I was talking to some musician friends recently about the changing dynamics in music circles and the increasing movement from “bands” to collaborations and projects. Personally, I’m a big fan of working with a variety of different musicians and working across a number of projects rather than a single band.
The Value of Collaborations
“I enjoy the collaboration. I always envied people in bands who got to have that interaction. I’ve done so many albums where I’ve been in the studio for 14 hours a day for six months just trying to come up with things on my own. It’s a nice
In past times a group of friends may get together, form a band and then go down the traditional route of recording, playing gigs etc. These days more artists are appreciating the value of working in a number of projects and networking with a variety of musicians. Many of my favourite artists work in this way including Bill Frissell, Steve Earle, Martin Simpson and others. Each artist will be the centre of the ensemble writing original material but will bring in other musicians for particular projects. I have been a longstanding admirer of Robert Fripp who famously has had many incarnations of King Crimson and wonderfully commented
My own experience is playing with a variety of artists is hugely useful in maintaining and developing creative skills. With The Caravan of Dreams, I deliberately called the project “Nick Cody and The Caravan of Dreams” as it allows great flexibility in who is playing in the live band and/or recording at any one time. I have learned to double up on musicians, rather than have to rely upon solely any one individual. Yes, there will be key players, but the ensemble can take many forms and express the material in different ways. We have two great percussionists Rich Ferdi (longstanding founder member of The Small Change Diaries) and Josh Smout. On violin, there is Laurent Zeller a superb international artist constantly playing around the world with many ensembles and Jed Bevington who is more local. This to me is a much more practical and dynamic way of working. Many band members will have their own careers, so this way of working allows
I am also currently exploring a trio option for some new material, which will be different to The Caravan of Dreams in instrumentation and dynamics. There can be a crossover between all these different groups as I have learned that diversification is really useful to maintain musical momentum. Its also essential to develop what I can “the back end” of being on top of social media, web presence and recording. People’s attention spans are really short and its key to build a body of work and keep an online presence. Gearing up for one song or album is not going to cut it, and this means ongoing blogging, networking and social media interaction. I’ve interviewed artists who have been totally focussed on creating one song or album, often in an insular manner. I fully get why some artists go down this route, but often it can be like “having your egg in one basket” Of course spreading yourself too thin by being involved in so many projects you lose focus on developing your own musical voice.
In 2019 the Music for The Head and Heart platform will bring new opportunities for many independent artists and collaborations will be more important than ever.
