YOUR QUESTION

11/09/2020 Oliver

Hey Trevor,
I hope you are well, safe and above all, happy.
I wonder, being an accomplished musician with a deep knowledge of music theory - how do you feel about musicians that can't read music?
There are some insanely talented musicians that came up through the punk/post punk genre that can't read music, and can only play by ear - how do you find working with them? What challenges do you face with this?

Thank you, and take care.

MY ANSWER

I work with plenty of musicians who don’t read or have an academic understanding of theory. I do believe that, in terms of work at least, those are benefits. They don’t, however, have any bearing on a person’s musicality, innovation and ear. Having a good ear is more important than anything including technique and theory. In Fantômas I was the odd man out being the only person who understood what was theoretically happening. That knowledge was useless and I had to conform to a different way of expressing the language that was being presented.

The list of ‘outsider’ artists’ or more accurately ‘self-taught’ is long and impressive whether you’re talking about music, plastic arts or whatever. Technique and theory can also hinder one’s vision, giving the artist pause to consider judgement or experience imposter syndrome. It’s in the pause that inspiration is lost. Part of being versatile is being able to exist in various environments and I enjoy that challenge. I can learn from all of it