THE MUSIC I DON’T TALK ABOUT ENOUGH...

> > > > >

Music make me lose control!

> > > > > Music make me lose control!

---

---

A lot of my creative process is musical. I very rarely paint in a vacuum. For a very long time I kept a list of all the songs I listened to while working on a piece, but eventually the pieces got larger and more complex and as the time spent on a work grew more and more I stopped keeping track of all the tracks. Painting I feel is all about rhythm and energy. Sometimes I feel like I could make a beat from the brushstrokes. But what happens when you take five from holding the brush?

In my hiatus from painting I found that the creative energy didn’t disappear, it just bubbled up more and more, and only made my frustration with myself worse and worse. It had to be channeled into something and that something I chose was music. I had played around with musical expression here and there in the past, but because visual art was more my strong suit, I never took the time to really hone any sharp skills as a musician. I figured, well, if I’m not creating visually I can at least create out loud.

Open mic performance of “Slide2Nite” by Big $pence | 1/11/23

Growing up in Atlanta, it’s almost inevitable for you to dabble in music at least once. As a kid I had cello lessons and learned how to play the bass guitar. I always had a fascination and interest in poetry and spoken word. I had friends in the city who sang and rapped and made beats. I even recorded and “released” an 8 song demo tape called QUARTER on my 25th birthday for fun, using the opportunity as an introduction to the recording process and experimenting with different sounds and songwriting styles. In my head, a lot of raw foundation was already there, it was just about taking it somewhere.

$pence · QUARTER (Dummy Mix)

Sometimes I feel like recording this demo was the toe in the water I needed to put the battery in my back to really develop a sound and a level of comfort with the music creation process. Over the span of two and a half years, I diverted the muscle I would normally put into painting into music and currently the end result of that effort is 350+ songs, demos, freestyles, verses, and hooks.

And I never talked about any of it. 

Outside of some of my closest friends and family, the majority of people in my life don’t even really know how much time I spend writing songs, or crafting hooks, or looking for instrumentals, or making album covers, or planning out music videos. Truth be told, some days I feel that as I’ve tried to legitimize myself more and more as a visual artist and turned my painting and drawing into more of a profession, the music has now become my main artistic release. 

So with all that said I’m going to be showcasing some of the music I’ve been channeling my artistic impulses into over the past 2-3 years. Get ready for some diverse sounds, some creative songwriting, and some nice visuals here and there. But at the end of the day, know that it’s all art.

Stay tuned.

Thank you.