Overthinking Creation

Why create music? Too big and too broad of a question, especially for only three words. Plus, everyone has a different answer for it anyways. Often, the greatest riddles in life yield no answers, errr something like that. Honestly, the answer should be followed up with a simple three-word reply: it is fun. Duh. But for the sake of depth, I’ll humor the evoking question.

For starters, I grew sick and tired of the music that surrounded me as a kid. My family being deeply rooted in Mexican culture, only listened to the genres of Banda, Duragence, Norteneo; artists such as Vicente Fernandez, Juan Gabriel, or Los Tigres De Norte. I just threw out a couple of genres and names, but the kicker to me was that all that music started to drown out and sound the same to me. The piercing accordions, the tubas, trumpets, the annoying “gritos,” oh how it all quickly became monotonous.

Naturally, the annoyance pushed me astray, paving the way to new sounds and earful pleasures. Rap, Rock, Jazz, Pop; listening to it all was really overwhelming as a kid as there was so much to soak in. Different melodies, more impactful progressions, but to me the biggest giveaway were the stories. American music has a different culture all its own, especially as country with people from across the globe. It was definitely a far cry from Mexican music, and it was evident so in the stories each song would weave.

If music is a language, than a tell a story with it, at the very least communicate something; for me that has always been the allure. The freedom to craft a story your own way, from the cold-hearted seriousness to the lofty glee filled love requiems. At the end of the day, it comes down to a form of self-expression, one that allows the passage of provoking thoughts, that simply cannot be put into mere words on paper.