creative deconstruction

The Importance of Innovation in Music

Posted on 31. Aug, 2009 by refe in INNOVATION

The Fireside Bowl before a show

As a music listener, what is the most important factor that determines whether or not you like a particular song, or album, or artist? The last couple of posts I’ve published have produced quite a few comments that seem to consider innovation to be the litmus test. That doesn’t surprise me at all, and I’d probably give the same answer. But why? Why is innovation so important? Can’t a piece of music be judged by more practical standards like arrangements, instrumentation, recording quality, etc.?

First of all, not every innovation has to be the genre-busting, game-changing capital ‘I’ Innovation of Kid A, Pet Sounds or Sgt. Pepper. If every decade has one defining sound, then every two or three decades have that kind of true Innovation. So, while that is certainly a goal worth striving for, we’d run out of music if we disregarded every track that fell short.

Thankfully, even innovation on a smaller scale can be enough to catch a listener’s attention and create a memorable experience.

I remember all of the pretentious conversations my early band mates and I used to have at shows. We could always find something wrong with the other acts (it was hard being perfect.) Yet despite trying desperately not to be, there were a few times when we were genuinely impressed.

One Thursday night my drummer Mike and I went to the now-defunct Chicago institution the Fireside Bowl [pictured top]. I don’t even remember who we had originally come to see. Appleseed Cast, maybe? It’s irrelevant because second band to perform that night overshadowed everything that came on before or after. Our interest was first piqued during the transition when there only appeared to be two members in the band. A tall, lanky drummer and a blonde woman busy setting up a Hammond B52. Looking around, everyone else seemed to watching the stage, too. “What the hell is this?” somebody said too loudly.

The drummer counted in the first song with his sticks over his head, and the room was hit with a wall of thick, analog sound from the organ. The man and the woman sang together for most of the first song. It sounded as if they had taken music from the NES and added drums and tight pop harmonies. They spent the entire time staring deep into each other’s eyes.

My first thought? This is ridiculous. It was just too different from the moody, guitar driven indie rock I was used to. Yet, by the time they had finished their fourth song Mike and I were completely hooked. Who were these guys and where do we get their CD?

Mates Of State performing

The band was Mates Of State [pictured left], and I did end up buying their CD, My Solo Project. They’ve since gone on to find a decent amount of success. And while Mates of State’s music may not be groundbreaking, I still remember the fun of being challenged by something new. I was even willing to overlook some of the flaws that might have been more glaring if they were just rehashing something that had been done dozens of times before.

There were other bands experimenting with new sounds and styles – Anathallo comes to mind. The Dirty Projectors and The Fiery Furnaces more recently. I’m sure you could all name dozens of better examples (please don’t, unless you just can’t help yourself!) The point is simply that while this kind of smaller-scale innovation happens a lot more often than it’s elusive, better-looking cousin Innovation, it can still have a profound effect on the listener. A visit to the local indie-rock dive is transformed into a memory still fresh several years later.

What about quality? Innovation is great, but what if something is just put together really, really well? Quality is certainly important. Your music can be Beethoven’s 9th, but if you cut a trashy recording nobody’s likely to listen. Again, not everybody has to reinvent the wheel.

Yet, in many ways the world doesn’t seem to care as much about quality as it used to. We live in a society where a video shot on someone’s phone can get hundreds of thousands of views on YouTube. It’s grainy, the sound is terrible but fewer and fewer people seem to mind. This isn’t completely new to the music industry – look at the punk movement. For many the attitude was what was important, who cares what it sounded like?

The bottom line is that you can be successful without innovation, but in order to be great you have to be willing to push the envelope. The average music fan will go to about a dozen shows this year. They’ll probably remember two. Many of those acts will put on a good show, but the ones that will imprint themselves on the minds of their audiences are the ones who have taken the time to explore new possiblities.

What do you think? Do you agree, disagree? What is important to you when searching for new music?

Tags: ARTISTS, fireside bowl, indie rock, mates of state, music