Jack Peat talks to three people that have achieved remarkable things in their respective industries for the love of their art.
We live in a world of underground talent. A world of street food, pub music, pop-up art and independent film. The nucleus of creativity – originality, imagination and stimulation through novel, varied, and complex ideas – is most often seen at a seed level, yet all too often the barometer of success is fame.
Fame is the middle ground of society; something that appeals to a lot of people at different levels. The generic reproduction of established brands and genres is a talent unto itself, but it isn’t necessarily a good representation of creativity. Fame also breeds fame – whether that be a band that releases several records or a piece of art that inspires a generation – which also means the general public is being fed themes, rather than creativeness.
My hero, Louis L’Amour, said that if a writer wrote for any other reason than the love of writing, chances are they are not worth reading. Robert E. Franken said “in order to be creative, you need to be able to view things in new ways or from a different perspective. Among other things, you need to be able to generate new possibilities or new alternatives.” To unearth what drives our underground talent, I’ve spoke to three creatives who have achieved remarkable things in their respective industries, all for the love of their art.
The Creatives
Jo Little is an artist and my housemate. Our living room is littered with paintings that could very well be mistaken for prints, each immaculately detailed and brilliantly vibrant. James Wall is a Leeds-based filmmaker who has an admirable passion for his art. Dedicated and resourceful, he has recently produced a feature film singlehandedly, from the script to the final cut. Finally, Simon Elvin is a musician and among my very best friends. He has a truly enlightened mind and an incredible ability to weave thought provoking ideas into harmonious records. All of these individuals are the epitome of creativeness, and offer ideal insights into the world of underground art, and what drives the people within it.
The Artist: Jo Little
Art can be a gateway into our subconscious and a passage away from reality. Like driving a car, many people paint or draw without thinking, finding therapeutic qualities in spending hours on end immersed in a canvas.
“I paint because it focuses me,” Little says. “There is nothing else that can hold my attention, clear my mind or make me look at things from the angle that my artwork does. I see beauty in detail, in light and in perspective and I can spend hours creating my interpretation of an image.”
Like many art forms, paintings have a wonderful way of drawing disparate interpretations from the people that view them. The same paint on the same canvas can evoke nostalgia through the eyes of one person and melancholy through the eyes of another. But for the painter, there is an attachment that builds through feelings of their own.
“I am happy with any recognition. I shamelessly thrive on recognition and love my friend’s enjoyment of my work. I feel each piece has been appreciated when I get nice comments. The difference with me is the level of sentiment I feel to them, thus making them hard to give away regardless of any financial gain,” Little explains.
The Filmmaker: James Wall
Filmmaking was once the preserve of a handful of lucky people. Today, it still requires a huge amount of effort to work independently, but new technology has democratised the ability to bring ideas into motion.
“The Truth About Romance isn’t just a film, it’s a project; it’s one person using passion and determination to start a career. And if I can do this then other filmmakers can. I want to convey independence,” Wall says.
Many people dream of making movies, but the reality is nobody is going to give an unproven filmmaker money to make a film. As an independent producer, Wall says finding the time to commit to such a mammoth project is the most daunting aspect, most of which is often dedicated to the least glamorous aspects, such as post-production. Project management is also a giant task, and Wall had to contend with two actresses and two locations pulling out before filming.
“I laid on my bed, head smothered in my pillow thinking “how can I pull this off?” That’s when I realised that everybody else was thinking the same thing and only I could make it happen.”
But what drove him to succeed, and what aspirations are driving his relentless work ethic? For Wall, entertaining a wide audience and making enough money to live would be a dream, but he’s determined to do much more than that. “I believe you’ve got to have big dreams and set yourself goals. Every day is an opportunity to move forward,” which is a widespread mindset among the most talented people.
The Music Man: Simon Elvin
Music, like art and filmmaking, is something everybody seems to have an opinion on, but very few people have the courage to try for themselves. Those who do try are confronted barrage of scathing reviews, public condescension at live venues and the vein hope that the right pair of ears will appear at the right time to give you distribution channels to the wider public.
“For me producing creative music is about perseverance and vision of the finished piece,” Elvin says. “Sometimes an idea might not work straight away, but if you know how you want it to sound once it’s finished and you have the patience to persevere and not give up on an idea if it isn’t working straight away then eventually you can find a little interesting direction to grab onto. Then a lot of the time that kicks off a snowball effect of ideas and creativity.”
Elvin is the singer, songwriter, guitarist, recording artist and producer of Return to Aljustrel, who have recently released a timeless record in ‘Tell the People I’m Not Coming Down’. He says the whole writing, recording and release of the album was a case of perseverance and belief that what they were working towards would come off, and their ideas would all ultimately come together.
But as long as making music is a living, rather than an occupation, the time and processes involved with being a recording artist can be daunting. It can be none stop nagging, emailing, arse licking, tweeting, facebooking and it can become an obsession that ultimately leads to disappointment, Elvin says, adding: “I continue to persevere with the band and with writing because I love making music.”
Like all underground creatives, success is a term best measured by personal accomplishment, rather than widespread recognition that what you are doing is good. There are certainly things that help along the road, such as a compliment or a purchase, but most people are creative for the love of their art.
“I don’t really know what ‘making it’ would be,” Elvin says. “I think there are many levels of ‘it’ to which you may aspire to reach, but once you’re on that level you can feel as though you haven’t made it. There’s hundreds of bands and artists that have headlined festivals, sold 1000′s of albums and had their moment in the sun – doing what most local level bands dream of – who will still feel they haven’t ‘made it’ to where they want to be.”
By Jack Peat.
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