The Interview

I don't think I could call myself an artist. Creating art is one of those pursuits that, in my naïve outlook, should stand apart from monetary gain. It's about personal fulfillment, I think, and if you can make a living doing it, then sure – but really, what you get paid for is to leverage your talent for someone else's gain.

I had coffee with Bob Egan today. Bob was in Wilco in the 90s, and then he joined Blue Rodeo (he's still in the line-up, though they're doing solo things these days). He's interesting folk. We're in talks to do some work together (not music), but today we sort of felt each other up. Intellectually speaking.

We'd both had a rough weekend: my 31st birthday; his anniversary. Either way, the 11am meet-up was low-key and very informal. About ten minutes into the conversation though, I noticed I was working.

It's ironic, because we were talking about his work: music. He told me about the amount of travelling for corporate gigs and touring you have to do, and how un-glamourous it is when you've played the same song ten thousand times, but you still have put on a show because, for the audience, it's still a totally unique and special experience, "and if you take someone's money, you have to do what they pay you to do."

"Is it just another job?" I asked.

"Calling it 'just' a job discredits jobs," he replies with his wry smile and a dry laugh.

And he's right because jobs are important – they may not be about self-fulfillment, like art, but you do it because it's what keeps you alive and keeps you (if you're lucky) in a place where you can fulfill yourself.

For me, working means interrogating ideas wherever I find them. Usually, they're in peoples' heads and I have to tease them out. Then, I have to write them down in a way that other people will understand and that is faithful to the person whose head the idea came from. Before I knew I was doing it, I did it to Bob. Thank you Bob.