Hi Friends.
April is bringing some new energy this way. I can't seem to focus on anything that has already happened – my mind is wrapped up in only the new. My tear ducts have dried up. What is gone is gone, and maybe there's even something beautiful about that. Like my friend said to me once in the wee hours of the night while sitting around the campfire: "the Fire itself calls out every moment, embodying the fleetingness of every moment... CHANGE! CHANGE! CHANGE! CHANGE!"
What would happen if you only gave your energy to that which entranced you towards the new in your life? What if you left the window cracked at night, and eros happened to slip in? What would happen if you unlocked a few doors that have been tightly shuttered for months, perhaps a year, perhaps longer than that...?
This month's offerings are about the energy of fire within the now: Instinct. Creative Process. Beginnings. Our callings to fight, flight, or getting your freak on, as the saying goes.
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A smattering of tunes new(ish) to me, plus ones I listened to in high school when being-ness felt continuously emergent. Meant to inspire deep kitchen cleanings, climbing trees higher than feels advisable, and long nights in the studio. Remember: Art first, think later.
Artist Nathaniel Mary Quinn is featured in a video – c/o Gagosian Quarterly – making a painting and talking us through the process of arriving in the work. An old friend shared this with me recently, and I'm passing it on because it's pure process gold.
What do you get when one multi-hyphenate artist interviews another multi-hyphenate artist, they are both Scorpios born 1 day apart on the calendar year, each is a musical genius in their own right but together they share passion for keeping things FRESH? The first episode of Adam Schatz's new podcast, LANDLADYLAND ♡♡♡ Adam – aka the musical manifestor behind the band LANDLADY – interviews Billy Martin: visual artist, educator, and drummer for the well-loved jazz-funk trio Medeski, Martin, & Wood. In keeping with my recent penchant for dusting off tunes I listened to in high school (hello '90s vibes), this coincidence was just too kismet. What's more, the conversation Adam & Billy proceeded to share (as well as the delightful musical and narrative interludes – and that's all I'll say about that) brought me back to the utter romance of falling in love with music as a young person. So: If you're a musician, or a musicophile, or an audiophile of any kind, please have a listen and let your heart wander back to the early days when music first found it's way in. Plus, the sound design is next level. Link to listen to this inaugural episode of the LANDLADYLAND podcast is HERE – and if you like what you hear and want to know what the multi-hyphenate thing is all about, maybe check out Adam's newly released album LANDLADY, or peruse his recent piece in the NYT.
Around this time last year, during the first months of lockdown, I was commissioned to make a film. DOMICILE is what emerged: an experimental musical documentary – AKA a new-to-the-world film genre – exploring creative process and motherhood. Without trying to make parenting palatable or sexy, the film looks at the relentlessness of motherhood, the restlessness of the creative spirit, the intersections of these energies and what happens in the cracks when you feel that nothing is possible at all. When DOMICILE was released I felt like it was something no one would ever want to see, and even though it received scathing reviews this work still has a special space in my heart. Check it out on FRIEND ENERGIES IGtv if you want the ability to fast-forward or skip around (possibly advisable); otherwise, it's now viewable in its entirety on the FRIEND ENERGIES website – link below (& make sure to turn on the sound ♡♡♡). And lastly: blessings to all of you full-time caregivers out there who also find it within you to wake and make, every day.
Wishing for all of you some moments of clarity, explosion, restlessness, recovery,
and new beginnings this month. Time to tune the inner
fiddle to the wildness of spring.
~ Caitlin ~