The Great Taboo
I was reading a letter written by Pedro Almodovar about the Academy Awards ceremony. This isn't going to be about The Slap. Neither was Pedro's letter. Anyway, he mentioned early on in the story that he doesn't watch his own films. I've heard that about actors as well. I have a musician friend who once said something about getting "caught" listening to your own music is some sort of taboo. Well, I'm here to say that I do listen to my own music. For one thing, you can hardly help hearing it when you're writing it, practicing it, recording it, mixing it. But once it's done, does it go on a shelf, never to be listened to again? Is it "uncool" to listen to your own stuff? Well, I don't listen to my music because it's the cool thing to do. I listen to it for several reasons. First of all, I'm listening for ways that I can improve it. As I'm going through the production process, I listen to it in the office, in the bedroom, in