BIG MUSIC – Will It Strike A Chord Inside Of You?

Spent much of these last weeks talking about our soon to be released new album, BIG MUSIC. The reaction from those who have heard it seems to be very positive, that is a nice feeling to experience on our part.

After all, you never know if listener’s are going to hear and feel the music as we do, while we are in the process of making it. Likewise, just because we are jumping up and down with excitement in relation to the final results of years of writing and recording work, does not mean that anyone else will. Far from it.

But that is the deal when you are an artist, or a performer on stage. Truth is, there is very little guarantee that anyone will give a damn about your work, or even turn up. That of course means you can get hurt quite badly, as many do.

The fact that people might have even heard or know of your works existence is miracle enough in these days where virtually everyone is struggling (time wise and otherwise) to keep up with the stuff that they fundamentally need to. That they like it as a result of hearing is almost unknowable. But that is the artists “lot”, and you will never hear me complain about it. I made my choice to do what I do and I accept (almost) all that goes with it.

My parents worked in heavy duty garment factories, and mud ladened construction sites respectively. That was “their lot” and they did it with full effort and pride. They did it for us – their kids. Their type of life was staring me in the face also. Unlike them though, I could never have made a success of it. And so, against all odds, I gambled on something else, something unimaginable really.

I gambled on being a successful artist, and along with my colleagues we work with that challenge almost everyday still. Why did I decide to do this? I like to think that I had a “calling” of sorts. I might only have been sixteen with no experience in anything, but somehow I felt the “BIG MUSIC” whispering to me, telling me I could write songs that people would want to hear. Was I nuts? Yes definitely. But brave with it.

So how do we work? That is the question that we are being asked always. Well, in relation to BIG MUSIC, given that that there is no (reliable) guidebook, manual, rules or regulations involved. I can only describe what we do as working through the heart, with trust, and with some great amount of love for the music. We don’t work with analysis when we create songs, and it would not make much sense either to observe too much of what others do. We would not know how to do what they do, and we can only work with what is inside of us – and our imagination. That is the source of all our material.

And that then is what you are hearing when you listen to BIG MUSIC. You are listening to what is inside of us, while hoping that it also strikes a chord inside of you. And if and when it does, you can believe me. There is no better feeling!

Jim Kerr

Image by Liam Warring