The Other Bruno

...the better one, in my opinion.

Writing is proof that magic exists, if you think about it. You're transforming abstract, intangible ideas with nothing but a "wand" and suddenly, physical representations of your innermost thoughts appear before your eyes. Even as an amateur writer, I find comfort and revelation in seeing my thoughts outside of myself; the ability to hold them in my hand in the form of ink and paper and touch them is a wondrous gift resulting from simply being human and having opposable thumbs. When writing and music merge, seeing, hearing, and feeling these thoughts become evermore real and intimate. For singer/songwriter Bruno Merz (yes, that's right. I'm not talking about Hawaiian Michael Jackson) writing music started out as a way to sooth his own mind and his music is just that: calming, peaceful, and is the perfect kind of music to have playing softly in the background as you curl up on the couch with a book and a blanket on a rainy winter Sunday. Music is not one size fits all, and Merz's music is, at times, somber, but well worthy of respect and appreciation even if it isn't your genre of preference. The first time I reached the end of the short journey of "Emmeline" I gasped. This song could soften the hardest of hearts with its poetic expression of absence and loss. The arrangement and vocals on this track is performed with such elegance that I imagine Emmeline as the most beautiful and delicate woman to have ever lived.

Merz is a native of New Zealand but left home at twenty years old, with nothing but an inexpensive guitar, and traveled his way around France for six months working on small organic farms. There is where he cultivated his passion for writing as he would sit around a fire with others; he says, "it was the reaction of the other campers that planted the seed to keep writing songs. I didn’t realize people would like them as much as they did." Merz currently lives in Leeds and co-authored and illustrated the children's book "Fins, Fluff, and Other Stuff."

I know many of my writer, artist, and musician friends and acquaintances would appreciate Merz's determination and advice for following your passion. In an interview he admits, "when I discovered following your joy, finding what it is that you lose track of time and trying to direct your life so you can do that as much as possible. You’ll start enjoying life a lot more and you’ll find that things fall into place. I think that’s the secret to happiness and finding who you are is following your natural instincts of what makes you happy."

This genre of music is perfection if you admire music that spotlights stories and emotions; it is firmly rooted in its lyrics. There isn't much fluff, but I think that's why I'm drawn to acoustic and folk. It's simplistic and light, yet the weight of it rests in the lyrics to pull those who listen deep into thought, either into themselves, or like I sometimes ponder, the story behind the song. It's happy and sad at the same time.

...and like Sally Sparrow replied when she was asked "what's so good about being sad?"

"It's happy for deep people."

Happy listening...

-M

BrunoMerz.com
Bruno Merz on Spotify


Source: 16 Clefs


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