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**Play It Like It’s Music**

Purists may whine that the best days of music are behind us, that capital “M” music has seen its peak and is no longer relevant. But here at Play It Like It’s Music we believe the opposite: not only is the act of musicmaking an essential life skill with a lineage stretching back to the beginnings of human history, but the vocation of the professional musician is more vital today than it ever has been. Once a month, join musician, songwriter and producer Trevor Exter as he drops in on working musicians from every genre.

playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com

Latest Episodes:

Lazy Cello Nov 14, 2019

Show notes

[…working on like 4 albums…]

In this edition:

* A quickie jam

* Out of hiding

* A semi-repeat share

Out of hiding

It bears reminding that many of us (if some of you are like me) found music as a place to hide in our more vulnerable years.

At 13, 14 I just wanted to disappear into the music, to hide inside a sound cocoon because the world did not feel safe.

The world doesn’t feel any safer today, but along the way I had to stop imagining music as a distinct, safe hiding place.

Because if you’re doing Music honestly, you’ll find that not only is the big world staring you in the face while you do it, but it’s demanding more honesty and guts out of you than you thought you’d need.

Gotta be brave about your choices here in this music world.

Speaking of which, check out a very deep wormhole with the sound wizard himself, mr. Richard Devine. On a recent Hanging Out With Audiophiles:

“not content with just making LPs, touring and all of that trad life, Richard’s made his own path and now his work represents the high bar for sound design across the board.

Whether working for Google, Yamaha or Jaguar Richard is the guy to figure out converting the unknown into the possible. A no to yes convertor.

We talk about his toughest sonic challenge, the cutting edge of sound tech in 2019 and where he is heading in terms of his AI aspirations.

We chat about the world of sound that lives above 20kHz.

Why analog ??? and a lot more.

He’s a deep mind and this chat gets pretty specific in terms of tools used and so forth.

You’re welcome!”

(Says Jamie Lidell in his intro)

Big love to your ears.

Trevor

(Did you press play yet?)

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Hear songs: the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

abandon feeling smart Nov 07, 2019

Show notes

[…feverishly making lots of music…]

In this edition:

* A spontaneous jam

* Walking the line of learning

* Music, as talked about by people who know what they’re talking about

PINCH ME. This just grew in our backyard:

I'm always either learning something new, or slowly getting bored of something I think I already know.

Of course, you never really "know" anything. There's something strange under every surface. The juice is in the squeezing, but it's a drag to have to abandon feeling smart.

Every time I uncover a new angle, a new fingering, mic position or arrangement idea, there's a trickle of happy energy - immediately followed by a jolting reminder that I'm flying blind.

It's scary. And as a monomaniac introvert, the same goes for the public hustle: one email or meeting and suddenly I'm stuck calibrating a whole lot of new energy. 5 minutes later I’m all like, "where was I?"

(An entrepreneurial friend once told me that the ‘secret’ for work success is to be sexually attracted to rejection.)

But this is the trip. We all find our own mix. Musicians have had our share of upheaval around work, life and work/life balance. The interview below helps shed a lot of light. Check it out:

“…for most of history, music was a kind of cloud storage for societies…”

As a lover of language, music and truth, I found this conversation enthralling. It’s simultaneously deep and high-level:

Tyler Cowen (love him or hate him) knows a lot of stuff, and he is constantly learning more. He asks some amazing questions of the incomparable Ted Gioia, who’s also got a new book out.

Some things they touched on:

* How RCA was the Apple Computer of its day

* Noise in restaurants

* The history of cool

* Disrupting the Pythagorean paradigm in music (getting away from mathematics and back towards sound)

* Music’s roots in fertility rituals

* Why the best music of today is under the radar

Give it a shot: Conversations with Tyler: Ted Gioia

Big love to your ears.

Trevor

ps: Thanks again to those who reached out during/following the fires last week. We’re sound.

(Did you press play yet?)

