Aaron Maine and Porches: It feels right

 Based around New York native, Aaron Maine, Porches is an alternative musical group that experiments with synth-pop, rock, and indie elements to produce music.

I started listening to Porches in April when my boyfriend played me a song from their latest release on Spotify, Scraps and Love Songs Revisited. 

At the time, the world felt like it was moving unrelentingly fast. With finals approaching and the list of things to do expanding, it felt like there was never a moment to truly rest. Each day regenerated itself with more tasks to do, no matter how many got done the day before. 

I find myself unwillingly brought back to this feeling as the current school year progresses, I think a lot of this feeling comes from anticipation of the future. College is one of the last periods in life where the individual is able to be an individual–what they do and create is somewhat inconsequential in the grand scheme of life. And yet, it is hard to ignore the anticipation of the day when life will ultimately transition from inconsequential to unforgiving. I don’t think it gets past most college students that eventually their role in this world will no longer be “explorer” or “discoverer,” it will be consumer and producer. It is not lost on most of us that the noise of life is not going away anytime soon, and we are likely going to get more lost in it as we exit the mindset of a college student and enter the one of an adult. 

In the midst of all of these thoughts and anxieties, finding this EP was like a breath of fresh air. The music is gentle with an edge. Acoustic and electric guitar paired with piano and raw vocals are the prominently used instruments and they create a mood that reflects the mundanity of everyday life while highlighting how consequential it all feels to the individual. There are many strange and borderline erratic instrumentals featuring banging of random notes on the piano and guitar scratches, and you can hear the imperfections in Maine’s voice come through- it all screams of uncertain anticipation for the future, and it lacks the polished feel of modern day music production. It doesn’t sound like it was created in 2025. In all fairness, despite its release date on streaming, this EP was originally created and produced in November of 2011.

In an attempt to discover Maine’s intent, I turned to some interviews about his creative process. They didn’t yield direct answers as many of his comments are vague and ambiguous, but they did give me some insight to base inferences off of. 

A 15 Questions interview with the band’s center member reveals that Maine describes his process as practice. He doesn’t “wait for inspiration to hit,” he has a routine and is intentionally structured in his practice. Still, when he does sit down to create, he starts from random lines or lyrics that “feel right” to him. His creative process is a really neat mix between Rick Rubin’s ideas of seeds and artistic discipline that he expands upon in his book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. 

These insights lead me to believe that maybe this belated release to streaming just felt right to Maine. And, truthfully, that would not at all surprise me given the current climate of the nation and how it feels to be an individual in it in this day. Maybe Maine’s response to this feeling was to release music that brings the listener back to a true feeling of individuality, one that acknowledges uncertainty and slows the world down. 

Whatever his true impetus was, I’m glad to have the music. It screams of authenticity and desire for connection through acknowledgment of the feeling of senseless existence. The EP recognizes the humanness in all of us, and gives voice to the parts of us that feel suffocated, and in the current climate we live in, where individuality is constantly lost between patterns of production and consumption, this feeling becomes more and more invaluable every single day. 

I'm My Own Soulmate: Lizzo

 

I can remember the first time I heard “Truth Hurts.” It was being played on the radio hundreds of times and, because of that, I feel like it’d be difficult to find someone who hasn’t heard it. Even if someone hasn’t heard the song, they definitely know Lizzo. While “Truth Hearts” came out in 2017, Lizzo’s meteoric rise to fame happened in 2019, when she was named Entertainer of the Year by Time Magazine and the BBC went so far as to say she defined 2019. On top of this, Lizzo ended up becoming the Grammy’s most-nominated artist the year after. How did someone gain this level of recognition so quickly? I’ll give you a hint, it’s more than just the music.

Her first globally popular album “Cuz I love you” peaked on the top five of the US Billboard 200 and her previous hits “Truth Hurts” and “Good as Hell” put Lizzo on the map to show the power of music in spreading messages and fostering global change. 

