Collaborating on a Different Level
I get obsessed with songs.
It's a secret factoid about me. I get a song stuck in my head and I listen to it all day on Spotify. Then I look up different variations of the song on YouTube; live versions; covers; acoustics; dance routines; you name it! On a recent musical binge of James Bay's "Let it Go" I came across a duet he did with Ed Sheeran.
You can stop and watch it if you want. Go ahead I'll wait...
When I watched it I saw something... unintentional and down right magical. Here's what ran through my mind:
- James Bay has this song.
- He invites his friend to come and sing it with him. As Ed enters the stage you can begin to feel the magic. Something special is going to happen.
- James sings his verse, like here, check this out, here's what I've done with this...
- Then Ed sings the next verse, he Takes what James has written, sings it with his flare and style and adds another dimension to the song.
This is the point that gets me.
The look on Jame's face while Ed's singing is priceless. He can hear the magic and he gets excited about it. He is witnessing the evolution of his song come out of someone else's mind and mouth. It's a turning point in the performance. A moment that could not be produced without the two of them being together on that stage.
Musicians do this all the time. I loving hearing the stories of how certain songs were made. How artists would stay in the studio all night, rocking out, vibing off of each other. Those moments couldn't be made without them physically being together in collaboration.
Which brings me to the point of this post. What would this look like if we replaced Musician with Designer, Artist, Photographer, etc? What sort of magic could happen when you get four, five, six other creatives around a computer to work on the project that's on your list or sitting in your sketch book. Like Musicians who sit in the studio all night drinking, playing beats, telling stories, writing songs, performing and making something special, I think Northwest Indiana creatives should get together and do the same.
The night would be:
1. Bring your flash drive with your project
2. Meet at a cool space with a select group of creatives, people you respect creatively I might add
3. Throw your files up on the screen, explain your challenges, road blocks and goals/objectives
4. Everyone weighs in, gives ideas, shows you how to do it right on the spot.
5. Workout the issues on the spot; does variations in the moment.
6. All the focus, time and attention on one persons project with the main goal of creating magic. No egos, no hard feelings, just pure, positive and constructive feedback and assistance to reaching the ultimate goal of the project.
Imagine what that could do for a person in a slump? Someone that works alone all the time with no one to bounce ideas off of.
I believe it could have the same impact that Musicians benefit from when they collaborate.
Do you do this with a close group of friends already? I'd love to hear about how you work it. Would you be interested in doing this? I think it can't be such a planned thing or else it will never happen. I live in the moment and could totally see me reaching out to a couple people and say tomorrow we are doing this (don't put it past me). (my current obsession)
Let me know what you think in the comments below.