The Happiness Project | A New Beat to Music

By Jocelyn Gan

"The natural cadence of peoples speech can sometimes carry beautiful melodies ."

The Happiness Project.jpg

A founding member of Canada's own Broken Social Scene and Do Make Say Think, Charles Spearin, has taken everyday conversations and turned them into pieces of musical creativity. Titled The Happiness Project, Spearin interviewed his Toronto neighbours' views on what their thoughts were on "happiness". With his recorded interviews, Spearin and the help of his musician friends have crafted melodies and cadences to accompany the spoken dialogue.

Spearin defiantly holds a unique outlook on the way we speak:

"It has always been interesting to me how we use sounds to convey concepts. Normally, we don't pay any attention to the movement of our lips and tongue, and the rising and falling of our voices as we toss our thoughts back and forth to each other. We just talk and listen. The only time we pay attention to these qualities is [when we're listening to music]."

The outcome of The Happiness Project is a delightful collection of tracks that fuses an array of musical instruments, echoing jazz and swing influences. From "Mrs Morris" to "Vittoria," Spearin accompanies the voices of his neighbours with instrumental support and the combination of spoken word, rhythmic percussion and musical tone is artfully and seamlessly blended. Plainly stated, you simply cannot listen to these songs without smiling.

The "lyricism" of The Happiness Project is yet another fascinating aspect of the album and an indication of the artist's intent. One might say that the speakers represent a variety of people who have different cultural backgrounds, identities and life experiences; all of which have collectively contributed to their take on happiness. Thus, it is not his words and thoughts that you hear, but the words of everyday people, people just like you and me.

Overall, Spearin's approach to music-making is such a fresh breath of air for music listeners who are looking for that something else. Spearin hardly conforms to the "rules" of music that pop culture has created over the past few years (just turn on the radio and no doubt you will come across songs that document sexual encounters or inebriated adventures, all the while using repetitious dance beats that prove to be overused and not to mention uninspired). His incorporation of old-time jazz styles that spotlight the use of instruments such as the trumpet, bass and horn sets Spearin apart from his mainstream counterparts. There appear to be no boundaries for this form of music and Spearin has successfully conveyed his ideal of the unconventional in this musical genre.

You can check out The Happiness Project on myspace for more music and tour dates. To learn more about Spearin's project a mini film is available on the website.

Tags: Culture, Jocelyn Gan, Life, Music





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September 14, 2009 at 11:48 PM

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