Vicarious Happiness

Have you ever met a person that does something so amazing and creative that you're instantly jealous? Musicians are those people to me; somehow they are able to compartmentalize so well they know how to direct an audience in a sing-along while synthesizing 5-10 instruments and singing the lyrics to a 6 minute song; this after they've writtenl the lyrics and the music to the song. I can barely remember the hook in a 2 minute song, how the hell do you remember numerous songs spread over various albums? I find it uniquely fascinating how one person can retain a certain type of knowledge, while another doesn't have a clue. It's most definitely the way that our brains are wired, but I can't help to wonder if I was taught a certain skill, say music, at a young age, would I now be able to play as well as the Grammy winners or am I just not designed for that type of thinking?

I had the pleasure of attending the Imogen Heap concert last night in Santa Barbara, and I must say, Imogen is truly brilliant. Not only does she play upwards of 15 instruments and fully understand all musical keys, but she knows how to work a crowd. It could be a British thing though. Before Imogen went on stage, her two British opening acts were super cute and adorable when speaking to the audience; with their shy undertones while asking audience members to purchase an EP (CD) and witty nervousness in explaining why they were wearing a shirt that seemed to look like a night shirt, but wasn't. It could just be their accents as well, but I think Imogen and her fellow musicians have a certain ambience that speaks to audiences of confidence and a tad hint of mischief. You automatically dismiss any of their mistakes for entertainment and enjoy their musical blunders because their responses to them are so entertaining.

The first song that Imogen played involved her coming out onto the stage by herself swinging a long plastic tube (the kind most sports fans buy at ball games) above her head and humming in a high tune. After she'd synthesized the "whooshing" sound of the tube, she threw it to the side and started to sing. 5 seconds into her song, she stops, mumbles something about the key being off and then wanders over to where she threw the tube. She tells the audience that she's accidentally thrown the tube onto her synthesizer and it's changed the voice pitch to where she sounds like a "Dialek" (lovely Doctor Who reference Robby, Myself, and about 5 other people in the audience got). She mumbles some more to herself about how she should start the song over, while making wild hand gestures, before announcing to the audience that she's going to start from scratch, meaning everyone - she points to her band - needs to get off the stage, including herself. The stage clears, the lights reset, and 30 seconds later, she back, front and center, swinging the tube, singing, "Feels like this," but adding, "again" at the end ("feels like this...again") It's always good to have a sense of humor when making a fool of yourself in front of 10,000 people.

Imogen has to be one of the most inspired musicians I've ever heard. She uses what she sees, hears, and feels around her to design her songs. In between her different songs, while the stage hands set up various mics and lights or her musicians plugged in to their instruments, Imogen would tell an abbreviated story of how the song she is about to sing, came to be. One song came to her as she was going for a run in the park. Every day she would hear birds chirping and so she wrote a song about how she felt alive at hearing those birds. She even used bird chirps in the harmony. Another song starts with the crackle of a fire burning. Apparently she burned a log of wood that held special meaning to her and her family (not sure why) and she wrote about her emotions as the log burned while being surround by the people she loved the most. My favorite song she wrote was an erie "Down the Rabbit Hole" harmony inspired by a disastrous date where she cooked for a guy who said he was allergic to wheat, fish, eggs, and basically any ingredient she knew how to cook with. After she'd managed to cook a surprisingly tasty meal, she was still hungry (cause there wasn't any meat), so she grabbed a chocolate biscuit off the table. The guy grabs one as well and starts to eat it when she goes, "You can't eat that, it has wheat and egg in it." He responds, "It's just a small biscuit, I'll be fine." She's thinking, "Well, we could of just had a small piece of fish and you'd be fine!"

She is also very in-tune with experimentation. I guess, when she's writing songs, she plays around with various objects, trying to learn their sounds and how she can use them in a song. A guy came onto the stage with a rusty saw and proceeded to start off the melody of a song with a stick caressing the blades. She starts another song with, what I consider to be a tribute to "Miss Congeniality", the rimming of wine glasses. Her band incorporates: 4 different kinds of cymbals, Bells, Vibes, electric and normal guitars, piano, keyboard, birds, fire, saws, drums, voice, hands, clothes, life and objects.

I just love her way of seeing the world, at any one moment, something could inspire her to dance or sing or write. If only the majority of people in the world were this easily influenced to create and be happy, we'd be a better society of people. I'm envious of her seemingly free spirit and ability to truly be one with herself. I encourage everyone to listen to her music and watch her perform, if not for the sake of hearing her music, for the chance to become happy vicariously through Imogen.