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Hear songs: the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

Ancestry and True Sounds Oct 30, 2019

Show notes

Good evening. In this edition:

* Some more legato bowing, just me and the reverb today. [press play]

* Ancestry and True Sounds

* A rad pod, oh my God!

Coming to you today from the little black dot in the yellow zone:

Thanks for all your notes and calls, we are very ok and totally packed to leave if we need to.

Ancestry and True Sounds

Who are your ancestors? Are they speaking through you? What are they saying?

You might want to say your own thing, you may think you're saying something new.

But much of what has been said already bears repeating, things like "keep your shoes clean" and "honor the gods".

So find and make your sound, then make sure your message is true. It doesn't have to be original, just true. Most of the time your sound itself is the message, and it is being sent to you every bit as much as through you.

Practicing can feel like scanning a radio dial, finding your way through the static. Some of us have just the one little AM thing with mostly talk, others found a shortwave with many frequency bands. Some players sound like they're building themselves a hubble telescope, and more power to them. But we all have to listen and receive something.

We don't all have to broadcast, a lifetime of listening and practicing is ok. But when you play for others, make sure it's something you think they need to hear.

And you gotta hear this!

Dolly Parton's America

The story of a legend at the crossroads of America’s culture wars.

Hosted by Jad Abumrad (the Radiolab guy)

This thing is amazing:

“In this intensely divided moment, one of the few things everyone still seems to agree on is Dolly Parton—but why? That simple question leads to a deeply personal, historical, and musical rethinking of one of America’s great icons. Join us for a 9-part journey into the Dollyverse.”

I’m three episodes in. Highly recommend!

Big love to your ears.

(Did you press play yet?)

Thanks for all your notes of encouragement.

Trevor

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Listen to songs: Hear the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! Check out: "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

Spectrums Oct 23, 2019

Show notes

Good day to you. In this edition:

* Some full-throat legato bowing, something I’m trying to get better at. [press play]

* Control vs. Participation

* A thread from a big head

As a cello player I constantly navigate on a spectrum between control and flailing: at either extreme there’s no music, but plenty can be found in the tension between them. Among my arms, digits, bow hair and strings there are a multitude of variables. We combine and adjust to find what works.

As a musician, I’m moving on another spectrum too: the one between participation and isolation. We can make all the sounds we want, but if there’s no one to play with or for, then the music can stagnate.

When I’m practicing or working in my studio I enjoy a near-total level of control, but if I don’t release music in the world then I get no participation. If I don’t go out and play (less control) then no one will benefit from my work (more isolation).

And it only begins there: some performances can be incredibly isolating in reality. Studio sessions can also be profoundly graceful and intimate.

A fresh formula has to be found every time.

But if you see the space for what it is, you can live in it forever.

Messages you may need to hear

In between making amazing blockbuster films, Christopher McQuarrie sometimes finds time to tweet great advice:

Check out the whole thread here.

Big love to your ears.

(Did you press play yet?)

Trevor

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Listen to songs: Hear the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! Check out: "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

the gift of shred Oct 17, 2019

Show notes

Just a tune today, another instrumental sketch. It's been a slow week for me out in public. (Hell, it's been a slow year or a slow several years!)

[photo by kk]

I don't perform much lately, but last Wednesday I joined my friend Jim Caruso and played a song at his open mic event, Cast Party.

It's mostly Broadway show tunes but I can blend in everywhere, oddball that I am. I did my cover song (50 Ways To Leave Your Lover), accompanied on piano by the guy who also plays piano and directs for Tony Bennett and Liza Minelli.

I got to touch the sound in public, briefly once again and as usual it was all over too quickly.

(Same is true if I play for 90 minutes or 4 hours, btw.)

Why so little performing these days, Trev?

I've been re-calibrating my life after experiencing severe burnout on the road. I've invested in my mental health, re-evaluated some of my relationships and done what I could to become a better steward of my own sound.

Never did I ever imagine I'd go so long without performing, but here we are.

