Tumultuous Sea

It's the end of September; fall is finally upon us. I can't wait for the leafs to turn red, orange and yellow. To go for long walks in the park and smell the trees. The cool cloudless days are my favorite. Or the rainy days when you don't have to leave the house. Wearing multiple layers of clothing and knitwear, scarfs and boots. Eating pumpkin and putting cinnamon in everything. Listening to my favorite kind of music; the kind that sounds like it has been written and recorded in a winter cabin up in the mountains. I find it pretty funny that the guy behind Radical Face, who makes ultimate fall/winter music, lives in Florida where it is always summer.

A certain weight has been lifted off my shoulders since I finished studying. I'm only realizing it now that fall is here. A time I used to spend at the academy. Where I would have the hunting feeling that there is always something I should to be working on, that you're never finished. Like waves keep crashing in on you, overflowing your mind. Now, with two jobs and some assignments on the side, I'm busier then ever. There is just less pressure and more time to breathe and think once I get home. Sure, I'm pretty beat after working six days in a row. But I don't have to feel guilty when I'm spending my evening on the couch afterwards. Days off are also more precious now. Studying is something you take home with you, while at work you can just shut the door and leave at the end of the day. Besides, I know what I'm working for, the goal is clear and slowly coming closer.

The creative waves are rolling in again and now I'm ready to roll with them.

For the sake of the song

To me, music is one of the most powerful art-forms. The emotional effect it can have, the way a song gets stuck in your head or how you associate an album or a song with certain events in your life. If I had the talent I would be a musician myself. Instead I decided to become a graphic designer. In a way I do treat my designs as if I'm writing a song. Songs often create a world on their own and that's what I like to do with my work as well.

My friend Matthijs van der Ven has this really great project Onder Invloed (dutch for under the influence). He records sessions with musicians covering their favorite songs. Not long ago he released a magazine with interviews and essays from some of the important people around this project. One of the essays (by Mathijs Leeuwis) has since then been stuck in my head. Especially these words: "Why do I never write about the places I live in? If I could I would keep on driving to Tecumseh. Only because someone [Townes van Zandt] wrote a song about it."

I can relate to this feeling Mathijs is talking about all too well. Because this is probably how the longing for Canada started; with music. Those who sing about the land of my dreams. The place that inspires them to create such beautiful sounds and striking words, must be a paradise. And there is just something about Canadian music; It sounds like everything that I have longed for, everything that is not here. With my love for the music grew my desire for that place.

At quite a young age I was already searching for my own sound. The music I heard around me wasn't really what I wanted to hear. Especially typical Dutch music has never had my interest. The Dutch musicians that I do like doesn't seem to be inspired by the places they live in. Maybe they also have this feeling of reversed homesickness?