Recording Artist Advocate: Authentic?

Think about any movie with a scene in a "young" persons room. The camera pans across the walls to reveal band posters and trophies - all the trappings of youth. Except it's always a set director's version of youth. The band posters are out of time or something just seems wrong. It's not authentic. Go into a real young person's room and you'll see something completely different.

It's as if someone said, "What do kids like? Lets put that in there."

I like to see establishing shots where it's obvious that people walking along the sidewalk, or otherwise living their lives, didn't even see the camera. They just do what they do without any affectation. You really see them just as they are.

We crave things that are authentic and hate fakery. We do like to make fun of the fake or insincere. And you don't ever want to be the brunt of one of those jokes.

Are the songs you write today going to make sense in 10 or 20 years? Would they have made sense 10 or 20 years ago? Strip away the things that nail it to right now, and you can write something that is truly timeless.

Anything that's new is on it's way to becoming old. So be timeless. Be sincere. Be Authentic.