The world has been changing so much, but I am a witness to the power of music every day and I can see how people need it.

Music helps us make sense of our lives. It helps us inhabit our own bodies and connect with those around us. We all have to do it in our own way, but when we do it right a connection opens to a power much greater than ourselves.

It's given to us so that we can give it out further.

So I give this to you.

(Press play)

Love to your ears,

Trevor

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Listen to songs: Hear the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! Check out: "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

creating headroom Oct 10, 2019

Show notes

Good evening!

In this post:

* a tune idea

* a hello

* a recommendation

"If you don't create you will destroy."

I don't know if this cliche is true, but it sure feels like it.

My sounds come to me at the most inopportune times, and sometimes I'll jump out of bed at 2am just to put something down on paper. I'm still usually at a loss for where to put them, but they come anyway.

Over time I have found a few different vessels for my music, but the transaction is always incomplete. Songs, bands, theater projects and films all have their strengths and flaws, but the feeling of being musically "emptied" never catches up. New sounds settle over me like so much dust and I have to begin again.

Maybe it'd be easier to just forget the whole thing, but music won't leave me alone.

I am still here, still craving, still blessed with the hunger for sound. The sound wants to reverberate, ripple and resonate.

Thank you all so much for your kind responses and encouraging notes about last week’s “Cinema Paradiso” track. I just love that tune so much, I had to orchestrate it for cellos. (if you missed it, you can listen here.)

Godfather of Harlem

A few years ago I got hooked by “Narcos” on Netflix. I guess I had too much spare time, but the quality of the writing was enough to win me over - despite the obvious brazilian-ness of the actor who played Pablo Escobar.

The same writers/showrunners are back with a totally homegrown tale now, and it’s jam-packed with legendary actors: Forest Whitaker, Vincent D’onofrio, Giancarlo Esposito… too many to count really. Take a look:

I’m only two episodes deep and thought you might like to check it out.

Love to your ears,

Trevor

If you like my stuff, help it spread by sharing it!

* Listen to songs: Hear the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hang with players! Check out: "Play It Like It's Music"

* Consider hiring me to score your piece.

* I can also produce your podcast.

* Follow me on IG \ TW \ FB

* More @trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

Are you there, Ennio? It's me, Trevor Oct 03, 2019

Show notes

Short and sweet this week. Press play.

I’m happy to say that the new studio is officially up and running.

In Topanga.

Sun is shining and the juice is flowing.

(And I told you I loved that Cinema Paradiso melody…)

Love to your ears,

Trevor

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

the cultivation of small delightful actions Aug 07, 2019

Show notes

song: “Natalie” by XVSK (Trevor Exter & John Morgan Kimock)

press play above or listen here.

When I play one note, it’s a simple action with some part of my body that generates sound, and I'm instantly delighted.

To play one note is delight. Do I need the world, an audience, to hear it?

No.

Obviously the presence of an audience amplifies and multiplies the delight, but the delight in its purest form already exists independently.

Practice is the cultivation of these small delightful actions in quantity and order: creating and inhabiting patterns of delight.

We smooth out our movements: a sour note here, a lopsided rhythm there... we feed our attention and love into the ongoing action and the rest takes care of itself.

We must remember to breathe. And not to judge, only shape.

(Shaping it allows for more delight, judging cuts it off at the neck.)

Connect to the delight, and protect that connection with your life. God speaks through our bodies and the audience shows up to witness.

Sometimes you’ll break a string.

See you again next Wednesday.

Love,

Trevor

If you appreciate my work, it’s in these other places too. Help it spread by sharing it:

* Listen to the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hear 18 episodes of: "Play It Like It's Music"

* You can hire me to score your piece.

* Or I can produce your podcast.

