I am a big fan of the Danish band Volbeat. What I like most is that they don't fit into one category. The singer Michael Poulsen sounds like Metallica's James Hetfield crossed with Elvis Presley or Johnny Cash. Their music goes from punk to rockabilly to metal to country to rock and pop. Poulsen's voice sounds unique.
I really like that they cannot be pigeonholed, and also how Poulsen does not believe in perfection. As I have grown older I have realised that most of the beauty in life is in things that are not perfect. As a type A personality with (diagnosed) OCD, I always wanted to be perfect when I was younger, and I never was. I burned myself out striving for something that was unattainable.
My mantras for a long time were
- something does not have to be perfect. It just has to be done
- progress not perfection
- the pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement
Poulsen's musical personality is stamped all over his playing. He notes: "I definitely have a signature rhythm guitar sound. A lot of people, mostly beginners, think that you have to have the right amp, you have to have the right guitar, and that's only correct in a small way of looking at it."
The signature sound is in how you play the guitar. I'm not really technically skilled. You know, when you look at blues guitar players, half of the time their guitars are not even in tune, but they know how to catch the strings so it sounds right and that brings the signature out of them."
Likewise, much of the magic in his rhythm playing comes from the little idiosyncrasies of being self-taught. Describing one of the quirks in his technique, he explains: "There's a way where I'm picking my strings, where normally you would pick down and I pick up, in between some of the riffing.
I remember when Rob first stepped into the band and I was going to teach him some of the Volbeat songs and he said, 'What the fuck are you doing? How do you do that? You're not supposed to go up on the strings!
He laughs again: "I've even been asked if I want to have any lessons in playing the guitar, and I say, 'No fucking way', because it might ruin what I've got. [source]
I don't believe in perfection. I think that's a terrible word made up by a terrible human being. It's terrible because kids are striving for perfection that just isn't there. If you reach perfection, what do you do afterwards? You climb to the top of the mountain and then what? You climb back down and climb up again? The top of the mountain doesn't exist.
"I don't try to find perfection when I'm in the studio. If you end up with 500 takes of something you're shooting the spirit of the song and you end up with something dead and fabricated. I want a soul to my music. Perfection? I'll never go there.
I have never been striving for perfection - not as a human being or when I work. I think that is a good thing. I don't want my kids to grow up to believe they are supposed to be perfect because there is no such thing as perfect.
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