Encore

Was there ever anything you had to do that you turned into something you wanted to do anyway? This has often been true of me. Way back in the mid-90s my teacher-training included designing some exercise demonstrating the value of diversity. At that time I was also delving into the history of popular music. The result was an activity in which students would put together the most diverse and therefore best band of musicians.

The play-test of this activity had a luke-warm reception from a group of teens. The teacher-trainers felt similarly. Feedback however was vague - teacher-trainers only sometimes practiced the constructive criticism they advocate. I can guess at a few things however. One is simply that adolescents are difficult to engage from the position of having never met them. Another is that even then youngsters were less into bands than they were solo performers or dance groups. Also maybe I was mistaken in thinking musicians are remotely as engaging as the music they produce. As for the adults in the room? Possibly they felt that the diversity I was show-casing was too functional - mixed skill-sets offering consumers something enriching was possibly too pragmatic for my idealistic mentors. And then there was my production values.

All that is left is a set of basic sketches of an imaginary band called Encore. I came across them in my concertina file and decided to share them here. They contrast with my AI-generated Sub-Culture Kids Action Figure Selection. They are basic but I feel they convey what I imagine is a band I would enjoy following. Encore is indeed diverse in gender and background and with my vague grasp of fashion I also suggested a mix of musical influences within the group. But most importantly for me is a selection of instruments that will each sound distictly even once played together. I think I need to go to more gigs.