Tipper, Messages in the Collective Unconscious and Making What the Fuck You Want to Make

Ok, so this post is gonna be a bit hyperbolic. Lots of over the top language here. Hopefully I'll have used it in the service of getting my point across. In honor of not burying the lead, I've made the point the title. I'll state it again, here.

Make whatever kind of art you want to make.

I've learned that this is the best way carve out your own unique space in any creative endeavor. 

How did I learn this? Mostly from consuming my favorite artists and trying to emulate the essence of what they were doing.

One of those artists is Tipper.

disclaimer: I love Tipper.

Tipper, Tipper, Tipper.

Here it goes in. Right into my ears.

mmm, mmm, mmm.

Most of you will know Tipper's music but here's a clip for those that don't. 

Ok, so you get it. Abstract, different, both laid back and intense at the same time.

So how do you get meaning out of that?

Surely, any kind of meaning one can take from the music of Dave Tipper would be pure projection on the part of the listener, right?

Anything you could sentence from the abstract, strange and innovative soundscape produced from like, 30 years of making groundbreaking and style-synthesizing music is just your own precious, little interpretation that may have no bearing on the intent or lack thereof from the artist, riiiiight?

Anyway, with all that in mind, I'm going to try and distill those big feelings down into measly words, about a month and a half out from attending his final show. And try to illustrate what we as creative people might gleam from his career and music in general, and why that's important.

Art with a capital A

A lot of people will find this corny but there is something truly special about what Tipper did for music.

Witnessing the final show was like hearing and watching the womb of creation give birth to a new type of jazz- one who's fractal soundscapes were just as groundbreaking as the time signatures and key changes of 20th century jazz. 

There's always something the collective unconscious is craving and yearning for, something we can't ever quite put our finger on through the conventional methods of merely living a normal life defined by whatever time and culture we happen to be enmeshed in.

It's an idea, an energy, solution to a problem that's always just beyond the grasp of our pre-frontal cortex.

Sometimes it shows up in benevolent religious avatars, or insanely destructive ideologies that change the course of history.

For the rest of us, that unconscious energy can only be positively expressed through the medium of Art. Art with a capital fucking A. 

Art with a capital A comes in many forms, as we're all well aware.

Authors hold it through prose, metaphor and story...

others reign it in and ride it through music... 

Painters open portals on a 2D canvas to make something look 3D that they saw or felt in the 'higher' dimensions.

I'd wager that you have touched those still waters of creation and witnessed the waves you make through your own attention, energy and movement of thought and emotion.

May'haps (idk) you were even lucky enough to ride those waves you created for a few hours, days, weeks, months or years.

Maybe your rode them long enough to create your own unique voice. Maybe you ended up writing the novel of our generation.  Maybe you fell into the trap of believing no one else had thought this way about Art before. Maybe you just want me to get to the fuckin point?

Yes, and...

Tipper sent up a sound beacon that no one had really heard outside of their own heads before. He kept changing and iterating it, improving and refining it until he had explored several different modes of his music. 

Eventually, the word 'cult' started to be bandied about when talking about the enthusiasm of his followers. It may be coincidence (and I'm not here to play the 'who-knows-Dave-better/ I-was-there-in-'97' one-up-man-ship game with anyone) but... he retired before that got truly out of hand.

He expressed what he had to express, took a bow and exited, stage left.

Hardly did interviews.

Barely sold merch. (Did they sell any?)

Didn't follow trends.

Put all his energy into music and left us with a treasure trove of sounds and memories. 

It's good to see someone achieve that kind of success by simply making what the fuck they wanted. That there wasn't a massive structure of people- from record companies to agents- propping him up was very refreshing.

Why are his fans so enthusiastic? In my opinion, it's  because Tipper's music touched something we can't describe with words- only feeling. Something that's pre-literate, primordial and strangely familiar. A symbiotic mirroring of nature, not often experienced in modern society. 

Tipper is proof you should be making whatever the fuck you feel like making.

There's a chance you could synthesize something new with your work. The only way to do that is to cultivate your depths.

When you're creating, you have to forget about what people expect, what is popular on social media, whether it will sell or not- you have to simply create. That can come later.

Whatever stirs your passion, puts you in a liminal space, ignites your bliss or shakes you to your core- make that shit. I think that's the reason why so many of us went completely bananas for Tipper.

It wasn't just bangers. Or dreamy ambient. Or a weird jazzy thang. Or hip hop. 

It's all of that AND more.

The way he could synthesize it all into a cohesive live set.

The range of emotions expressed and the depth therein.

Don't pigeonhole yourself into a formulaic creative journey.

Step off the well trodden path.

Do something different.

Feel all the feelings.

It's the spectrum of color and value that makes a painting and a variety of expression that captivates an audience.

If you've made it this far...

Thanks for reading. That may have been a bit of a slog but it was fun to write about a concept using one of my favorite artists.

So, this is the part where I try and convince you to support my work.

I've added a tip jar to these posts. You can name your price and a little goes a long way. 

I've also been busy in the studio lately.

Here are a couple of very affordable paintings.

Thanks, as always for the support. It truly means the world.