“I just took a DNA test, turns out I’m 100% that bitch.” If you had to explain that lyric in one phrase it would be self-confidence. Lizzo has grown to be an international sensation by finding deeply rooted problems within our current-day society and spreading awareness and love. For Lizzo, this problem is body image within and without the music industry.

Views of body image espoused by Hollywood are of extreme importance because of its far-reaching influence on television, music, and social media. Before Lizzo, and for most of my elementary school and middle school life, stars would joke about bigger artists and most people would sweep these jokes under the rug or not acknowledge it. Even when Hollywood began its “body-positivity” campaigns, these were led by people who would still be socially seen as on the skinnier side.

Lizzo’s entrance onto the global stage was done with many commenting on her weight, her state of health, etc. Instead of letting that go to her head and abandoning the industry, Lizzo faced her haters head-on to create music that exudes inclusivity. In doing so, she has shown the beauty of body inclusivity and acts as a role model for millions around the world, including me.

While many call Lizzo “body-positive,” she has noted that, for her, the term is rather lazy. She instead wants to be body normative. To make people’s bodies normal. She says she calls herself fat. When her friends tell her to not say that she responds, “why I am fat and I am beautiful.” Her body-normative outlook makes it so that she fosters change in those who are unable to shed the pounds, and in those who are happy as they are.

Her body-normative stance further emphasizes her views on self-love. My favorite Lizzo song is "Soulmate." In this song, she talks about how she has learned to appreciate the beauty that is in the mirror and love herself. Lyrics like "I'm a mary me one day," or "True love happens when you're by yourself" focus on the idea of finding your inner soulmate being more important than the romantic search for someone who completes you.

Now you read this blog and think, what's creative about that? She sings songs about self-love, a lot of people have done that. What makes Lizzo creative is her ability to transmit that self-love through her music utilizing lyrics, choreography, and fashion. It is also in her ability to take words like fat, which have been used for hate and wear them on her sleeve. Through and through Lizzo has proven to the world that love is not only for the skinny white rich people in Hollywood. Finding self-love should be a struggle, there will be days when you don't love yourself. What is important is that everyone realizes the beauty within themselves because they can be their own soulmate. 

Sources:

https://www.mlive.com/life/2020/01/detroits-lizzo-wins-3-grammy-awards-performs-and-pays-tribute-to-kobe-bryant.html

https://www.vogue.com/article/lizzo-october-cover-story-body-positivity-inclusivity

https://parade.com/933452/alexandra-hurtado/lizzo-faced-poverty-homelessness-and-self-doubt-to-become-a-master-of-music-and-self-love-youre-not-supposed-to-be-happy-all-the-time/

FKA Twigs - Sounds and the Subconscious

FKA Twigs (Tahliah Barnett), a 27 year old, genre-crossing Brit has absolutely exploded in the last year. I'd love to try to explain to you what her music is like, but it's nearly impossible for me (as well as plenty of music critics who have tried to define her sound), and that's one of the reasons I find her so interesting. In lieu of words, why don't you take a listen:


FKA Twigs - Two Weeks

Taken from her latest release, LP1 (which dropped in August), "Two Weeks" is one of her more accessible tracks. The rest of LP1 is a similar mesh of bizarre clicks, electronic squelches, and a lovely soprano voice and carefully crafted lyrics that somehow make sense of her vast sonic palette. In addition to sculpting a sound that has critics lost for words, Twigs has a visual component as well. She's been on a music-video mission, producing videos for every song on her first two releases (EP1 & EP2) and three of the ten cuts on LP1 so far. Her aesthetic is bold, and many of her videos are discomforting, but there's no getting around her attention to detail. In every aspect of her work she pushes boundaries and works to create something decidedly new for contemporary music. Her videos, while not plot-driven, still somehow manage to feel like perfect compliments to her sonic experimentation. Lots of unique and vivid imagery that feels like a natural counterpart to the music.

