Paul Samuel Dolman – HuffPost 4.27.11
Mike Ragogna: Since you’re also a musician, I’m going to pester you with this annoying question I ask everyone. What advice do you have for new artists?
Paul Samuel Dolman: In terms of musical acts?
MR: Yes.
PSD: I want to tip my hat because that’s a great question to beat people up with. The artist’s role, throughout this primitive thing we call the human race, has been The Beleaguered Troubadour. These are the courageous ones we remember–I don’t think many people remember who the kings were around the times of Mozart and Beethoven, but we remember Mozart and Beethoven or some beautiful story that Charles Dickens wrote. So, what I have learned is, don’t be derivative, but listen to everything. Be authentic, be creative, be fearless, create what you really love, and let the audience find you. Do it because you love it, even if you have to go down and bag groceries, push a broom, or work a night gig. Stay true to your art, and one of the best signs that you’re on the right track is they probably won’t get it. I mean, they didn’t get The Beatles, for God’s sake, or Elvis right away. At the time, nobody got Mozart all that well, or Tchaikovsky. So, find your bliss, what you love to do, and don’t let anybody take you away from it. Also, be adaptable and find people that you trust who are not dream stealers, but people who can really coach you, like in The Karate Kid. So, find good teachers and mentors, and then grow in your art. Don’t ever think you know it all.
You know, John Lennon and Paul McCartney’s first song wasn’t “Strawberry Fields” or “Hey Jude,” that was a culmination of years of incredibly hard work, love, magic, and the muse. I recently heard some demos that Kris Kristofferson did, and they were horrible, but then, all of a sudden, there was “Help Me Make It Through The Night.” To be a bit cliché, your life isyour masterwork, so become it–and I don’t think piercing or coloring your hair is going to do it. You have to do it from the inside. Be authentic in the world, be loving, be creative. Don’t say, “No” to the muse, say, “Yes, I can,” listen, read great literature, listen to great music, and have a blast. Don’t think that once you get the Grammy that you got anywhere. If you’re an artist, you’re in a sacred process.
What made The Beatles great was that they never stopped growing while they were a group. They said, “Well, we’ve already done that, what’s next?” So, you get “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” and then a few years later, you get “Penny Lane” or “I Am The Walrus.” Not to condemn anyone, but the suits are always going to tell you, “No.” The accountants are always going to tell you, “No, you can’t. You have to do the same thing five times in a row.” Look at movies like Rocky VII, or Really, Really Fast And Furious 6. That’s not art, that’s just commerce. Perhaps, you’re in your one and only life, so do something authentic and artistic. Like I said earlier, you and Steve (Mosto) were doing very progressive stuff as The Almost Brothers back in Nashville, in ’85. I remember your mentor, Tommy West, was doing some amazing stuff there, and earlier with Jim Croce that has held up over time.
The really good stuff always will hold up over time. So, if you want to call yourself an artist, then be one, be one fully. An artist loves what they do–they paint or they sing because theyhave to–and sometimes, that turns into U2. But sometimes, it doesn’t. Van Gogh, in my opinion, is one of the best painters to ever pick up a brush, but he never sold a single piece in his entire life. But who cares. Look how great the art is.
MR: As also pointed out by Joni Mitchell.
PSD: And, by the way, you did great work with her, and I always read your stuff–the Paul Simon thing, recently, was just so phenomenal. You joke about asking “good” questions, but it’s refreshing.
MR: Thank you, Paul.