WHAT’S UP? MUSICIANS’ UPDATE #16

How is everybody doing in these anonymous and isolated times, without performances? A small tour along the (Amsterdam) improvised music scene to find out.

Jasper Stadhouders (guitar)

How do you feel?
Hard to say… Maybe emptier is an appropriate word? After years of running around being busy playing music and all the travelling that came with it, it’s on the one hand maybe a good thing to be in one place for a while. But on the other hand, it’s also what’s been driving me to keep creating. Ups and downs. Some days it feels like time is passing extremely slowly, other days it’s as if nothing happened and we’re weeks further all of a sudden. Since currently there’s not much to look forward to, I find my thoughts often dwelling to the (recent) past times when everything was really HAPPENING and in constant motion. Call it premature nostalgia if you will?

How do you stay inspired?
Not sure. I’d say it goes in waves or periods. Some periods I manage to have the focus and motivation to create a lot, mainly composing and recording since gigging isn’t happening. In those periods the lengthy amounts of “free” time comes as a “luxury”, being able to work on ideas and learn new things I’d usually not have (read: take) the time for it requires. That can feel extremely gratifying and feeds the will to keep going and creating.
But as a musician who’s so used to playing with and for real people in a live situation, all the music that I’ve been able to make lacks the immediate response of an audience. Missing out on this interaction between real people, it’s not always easy to keep momentum going. Often I feel stuck, and the biggest challenge is to prevent that stuckness from becoming static. Oh, the good old days… come back please!

Describe in one word or sound how you will feel on your first note in front of an audience.
BAP!