Do you ever stop and think about how it's only a recent thing that you don't need to be in the same room as a musician to hear music? There used to be people who functioned like the local jukebox, providing vibes for people before we had the luxury of ubiquitous recorded music. This addition of music was enough to bring people together through dance and the language of soul. A story told through song could be passed on for generations; music is an innate behavior.
Over time, new technology let us record this innate activity with greater and greater ease, and meanwhile it became commodified in a way which fills the pockets of wealthy elites on the backs of the artists who create the art. Now, we are living in times where monopolies are re-legalized (see, anti-trust laws of 1948-2020) and almost all venues over a certain size are subject to the rules and pipeline of one company. Crazy! So, naturally, as a digital native jukebox soul, I have dedicated myself to a music project that aims to encourage you, your passions, and cultivating third spaces to do fun human things.
When you find something online and it's free, they say, "nothing is truly free," and that is true. I am earning the privilege to do and (freely) share this innate human behavior (music) through my career as a filmmaker - or has the term become content creator? I am a cinematographer who's niche is music performances/documentary, lately I have been filming Morning Becomes Eclectic performances, I'm most proud that I have shot and produced a music video for St. Vincent, and I am not going to list everything from working the Super Bowl to ending up on Hayley Williams instagram as a hair model, because it will sound ridiculous - the point is that I am a really seasoned industry pro at only 27, and I put this same high-end professionalism into my self-made music factory. Sand Box is my collection of passions, with the goal of inspiring yours.
This is block party vibes - like, that fantastical situation where you hear music from down the street, wander in, and you meet all your neighbors at once in what feels like a lucid dream. That type of community is possible, we just have to be it and do it. When you own the means of audio production, you can conjure a community anywhere. It's actually almost funny how powerful something as simple as music can be at showing us how much we have in common.
Art has another side effect, which is helping us find our superpowers. Tapping into creativity is a spiritual act - and by spiritual, I mean, we use our non-physical bodies to navigate our way to conjure something physical. Cultivating this skill is an entire lifestyle, and living in your unique flow is key to a more harmonious universe.
This ebb and flow between inspiration, integration, and innovation is what fuels evolution. If we stunt our progress because we want to replicate others, we don't invite the space for something new and emergent to happen. Finding your unique path and staying true to it will let the magic unfold.
So some things are tried and true - music is innate. A compulsion towards progress is also innate. We have progressed ourselves to the point that the party usually happens via headphones, but I propose the radical idea that progress might look a little like getting back to the days of finding new ways to act out the living jukebox phenomena once again. Craving community is also innate.
With all this progress, I also promise that having the ability to use your brain and do something (anything) with your hands will always remain valuable. I personally think that human-made art will become "boutique" as we see machine-made art become the norm, so just stay the course.
I'm guilty of stunting my own progress in some ways - I am perfectly content with only my 4 walls hearing my music. I have achieved my dream of having a music room, I simply love the process, and it feels therapeutic to organize my noisy thoughts and feelings into songs, albums, and tangible things. I am coming to accept that sharing the songs and putting them out there is also a key step. So our music is freely available, and the live experiences will always be as close to free as possible, but all I am asking of you is your participation as an intentional listener.
Maybe you gave it an earnest try, but our music isn't for you - that's fine, you can give other indie artists this same attention. Maybe our shows aren't near you yet - there are local bands and artists near you who are on this mission too. Get outside and be a part of your community! Consuming art in this way, as a complete holistic experience, is like savoring a fine meal, and enriches your life in ways that simply go beyond words. Like eating, music is an innate behavior. Do you prefer over-processed, same as everything, intention-less music kibble, or artisanal, locally sourced, hand-made sounds?
Supporting and being local music is a grassroots movement, and this is a real action for making good change. I firmly believe that all we can really do is cultivate our unique slices of peace and do our best to grow, share, and overlap them in any ways possible. More on this concept coming very soon. Read books, live slow, and let your minds eye guide you - the universe will support you, if you let it.
Take down some of your mental barricades today and let your superpowers start to bloom, and if you want an album about helping cope with the experience of being a 5D phenomena in 3D world, give our album, "You're Hardly Here" a spin.
(Streamable on all platforms but of course linking you to bandcamp today)
LISTEN TO SAND BOX NOW ANYWHERE YOU STREAM, AND DON'T MISS ANYTHING BY SIGNING UP FOR OUR MAILING LISTÂ NOW!
Written by Kylie Hazzard
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