Mitski seemingly stumbled across music as something that she happened to be good at as a result of her isolation growing up. Growing up, Mitski moved around internationally and listened to classic pop songs. However, it was not until she found Jeff Buckley that she realized there were other ways to approach music. Once she was no longer limited to the examples of music that she had growing up, she realized that music was something that she could and wanted to work with.
This realization came to her in a rush. Mitski recalls that moment when she says, “That morning in Ankara, “suddenly there was something that was coming out of me that I could sing—and it was just such a rush”’ (Talbot, The New Yorker). She released the song that came as a result of this rush “bag of Bones” in her first album “Lush” which was posted in 2012 online after years of feeling like the music world was not for her.
Mitski collected, or built concepts in memory or categories, different song structures as she turned to music in times of loneliness. She had primarily listened to pop music growing up, but once she discovered artists like Jeff Buckley, M.I.A., and Björk, she started to feel like she could identify some of her own unconventionality within the artists’ words. In this seemingly small discovery, Mitski was exposed to the way in which she was going to approach making her own music. Creators are limited to our knowledge of our current world, so when Mitski only knew of pop music examples, she thought that was all there was.
Mitski was not aware that a different form of music existed. She knew what she felt and had her own internal hums, but she didn’t think it was possible to create music that matched her thoughts and feelings. Rick Rubin in The Creative Act: A Way of Being talks about how in the same way that we are able to become unaware of the sun’s existence on a gloomy day or when we are inside, information always exists, but it depends on whether we are aware of it or not. Sometimes awareness is out of an artist’s control. Aspects of the artist’s life such as setting, emotional state, and relationships can affect the discovery of ideas. Each creative discovery is due to circumstance making it all that more exceptional.
Hi Delaney,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post! I really resonated with your discussion on awareness. That sometimes like Mitski, people stumble upon something so enthralling and inspiring that they create something they could have never imagined to make. There are so many ways that creativity can manifest that comes just out of chance like timing, circumstances, or something you randomly read.
It's really interesting to read that Mitski didn't start creating music until she was about our age. Like Joann said in her comment, it's fascinating how sometimes a random experience, like for Mitski, hearing Jeff Buckley, can inspire creativity that can affect your entire life.
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