should musicians change their sound? your thoughts & mine

I recently asked a simple question on my twitter and facebook:

“What are your general thoughts on artists who are primarily known for a certain style of music coming out and doing something completely different?”

I guess the question hit a nerve with my online friends because it garnered a lot of responses quickly.  This notion is something I’ve spent a fairly hefty amount of time discussing with fellow players and listeners of music and is also a topic that is becoming more relevant every day in my own music.  So, I was anxious to hear your responses.  Frankly, I had no earthly idea what my first real post on this website / blog would be, but you all had so many insightful and even inspiring comments that I thought I’d compile some of the ones that stood out to me and wax & wayne a bit on the subject.  I believe that I’ve got a bit of experience from both the artist’s side and the fan’s side on this whole idea, so please humor me as I ramble on here.  As a music lover, I know what it is like to wait with baited breath for a new record from a musician I am an obsessive fan of.  I know the feeling of being pleasantly surprised with an impressive level of growth from one record to the next.  And on the contrary, I know what it’s like to hear an artist change their sound and to be less than pleased with their new direction.  I’ve also been a fan of artist who comes out with numerous records that sound very similar and love them for doing just that.  On the other hand, I’ve been disappointed by artists who stay the same.  This whole question is such an arbitrary idea that changes from listener to listener and instance to instance.  As a music maker, I’m fully aware of what it’s like to let my listeners down with a change in direction but I’ve also had the good fortune of having a lot of fans who have been open-minded enough to allow me to grow and challenge myself as an artist.  I can understand why it’s different from situation to situation and listener to listener because a reputation is a hard thing to break…

Risky Business
It takes only one record to brand an artist with a “sound.”  With most musicians, critics only need a brief listen to affix a simple label on what they’re doing.  We tend to like things that are easily classifiable.  I often go through my iTunes “genre” category and consolidate all of the artists into the least amount of tags possible.  I guess it’s just easier this way.  I also think we tend to like familiar things to remain familiar.  Once we get used to a musician doing a certain thing, we often expect them to keep rolling in that same direction.  As soulsonant said on twitter, “Honestly its a difficult stereotype to overcome.”  I couldn’t agree more.  I’ve been there.  From the perspective of a musician who has been known to change sounds fairly drastically from time to time, I am certainly acquainted with the commercial risks of changing things up.  As anamericangod said on twitter, “If an artist wants to do something totally different, that’s fine. They do run the risk of alienating their fan base, however.”  Similar thoughts from Tim Oldenburg on facebook, “Artists need to express themselves artistically, but the fans can be disappointed. They want their nostalgia…”  So therein lies the dilemma for a musician that thrives on transforming.  As listeners, should we hope for musicians to evolve and change? As musicians, should we continue to push the envelope?

It Can’t Suck!
Well, first and foremost, any shift in sound needs to be done well.  As my friend TheSummerEnds so aptly put it on twitter, “It’s dependant on quality, dude.”  Even though quality is completely subjective, there’s probably nothing more important in a change in direction than the new style of music and the songs themselves actually being good!  To quote a few more of my twitter friends: badscientist: “If it’s good, it’s good.”  Ericmjellis “It catches me off guard at first, but if it’s done well, I generally end up loving it.” And on Facebook Brian Carson wrote, “Good music is good music.”  This idea was probably voiced best by my friend and fellow musician Mike Dunn, who remarked, “I say a good song is a good song… Duke Ellington said there are two types of music - good and bad. I just dig good music.”  And in an email that Mike sent to me, “Styles, genres, & interpretations go in and out of style but a good song will always be a good song.” I’d say that Mr. Dunn hit the nail on the head with these thoughts.  A truly good song is a good song in any style.  A great song can be recorded by a multitude of different performers in various genres and can still sound magical and remain emotionally moving across those genres.  A quality song can work all over the map if the lyric, melody, and mood of the song stand on their own.  Just look at a song like “Yesterday” by the Beatles.  This is known to be the most covered song of all time and the reason this is the case is because it’s a song that just connects with people.  Paul McCartney’s classic (as overplayed as it is) works well as a rock song, a folk song, a pop song, a country song, and various other places in between.  Different vocal approaches and different musical accompaniment are only the icing on the cake of a good song.  A well-built house will stand strong with many different styles of roofing or siding and a good song will work in many different styles and genres. So before anything else, it can’t suck!

