The music of the reindeer herders and the opinions of Rick Rubin…

First thing, such a cool thing happened this week – the kind of thing that makes you glad you got into this putting-music-out-into-the-world thing.

We have been finding lots of new followers on Instagram via the performance videos and one of them got in touch to say hello. He is in a band called Felgen Orkester and they live way up north in Norway. They sing in their native Saami language; these are the people who live in the region once known as Lapland. They are well-known historically for being fishermen, fur trappers, sheepherders, and semi-nomadic herders of reindeer.

Anyway, they were enjoying some of our songs and mentioned that they enjoyed the simplicity of three acoustic instruments. They asked if we would like to do an English version of their most popular song, Buolli Dolla. So we’ve already got an English translation worked out, and now we just have to make the phrasing fit. So I think we’ve got to give it a try!

As I think I said in a previous mail, for me, connecting with people far away over a shared love of music is absolutely one of the best parts of doing music. Can’t wait until the tours start. That will take it to a whole new level.

Last week I asked everyone on our mailing list to provide some opinions on two of the songs we are working on.

It was a fascinating exercise. Quite honestly it was the most responded-to mail we have ever sent out – never before have so many people clicked through on the mail links.

Perhaps the most interesting part, however, was how ineffective the mail was at accomplishing its objective. We thought we would get some feedback that would help guide us in the creative process but as it turns out, opinions ranged all over the place. Some loved one song, others the other song. Some hated them both, some loved them both. And plenty were indifferent.

So a guess that could still tell us a few things.

Maybe the lack of unanimity means that we most definitely don't have a hit on our hands. But perhaps even that is extrapolating too far.

One friend, on hearing the results, pointed me back in the direction of a Rick Rubin quote I had recently told him about. It was this one:

Rick Rubin started out as the producer for the Beastie Boys and then went on to a career of producing for many of the greats. Hit records for The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Johnny Cash, the Dixie Chicks, Tom Petty, Kanye West - these are all on his resumé.

I'm just finishing up his latest book on creativity and it's interesting to hear how faithful he is to his own tastes when it comes to making music. Just like in the above video, it could almost be mistaken for arrogance but if you look past that surface, what he says makes sense. The artist has to create the thing that he likes, he has to judge according to what moves him. Because ultimately that is what will, in turn, move an audience. Or maybe it won't, but that is the chance the artist has to take.

Because the other option is to create according to what you think others might like, which is a recipe for inauthenticity. And inauthenticity has never been known to lead to beautiful creations.

What's that old saying? "A camel is a horse made by committee."

Or maybe GK Chesterton worded it better:

I have searched the parks of all your cities

And found no statues of committees

Ok fine, but what might that wisdom mean for the two songs we are working on?

Because we are frequently in the awkward situation of having one band member liking a song, or a way of producing a song, while one of the others feels exactly the opposite.

Who's tastes are you supposed to be faithful to when that happens?

It would be interesting to hear how other bands deal with this conundrum but in our case I think we will go with passion. Mick is just loving that “Why Do You Lie to Me" song and has plenty of vision and passion for producing it. So let's see what he does, see where it goes.

As for the other song, "Hope" I am going to see if I can change it around - just in case there is some renewed passion to be found in there somewhere.