Creating Collective Genius

By James Pierce

Every once in a while, something comes along and knocks loudly on your skull, causing you to stop, look and listen. In a world chalk full of random media distraction, some things still stand out like wildflowers in a garbage heap.

The random whimsical hope for the chance at discovering something new keeps us all on our toes despite the growing hum of the mundane.

As one from the masses, I know some of the dedication, diligence and persistence required to make an art form magic but I am far from mastering it. Strokes of creativity here and there are no match for a prolific master at work.

Then one day, you're sipping coffee on a street bistro reading the classifieds and New Mexico native, Zachary Condon, comes along, raps a beat into your noggin with his vibrato and suddenly the world explodes with a blast of trumpets from the rest of his band Beirut. This all sounds fantastic until you realize he's your next door neighbor and 35 people responded to his craigslist ad for musicians. The scheduled jam secession would begin at 2 a.m. to weed out the undedicated hobbyist.


And as they begin to wail their instruments loudly through the thin apartment walls, you become restlessly taken on a fantastic journey. A few hours stripped of sleep but, no ones complaining.

The magic here is indeed driven by Condon's singing talent but also through a group of people. Just everyday people who could have remained lost among the hum of the masses but chose instead to band together and raise a mighty ruckus. After all, the masterpiece is more than a single stroke.

Perhaps the real art here, more important than the expression of the music itself, is in the moments when all these people come together. Each, driven to the notes, called to dedicate their solitude with clumsy fingers stumbling through chords that echo loudly in their souls; brought together to awkwardly congregate in confined spaces around the music they love.

I love the way this collective inspires. Here's a Canadian husband and wife duo, Win Butler and Régine Chassagneband with their band Arcade Fire.

In the created hum, the imperfections become lost like drops of water in the ocean building and receding with the tide. This music is a deep and magical expanse of impressionism, layered by individual strokes of creativity collected in a single expression of sound.
Of course, bands have been around forever and still practice the nomadic gypsy lifestyle, playing their music wherever they go. Young people will continue to pick up that old banjo uncle Joe had left laying around the house and they'll find creative new ways to express themselves.

Who said that ukulele or xylophone was a dumb gift idea? Not the latest nu-grass folk rock ensemble Mumford and Son's. You can't drive your car without hearing their voices through the radio today. An early video of the lads looking eerily like they hail from Liverpool with a similar uplifting sound.
My point is, let's find more ways to collaborate with other artists and create something that stands out. It would be a healthy effort getting involved with friends and like minded folks for a project. The more voices we have the louder they sing out demanding to be heard, so when you find yourself with a band of misfits marching down the street, you can knock on people's skulls and wake them up.