BRINGIN' IT HOME
Sep 1, 2004 12:00 PM, The Remix Editors, Robert Hanson Erin Hutton Kylee Swenson
Home: The very idea can be either comforting or panic-inducing — or sometimes both at once. I, Erin, grew up in a small Midwestern town, home of cows, corn and a fairly narrow world view. And I could not wait to get out. Like many land-locked in the center of the country, all I ever wanted as a teen was something better, bigger, different. And even though I successfully escaped to start something new on the left coast, I've never been completely comfortable with the distance from my family, the climate differences or the culinary fusion. Because this isn't home. Home is where I lost my first tooth, mowed countless lawns and learned how to drive.
Whether I like it or not, that little town in Illinois formed my roots and nurtured the person, writer and editor I've become. Does that mean I'll ever move back? Probably not. (Check with me in a few years when I'm trying to buy a house.) But it does mean that a certain map coordinate helped shape my sense of identity, which I will use as a frame of reference for all of my creative output from here on out. Similarly, hometown locations have an undeniable effect on musical roots, from the Latin leanings of Miami to the technocentricity of Detroit to the urban allegiance of Atlanta.
Indeed, one of the most fertile musical breeding grounds is New York, and some of its most loyal native sons are this month's cover stars, Beastie Boys. Since they first emerged in the early '80s, Adrock, MCA and Mike D have worn their New York identity like a family crest. And even though they've pretty much taken over the world musically, they continue to make their home (mostly) and their music in New York. Their latest release, To the 5 Boroughs (Capitol, 2004), is an unmistakable homage to the city, further cementing that pride: Beastie Boys know where they came from, and they're not about to let anyone forget it.
And just as New York has spawned scores of sounds and artists, Bristol, England, has also produced its share of musical greats. Thanks to Massive Attack, Portishead and Tricky, the Bristol sound blew up in the mid-'90s, and one of the iconic voices from that time was Tricky vocalist Martina Topley-Bird. Since leaving the Tricky camp, Topley-Bird has sought her own musical path. Nevertheless, that creative partnership with Tricky figures into her solo debut, Anything (Palm Pictures, 2004), and echoes of her Bristol roots remain. But Bristol is about more than trip-hop and dark atmospherics, as Way Out West has shown for the past decade. With a progressive-house bent, Jody Wisternoff and Nick Warren have produced music outside of the typical Bristol-sound umbrella, but they've been able to do so within the context of a musically rich and nurturing location.
No matter where you come from, unavoidable environmental factors form a foundation from which you build the rest of your life — whether you live in a town with one stoplight or a bustling metropolis. In your creative efforts, use those experiences to add a richness and complexity to your work. Even if the music you are making is a reaction against what you were brought up with, a relationship exists there, and it's one worth exploring. If you choose to champion your roots, that's great, too. But in the end, the advice that's most often given to aspiring literary students works for musicians, as well: Write what you know.
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