By M.Sebastian Araujo

As the cranberry bogs begin to fill with autumns deliciousness and we all begin to head indoors once again,creativity is still surrounding us.To me there is nothing more creatively surrounding than music…Recently I had the chance to find out how the groovy music of Anne Stott is created…..

What in this CRAZY World around us affects your Creativity?

 Everything.  But in particular the fact that the world is so crazy and yet has some kind of syncopated asymmetrical order to it.  Of course our “developed” technical culture has taken that paradox to surreal extremes.  But I digress. All the work I’ve made is informed by everything I’ve seen or felt.  If I’ve done my job right that is.   

 What changes do you see in the music scene these days?

The music world is full of changes right?  The record labels are a dying empire (though they are holding on hard), internet streaming is undercutting musicians pay by about 1000%, our experience of live music is changing all the time.  In a way the doors have blown open because anyone can make music and throw it up on the internet.  On the other hand, people’s lives are so saturated with (often useless) information that reaching people on the internet or finding the people who will dig what you do is a challenge to say the least.  The most positive change I’ve seen in the last two years is the development of a new kind of crowd funding where music fans can support their preferred artists on an ongoing basis.  Some artists start subscription services where people can give per month, but i have just started a Patreon campaign where people can support me per music video I make.  Just like Kickstarter or Indiegogo you can give at different levels and get bonus cool rewards but we have an ongoing connection rather than just raising money for one big thing.  Here’s my patron page (yes, this has descended into a shameless plug): https://www.patreon.com/theannestott?ty=h

What in your daily  Life  inspires your work?

Other artists of any medium making their work.Last week I saw Time Out of Mind, the new film by Oren Moverman with songs by Billy Hough.  When an artist can take something as painful and difficult as homelessness and make a beautiful uncompromising film then I want to go home and make more work.  And it doesn’t have to be a whole film or even an entire painting or song.  It can be one line on a canvas or one section of a photograph or one sentence in a  book.  Just a little touch of an artist reaching for the magic can help me reach again.

CLICK Here to See Anne’s Video

What makes people tap their toes and want to sing along with Music? 

I don’t know. There have been mountains of research on this.  Some people say that it starts with the beating of our hearts.  Others say we’re trying to imitate the birds.  I know that when I sing or move to a rhythm it changes how I feel and I like that.  The really interesting part is different tastes in music.  Why do some people need the heavy metal experience and others can only stomach classical.  What gives me ear fatigue might feed another person’s soul.  I find Indian chanting (kirtan) incredibly moving and powerful, but some people find it boring and annoying.  Of course some of this is culturally informed, but not all of it.  No one in my life was playing Indian chanting when I was growing up.  I think almost everyone loves music; the vibration is a direct hit to our hearts.  But which music and whose hearts?

Was there a  “shining lightbulb” moment in your career when you realized that you were an artist? If so what was it?

 I think my bulb was on a dimmer and has turned up ever so slowly over a long period of time.  There have been many milestones along the way.  It’s funny, when I first started making music again, I was very concerned with whether or not I was an artist or a writer or a performer.  What to call what I was doing.  The longer and more that I just make my work, it doesn’t really matter what people consider me or even what I consider myself.  It just matters that I keep making the work, whatever that might be.  So, the shedding of the need to be seen as an artist or to prove that I’m an artist was probably as important a development as any other.  It helped free my work from agendas and allowed it to just be.

What is it about Ptown that keeps you and other creative?

It’s hard not to sound cliched, but the light and the water are, well, they’re just more.  And we live on the edge physically which can encourage exploring the edge creatively.  Even with the economic and cultural challenges that the town is facing, there is a freedom here that is unique.  If an artist comes here with a desire to go further than they’ve gone before, this town will support that effort.  I say this in spite of the fact that I’m a musician and I don’t really consider this a live music town.  There are great musicians whom I admire living and working here, but the most predominant creative communities here are visual, for all the obvious reasons.  And yet, I still feel when i sit down to write that I’m getting a little extra help from the surroundings.  That the forces are aligned here for exploration

Click Here to See Anne’s Video.

As You Begin to settle in for the Cooler Days ahead have a peek here to find out more about Anne and her Amazing Music Here: http://www.annestott.com/

 Creativity is Alive and Well and Ptown is the place to go and seek it out…The cooler days will inspire  in so many different ways. Keep Warm,and remember to LOVE one another after all that is the best Creative Force of All!