FKA Twigs - LP1 Album Artwork


Some additional videos if you found yourself intrigued with "Two Weeks":
FKA Twigs - Pendulum
FKA Twigs - Video Girl
FKA Twigs - Papi Pacify

Her sounds and visuals are intriguing because of the sort of "gut feeling" they give me. Twigs has indicated in interviews that she enjoys experimenting with using everyday sounds in her work. These can be heard frequently throughout her work (prime example- the knocking sound in the beginning of "Pendulum", linked above) and have an interesting effect. Often, these everyday noises, not commonly associated with music, evoke an instinctual reaction. If you listened to the beginning of "Pendulum" did it make you feel anxious? That's probably because your subconscious brain thought someone was at the door trying to get in. There are plenty of other examples throughout her work thus far where these everyday noises evoke subconscious, "gut" reactions that match the energy of the track and draw you in to really focus on the intricate patchwork of sounds she's sewn together.

Twigs' music draws on a large number of genres such as R&B, Trip-Hop, Rap/Hip-Hop, and although she incorporates many different influences, she somehow manages to synthesize it all into something that doesn't feel like a conglomeration of 10 different genres, it just feels like FKA Twigs. Since EP2, Twigs has been working with Arca, a Venezuelan producer based in London who has production credits on four of Kanye's tracks on Yeezus. Although it is apparent that Twigs is the primary creative mind behind the project, listening to the differences between her first release and her subsequent work, it's clear that Arca and the additional producers credited on LP1 have had a significant effect on shaping and perfecting her sound.

Still from "Pendulum" music video.


Referring to chapter three of Csikszentmihalyi's Creativity: Flow and the psychology of discovery and invention, an interesting creative aspect of FKA Twigs is her history in the music industry, and her initial "access to a domain". Born to parents who were both dancers, FKA Twigs emerged into the music scene initially as a backup dancer in music videos. Twigs has explained in interviews that she achieved a sort of fame where people would recognize her occasionally, but only as a part of someone else's video. Eventually she grew to resent this recognition and wanted to make something all her own. Her entry into the domain as a dancer allowed her limited access to the more creative side of the music industry and gave her a taste for creating. Her jump from taking part in other's work to exploring her own creativity is the premise of her song "Video Girl", which shows how her initial limited access to the domain more or less led to her desire to break through and start creating her own, genre-defying music.


Sources:
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/19590-twigs-lp1/
http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/18590-twigs-ep2/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FKA_twigs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ir-WupQa6xg

Alex G: Pop-rock, Bedroom DIY, Indie-downer Rock, Creative Expression, Etc...

http://www.lochnessmanagement.com/artists/alex-g/

     Alex Giannascoli is a 21 year old English student from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who is on break from school at Temple University. Although he has the profile of a typical 20-something, he has been featured in multiple music outlets as a prolific wunderkind and “the internet’s best kept secret.” Giannascoli has been self-releasing music under the name Alex G for almost 5 years, now having 12 releases out. Since he publishes his own music, all of his releases can be found on his Bandcamp page: http://sandy.bandcamp.com His music is described as a lot of things: alternative rock, rock, classic indie, downer indie rock, pop-rock, pop, bedroom pop, bedroom DIY, and bummer pop. These various strings of closely related genres contribute to the overall perception of his music. His music is intrinsically appealing with hints of familiar qualities from other sounds; however the big-picture is nothing like you have heard before.

     Sticky melodies and catchy lyrics are produced by this genuine kid who takes his art seriously, with real investment in everything he puts out for the world. With his devotion and authenticity to his music, he has managed to humbly gain an army of loyal supporters.
     How does someone who began with Garage Band at age 13 end up being dubbed a prolific songwriter and musician roughly 9 years later? I will be delving into Alex Giannascoli’s creative process and how it relates to various determinants of creativity.

     Creativity has been studied intensely in recent history: what qualities does a creative person have? Is there a pattern that they all share? What is their creative process and is it similar to other great creative minds? This leads to bigger questions such as being able to identify a creative mind before they make their influential contribution. I suggest that Alex Giannascoli is projected for creative greatness due to the similarities he shares in work ethic and personality.

