It Takes Two
A a music fan, how do you engage most with artists?
For my birthday last year, my wife bought me/us/the household(!) a Nintendo Switch. Having never owned a games console growing up - and as someone of certain millennial age - I was excited to play various versions of Mario Kart.
I admit I should definitely allow myself some more downtime on more regular basis, and maybe this would be a good place to start. However, to date, it’s fair to say the Switch’s usage mostly rests with her.
Her favourite game is called It Takes Two: a cooperative action-adventure platform game in which a married couple go on a huge adventure (having been transformed into living handmade dolls, obviously) involving numerous tasks to complete in order to transform their relationship.
I am truly terrible at the game, and it is, of course, deeply ironic that playing it together seems to put us at loggerheads. Lol.
What I find interesting, though, is in contrast to the multitude of racing, shooting or sports games available, the nature of It Takes Two is that a successful outcome rests on cooperation and working together.
The approach I take to composing, releasing, performing and sharing my music continues to increasingly focus on connection with audiences; with the aim of enabling further and deeper conversations, by placing a strong value on embedding a sense of community (both in online spaces, and especially at my live shows).
It’s almost like it was the whole point all along…
If you must pin it down, the broad philosophy of communitarianism is probably the best way of describing the mindset of what I’m hoping to achieve.
What I find engaging and intriguing about the potential in communitarianism is the challenge it poses to the atomisation of individuals and individuality - a challenge which has perhaps never been more relevant, as our hyper-modern existence offers seemingly unlimited possibilities for connectivity, whilst the epidemic of healthy connectedness in practice, continues to erode further.
Community around music is my ultimate end-goal; which I’m aiming to reach via connection and an openness to conversation. It is an endeavour which embraces and rewards cooperativeness, which, though sometimes a challenge, is something worth fighting for.
Some Questions For You…
As we begin 2026, I’m keen to pose a number of questions, if I may.
The answers to these, will, of course, help me as I seek to grow and establish my musical community and my place within the industry.
But, crucially, it might just give us all space to engage with questions, which on the face of it could seem quite simple and obvious, but which come with deep layers of philosophical meaning and a healthy dollop of self-awareness attached:
What makes you follow and support certain music artists?
Which platforms or methods of communication help you connect to your favourite artists?
How would you like to see artists engaging with their audiences? What is currently missing, across the landscape?
I’m grateful as ever for your time and consideration for these questions, and I’d be thrilled to hear your answers to the questions. Please do leave a comment on the post, or DM/email me with further thoughts.
Look forward to hearing from yoioiu
prior to social media my only contact with artists was music stores to see if any new releases were out. since social media, following them has been the best. but now, it seems the best way is thru the old school newsletter, which i'm actually fine with given the fodder of social media today. that said, i'm a regular attendee to youtube for long form content, bandcamp for purchasing and occasional new discoveries. Facebook and Instagram usually just for the occasional comment here and there. i will say, whatever the algorithm is making of my online presence, i'm generally pleased with its musical offerings. all the other stuff i could care less.(except the animal videos, those are ok too).
because i'm in canada, its wishful thinking that any of the artists i listen to regularly will ever show up in my town (its not impossible, but its super rare). its usually the same old same old. US tour, plus dates in Toronto, Montreal, or vancouver.in lieu of that, i'd love more live stream things to happen. once, during pandemic, the Boston band Caspian, had an old gig put up for a livestream concert for $15 dolllars, which was fun to watch.
all those poncy radio friendly grammy winning acts come to winnipeg, but i find them blasé.
Yeah, that livestream concert was decent. I watched it on a decent external monitor? Used decent Logitech speakers. No glitches. I believe it was in the area of $10-15 US dollars and it was watchable for at least 24 hours, maybe more. Can’t remember.
Similarly our local new music festival (7 days of consecutive concerts) was abridged during the pandemic and just 3 livestreams. Again, decent audio and video with no glitches for a ticket price around 2/3 the normal festival pass.