You Can’t Fake Heart
Ok then.  Now say you’re a musician and you think you’ve got the quality thing down pat with your new musical style.  You still may argue with yourself, “Do I keep the status quo and make old fans happy or do I make the music that it bursting out of me and risk alienating my fan base?”  Keeping that old familiar sound might make an artist more money for the time being, but I believe that music fans can detect sincerity.  They’ll know if your heart is not in that previous style of music anymore and I believe they’ll know if you’re only switching to something solely to make money off of it.  Musicians thrive on being transparent so, most likely, your motives will shine through.  In response to the question on facebook, Andrew Cornelius summed up his thoughts with this poignant quote, “For me the question comes down to authenticity. If the music is sincere and creative and not simply trying to reflect whatever is hot at the moment, it stands a chance.” I love how Andrew emphasizes sincerity and still says that it only “stands a chance.”  I think he’s got it.  Artists can only hope to have success in even one style and very few are lucky enough to achieve even that.  I do believe that talent and hard work will rise to the top though.  That being said, musicians know they are taking a risk when they change their “signature” sound, but most true musicians are artistically risky individuals by nature. Take this quote on twitter by one of the members of the band Anniversaire, “Tastes change, people change, everyone should be free to make the music they want as long as it’s genuine.”  Listeners agree. As Alexandra Emery said on facebook, “If they stay true to their heart and make the change for their own creative expression and not just to get on the radio then it should be a success.” Cricket Scott, on facebook, put it this way, “I think it’s great to do something different as long as the new style is believable.” Helen Burkquest on facebook said, “As long as the music you make has YOU in it, i.e. it comes from the heart and is what you want to do, then go for it!”    This set of responses (and a few others) actually left me feeling inspired.  I’ve said often times to band members and fellow musicians that I hope listeners can detect true authenticity.  I’ve always known that most music fans are intuitive and intelligent people, but seeing numerous responses from you all about actually being able to detect sincerity in music was encouraging and reassuring to me. A lot of record industry people like to paint music fans as lowest common denominator type individuals and I’ve always hated that.  Real music fans know that you can’t fake heart.  Sure, you can sell a few million records doing music that is completely calculated and devoid of any artistic value (cough Nickelback cough), but authenticity and believability are crucial and undeniable.  

It All Comes Down to Love
So it’s always going to be “risky” to change your sound drastically, but I’d say it all comes down to following your heart.  As Kevin Skiffington wrote on facebook, “I’m not a big fan of a band just changing their styles, but on the other hand they have to do what they love.”  In life, we’ll never make everyone happy with every decision we make.  It’s impossible to please everyone so why try?  As far as I’m concerned artistically, it all comes down to doing what you feel.  Three different friends on facebook put this three different ways.  Mark Cremona said, “At the end of the day it’s whatever makes the artists happy.  You can’t be in any industry if you don’t love it.”  Dean Steiner said, “Hit or miss. If you love it, don’t let anyone stop you. That’s how you should always run your ideas and your life.”  And Gerry Corsi said, “I think it’s most important that you stay true to yourself.  If you try too hard to please others you only end up disappointing both them and yourself.” Gerry’s statement rings especially true to me.  If we hold a grudge against artists when they change their sound, we’re doing nothing good for anyone.  If, as listeners, we hate the new direction an artist takes after giving it multiple open minded listens, then we should probably just stop listening to their new stuff and leave it at that.  Don’t be a hater: just let it go.  If you’re an artist, don’t just keep regurgitating that same record over and over again because you think that’s what fans want.  If you do that only for financial gain or to placate an audience, chances are, you will grow to resent that same audience.  Artists: let’s try to do music for love (it’s too difficult of a career to do for any other reason).  Fans, let’s try to let artists do just that and forgive them when they inevitably let us down.

