i was listening to John Cleese give a speech about creativity when i saw this. felt like it deserved a repost. An awkward person’s mantra, if you will

popdemon:

Album Review by Tami J

Introducing the San Marcos/ Austin area artist: Ryan Montalvo

Ryan Montalvo is a combination of rock/ alternative and acoustic/ blues. The 25 year old humorous, single male has given me the honor of having an early listen to his upcoming album Because I’m Here and I…

COVER SONGS

When you cover other people’s songs you learn things about yourself as a songwriter.

Personally, I’ve broken personal boundaries by covering songs. I’ve sung outside of my range, learned new chords and chord combinations, executed seemingly (to me) impossible guitar riffs, and uncovered the ability to address a situation or relationship from the past that I either wasn’t open to before or simply couldn’t articulate.

Also, when you cover a song you gain a much more sincere appreciation for the people who wrote it.

Try covering one of Adele’s songs and you’ll see what I mean.

-Ryan

LET SOME ARTISTS GO BY

A good habit I’ve developed over the years is watching an artist go by like Drake so I can listen to him later. Most of the time, I’ll wait a few years or at least when the artists buzz has gone down.

When I listen to people who are popular while they’re popular, I get a skewed opinion of whether I enjoy them or not.

The first time I really sat down and listened to an Incubus album was on the bus headed to class in 2010. I mean, I knew about the singles like “Drive” and “Megalomaniac” but I couldn’t even debate them with my friends. The truth was I had no real desire to buy their album, even though I knew it was going to be good. And the same goes for Drake.

I see the skill but lack the desire.

But when I finally did listen to Incubus I wasn’t weighed down by other people’s expectations of me having to say, “Yeah, dude. They’re the best!”

When you’re alone you can listen, form an opinion, and be honest without the fear of people biting your head off.

If you don’t want to dig albums up years later (actually, now I can just buy them in iTunes assuming musical robots don’t exist in 5 years) then try watching a new movie in a room by yourself or taking a car ride with a new album and really listening to it.

The new “Planet of the Apes” movie was ruined for me when everybody started laughing at the pivotal moment for Caesar in the movie (I promise that wasn’t a spoiler.)

Also, after watching the closing speech in “No Country for Old Men” I was taken aback by the brilliant wording and performance by Tommy Lee Jones of what sounded like came straight out of Cormac McCarthy’s book.

When the credits started rolling, my father stood up and said, “Boooooooriiiiiiing.” A small but never the less existing blemish on the film for me from now on.

So next time a sensational artist arrives on the scene try to not to get caught up in all the lights and noise. Give it a day, week, month, or half a decade. Because immediacy is a good way to lose your musical taste buds.

-Ryan

CONFIDENCE

Wanna’ hear a secret?

In the beginning, nobody’s confident.

Confidence, like anything else, takes practice. My advice to other people stressing about being confident:

Fake it.

 (Prepare for a story below. If you want to go get a drink and come back, I understand.)

My freshman year of college I took a speech class where we were required to give 4 speeches throughout the semester. 

The guy who sat next to me that semester was this huge guy. He always looked mad and hardly ever talked to me aside from asking to borrow a pencil every once in a while.

When the first day of speeches came I was a wreck. I was shaking and ready to walk out. Anyhow, the class started and it just so happened the guy sitting next to me was up first.

He stood, no fear, walked to the front, gave his speech and sat back down like it was nothing. His presence in front of the class made me all the more nervous. Amidst my nerve ridden delirium, he leaned over to me and said, “How’d I do? Did I look nervous?”

I couldn’t believe it. This huge dude who seemed like he didn’t care about what anybody thought was nervous just like me. His voice even went up an octave when he asked me how he did. And I honestly couldn’t tell he was nervous from where I was. He seemed like the most confident person in the room when he was up there.

The point is that people hardly notice if you fake it well enough. You have to reason with yourself. If you’re in class about to give a speech then chances are everybody else is too. They’re not worried about you. They’re worried about taming their own nerves.

Also, most audiences that go to hear live music are forgiving and want you to do well. Especially if you get to the level where they pay to see you.

So keep that advice in your pocket next time you get on stage or in front of a room full of people and feel the flitter of stage butterflies in your stomach.

-Ryan

“Nightcall” by Kavinsky — (COVER) This is not my song. I simply did a cover of it.

OVEREXPOSURE

Simple rule of thumb:

1. Unless you’re famous, you’re not overexposed

-Ryan

For some reason, these clouds look devastatingly handsome. 

CHANGING UP YOUR STYLE

A large part of our style as artists comes from two things:

1. Our failure to accurately imitate those we look up to

2. Our technical inability’s which serve as limitations

I always hear people say they’re changing their style up and when I hear their music it sounds the exact same as before.

The way to truly change up your style is to practice and learn new techniques. When we expand our range we can explore new artistic territory.

Another great way to freshen up your style is to listen to music from a genre you wouldn’t ordinarily listen to. For years I listened to mostly rock and hardcore. So when I found out about Bjork my style began to change overnight.

Also, a common misconception with changing up your style is doing something COMPLETELY different. That’s not what I’m saying at all.

I’m saying listen to new music, take the concepts you enjoy and work them into your songs. After I heard “Joga” for the first time I didn’t start singing like Bjork but I did notice my tendencies had changed a bit.

I’m sure if I attempted to replicate a Bjork song it would turn out the same way as if anybody else tried…

Un-Bjork-like

-Ryan

A new track I wrote without any drums on it. Just testing out new stuff