Comet Lovejoy
The Art Of Singing, The Joe Biden Photo, & Competing As A Creative
“When you’re not very good at singing...you have to be willing to sound like crap in order to make it sound good.”
- Ryan (Comet Lovejoy)
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Full Episode On YouTube
Intro
In this episode of Auxoro, Zach speaks with Ryan and Eric of the Delaware-based band, Comet Lovejoy. During their discussion, Ryan and Eric share insights into the creative process as a whole, the struggle of being an artist in the internet age, and how they plan to influence people with meaningful music. They focus on the DIY aesthetic and are passionate about sharing their knowledge and love with anyone who will listen.
Key Takeaways
How They Landed on “Comet Lovejoy”
Ryan likes comets because they are a natural thing, but they are also kind of mystical.
(5:30) “I like to think of it as the comet is personified.” - Ryan.
(9:10) “It’s a high and low thing being an artist. You have good days where you feel like you’re on top of the world, and other days where you’re just like ‘ugh.’” - Ryan.
The metaphor of sailing toward the sun...it works when talking about attempting success in the music industry.
What Does the Creative Process Look Like?
Individuals fall into their roles naturally.
(12:00) “It took Ryan some convincing to get me to join the band because I was just tired of it after being in a dozen bands since 2008.”- Eric.
They have something like a “five-stage filtration system” where everyone contributes layers to the creative process.
(18:00) “We all have blind spots when we’re doing anything creative...” - Ryan.
It’s pretty special to find a kind of unspoken chemistry.
It helps to give each member some autonomy over their respective instruments.
(24:00) “We just generally try to explore each other’s ideas.” - Ryan.
The Love Song to their Home State, “Delaware.”
(29:30) “Delaware is kind of being put on the map because of Joe Biden.” - Eric.
You don’t necessarily have to have a political thought when seeing a photo of a president.
There are dangers, however, with using political figures.
Aubrey Plaza is from Delaware?!
(36:00) “Do you think Coldplay is more well known, internationally, than the president?” - Ryan.
Comparing Competitive Spirits to the Creative Process
Playing baseball for years definitely left an imprint on Ryan.
(41:45) “I really had to unlearn the negative self-talk I’d taken on.” - Ryan.
In baseball, your worth is tied to your metrics. But musicality is much more subjective.
As a musician, you can’t determine your worth through data.
Trevor Bowers described himself as not being a happy person, which says a lot about what it’s like to be an extremely competitive person.
(46:00) “You don’t even celebrate if you do well as a competitive person.” - Eric.
(48:30) “People don’t stay the same when the lights come on.” - Zach.
Don’t let the way you perform inform how you treat other people.
You Can’t Judge an Artist’s Output as Any Reliable Metric
The context of the workflow means everything.
Comet has written as many as 40 songs together, but that’s thanks to their building relationships first.
They may need to embrace the single-release mode for now, or at least until they have built an audience eager for longer releases.
(1:02:28) “We learned that it’s just really hard to finish a song.” - Ryan.
(1:05:40) “I think it’s a bit romanticized, the idea of controlling all the writing and production processes yourself.” - Ryan.
Improving Your Craft as a Singer
It really helps to treat your singing seriously.
(1:10:00) “In order to get good, you have to be willing to sound like crap before you can sound better” - Ryan.
Having a bad voice doesn’t mean you’re a bad person.
(1:18:00) “We really just make music that we would want to listen to.” - Eric.
The vocal lessons that Ryan took in New York were huge for him.
(1:26:00) “Once you know the rules, you know where to break them.” - Ryan.
People who sing in a more realistic way can convey vulnerability in a more believable way.
We are so used to AutoTune that we often don’t know what organic vocals actually sound like.
Don’t be afraid to let your creative limitations inform your identity as an artist.
They want to conduct a studio tour to explain their philosophy.
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Stream Comet Lovejoy on Spotify
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