared with people I love. The warmth of his voice melts down the uncertainties in life, making me feel patient and willing to overcome any potential difficulty.

Quirinetta theater, Rome, November 2017, the song “Word to the wise”. Sitting on the ground with a friend, listening to the song with same ears. In that precise moment, I knew her better than I know myself.

Jeff Buckley

The beauty of his voice, the melancholy and the awe, constant unease.

It’s impossible to listen to Jeff’s music outside of its tragic context, which gives it that unnecessary burden and heartbreaking vibe, when what actually makes it so unique is simplicity and unpretentious honesty. I bonded with a simple love song, and I bonded with sadness a love song can provoke. I often find myself searching for the same kind of bare emotions in each song I listen to, rarely to be found.

Oceansize

The ocean of memories and hopes for a better future. I keep writing my fears on the sand, past, present and future ones, and the ocean keeps washing them away.

Discover

The Immensity Of The Ocean

Photo sources

Featured image: Tool, Lateralus vinyl, art by Alex Grey