Collaboration

What you see is what you get. Surrounded and supported by friends, I am happy.

Whenever you go out, you should consider the people around you. Talk to them. Find out what they are about. They may in fact be sympathetic.

I remember the different circumstances of meeting the various people who now play in Mr. Moccasin. When Hanna and I decided to welcome more and more members to our group, I kept imagining what it would be like to have a really big band. I wanted to find out how psychotic, chaotic or otherwise otherworldly our songs could become when expressed by a large number of the right musicians.

I got extremely happy as things began taking shape. We started writing new kinds of songs, not knowing all of the emotions, the colors and sounds that issued forth. We kept on experimenting, each time with fresh ideas and input from our new friends.

The same thing goes for collaborating in other art forms. Never turn away a photographer or filmmaker. Those people can make your life ten times cooler by documenting your daily steps, making art with you or simply talking ideas with you. Writers can do the same thing. If you find someone keeping a journal or writing a story, make sure to tell her something so that your life gets recorded in the art that she is making.