Dreams, regrets and fate: Musicians get philosophical about their lifestyles
- Text by Tom Fenwick
Musicians know better than most that the road to success can be paved with stumbling blocks. But what does it take to get past potholes in an industry where even the strongest acts can trip up?
Last weekend while we were down in Brighton for the tenth annual Great Escape Festival – Europe’s largest emerging music showcase – we asked artist both new and established a simple question to see if we could get to the bottom of the issue:
Is there anything you know now, that you wish you’d known before you started out?
HÆLOS
Arthur, vocals: “Don’t live in the past. This band is firmly rooted in the present. I think the world works exactly the way it’s meant to, so I’ve always had a Zen attitude towards the whole process. Even when bad things that have happened to us, I like to think they were meant to happen. And honestly, a lot of stuff that seemed bad at the time has eventually worked in our favour. The way I see things, it’s just the universe unfolding.”
Vérité
Vérité: “I don’t think there’s anything in particular. Although, if I could go back in time and know everything I know now, well I’d be pretty well equipped for world domination. But I’m pretty content where I’ve landed just by far flying blind… as messy and awkward as that can sometimes seem.”
Andrea Balency
Andrea: “I wish I’d known how important it is to be honest and true to what you believe in, which is not always easy because at first you’re scared of disappointing people and disappointing yourself. Sometimes you just don’t have the guts to say what you think. But now that I’ve grown more confident I know that as long as I stay honest, I won’t have any regrets later.”
Jack Garratt
Jack: “I don’t do regrets. But I guess if I’d known who Michael McDonald was when I was kid, I probably wouldn’t have gone into music… I mean, he’s already won at everything.”
Latest on Huck
Clubbing is good for your health, according to neuroscientists
We Become One — A new documentary explores the positive effects that dance music and shared musical experiences can have on the human brain.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
In England’s rural north, skateboarding is femme
Zine scene — A new project from visual artist Juliet Klottrup, ‘Skate Like a Lass’, spotlights the FLINTA+ collectives who are redefining what it means to be a skater.
Written by: Zahra Onsori
Donald Trump says that “everything is computer” – does he have a point?
Huck’s March dispatch — As AI creeps increasingly into our daily lives and our attention spans are lost to social media content, newsletter columnist Emma Garland unpicks the US President’s eyebrow-raising turn of phrase at a White House car show.
Written by: Emma Garland
How the ’70s radicalised the landscape of photography
The ’70s Lens — Half a century ago, visionary photographers including Nan Goldin, Joel Meyerowitz and Larry Sultan pushed the envelope of what was possible in image-making, blurring the boundaries between high and low art. A new exhibition revisits the era.
Written by: Miss Rosen
The inner-city riding club serving Newcastle’s youth
Stepney Western — Harry Lawson’s new experimental documentary sets up a Western film in the English North East, by focusing on a stables that also functions as a charity for disadvantaged young people.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The British intimacy of ‘the afters’
Not Going Home — In 1998, photographer Mischa Haller travelled to nightclubs just as their doors were shutting and dancers streamed out onto the streets, capturing the country’s partying youth in the early morning haze.
Written by: Ella Glossop