Whether you’re part of a collaborative, in a band, an artist or even a musician, it’s impossible to deny that creativity does not happen in a vacuum.
Creativity takes your environmental influences, preferences, tastes and experiences and combines them to birth new and interesting music and art. This creativity then becomes someone else’s influence… and so the cycle of creativity continues.
The inspiration behind ANONA is that creativity compounds; that it builds upon itself in a way that non-artists along with artists spark endless flair within each other.
Art inspires music. Music inspires art. Inspiration does not strike in a vacuum, it comes from the creativity that occurs around us, and subconsciously feeds into our psyche, inspiring us to interpret in our own way.
1. Music Inspiring Music
Some of the most popular songs you know borrow their creativity from other songs. Here are a list of original songs followed by their variation.
Original Version: Straight to Hell — The clash . Listen on YouTube
… Used By: Paper Planes — M.I.A. Listen on YouTube
Original Version: Move On Up — Curtis Mayfield. Listen on YouTube
… Used By: Touch the Sky — Kanye West. Listen on YouTube
Original Version: Eleanor Rigby — The Beatles. Listen on YouTube
… Used By: Dope Boys — The Game. Listen on YouTube
As you can see, Artists throughout time have built on the music of others, adding their personal touch and style to it.
Collaboration between artists enhances this creative process. The creativity might start with artists sending other artists their ideas, stems, a capellas and/or beats. However, creativity doesn’t have to stop at music… it can continue to evolve. For example, Wait has seen it both reproduced and rearranged into diverse versions multiple times since its release, such as Wait (Shiver). Creativity here is endless. While one artist may want to create an acoustic version of a song, another may want to create a dance version.
2. Music Inspiring Art
Music has inspired art and had artistic portals of its music in many ways…
(i) The portrayal and celebration of Amy Winehouse’s music and life through the documentary ‘Amy’ created a fascinating insight into the person behind her music, and how it was a reflection of her most inner thoughts.
(ii) The artistic and insightful film about Woodstock which made us realize that music isn’t just about hearing, it’s about seeing it, and understanding more of the personalities behind the music. Woodstock itself was a creation that was built on art.
(iii) The timeless musical by Ben Elton, ‘We Will Rock You’, along with the on-stage production of Queen tells the story of a rebellious group of Bohemians who struggle to restore the free exchange of thought and fashion, and live through music in a distant future where everyone dresses, thinks and acts as one.
The audio and visual collaboration of Melt began when a talented director was inspired by a song. He brought in other dancers and expressed his vision and impression of the song through an artistic music video. “Music always tells a story, but sometimes to really share your apparition of that story, you need to show others so they can see it with their own eyes, and that’s what I tried to create with Melt” he stated. The result was clear… a majestic artistic expression of the music that nobody envisioned before his interpretation.
3. Art Inspiring Music
Art comes in many forms and music has been created to support art since the beginning. I mean, can you imagine a movie without musical scoring? Awkward.
Sweet Girlfriend O’ Mine? Well almost. An example of art inspiring music is the story behind the Guns N’ Roses song “Sweet Child O’ Mine” which was originally a poem penned by Axl Rose. He wrote this for his-then girlfriend, which subsequently went on to become the song “Sweet Child O’ Mine” that won the hearts of music lovers worldwide. Whilst the band thought its release would go down as a joke, the rest of the world didn’t see it that way. Who knew a soppy poem would turn into one of the most famous songs of all time? This is a perfect an example of creativity inspiring music.
Evil Mice, the Ballet and Christmas Eve. What? You didn’t read that wrong. Tchaikovsky’s famous ballet ‘The Nutcracker’ is based on Hoffmann’s fantasy story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King about a girl who befriends a nutcracker that comes to life on Christmas Eve, and then wages a battle against the evil Mouse King. Inspired by the story, Tchaikovsky wrote the music to the story and set it to stage.
The song Not Enough was inspired by a lover’s concern and how they felt “not enough” to make their romantic partner happy. Musicians in the ANONA community took this story and created a powerful song to capture the struggle people often go through whilst in a relationship. In true ANONA fashion, a group of video creatives have since taken the song’s story and set about creating a studio artistic music video (releasing early 2021) to showcase the story, further demonstrating how creativity continues to develop upon itself.
4. Art Inspiring Art
Many acts have gone from music, to musical, to film, to documentary to book. The cycle of art inspiring art continues. Not only is each artist’s expression and interpretation insightful to see, but many have gone on to define an era.
Look at ‘Grease’, from its original 1971 musical, there has been numerous renditions in film, TV, on stage and in song which portrays the 1950’s in America. Working-class youth subculture trying to navigate the complexities of peer pressure, politics, personal core values, and love.
Before Robin Thicke’s Blurred Lines, Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer’ was at the centre of one of the biggest scandals music had seen at the time. Whilst controversial, due to the video’s mash up of sex, race, and anti-religious imagery (the Vatican even condemned the video while PEPSI banned an advert featuring Madonna). It represented art that it stood for something. When so many musicians play it safe, ‘Like A Prayer’ perfectly symbolises the fearlessness that art can and should represent.
As mentioned earlier, Melt is making waves in the artistic community, and plans are now going ahead to stage a live dance and performance of Melt in various places, such as in abandoned places, fields and even the Nevada Desert! Watch this space.
The ‘ah ha’ moment is that true creativity doesn’t have to start with one thing or another, by its very nature is volatile and often unforeseen, and it happens in the most unexpected places or through the most unanticipated events. But, whatever form of art that it manifests itself in, it needn’t be the end, it should be the beginning, and continue to inspire different works of art in various forms in endlessness. This is what the ANONA movement embodies. I started off by saying it’s impossible to deny that creativity does not happen in a vacuum, well now you know.
Thanks you to ANONA Collaborator @charlotte_bendkowski for your contribution to this article!
COLLABORATIVE MUSIC & ART IS CREATED WHEN LOTS OF TALENTED ARTISTS MAKE COOL THINGS TOGETHER. IF YOU LIKE THAT IDEA AND WANT TO GET INVOLVED OR FOLLOW ALONG… SHOOT NATHAN@ARTNONARTIST.COM A “HELLO” AND/OR CHECK OUT OUR WEBSITE BELOW 👇👇🏻👇🏽👇🏿