     His music is his passion. It is his primary creative outlet, something that he spends most of his free time doing. Growing up, homework and schoolwork were always easy for him. Therefore, he would breeze through assignments by doing whatever needed to land on the honor roll, and then spend the rest of his day making music on GarageBand. Frequently with creative people, they begin showing signs of intense creativity by producing impressive work at a young age. Although Giannascoli made countless songs, experimenting with combining different genres together like techno-goth, he claims it wasn’t good music. So how does the 21 year old now hold twelve quality releases under his belt? One reason can be attributed to the many hours he spends working on his music. Fostering creativity requires inputting hours thinking and making connections. Giannascoli has been doing this non-stop for nine years. Those are countless hours devoted to his passion.

     A common trait with gifted persons that usually coincides with the immense time investment is the never-ending tunnel of their creative vision. Nancy Andreasen, a leading neuroscientist, states in Secrets of the Creative Brain published in The Atlantic: “preparation, incubation, inspiration, and production” are an “iterative process” that help foster creative products. This is a process Alex Giannascoli goes through the motions of daily. Nothing is ever perfect or complete. In an interview with Laurence Day from The Line of Best Fit music blog, Giannascoli admits that even his most recent and popular release DSU is not perfect in his eyes. Even though he spent time making it “as perfect as possible” it still is not exactly everything he dreamed of. He does have a more realistic grip on low long it takes to work on producing content. He can recognize when the vital components necessary for the music to still be an accurate representation of his thoughts and emotions are present, but he is always looking to improve and reach a closer idea of a perfect product. However, from the outside looking in, his songs feel like he has reached a thoughtful perfection.

Alex G. prefers to work alone. He works inside his own mind, expanding and developing his own ideas and making his own creative connections. A lot of his songs contain traces of other sounds of music: with a rawness that is reminiscent of folk music, twisted sounds hinting towards crunchy techno, and funky beats that sound like they could be part of a 90’s TV show theme song (listen: first 60 seconds of the song Promise from DSU.) DSU is a dreamy sound, pairing nicely to the bedroom style recording, which elicits an intimate feel to the entire LP. Giannascoli turns inward for creative inspiration, making connections based off of experiences and previous failures, such as his stint with techno-goth. These connections on different levels, including the sound, lyrics, and quality, are carefully made to produce the feelings and emotions that he intends. It is this thoughtful dedication to forging connections musically that identifies Giannascoli as a creative artist.

     Giannascoli holds his music to a high standard of integrity: it is his passion regardless of its success. In a quote provided by Lochness Management, “personal obstacles have shaped [his] music but [none that he] would like to share.” He is satisfying the problem of trouble expressing himself therefore it must continue to be honest and true to who he is musically, otherwise it is no longer serving its purpose. In an interview with Dan DeLuca, an Inquirer Music Critic, Alex states that making music is how he defines himself. “If [he] didn’t do it, [he’d] probably be really lost.” This is another reason Alex chooses to work alone. He believes his decisions are more fluid that way and wants to be able to follow his own ideas, labeling himself a “passive control freak.” Although researcher Kevin Dunbar explains in Accept Defeat: The Neuroscience of Screwing Up published in WIRED magazine, collaboration and discussion can open up opportunity for more creative ideas. However, the method used by Giannascoli of creating a product solo is not unusual for creative minds. Andreasen points out that because creative people usually think differently, “the standard ways of learning and teaching are not always helpful and may even be distracting, and that they prefer to learn on their own.” This is certainly the case for Giannascoli, as he finds working collaboratively frequently slow and distracting, taking away from his own ideas and mental connections. He also is uninterested in copying other sounds or finding inspiration from other musicians or peers. His music comes from his own mind, after spending most of his time experimenting and creating. He pulls inspiration from his own experiences and feelings. In Fader Magazine, he relates his creative method to the way Hemingway writes, all-the while-humbly pointing out that he is no Hemingway. Giannascoli: “[Hemingway's] method [is] giving you this thin strip of the iceberg, and hopefully the listener can pick up that there is something under the surface – they don’t know what it is, but they know it’s really scary.” This is also common with other creative minds, not just Hemingway and Giannascoli. Andreasen also points out that many creatives are mentally distressed and suffer from various illnesses such as depression or anxiety disorder. This is in no way meant to jump to conclusions and label Giannascoli as one suffering from a mental illness, as it is an extremely personal, private, and nun-ya-business illness. This is just more to connect that mental distress is frequently associated to creativity, even if the it is the less extreme distress that is associated to experiences of growing up. Frequently, creative connections and products are made as being an outlet for emotions that might be difficult to handle, something that does apply to Giannascoli. In Fader magazine, Giannascoli confesses that sometimes he is “really really high strung” and he uses his music as a way to “deal with the way reality is,” a way to match his feelings to his music. It is this honesty that makes Giannascoli a genuine and endearing creative subject; especially in a digital age where it is easy to be something you are not. This is extremely appealing and relatable to his listeners, who he mostly relies on to pass along his music.

