Five Words Meme

eneit has given me 5 words that came into her head when she thought about me.

The five words were: Pink Floyd, bands, art, clowns, hats

Now it is up to me to try and explain why those five words apply to me so, here I go:

Pink Floyd: When I was 10yrs old I inherited my parents' old collection of 45s (that's vinyl singles, the platter shaped ones with the little grooves for all you young'ens out there). That was in 1980 and it pretty much (thankfully!) ensured I missed out on most of the shit-pile of music that was The Eighties. The collections was mainly Beatles and Rolling Stones singles, originals too, but there was also Beach Boys, Johnny O'Keefe, Crash Craddock, Buddy Holly, The Hollys, The Kinks and a bunch of other stuff in there too. That got me started on my musical explorations backwards into the Blues (mainly Delta and Mississippi Blues) and forward to my search for new and interesting music that continues today. In the 80s I listened to everything by The Beatles, the Stones, Hendrix, Bob Dylan, T-Rex, Bowie, Brian Eno and a thousand others. But, it wasn't until about 1985 that I discovered two bands that changed everything about the way I listen to music.

That was in music class, one day when the teacher was away. We sat in music class and stuffed around while he was away. I raided the store room for something to keep me amused and found an old cassette tape. It was a blank tape. Written on one side, in biro, was the word 'Doors'. And, on the other side 'Floyd'. I put the tape in my walkman and started to listen. Side one was the album 'Strange Days' by The Doors. Side two was the album 'Meddle' by Pink Floyd. Never had I heard anything like either of these bands. I listened to nothing else for days, maybe weeks. Eventually, the tape was chewed up by my tape players. Bereft of this inspirational music I set out to discover everything ever recorded by Pink Floyd and The Doors. And that was the start of my musical journey into psychedelia.

The Doors will always be a special band to me, but Pink Floyd were the ones who really inspired my imagination, fuelled my art, and became the soundtrack to my first feeble attempts at writing fiction. I was mesmerised by their sounds - not just of Dark Side of the Moon and The Wall, but of Meddle and Animals and Atom Heart Mother and A Saucerful of Secrets too. Even Syd Barrett's solo works were played, much to my parents' annoyance, non-stop for months.

I still listen to the Floyd quite a lot. They are sort of a benchmark band for me - defining exactly the sort of sountrack-style music I require for my writing and art. Other bands have come and gone, but Pink Floyd have always remained on the top of my playlists. I don't think that will ever change.

Bands: Music, I love music. I can't think of how my life would be if I didn't have a soundtrack playing to it all the time. My world seems empty if there isn't some form of music in it somewhere. But, I don't just enjoy listening, I also enjoy playing. Back in the late 80s and early 90s I played lead guitar in an originals band called Emily's Child. We did alright for ourselves, played around Sydney quite consistantly for a few years, put a couple of songs out on compilations CDs and even had a couple of tracks played on TripleJ. You can read much more about Emily's Child in one of my old Blogger posts, and even hear a few old tunes in MP3 format, here: http://kephra.blogspot.com/2005/12/blast-from-past-emilys-child.html

Even today, I will still take listening to a 'band' (I mean a real band, with instruments, not computers) over crappy pop singers any day. My kids are amazed that their old fart dad is listening to albums for months before they even appear on TripleJ's radar - so much for it being a youth network - and often years before the hype hits commercial-world and the band is plunged into the stormy world of 'commercial fame'.

Art: My parents always encouraged creativity. Maybe, for me, it was just a way to get out of doing the 'harder' subjects? Nevertheless, I chose music, art, history and music as my electives and majors at high school. I was never really too good at art at school - others were much much much better and I didn't go the traditional route my art teachers wanted me to take - but I'm a persistent bugger. In 1987-88, while my other HSC comrades were doing traditional painting, I was doing airbrushing, pen & ink illustration, scratchboard and the beginnings of computer art. 'Computer Art!?' my teacher said. 'What the hell is that? Computers aren't art tools, they're maths tools!' Boy I'm glad he was wrong.

