In many areas of life, we’re asked to pick a side.
The most obvious arena for this is in politics, which feels like it’s a more polarized, treacherous place than it has been in generations, but the pick-a-side mentality extends to micro-level things as well.
Think of the pressure you felt as a kid to pick your favourite sports team. You couldn’t just not have one, because then nobody would know what type of person you were. (Side note: I generally picked my favourite teams based on how much I liked their logo.)
Or think of those internet quizzes that promise to define your personality for you in three minutes or less. Are you a city person or a country person? An introvert or an extrovert? A Monica, or more of a Rachel?
We are more complex than these click-bait dualities, and we should embrace that.
In a brief documentary about his music, Photay (Evan Shornstein) talks about being a city person, but finding inspiration for his music by leaving the city behind. It’s healthy to temporarily leave behind those things that define you – to explore the countryside; dabble in the world of extroverts; allow your inner Chandler, Phoebe, Ross, or Joey to shine through.
Photay’s music is good for considering dualities, and I suspect it reflects the different sides of the artist himself.
What makes this a beautiful song:
1. Soothing vs grooving. The opening 90 seconds sounds like a musical journey through the canopy layer of a rainforest, but before the listener realizes what’s happening, they’re on the dancefloor of the rainforest’s newest night club.
2. Rhythm vs melody. Photay would probably say he’s more a rhythm person than a melody person, and certainly the percussion here is fantastic. But the chord progression, as unusual as it is catchy, proves that his talent extends beyond rhythm.
3. Organic vs electronic. Despite all the synthesizers and post-production, there are plenty of live instruments, and it feels more like a ‘performance’ than music in this genre often does.
Recommended listening activity:
Balancing coins on their sides.