Lessons from Battle Studies: Keep breaking the mould

This look at Battle Studies by John Mayer is part of my Lessons from series, these are a collection of lessons which I take from looking at everyday things a little differently.

I’ve been sitting on the new John Mayer album, Battle Studies for 2 weeks now, and like the pot of pasta with a do not disturb sign in the back corner of my fridge that’s been there for the same length of time, this album has really taken on a life of it’s own. Unlike the the deadly ex pasta though this album is mostly harmless. See my John Mayer Battle Studies Review for more on the Battle Studies itself track by track. This is not a review though this, like my, Lessons from Stranger than fiction is a look at the lessons I learnt from Battle Studies. Ok a quick run down on the history of this album, Battle Studies is the fourth (excluding his self released, Inside wants out) studio album. An artist taking a nigh on 3 years in these days of the attention deficient masses is fairly rare. However that’s just how long Battle Studies has been in the making. What makes this album really brilliant and sold me from the beginning is that despite the huge success of Continuum this was not an  attempt to repeat the success or copy the sound Battle Studies is a stand-alone album.

Sell your art not your soul

 That in essence is the lesson I learnt listening to John Mayer’s uneasily honest Battle Studies, it’s not ok to try and find a success recipe and churn out cookie cutter results. True greatness doesn’t come from a mould. True greatness come from people who unwittingly create those moulds. Listening to this album I have no doubt that Mr. Mayer the businessman had a few sleepless nights after long days in the studio pouring his heart onto a hard drive. In the end though after all the agonizing John Mayer, the artist won out, how rare that is in today’s music industry, where a new musician’s image is often decided on long before the first bit of music has been laid down. In all our endeavours there is a battle between the artist and the businessman, the pragmatist and the dreamer. There is a place for all sorts businessmen and dreamers but ultimately we are doomed when the artist makes his decisions like a businessman. There must be that integrity of action in art for creativity to flourish.

 Sadly the battle is being won overwhelmingly by business. Money puts food on the table not ideas. Herein lies the problem.

• How do we make money from our passion?
• How do we keep our passion pure?
• How can we keep our integrity while still paying the bills?

These are not problems that John Mayer had to worry about, making Battle Studies, but it is something he was thinking about near on 10 years ago playing in dingy night clubs in Georgia. His bills, now, I’m quite sure get paid each month with a fair amount of spare change. Still I’m quite sure that he met some resistance from the execs who were  looking for Continuum 2: The sequel. He has what all of us aspiring artists need, a proven track record of success and courage in his convictions. We need to spend less time thing about what will be successful and more time getting to grips with that courage. As artists, and yes writers are artists too, we need to start experimenting wildly. Only when we have experimented to the nth degree tried and retried every idea we have in the creative toolbox. Only when we’re at peace with our art can we go forth and sell it with the cockiness that comes from mastery. Without that we’re chasing success in a raft without paddles, unable to choose our own course.

Bonus track

 The big take home message off this Battle Studies? Art can be bought but real artists can’t.  Be an artist of Self development and take control and credit for the change in your life, your extended social group can be a great motivator or your worst enemy if you allow them to influence your work.

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