I've never been trained outside of high-school. Never done a course or gone to design school. But, as I said, I'm a persistent bugger. I just drew and painted and did computer art anyway. I bullied and pleaded and sold myself into jobs that I really wasn't qualified for. I did artwork for free. I do it because I have to.

If I can't write, and I don't feel like picking up my guitar, then I must draw. That's just the way I am. Might as well, I decided 15yrs ago, try and make some money from it. I'm still not making much money from it, but that's not important. What is important, is that I've now placed myself in a position where people ARE paying me for my art; where I can do the things I love and not have people telling me I'm wasting my time.

Writing, Music, Art - the three things in my life that are inseparable. They feed off each other. When I'm in a writing funk, my artistic creativity is higher. When I get artistically creative, it feeds my music and my writing and brings them back to life. I really enjoy the cycles these three parts of my life take me through.

Clowns: For a long time clowns have gotten a bum-wrap. Our culture has pegged them as the Scarey Ones, despite their purpose in bringing us laughter and joy. As much as I love Stephen King's IT and Will Elliot's Pilo's Family Circus and all the other freaky clown tales out there, I never quite understood why they are so maligned. I probably wouldn't have thought about it so much though, if not for a birthday card my son (then 7yrs old) made for me. It had a clown on the front (clip-art) and said "All the Clowns in Clown Town wish you... Barrels of fun on your Birthday". I still have that card and it is very important. It led me down a road to a place called Clowntown - a place I have now written about 5 times, with 3 of those stories already published or accepted for future publication. Clowntown is a place far away from the world, maybe in a different dimension, where all the clowns live. Not people with painted faces who pretend they are clowns for a few laughs, but REAL clowns. That's not make-up, that's their real faces, their real clothes, and their not acting. They are bumbling loveable people trying to live their lives.

That card from my son stuck in my head for months. From it mutated a story about Clowns being the ones who were threatened and scared. Clowns who are terrified and terrorised. In order to write "All the Clowns in Clowntown" I immersed myself in Clowndom - I learnt to juggle, I listened to circus marches, I learnt the old routines and gags, and I wore a funny wig and a red nose while I wrote. I drove my family mad! And when I was finished, very happy with my story, I apologied to my family and said I wouldn't do anything that freaky again...

Unfortunately the Clowns of Clowntown had other ideas. They revisit me frequently. They tell me tales of their town that I have an obligation to put down into words. I love my clowns, and I love writing about them. I don't think they'll be leaving me anytime too soon :)

Hats: I was never really a hat person, so it is a bit strange to me that I've become known as "The Guy with the Hat". At a recent con a well-known and respected Australian author was looking for me to thank me for a review I had written of her latest novel. When she asked around the con who and where I was, she was invariably given the answer - "Look for the guy in the hat". Apparently, it made finding me very easy.

I've never liked hats before I picked up an old fedora a few years ago. I don't know why, but I tried it on. It fit. And, it felt good. I wore it for about 9mths and got strange looks wherever I went - who wears old hats like that these days? Who does he think he is? Phillip Marlowe? But then, everyone started selling and wearing fedoras - even KMart and Target sell them! So, I was a bit annoyed at 'my thing' being taken by so many other people. I stopped wearing my fedora because it no longer made me different.

Then, one day in an old 2nd hand shop, I saw a bowler hat (or Derby for you US readers). I hadn't seen anyone wear a bowler since the days of Laurel and Hardie. It looked silly on the rack, very old fashioned. But, I put it on and looked in the store mirror. It fit perfectly, like it was meant to be on my head. I bought it and haven't looked back since. So, if you're looking for me at a con, just look for the smooth black curves of a bowler hat drifting through the crowds and you'll find me.

Only problem is... I'm starting to see bowlers everywhere these days too! In fashion mags and the like. They haven't hit the stores yet, at least not in the way fedoras did, but it looks like it is heading that way. I'll no longer be different! I'll have to find a new hat! Maybe an old naval tricorn hat? I doubt too many others will pick that up as a fashion statement.