Music you play vs music you listen to

[Dowi]

Old story, but somehow it keeps coming back to my mind in this months, and I’m curious to hear if it’s just me or if anybody else is/has been in the same situation.

I am in the position where, in my band, I play some kind of music that lately I hardly listen to: It’s not that I don’t like it anymore, it’s more like in the last months/years my attention is focused on different genres than the ones associated with the music I perform.

I do play different stuff when I’m alone, probably more related with my recent musical orientations, but when it comes to band context, I play things I truly enjoy playing but I’m not sure I would like to listen right now.

I don’t know if I explained myself properly, to simplify the question the best I can it would sound like: do you like what you play if you cut out the musician perspective and judge from listener point of view?

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

[D]o you like what you play [as a] listener[?]

Yes. Someone recorded something from our first show, and when I listened to it I was like "Damn! This is us? I would listen to this!"

But, all the same, I don't actually like listening to stuff I've made, despite it totally being my type of jams, as a listener.

[D.o.S.]

It's only by the grace of other bandmates and my own ineptitude that everything I'm involved in with instruments doesn't end up sounding like mid tempo heavy psych.

Which I listen to. A lot. But I also listen to loads of other shit

[MechaGodzilla]

It's only by the grace of other bandmates and my own ineptitude that everything I'm involved in with instruments doesn't end up sounding like mid tempo heavy psych.

Which I listen to. A lot. But I also listen to loads of other shit

wow i've never seen so much of myself in someone else's post

[Dapper Bandit]

When I was in bands the music I played usually ended up being a reflection of music I was more interested in than passionate about. Was in a death metal band when as a listener I was more interested in doom and drone. Then was in a sludgier band whilst my listening was gravitating more towards (although I had always loved) funk, hip hop, ambient and jazz. On the one hand it allowed me to bring in "alien" influences that probably aided in keeping things fresh, compositionally but it also had the downside of being a bit frustrating musically.

Might be human nature to want to spread your wings beyond what you already have? I know there are people that will, for example be in a tech-death band and listen only to tech-death but how would that not get really boring?

[coldbrightsunlight]

I'm in one poppy rock band that isn't at like what I listen to at all but it's fun and I like the guys in the band.

All my other projects are very much about making music I like to listen to! When I create stuff I'm happy with I often listen to it after a grace period of forgetting a bit about the process.

Although my current listening trend of more heavy, psych, metal is way off base from most of the music I make, that doesn't mean I've stopped being interested in other styles so it's fun to have multiple music projects

[Paul_C]

I don't listen to much that sounds like the stuff I make (yesterday I mostly listened to Counting Crows), but I do listen back to my own recordings and enjoy it.

I recall a John Entwistle quote where he said that he thought heavy metal was way more fun to play than to listen to.

[goroth]

I love my band, and I love the music I make with it.

In as much as I play metal... I mostly listen to metal, and every now and then 50s and 60s jazz. But metal for me is such an enormous umbrella genre, I can get lost in it forever and feel like I'm listening to something totally different to what I play.

[coldbrightsunlight]

I recall a John Entwistle quote where he said that he thought heavy metal was way more fun to play than to listen to.

I feel this with a lot of things. In a decent band with nice people I can have fun playing pretty much anything even if it's song I would never willingly listen to in a million years. Because I can get some fun out of the playing and practice, and I enjoy playing off other people a lot.

There are also genres I quite like that I'm less fond of playing unless I'm on my own (ambient/drone/noise).

But for me if anything heavy metal is EVEN MORE FUN to play than to listen to. And it's a lot of fun to listen to.

[frodog]

Yeah, I like my bandmates and have known them for a long time, but we're pretty different musically and as people. We do the heavy psych thing basically, with hints of goth rock, power pop and noise. Feel like that description reads better than it sounds. I'm well used to listening to recordings of myself, but I can't really enjoy it as I do when the music is by strangers. Usually gets better as more time elapses.

On my own I don't listen to stuff that's similar to what we play though. Always been into both hard/fast music and slow/sparse ewmo, as well as electronica, hip-hop etc. But I've never been into classic rock/blues/metal stuff, especially that groovy, '70s vibe-y sound, and that's often where the other dude and drummer goes, albeit in a somewhat erratic and experimental way. But when I come home from our jams all I want to listen to, if anything, is like twee, neo-folk or minimal techno.

Ideally I would play in three bands: a straight (edge) metallic hardcore band with an animal drummer; a twee but edgy indie-pop/pop-punk band (with at least two girls); a dungeon synth/techno duo or trio with an amazing vocalist (not me). But I live in a small town so those options are completely unrealistic. I'm pretty happy to be in this weirdo band but no, for the most part it's not the kind of music I would listen to a lot.

[Dowi]

I recall a John Entwistle quote where he said that he thought heavy metal was way more fun to play than to listen to.

I feel this with a lot of things. In a decent band with nice people I can have fun playing pretty much anything even if it's song I would never willingly listen to in a million years. Because I can get some fun out of the playing and practice, and I enjoy playing off other people a lot.

There are also genres I quite like that I'm less fond of playing unless I'm on my own (ambient/drone/noise).

But for me if anything heavy metal is EVEN MORE FUN to play than to listen to. And it's a lot of fun to listen to.

I relate to this ALOT.

Yeah, I like my bandmates and have known them for a long time, but we're pretty different musically and as people. [...] I'm well used to listening to recordings of myself, but I can't really enjoy it as I do when the music is by strangers. Usually gets better as more time elapses.

Also this. If I let enough time pass by, I can listen to my older recordings with fresh ears and enjoy them (also, this happens all the times I go through recordings more than 3 years old: "uh, I don't even remember how to play this")

Happy to hear different feelings about this subject. I see it's not such an uncommon thing as I thought.

[coldbrightsunlight]

The feeling of confusion when hearing something I've played and having no idea whatsoever how I played it is among my most cherished.

[goroth]

The feeling of confusion when hearing something I've played and having no idea whatsoever how I played it is among my most cherished.

I literally can't stand this.

[coldbrightsunlight]

It's only enjoyable if you have no intent to replicate it exactly

I did once have to scrap a song I loved because I had recorded the guitar part years ago and while I could work out the chords I could just never play it quite right again.

[VREEEEVROOOOOW]

I've listened to recordings of my old ambient/noise/grind band (...it was a weird band) where I literally don't even know what *instrument* I'm playing, let alone how I'm playing it.

But these days I play partially or wholly improvised stuff, so I don't really record stuff. (Although we might be doing a split some time soon.)