* Direct support @ Patreon

* Follow: IG \ TW \ FB

* trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

A guy inside my head Jul 25, 2019

Show notes

The move, part 2 with musical reflections

[press play]

song: “Hudson”

got a guy inside my head who doesn't like me

can't stand my type, my band, my sign

but you seem to handle me just fine

I've got the wings, just need the wheels

show me something

something that'll make me feel

I seek to belong but also to control. I want delight but also health. Tension much?

I want to feel safe but also powerful, so cello is the perfect instrument for me because you know it's never gonna go perfectly.

I got a love the size of the sun

that could boil the ocean

rose above I've not, no prizes won

see I'm just one

your mind is a window, body is the sky

can't live without the one

without the other you won't ask why

We do the long tones to make the sound warm and fluid. I've also been dusting off my bounce matrix - that thing is hard to execute in real time.

Honestly, most of my practicing is to address my own feelings, an effort to feel safe in the face of potential mistakes and to make a compelling (i.e. powerful) sound.

We forget that the cello drill is not taught so that we can feel good, but so that we can do the cello job.

But what if...

why keep it to yourself

can't be someone else

don't keep it to yourself

talk is cheap inside a shell

What if, when we played the cello we got to feel the way a listener wants to feel when they hear the cello?

(warm, emotional, thrilled)

What if we could benefit from our own musical medicine?

I got a g-d follows me around, saving my hide

though I tried slippin away

you know it ain't fake tonight

here in this house of love

got to do things right

some day I'll run clear in the light

That's my goal, which partly explains why I've done so little performing lately. Not only is cello hard and awkward to play, but booking and promoting gigs can often run counter to the real work of music, which among other things is healing.

why keep it to yourself

can't be someone else

don't keep it to yourself

talk is cheap inside a shell

In order to heal a listener, the musician has to first heal themselves. And I've been engaged in some deep healing of late.

But the songs are about ready to burst.

They've been doing their job for me, so I'm starting to think about trying them out on you.

I'm looking forward to a release (it's still very far away).

But I will be booking a show soon.

Promise.

Thanks for all your notes last week. Big ups, keep em coming.

Love,

Trevor

If you appreciate my work, it’s in these other places too. Please help it spread by sharing it:

* Listen to the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hear 18 episodes of: "Play It Like It's Music"

* You can hire me to score your piece.

* Or I can produce your podcast.

* Direct support @ Patreon

* Follow: IG \ TW \ FB

* trevorexter.com

Get full access to Play it Like It's Music at playitlikeitsmusic.substack.com/subscribe

Most Right Jul 03, 2019

Show notes

Missed you folks last week! The reality is that I simply crashed… after 2 months living out of a bag (with 1 more to go) I had to crawl into a cave for a few days.

Emerging now to say a quick hello and provide a peek at one of the songs I have in preproduction. An album is starting to emerge out of the mist. Hit “play” above and scroll for lyrics below:

Most Right [draft 2019]

paint fell off the walls

we danced our faces off

Took the long way through

Hot times in a stone-cold room

tapes still in your car

the good ones travel far

crazy, you're crazy

the one i need to see

don't ever change your mind

waiting for next time

the old familiar hiss

of another night

don't ever change your mind

give up your place in line

find the most-wrong miss

make it the most right

mixtape in my stacks

love letter in these tracks

listen back and it hits me:

the songs you thought might fix me

if only I hadn't known too late

don't ever change your mind…

…

This song has been settling in nicely - they all require a period of breaking in before I’ll perform it live or record it. Patreon folks heard it a few months ago. Hopefully the words speak for themselves, and I look forward to hitting it on stage one of these days.

Thank you for reading and subscribing. More to come, and have a happy 4th tomorrow.

I appreciate you!

Big love to your ears,

Trevor

If you appreciate my work, it’s in these other places too. Please help it spread by sharing it:

* Listen to the “Trevor Exter Playlist” on Spotify

* Hear 18 episodes of: "Play It Like It's Music"

* You can hire me to score your piece.

* Or I can produce your podcast.

* Direct support @ Patreon

* Follow: IG \ TW \ FB

* trevorexter.com