Can It Be Done Well?
Realistically, can a complete change in musical direction be done well? Absolutely.  Sure, there are plenty of examples of bands and musicians who have failed miserably in this department, but I can’t fault them for trying.  I look back on MANY musical choices and songs in my career and actually cringe, but I still know that some of those truly despicable pieces of music came from my heart (as embarrassing as that is to admit).  Our hearts can lead us astray but we should still follow them.  The good news is that stylistic changes and major genre jumps can be done fully well.  The Beatles went from “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” to “Norwegian Wood” and changed the complete landscape of pop and rock music along with that change.  Pink Floyd went from “Arnold Layne” to “Us and Them,” while the Pink Floyd of our generation, Radiohead, went from “Anyone Can Play Guitar” to “Idioteque.”  Wilco went from “Casino Queen” to “Impossible Germany” and Dylan went from acoustic protest singer to electric bluesman.  Go and watch old youtube clips of fans berating Dylan for going electric and The Beatles for going psychedelic.  You can’t please everyone, but no one will ever say those two artists weren’t doing what they believed in.  Perhaps no recent artist has done the musical chameleon act longer and better than Elvis Costello. As Daniel Foote very clearly pointed out on facebook, “Elvis Costello has gone in many directions and almost always puts out something brilliant that still is undeniably Elvis Costello. Compare My Aim Is True (New Wave), Almost Blue (Country Covers), Imperial Bedroom (EC’s Sgt. Pepper), Juliet Letters (String Quartet w/Vocal), When I Was Cruel (all songs written with a drum machine), North (Jazz Vocal), Il Sogno (Ballet Score), Delivery Man (Country Rock), etc.”  Well said, Daniel!  Now, imagine if Costello would have pulled an AC/DC and repeated the same sound from “My Aim is True” ad infinitum.  He’d probably be bored out of his mind (if his career would have even lasted) and we as listeners would only buy the first two records because those would be the “classic” albums.  However, since he continually pushes himself, his true fans know that they are always in for a surprise.  As a fan, I think it’s pretty exciting.  Sure, even his diehard fans won’t love every album equally, but that’s ok.  The growth is what keeps us intrigued and keeps Costello fresh and excited to get up on stage again and again, year after year.  I mean, c’mon.  It probably gets a bit boring being the Rolling Stones and playing the same songs for 40 years.  God love ‘em for those songs, but it’d probably be more fulfilling as an artist to be Costello.  Now, I’m by no means slagging musicians who stay the same.  Some of my favorites have found their niche and just keep on doing that same thing over and over.  I can hang with this too.  All I’m saying is that if a musician really feels they need to change what they are known for, then by all means they should do it and we as fans should be happy to let them do it.

So if you are a musician and you are thinking about stretching yourself, here’s a kick in the pants from a few of my internet friends. Melissa Sue Acosta said on facebook, “I like when musicians have the balls to bare something new. I think it shows a musician’s true talent if they can go from one form of music to a completely different form. It shows that the musician is daring & creative, as well as talented beyond just one genre. Embrace the challenge & don’t be afraid to experiment.” Speaking of balls, AJ Spike said, “I am supportive because at the end of the day we’re all a bit different than we were when we woke up, so why should people expect artists to play the same song and express the same idea for their entire lives?  It takes some real balls to perform your emotions, so I am fully in support of you or anyone else who expresses themselves and happens to go down a slightly different path than they had been on before.” TigerDreamTV twittered, “I say whatever sound you want to share with the world goes.  Tweaking your style will always happen as we grow.  Embrace it.” stephanie kibbe said,  “More power to them for trying something new!!!”  Continuing in that same line of thought, Caleb Davis wrote, “No one person is ever married to one style. The style should be the end result, not the initial factor to determine what the music shall become. Music is real and alive.  It shouldn’t be kept in a cage and predetermined.”  So true.  And musicians, just think, you might actually help open your fans to a musical genre they are unfamiliar with. As joshuahays tweeted, “”I think it’s a great way to reach new listeners as well as an opportunity to help current listeners try something else.”

So there you go.  Let’s all open our jaded minds up a bit.  Change can be good (or it can suck) but let’s all try and let it happen.  And thank you all for replying, as well.  You guys had so many insightful things to say that I had to leave out a lot of your quotes or this blog would have been even more obnoxiously longwinded than it ended up being.  So in closing (to all the musicians out there): fans want to see you grow.  Turn on garage band, fire up the tape machine, get together with your band and get going.  You might be the next generation’s radiohead.  (Oh, and for those of you asking, I am absolutely NOT making a pop country record!)