stumbling step by step into success
'momentum' is the word this week as I explore daydreaming, cold showers and 'sea within a sea' by the horrors.
big npc energy (& not the ranfurly shield type)
I’m someone who’s energy and productivity has never been able to keep pace with enthusiasm.
My brain has a tendency to suck my entire being up between my ears and transport me to oddly recognisable fantasy lands. Alternate universes in which I’m writing about corruption in the Christchurch City Council or hosting a video podcast series about Aotearoa’s lost music venues.
I’ve left the earthly plane yet my physical being remains, paused like my life was a playstation game and the gamer has gone for a toilet break.
The more I think, the more I have to think through what I’ve thought about. The more I conceptualise, the less I actualise.
It’s the momentum of stagnation and I can’t afford to keep daydreaming in the shower - not during a cost of living crisis!!
This newsletter was written while listening to the new Bullant record ‘Late Life Circ’. Bullant is the sprawling and eclectic electronic side-project of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizards Joe Walker - 'Perfect Shelving Technique’ is both the best named track on the record and the perfect entry point, reminiscent of Todd Terje at his strutting best.
“get in” whispers wim hof
Like all the worst people you know I’ve been doing daily cold exposure.
Yes - every day (post-lunch, I’m not a maniac) I step into a freezing cold shower and stay there for two hellish minutes.
Do I feel more alive afterwards??? Absolute not, no. However it does answers a simple question - am I in control of my life or not? - with a resounding yes.
When I step in that shower I’m making a definitive choice to do something I don’t want to do.
It’s a tiny part of a small daily routine. Routine, something that I thought about in the entirely wrong way, prescribing myself routines as if they were productivity cages I could trap myself into - if only I could plan the perfect sunrise to sunset for myself.
Now I know that routine is less about the actions contained within a day, and more about the momentum built between moments.
We scroll, we wallow and we drift. Routine is the little moments of engine revving, of tyre warming for extra grip (yes I gave in and watch drive to survive) and the more time you can spend refreshing instead of regressing, the more of your day is spent intentionally.
The best routine (for me) doesn’t dictate my day - it supports it by building positive momentum and disrupting the intoxicating habits of a modern technological world.
Have you listened to the first episode of my new podcast interview series ‘Exploring Ōtautahi’ ft. CEO of Melted Ice Cream Records Brian Feary yet? Becuase you really should.
from the cradle (uni house party) to the grave (dropped by a record label)
Momentum is a huge part of a music career as well - something that can be seen super clearly in the ‘uni scene’ phenomenon.
Young people congregate within close quarters as far away from authority figures as they have ever been.
This freedom allows them to pursue what they find exciting (at least short term lol) and for a few this means starting bands and playing gigs. For others it’s being where everyone else their age is - which is at those same gigs.
The momentum of a scene unencumbered by real life responsibilities and powered by course related costs inevitably births a collection of (various quality) bands that ride a wave of post-graduate migration into sold out national tours for years.
The surf-pop scene of Soaked Oats & Marlins Dreaming, Six60, Garbage Records, SACHI - its a repetitive and repeatable pipeline, especially in Dunedin.
It’s as reliable as the slow disintegration of the uni bands popularity as they (and their audience) age out of habitual social circles and take up snorting cocaine at East St Hall instead.
Momentum naturally flows - it swells and it subsides. It can also be killed prematurely.
I find it tragic when a young band - usually riding a wave of momentum from a young enthusiastic audience of peers - are sucked up into the commercial system of management and record labels too early.
Young bands become valuable because of the audience they build by playing loads and releasing as much as possible. Then, once they are valuable enough to be signed, they are told to stop playing shows and worry a lot more about which song they should put out this year.
Upping the stakes of your next step doesn’t result in a better step - more often than not it results in standing still - killing the momentum of our young talent in an effort to maximise their potential within someone else’s view of success.
Hot tip: If the strategies of the people supporting you result in stagnation instead of momentum - they aren’t supporting you, they’re dictating.
Don’t you just love it when your favourite song of the album also has a music video that rules? My most recent example is ‘End’ from Cantabrian alt-country star Ryan Fisherman’s latest record ‘Country Emo’ - well worth a check out if you like fuzzy scuzzy country rock.
It’s updated weekly with my favourite tracks - you know what it is! Check it out, follow it and it will never let you down. Hahko’s Songs For Personal Consumption.
build-a-banger
Momentum is also an incredible musical device.
From Krautrock to Electronic music, the heartbeat of music can turn life into one endless highway waiting for you to cruise it, window down, The War On Drugs blaring.
My favourite use of momentum in music is ‘The Builder’. Songs that create a growing sense of anticipation through energetic layering over a rock-solid spine - often with spectacular, climactic results. Here’s three favourites:
Krautrock drums, muted monotonous bass, menacing atmosphere - it’s got it all. It even has the audacity to kick you in the head with a CSI inspired synth breakdown and a back-half just as big as the front. One of the biggest glow-ups from debut album to sophomore ever - The Horrors.
Jon Hopkins is the master of dense pulsating atmospheres - lashing them to one another as they grow and collide organically by the chain of an unbreakable 4/4 kick pattern and too many Kaoss Pads for one man to control.
This is the perfect marriage of traditional Krautrock sensibilities and playful modern Electronica. Set aside 15 mins in your day, find your headphones, sit comfortably and enjoy this masterpiece - loud.
post-rock clarity
As always thank you for being here and I hope your momentum is positive.
Im back on the regular podcast train and interviewing every creative freak I can get my hands on - purely for your benefit of course.
Im going to experiment with my first ‘paid sub perk’ on this newsletter by attempting to place one such interview - my chat with Roundhead engineer and musician De Stevens - below and behind a paywall for those kind enough to support my work.
I will never withhold content - however allowing paying subscribers to easily access it as soon as its finished would be a nice way to give back I think. And if you’re not a paid subscriber you’ll still get the interview - just a little later.
If you want to become a paid subscriber and help support my work its easy and cheap - less than a single coffee a month and secured by clicking the button below!