K.I.S.S.

I have been a musician for over 20 years and I count myself blessed to have had the chance to be mentored by some of the best musicians in the world. One of the most important things they taught me then and it still applies every time I pick up the sticks or sit down in a studio to produce is to "Keep It Simple Stupid". I come in contact with so many musicians that feel like the more notes you play the better you are, but this couldn't further from the truth. The sign of a truly great artist ,in whatever discipline, is knowing how to use space and understanding less is more. Most immature artists' feel the need to make the music or art form conform to their limited; self-centered point of view instead of realizing that as musicians we must serve the music before it can serve us. Let me explain.When you are on a gig or session, whatever you play must first of all serve the music, song or composition not your ego. There is always a process and the first step in that process is ascertaining what is being featured? What is the most important thing in the arrangement i.e. lead instrument or vocalist? What is the subject matter? What is the tone of that subject matter? Only after asking these questions and many others can you truly know what to play or more importantly what not to play. When you approach every performance from this point of view, it creates a great charmic environment. Most people refer to it as the zone, the pocket, the sweet spot or the pfunk. Whatever you call it, once you get it you always want to find it again and again and the only way to get there is by understanding that music is a shared process. In order for musicians to truly play together as a unit, you must understand that everyone has a certain role to play at a certain time and all you have to do is play your position.That means if your position only calls for the simplest input then that is your role and you must adhere to it. Only then does the whole unit benefit and only then can true art be created because you are not serving your ego but the music. This is really a simple concept because even in life everything is simple we just choose to make it complicated by playing too many notes, saying too many words or over thinking instead of choosing just the right notes, listening before we speak and just trusting in the peace that we know to be the Creator. So just remember it is all a process so just Keep It Simple Stupid!


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