On my first trip to Vegas as a 21-year-old background singer, I got a tour of the city from my friend’s 65-year-old Aunt who lived there.
As we drove the outskirts of town, I looked out of the window and said “Wow! That’s amazing!” to which the Aunt replied “Oh yes, that casino has been there for decades. It’s where the locals go.” … I was talking about the majestic sandy-peach colored mountain in the background.
Backgrounds give us context.
Recently inspired by “Philosophical Entertainer” Alan Watt, I’ve become acutely aware of how important the background is in shaping our creations.
We like knowing the backgrounds of people, the history of places and the story behind the song. But how often are we deliberately noticing the background? We are more likely to blur out the background in Portrait mode on our iPhones or better yet, add a feature to cut it out altogether.
Backgrounds are the supporting characters of songs, paintings, photography, and stories.
As a Creative, it is your job to be the most keen observer of life and hand those observations back to us in a way that helps us see how we feel even when we didn’t know it.
The surprise of finding myself in a lyric is spine tingling. When Uncle Kracker sings about how someone is “cooler than the flip side of my pillow” … I’m dead!!! I know that awesome feeling!!! He found the thing that nobody thinks about but everyone can relate to. He brought the background to the foreground.
Background can be space.
Producers let the track breathe to accentuate the instruments that are there. Singers create space in their vocal so it’s not one big belting match.
Eckhart Tolle asks us to notice the space between words. Sometimes the pause is even uncomfortable, but it’s important.
My friend and hit songwriter Kip Raines says “Sometimes you reach the hook by way of the background”. My art teacher, Greg Decker (pictured below), teaches us to “tap in” the background first to bring shape the foreground of our painting.
I’ve attached a few other photos where the background makes the foreground so much more interesting.
What’s the woman’s story that is sitting in the room with Elvis? His portrait is hanging on the wall, the 70’s ashtray stand is beside his chair and I wonder what record he’s spinning.
The last photo is a make-shift BBQ stand on Jefferson Street. Everything in the background contributes to the smile on the grill master’s face. I love looking at the background in this photo … And the BBQ was excellent!
I need reminding of the beauty and lessons in the quiet background that you can show me through your work.
It’s easy to see the loud thing, the shiny thing. “The squeaky wheel gets the oil” as the saying goes. But that’s what everyone sees.
A lot of songs these days are like Mexican food … the same ingredients in different arrangements. And they are all pretty good …. but tell me about the tattered piece of paper that your grandmother’s recipe for the tortillas is scribbled on.
I hope you’ll consciously notice more of the background this week. DM me or hit reply and let me know how this exercise shapes your writing. It has certainly helped me creatively hydrate already and I hope the same for you!
May your background add depth to your world,
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