A Farewell to Inventions: Have you ever Surfed with an Alien?

Being a musician is a challenging path.

Now It is equally difficult to be alien.

When you’re both an alien and a musician, you do the math. Twice the gripe it is.

No, my musicianship won’t disappear. But it could use a good realignment and retooling, sharpened for accuracy.

Let me guide you as to what I think it is, by looking at what it is not.

It is not mainly for sustenance and income. Financial rewards are always a bonus. I have a day job to get my basic needs going, and in the process fund my endeavors with music.

It is not to entertain, but aimed towards communication. I may be entertaining to an extent, but I primarily play to tell stories. Those who don’t get should. That’s why bettering the craft is an ongoing pursuit.

Music is my language - a complex and sensitive one- but is never above the message.

I want it to reach to the inner listener. It may come initially as a form of entertainment, but my goal is to communicate.

What is my message? It is that It is  by grace to be alive and dynamic. That is, both spiritually and physically. To be alive is to be able to respond and contribute, rather than being reactive. Here is a true account:

I play while my gums throb because of an abscessed tooth. My music has no choice but to relay the pain of an undying throbbing which ticks like a never-exploding bomb. Now, communicating discomfort and pain doesn’t have to mean sounding sloppy or stepping on the wah and making crying noises in your instrument. I may approach it with a busy line as if I am attacking the source of the pain and go (mentally), “Take that, you abscessed tooth you!”. Or I may opt to do a monotonic phrase to tell everyone, “It’s hard to fight back, look at what it does to me. These flatlines are staying this way until the mefenamic acid kicks in”.

Music is not my life. Inversely, my music exists because I live. It will serve the purpose of carrying my stories across.

That’s why I refuse to be defined by genres and movements and inventions of man.

What are some of man’s inventions?

• This is camp rock, only horned salutes allowed.
• That’s too unjazz. Like, it ain’t cool bro.
• No countermelodies and sympathetic strings? Blasphemy!
• A three minute island-riddim’ song to sell shampoo, that’s what we need.
• 10 minute epic songs for radio? Look, we don’t need another Geddy Lee.
• C’mon - that’s two 45-min. sets while they’re on dinner and no one’s listening for (insert talent fee here).  Can’t get any better than that, huh?

And my favorite:

• Music - it’s the only gift I have. I can’t imagine what I’d be if one morning I’d wake up amputated/deaf/immobile. (That is, if you wake up at all).

 We are defined by the Creator. Not by any of His creations.

The world is now noisier. This small storyteller may need to step on the breaks soon and see the bleakness engulfing at an alarming rate. Perhaps we are no longer able to compete with the deluge of noise straight from the cyberspace to the earbuds, at unbelievable speeds.

Herald is a word apt - one who brings the message to the receiving end. In comicdom, a certain Norrin Radd had to take the role to save his planet Zenn-la from the cosmic planet-eater, Galactus. In doing so, Radd forsook his identity forever. As the Silver Surfer, the pursuit for consumable planets for his master is unceasing. It is tiring, but it has become him. There was no Radd to revert to, and no Zenn-la to go home to.

We may not be saving planets, but to an extent we all carry messages. We will see each other there, when we get there. If, we ever get there. 

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to the characters and illustrations of the Silver Surfer and the Watcher. The illustration belongs to its rightful owners, and is shared for reference and information purposes only.