My influences – Music – Aesthetically

Posted on by Opher

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My Influences – Music – Aesthetically

 

Aesthetically  
Pink Floyd Some music can take you on a ethereal journey. The long drawn out dreaminess of Syd Barrett’s Astronomy Domine was the first piece of music to do that for me. I find that you can let yourself go into a trance-like state and your mind flows with the interweaving strands. Pink Floyd were masters at creating that mood. I can put on an album, shut my eyes and allow my mind to drift through the beat, the notes, the rise and fall -= wonderful.
Jimi Hendrix The only things restricting Hendrix were the limitations of the electric guitar and his own imagination.

No matter what he is doing – the electrifying performance of a live show, the recordings or just doodling in the studio, I find his guitar-work compelling. My mind latches on to those notes and riffs as he weaves them through the beat of the bass and drums. He can make it exhilarating or dreamy, fluid or edgy. For me he was the consummate musician.
Love Arthur Lee and Brian MacClean created a complexity of song and music that soared into a different hemisphere. The harmonies and structure of the songs, their lyrics and vocals were the classical music of Rock. They painted pictures in my brain.
Captain Beefheart Many people find Beefheart music discordant and impenetrable. I think you probably have to first access it live. It is complex. But once you have penetrated the structure the wonder of it is revealed. The interweaving guitars and bass become wondrous and mind expanding; the vocals immense; the poetry and voice creating images. It is no longer discordant; it is wonderful and the most satisfying music ever created.

My influences – Music – Viscerally

Posted on by Opher

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My Influences – Music

 

Viscerally  
Little Richard I was eleven years old when I first heard Little Richard. I’d already fallen in love with Buddy Holly but Little Richard blew me away and awakened some deep excitement in the core of my being the like of which I had not known existed. The energy he poured out poured into me and set my heart pounding. I’d discovered something so earthy and powerful that it awakened something inside of me and made me feel good – so very good.
Bo Diddley and Chuck Berry That same energy that Little Richard produced was also released by both Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley. Bo was more seminal and primitive and Chuck more visually enthralling but both homed in on that primordial creature that lived in my glands. They set the juices flowing and filled me with life. They brought me alive. That music rocked.
Beatles I must have been fourteen when I first heard the Beatles. My friend Tony took me off to his room, put the needle down on his latest acquisition, turned the volume right up and hit me with She Was Just Seventeen. It hit me in the depths of my abdomen and sent blood roaring to my brain. I had never heard anything so exciting. Life would never be the same.
Rolling Stones Later that same year I was hit with another body blow when I bought the Stones first album. It was every bit as good as the Beatles – rawer, rougher and bluesier. It was so rebellious and sultry, so low down dirty that it reeked of illicit sexuality and heat that it took everything up a notch for me.

Influences – the people and things that made me who I am.

Posted on by Opher

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Influences

 

It seems to me that you can tell al lot about someone by the things that influence them.

In my life I have been highly influenced by a number of people in different ways:

 

Cerebrally

 

Viscerally

 

Aesthetically

 

Spiritually

 

These people have had a major impact on me and altered the way I think and the way I feel about things.

 

I thought it might be an idea to explore this fully. This is not a question of ‘likes’. The impact of my influences goes beyond that. These are people who have affected the philosophy I live by.

 

I have been influenced by:

 

Music

Drama

Literature

Art

Philosophy

Religion

Poetry

Science

Film

Friends

Other people

Architecture

Dance

Nature

Parents

Politicians

Photography

Native American Indians

Sport

 

Probably – as time goes by, other areas will come to mind.

 

These people have impacted on me to create the social conscience, attitude of tolerance, empathy with the plight of other humans and wild creatures, awareness of politics, environmental concern, civil rights and equality, respect for others, responsibility for my actions and the awe and wonder I feel when seeing beauty in all its many forms.

 

I am still not sure how much we change from our interactions with the arts – or whether we seek out the art that reflects our own feelings and thoughts. I do know that the people who have influenced me have inspired me and enabled me to exam my own attitudes in greater depth. That has been liberating.

 

My philosophy led me into teaching and writing. I believe in trying to make the world a better place and that education is the key to that.