Art vs. Craft

If you want to be in a good, successful band (or do anything in the world of music, really), it is vital to always keep clear in your mind the distinction between art and craft, and the role each plays.

We seem to be going through a period in which "art" (or "Art") is hip, popular stuff. Everybody likes to think they are artistic. Everybody likes for their kids to be artistic. It seems like now, more than at any other time in recent history, EVERYBODY is in a band, and lots of the people in bands like to talk about their Art. For Art is a Good Thing, and artists are cool.

But the thing that often gets glossed over is, behind every art and every great artist is CRAFT. Craft is the nuts and bolts of how things actually get done. Art informs WHAT. Craft is HOW.

Now, because Art is a Good Thing and artists are cool, people tend to focus more when they talk on Art than Craft. And in many, many cases, what should be considered Craft gets lumped into Art. This makes it easier for the purported artist. Art is something that springs from inside a person, and it's subjective. The most someone can say about an artistic offering is that it doesn't speak to them or they don't find it inspiring/impressive/attractive/interesting. So a purported artist can (and many do) toss out anything and call it art, and claim a certain amount of moral high ground and insulation from criticism: how can you denigrate my ART?!?! Craft, on the other hand, takes a lot of work and is objective. If you can't draw, can't write, can't play: it's obvious and everybody knows it, and the only way to get better is to work hard.

Unfortunately, the popular view of artists doesn't involve much hard work---thanks largely to melodramatic movies and TV shows and commercials, people have this vision of artists spending a lot of time sitting around, dressed on the cutting edge of fashion, thinking deep thoughts in their garrets and lofts (if urban) or on the porch of their stylishly-renovated farm house (if rural), or sitting in sidewalk cafes or on riverbanks with their pads or notebooks, sketching or writing lyrics or poetry with their coffee, after which they head out to the hippest clubs with their vaguely European boyfriends and girlfriends to drink resurrected 19th-century cocktails or absinthe. Actually, maybe they don't drink absinthe anymore, since it's legal to buy now.

Spending hours and days and years working and working and working to master a craft doesn't fit into that vision. Nobody would get excited about a life grinding away at the technical aspects of [art form X] in some dingy rathole while living on ramen noodles, or (worse yet!) working some soul-crushing (and unfashionable) day job, but something like that preceded, I think you will find, just about every deep-thoughts-in-the-garret scenario. Even then, I suspect that for the real artists, life continues to be working and working and working at the technical aspects of [art form X], even if it is done in the loft or farmhouse.

The thing to always remember is, any great ARTIST is also a master of his or her CRAFT. Mastering the craft of whatever medium one works in is how an artist effectively communicates his or her artistic vision to his or her audience. The greater the mastery of the craft, the larger the artistic vocabulary, and the more effectively, subtly, and/or powerfully one can put forth one's message.

There is a craft to everything you do to be a good musician and to be a good band. Playing the guitar/bass/drums/keyboards/etc. is a craft. Songwriting is a craft---this is one area that most often gets conflated into Art, but make no mistake, there is definitely a craft to songwriting---it's something you can work at and even get good at even if there is no bubbling fountain of Art inside you. Performing is also a craft. Recording is a craft. All these things can also rise to the level of Art, but, in each of these cases, through study and practice you can master the technical sides.

In my previous post, I drew a distinction between creative art and interpretive art. Creative art, based on my experiences, is something that just comes from inside you (or, if you prefer, through you) that an artist has to let out. Even staid, stolid people may occasionally have creative bursts, but certainly the really artistic people I've known and worked with just had it in them and they couldn't turn it off. For people like that, as noted, mastery of their craft makes it easier for them to more effectively communicate their artistic vision to their audience.

Interpretive art, on the other hand, requires a starting point, a place from which the interpretive artist can set off to make something new or better. Craft is absolutely indispensible to the interpretive artist. A creative artist may have an idea with enough merit that it can shine through weak implementation, and may get cut slack on that account, but an interpretive artist without the tools to effectively interpret brings nothing to the party.

Craft always serves art. There is no true art that won't benefit from improvements in craftsmanship. It is never an either/or, and it is never appropriate to excuse a lack of craft on the basis of art. Be aware of this tendency, be leery of those who do it, and try not to ever do it yourself. In the band context, it often comes in the form of "putting our own stamp on it" or "playing it our own way". A cover band is the classic example of interpretive art in music. Issues surrounding the philosophy of cover bands could (and probably will) provide multiple posts on their own, but for now, I'll just cite the tendency of some cover bands who deviate from the original or most popular arrangements of songs to claim that they do so as an exercise of interpretive artistic vision. In some cases, I readily acknowledge, this is true. But in many cases, this is an excuse for not having mastered their craft to the point of being able to play the original arrangement. Obviously, not everybody can play everything, particularly when just starting out, but it is a mistake verging on dishonesty to try to justify a lack of craft on the basis of "Art".

So, work to master your craft. Even if you don't have a strong artistic vision yourself, mastering the crafts of playing your instrument and performing will make you useful and desirable to other people putting bands together. If you do have an artistic vision, the greater your mastery of the crafts involved, the more effectively you will realize your vision and connect with your audience. Don't get bogged down with Art. Art will take care of itself. You can't control art, and you can't control an audience's reaction to art, but you can control your craft and you can improve at your craft. A useful general point to keep in mind in building and running a band (and, indeed, in life in general) is to work on what you can control. This is a good place to start.