Slump (from Kenshi Yonezu's LINE Blog)
I've continued to make music for many years, but I frequently forget how to make it. I twist my neck thinking "this seems kinda wrong," and attempt to do the same procedure I did before, but it results in not finding anything that sticks, and ultimately crumpling up and discarding the half-finished song. I understand that something needs to change, but I lack the education and the stamina to determine the issue. I guess this is what's commonly referred to as a slump. Granted, at times I've been annoyed at myself for falling into such a thing, but I keep the bitterness down by viewing it as a necessary process to move toward better times. So I'm solemnly living out the days.
Lately, I've come to feel strongly that editing is essential to music. "Let it be primitive," "let it be impulsive" - this sort of "just-as-it-is doctrine" is one I'm skeptical of, and have always felt isn't very interesting, so I often wonder, why do I feel that way? Music goes beyond common sense; it's permitted to use music as a means to express a grotesque ego or contradictions, having them fly out from unspecialized substrata to the common-sense surface, with the distance traveled itself providing the emotion. In that sense, maybe "let it be primitive" has the right idea. But in environments that encourage just "letting it be," I sense, as if out the corner of my eye, a distrust of skill, a neglect for the capability to establish a proper structure. And that just makes me uncomfortable. Would it really be entertaining to go up on stage truly "just as you are," completely stark naked with no regard for yourself? Just like someone with the misunderstanding "if you say something violent, it's abusive language," putting primitive and physiological things on a plate as-is doesn't count as cooking. By granting yourself the freedom to edit raw materials in a variety of ways, the inedible can become edible. You can feel emotions via that editing skill - meanwhile, would the thing "itself," in its muddled, natural state, really be delicious? If you readily accept things just for "being all-natural," it'll start fights and make everyone cry. So shouldn't you face your shameful self and consider what you're talking about?
And while I think about things like that, I'm being stagnant in various ways. Slump. I'm solemnly making music. Sorry.