Lisa Crawley – Why Music Matters To Me
I never knew that being a four year old put in a recorder class music would be the start of such a wonderful/tough/fun/interesting journey!
From around the age of eight or nine I realised that every sound around me was literally a musical note to me, from people talking to phones ringing to hearing songs on the radio, I couldn’t (and still can’t) help but think that ‘that’s an F sharp, or thats a B’.
In that regard music is a constant part of my every day in life, I can’t avoid it even if I try! Saying that, I don’t always sing in tune, and personally I always prefer a good song with character rather than someone being ‘pitch perfect’…
On a more important note – no pun intended(!), writing music and lyrics particularly over the last few years has played a huge part in helping me discover who I am and has played a huge part in helping me get through some really difficult times. I often find it hard to articulate what I’m trying to say whilst in conversation with people, so writing a song really helps in that regard.
I’m not 100% sure what the future holds for me in terms of making a career out of music, I know that it’s what I’ve wanted to do for a very long time and am aware of how much I have a lot to learn. I hope that with the combination of life experience, travelling, practising and performing I will only improve and produce better and better songs, and if not, my recorder is still sitting on my shelf so I can get back to basics…
My flatmate pointed out how different our lifestyles are, she has a 9-5 job and occasionally gigs in the weekend, where as I live week to week hoping that I’ll get enough work either doing jingles, teaching work, playing piano at a function; literally singing for my supper or ideally an originals gig in hope to pay the rent for the week.
As tough as it can be, I feel pretty lucky to have travelled a lot of the world by getting by on a song, quite literally. Sometimes I get over having to play lounge music for a few hours to people not really listening – but I just think of it as a temporary means to an end, and when I do a good show singing the songs I’ve written to people actually listening and enjoying themselves, thats my reminder of why I’m doing this music thing and why it matters to me!