Finding Musical Inspiration

I have often been asked about where I find musical inspiration for my songs.  It is a simple enough question, but the answer is quite complex.

As an artist, I am keenly in tune with myself, and my surroundings.  In order to create the beautiful melodies you’ll hear on my albums, I literally envelope myself in nature, enjoying hiking, camping, skiing and spending time with family and friends.  I enjoy traveling, and I also allow myself just to “be,” accepting the work that flows through the foundation of my soul.

Finding Musical Inspiration each and every day

Finding Musical Inspiration each and every day

A few months ago, I sat down with Karl Stober for an interview for JazzReview.  We explored my background, my passions and from where I am inspired to create the New World music you’ll hear on Seven Seas and River of Soul.

But before we get to the interview, please take a moment to enjoy Yeku from Seven Seas.

In his review, Mr. Strober described my work as follows:

Marcomé is in the non-traditionalist form as an artist. Her musical creations license emotions to run wild, with moods to embrace the most simplistic of moments, and feeling beyond what the heart allows. Her production is both philosophical and educational, for it takes the student of the art out of the text book and into the core of the craft. From start to finish, Marcomé’s work is an opus of intimacy!

I am always grateful for such high praise!  Certainly, my work is from the heart.  I only hope that you find as much pleasure in listening, as I have creating.

I am always finding musical inspiration (image from Per Ola Wiburg on Flickr)

I am always finding musical inspiration (image from Per Ola Wiburg on Flickr)

During our hour together, we discussed life, love, my travels, my creative process, and the wonderful people in my life.  I’d like to share some of my answers to Mr. Stober’s questions about finding musical inspiration.  If you want to read more, the entire interview is published here.

JazzReview: Help us explore where the origins come from for your music. From what experiences, feelings, and hopes do your creations evolve from?

Marcomé: There are many ways in which I compose new songs, yet one of my most inspirational moments is when I’m in motion, like when I’m traveling or running or riding my bike. I watch the horizon moving like a film in my head, the clouds in the sky with the sun shining through, the trees, the birds… I also start new songs in my studio by playing with sounds and voices. I love to improvise. When I invent a wordless song, I do it on the fly; I write it down once it has been sung to be able to harmonize it. At other times, I will start singing from my heart and follow gently the feeling, get into it and explore new horizons. I seldom start with a definite emotion, but that is more of an exception. Some of my songs seem to have come to me from elsewhere. It is as if I had not composed them myself. It is my impression that I have tapped into some kind of universal and invisible current, flowing through time and space. It is hard to explain. It is as if the songs were channeled through my body, my mind, my soul rather than created by me. “Memoria” is one of those songs. As I was singing Memoria, I was attracted to a world of Gregorian chant and Latin languages. Maybe it has to do with my childhood influences and experiences in churches I used to go to. The smell of incense, the sacred, the divine, the eternal, the remembrance and the reminiscences of the past!

JazzReview: In your 2007 release of River of Soul, the common link from the first recording is nature and the relationship within oneself. Was this a deliberate attempt to intertwine the two entities in your work?

Marcomé: My family has drawn me to nature early in my childhood. We lived in a big city and when we’d go to our little camp by the river, time would stop. Silence was the main word! Without knowing why, it would later become a necessity for me to go camping every summertime and to go outdoors every day of my life. I realize now that I use my relation to nature to connect with the infinite, the universal flow and to meditate and feel better.

River visits move me to create music (image from rahuldlucca on Flickr)

River visits move me to create music (image from rahuldlucca on Flickr)

JazzReview: “Meteora” is in relation to the stunning landscape in Central Greece. Describe the work that went into the production of the piece and how this concept was birthed.

Marcomé: I love traveling. I have had the chance to go to many different places around the world. A region of Greece called The Meteora inspired this song. The Meteora is an area in Thessaly where there are monasteries on the top of rock towers. It is said that the monks were seeking a retreat from the expanding Turkish occupation and found the inaccessible rock pillars to be an ideal refuge. In my studio, I have many postcards of all my trips on my piano and one day, looking at the Meteora picture, I imagined myself gliding in a delta plane way up in the sky, flying through the suspended monasteries, the heaven above, the Meteora… Funnily, the very first thing I drafted for this song is the bass line. I had been extensively listening to my many favorite records from my ECM collection and I was fascinated with bass players. I than started hearing in my head a bass line on which I sang the melody and the rest followed.

JazzReview: Talk about the interrelation of jazz into your music. How would you define jazz?

Marcomé: I love your question. When I was a teenager I had a period where I got to discover two important record collections that were the Decca Ethnic Series and the ECM collection. I would literally spend weeks with headphones discovering and exploring news musical sounds and textures. I later on had the opportunity to work on many Montreal Jazz Festivals and got to meet with Pastorius, Marsalis, Metheny, Lyle Mays, Scofield, Piazzola, Paco Delucia, Tony Levin and so many more. It impressed me with a sense of freedom, for jazz allows the use of free forms. When I listen to jazz music, there are so many possibilities to explore that it opens up the imaginary world almost infinitely. Also, the use of different scales and rhythms brings the creative process exponentials avenues. Jazz is freedom to me, and that’s why I love it!

Jazz influences my musical style (image from yngrich on Flickr)

Jazz influences my musical style (image from yngrich on Flickr)

JazzReview: Now for a bit of fun. Let’s talk on a personal note. What does Marcome’ spin when she is at home just being herself? If you could write and produce a song on five major world events, what would they be and the titles?

Marcomé: Ambient music, Jazz, Classic, Electronic, and Pop are essentially the kinds of music I listen to. Armstrong landing on the moon; I would call the track “Euphoria.” It’s one of my dreams to go out there to get to see the earth and touch this white rock. The passage of year 2000 and I would call the song “Everything is Possible.” I had a feeling that I was a small part in the long life of this universe! The Montreal Olympic Games of 1976. I was a teenager and was overwhelmed and inspired by Nadia Comaneci’s talent, she represented, for me at the time, a model to follow. I would create something more symphonic that could be called “Summum.” Mother Theresa, Nelson Mendala, Ghandi, Jesus… All these humans showed us to pursue our goals of unconditional love and perseverance. They show me everyday to be grateful and that anything is possible if you’re passionate and have strong beliefs. I would call a song for all of them, “The Tender Warriors.”

Now that you know about about where I find my music inspiration, perhaps my music will resonate more deeply with you.  And be sure to set aside time each day to find your own beauty in the moment.  You deserve it!

If you enjoyed this post, please be sure to check out Discover Marcome’s Music and New Age or Ambient?, Marcome’s Spiritual Music, My tricks to feel Good, Ethereal Voices, Treat your body like a temple, Discover Marcome’s musics.
Cool music quotes to share & enjoy, Fill your Soul with simple pleasures, Treat your body like a temple.

To see more music videos of Marcome visit my youtube channel.

Click here to preview more Marcome’s musics!

 

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