Sonny Malhotra

     So far, this method has been extremely successful, as he is about to embark on a tour through Europe. Alex Giannascoli is an authentic creative, who still carries much potential in his music. With his creative characteristics, I have no doubt that this musician will continue to grow and develop musically and ultimately creatively.

Sources:

http://www.wired.com/2009/12/fail_accept_defeat/all/
http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/features/interviews/alex-g-best-fit-newcomers
http://www.lochnessmanagement.com/artists/alex-g/
http://www.imposemagazine.com/features/alex-g-interview
http://www.interviewmagazine.com/music/discovery-alex-g#_
http://www.thefader.com/2014/05/01/who-is-alex-g-meet-the-internets-secret-best-songwriter
http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/music/20141207_Alex_G__One-man_band_a_Philly_indie_success_story.html?c=r
http://www.theatlantic.com/features/archive/2014/06/secrets-of-the-creative-brain/372299/

Cello Beatboxing

Les Baxter once stated that "any new music must be an innovation." The most interesting music always includes subtle changes in style, genre, or sound. Classical scores derive hundreds of variations from one, often very simple, melody. Contemporary artists do the same: They take melodies and add Melisma (also known as runs) or the singing of a single syllable of text while moving between several different notes of text in succession, to make their songs more interesting and unique. Creative musicians truly reinvent their music and their genres constantly; reinvention is what makes them so successful.

But what happens when an entirely new genre is created? Often, these innovations are met with hesitancy or rejection. Fortunately, that wasn't the case for Kevin Olusola, whose originality was met with success and popularity. Olusola has fused Classical, Jazz, and Hip-Hop influences to create Celloboxing. Olusola says that Celloboxing combines the "cello, which people see as a pristine instrument, and Hip-Hop, which is kind of dirty and gritty and has that element of edge to it, and fusing them together into something that is ... really inventive and creative." One thing is for certain: It is a style and genre all his own.

Olusola was born with his gifts. At 12, he was the principal Saxophonist and the youngest musician ever in the United States Wind Band. By 15, he was the principal cellist of the Kentucky All-State Orchestra. That year he was accepted into the Kentucky Governor's School of the Arts and to this day is the only young musician to be accepted in two subjects: Cello and Saxophone. He has performed at Carnegie hall - twice - on two different instruments. In 2009, he was the runner up in the "Celebrate and Collaborate with Yo-Yo Ma" International competition at 20, where 90% of his competitors were professional musicians.

Where does celloboxing stem from? According to Olusola, it just makes sense to him. Though it seems natural to Olusola, one doesn't often hear sharp, gritty beatboxing combined with soulful cello music. He discovered his talent for beatboxing while singing with an A' Capella group in boarding school. But it was during a his travel abroad in China did he discover the combination.

Recently, he was featured on NBC's "The Sing Off" as part of the A' Capella quintet, the Pentatonix. His beatboxing helped carry them to 1st place and a $200,000 recording contract.

Keep your eyes out for Olusola. He plans to turn his musical passions into a career in music and production. He plans to produce a series of mixtapes featuring contemporary radio artists and his talents as a musician and Hip-Hop artist. And at only 24, this multitalented individual is sure to make a real impression on the music industry in the near future.