GuidoWorld

Art Posing as Music

March 9, 2008 on 3:30 pm | In General |

The following is sort of like a mission statement regarding my music. Later this week I will be releasing a new CD entitled Priorities which up to this point has only consisted of two posted songs.

Modern music is everywhere. It’s on TV, radio, the net, movies, elevators, telephone waiting lines and in almost every store you enter. Modern society abhors silence and every  moment is filled with either or both music and dialogue. The competition to get and hold your attention is incredible. Considering this, it is not surprising that most of modern music is transitory. The demand for modern music to be immediately catchy is strong. The business expectation of music being highly marketable challenges the artist to create sounds which grab the audiences attention and stay with them the rest of the day.

The commercial aspect of the music world forces an artist to hone his skills at representing his feelings to as many people as possible.  The drawback is that appealing form is often valued over artistic content. With so many artistic choices available it is understandable though regrettable that many listeners give a song less than ten seconds before looking elsewhere, just as many readers will only give a novel a paragraph or so to grab their attention before checking out the next book.

I am a very passionate and reflective person. This is apparently a rather rare combination as most intensely passionate people are doers and most reflective people are rather subdued in nature.  Yet, my music has always been lush, intense and highly self disclosing. Though much of my music is danceable, my sense of rhythm is unorthodox and somewhat complicated. My lyrics are also unconventional and you will hear many words sung for the first time.

Recording companies have always showed a wary interest in my music. While claiming to personally love my music they add that it is too diverse, sophisticated and intelligent for the mass listener.  They feel that my music is an acquired taste far outlasting the attention span of the marketplace.

The goal of all my art is to successfully articulate our shared reality while at the same time disclosing my personal reality. I find life fascinating and captivating and I long to share every insight and discovery with the world.

The title of this post is Art Posing as Music because my music is not just entertainment meant for aural consumption, but  a full bodied way to live and portray life. Art is a combination of form and content. Much of my music presents snapshots of my life or observations of our lives and portrays them in a comprehensive manner. I do this by taking thoughts, feelings and questions and blowing them up so that they all become complete pictures, separate photos which provide their own existence and ambiance.

Many people pose feeling and thought as being competing or separate realities. I find thought devoid of the sensual to be empty and the sensual bereft of thought to be blind. Therefore, in my music you will be challenged physically, emotionally and intellectually. Passion is a way of being in the world and includes all my thoughts as well as my visceral  sense experience.

The goal of my music (art) is to share, express and inspire, rather than make money. That is why I’ve posted my music on the internet. Since I no longer perform out, I do miss the audiences response to my music. Please fill that void by writing me of your responses to my music.

Since my music is so lush and diverse it cannot be absorbed or understood through one listening. Please take the time to savor my music and its images. Let them wash over you and open you up to the world I’m attempting to understand and portray. A sensual world full of meaning and joy.

The new CD Priorities should be posted in the next few days. I would greatly appreciate  any input you may have in terms of song order for the CD. My songs are like my children and I have a hard time choosing one over the other or comparing their accessibility to a listening audience.

Jim Guido

PS For those interesting in the male sex drive and gender issues from a unconventional perspective please read my posts from August thru February.