Braving the Creative Dream with Wakey Wakey

Here on thoughtsofjustafan, as well as keeping you up to date with all things Alfie Boe, I like to bring you new music too.  I recently became aware of a band called Wakey Wakey although strictly speaking, the band consists of just New York based musician Michael Grubbs.  Why is he not simply called Michael Grubbs you ask?  Well, Michael made a conscious decision to let the music speak for itself and to also be part of a collective experience – there are many people on stage with him at concerts, they are not solo efforts.

Wakey Wakey are shortly to release a new EP, Homeless Poets, with a single and video of the same name (if this isn’t the coolest and cutest video you’ve seen this year, I don’t know what is):

As part of an interview with Michael, I asked him about the song and the constant illusions to bravery and he mentioned that he wrote it in response to the frustrations of “trying to exist in the world of musicians”.  In other words, the world is full of musicians who nearly made it or are just bubbling along below the surface of stardom (think Alfie for many years) and it’s a kind of bravery to keep on putting your music out there, hoping for a receptive audience.  As Michael says, it’s either “brave or stupid”.

This interview made me think about the comparisons between musical and other forms of creativity; it seems to me that whatever form your creativity comes in, there comes a point where you have to gather your courage and jump wholeheartedly into it.  All those years ago, Alfie Boe did just that when he left his garage job with TVR (come on, it’s been a while since we read that in an article!) and joined the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company and began his rather twisty road to fame and fortune.  Closer to home, a little while ago I took the plunge and began to write about something very dear to me and over two years down the line, Alfie himself reads my work.  It certainly seems to me that creativity is indeed a mixture of bravery and stupidity although infinitely rewarding (when it works).

This then led onto thinking about how I got to this point – what happened to make me take those first steps to realising my hopes and dreams, my goals.  The things that got me started were the desire and willingness to start, a receptive audience and the unstinting support of a mentor.  So then, of course, my thoughts turned to you, what are the things that you would like to achieve? Your goals, dreams, targets? Is there anything that you have always wanted to do but never had the chance?

Wakey Wakey’s EP, Homeless Poets is released on 25 September on The End Records.

 

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