Duos don’t stay together.
PAUL SIMON
I have spent years reading and researching creative collaborations especially in the musical field. As a writer, I am a solo creator. In school, I hated group projects. The dynamics of the relationship between a duo or the members of a rock band have fascinated me. The thing I notice is how fragile these collaborations turn out.
My old man told me to never go into partnership. The problem with starting a rock band is that it is a partnership. That is one of the flaws of the music business. You need other musicians. Inevitably, they have disagreements. Bands break up. Members get fired.
When it comes to music, I think the best strategy is the singer-songwriter. This would be a folk singer or a country singer strumming his guitar solo and singing his songs into a single microphone. A solo artist will never break up with himself. If he does collaborate, it will be with a backing band that he hires and fires at will.
I don't believe in creative collaborations. I used to think that I did, but I don't. These are partnerships, and partnerships don't last. At the end of the day, someone is behind the steering wheel, and everyone else is along for the ride. That is the reality of creative collaborations.
