Deeply devoted, like-minded musicians?

Denver CO

Description

Seeking like-minded musician/songwriter. Do you watch "music theory content” on YouTube? Do you like channels like Rick Beato, Adam Neely, Shawn Crowder, David Bennett Piano, Paul Davids, Signals Music Studio, etc.? Okay, so where to begin... I am a 34yo (primarily) guitarist, but I am also a music teacher who focuses on theory and songwriting concepts with students, almost regardless of instrument. As such, I have played/dabbled/owned many instruments (bass, mandolin, ukulele, piano, drums, baglama saz), electronics, DAWs, etc. I currently play bass in an original, alternative rock (90’s sound) band. From my songwriting side, I am pulled in many different directions. I have to start with my earliest love, The Beatles, who still, after years of analyzing, have seemingly endless amounts of insights into songwriting. Steely Dan would be another. On the guitar specifically, I constantly work jazz, prog, and math (or any) music that stretches my knowledge or techniques in one way or another (harmonically, rhythmically, techniques, speed). While I can enjoy the music that I easily understand on an emotional level, if I’m practicing then I want a certain level of difficulty to really work up a sweat. I would say most of this music would typically be instrumental in nature, but I also have a strong love of lyrics and melody. For the voice, I feel like many old tunes and jazz standards are my gold standard or how I feel melody should interact with a unique chord progression. While I have never fancied myself a good singer, it is an element I pay close attention to in artists that really go above and beyond with lyrical content. I have also released a rap album and thoroughly enjoy the intricacies of that craft as well. So to just try to list main genres here: 60’s rock, 70’s rock, jazz, RnB, soul (neosoul), exotic or world music, fusion, hip hop or rap (if you make a distinction), math rock, prog rock, edm, idm, lofi/chillhop, classical, 90’s rock, blues, etc. Just to name some random wide-ranging names: The Beatles, The Doors, Snarky Puppy, CHON, Polyphia, ttng, Tera Melos, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Billy Cobham, AXES, The Bulletproof Tiger, Nat King Cole, Tchaikovsky, The Smashing Pumpkins, Victor Wooten, Steely Dan, Yes, Wes Montgomery, Aphex Twin, Why?, sungazer, etc. From my production/electronic music side, I have used Logic Pro X for years to make many volumes of “beat projects” (60+ tracks). These would include trap, latin, pop, rnb, lofi, etc. genres. I used these tracks as a way to sort of hone my abilities with the DAW and have an intense interest in electronic music as well. I particularly like artists that I feel are on the “experimental” boundary pushing the sound further. Interesting rhythms (-tuplets patterns and drunk glitching, Dilla-vibe) and strange sample choices. Some of my favorites would be Flume (mixtape), JPEGMAFIA, Flying Lotus, Jacob Collier, Cloudchord, TroyBoi, Dirtwire, Gorillaz, BATTLES, sungazer, etc. Hopefully, anyone I create with would have some understanding of production and recording, simply to help each other get the best performances when recording. All this said, I imagine making an album that sounds eclectic and “genre-bending”. I particularly like albums that are hard to define down to just one “thing”. When it comes to the songwriting portions, I employ various tactics to try to create outside of the box riffs and progressions. This could include modal mixture, pedal tone writing, negative harmony, harmonized exotic scales, chromatic mediants, ragas, etc. My main goal is simply to explore sonic experiments that hopefully create fresh, unique territories. I tend to use lots of diminished, augmented, or altered chords in my writing, which can be “new” for people unaccustomed. So I would hope to use these “song ideas” to build a framework for more electronic ideas within as well. Glitches, samples, real vs. “fake” drums, real vs. synth bass… These ideas would most likely remain disjointed and sort of unorganized, almost as though listening to a sonic sketchbook. Track lengths could vary, and I’d have no problem if at the end there were 30 tracks, averaging 2 minutes each. It would be an attempt to break free from “industry standards” entirely, disregarding song formulas or track lengths. Eventually, I could imagine performing shows that look like two, or maybe more, people performing on different instruments, samplers, loopers, or effects throughout the show. Most likely backing tracks or loops would be used for all the sounds that we couldn’t produce ourselves, but also trying to perform as much as is feasible. I imagine that I’d be playing lots of the guitar throughout, but hopefully both of us could play on guitar, keys, bass, drums, samplers, etc. This would probably be a sophisticated undertaking and I’d probably just worry about it once an album was made, though if we got good enough with the gear we might start writing with it all set up in a more normal “band practice” way.