by TheSymphny
Names are a projection of future desired outcomes and a past which must be overcome to get there – therefore the power to tether the two ends of time with a short sequence of characters carries a weight of responsibility I take on gladly.
Listen to the EP while reading the text.
Places, Time and Meaning
As an artist, I feel morally obligated to fixate upon, and by extension give new expression to, aspects of life which often pass us by without a second whisper. I have recently been transfixed by the idea that – although ne’ery being an ultimate constraint – the place from which you come fuels the journey upon which you embark and unwaveringly influences where you end up. Note that I have applied a very liberal definition of the word “place” because what matters is not the geographical location but the experience enjoyed within that physical framework and beyond that one finds that the physical may not even make it into one’s secondary revision of meaning.
The much-maligned father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud, wrote about “screen memories”, the results of a cognitive process whereby seemingly insignificant childhood events are burned vividly into our memories whereas arguably more significant events of early childhood are repressed, often as they are broken up to form harmless composites (if they are retained at all). What’s interesting about his hypothesis is how it predicts the power of the mind to operate outside the limits of conscious dictates and as a result means those insignificant “screen memories” are composites of the much more meaningful events once thought irretrievably lost to the vacuum of space and time.
Although now hotly contested in the academic sphere, what’s clear is our experiences take on meaning regardless of our willingness to accept that role and how our job as conscious beings in the present is to do our best impersonation of an orchestral leader and put those seemingly chaotic pieces in order. Thus the importance of the name “TheSymphny” doesn’t extend too far beyond the obviously overdetermined core of meaning.
Random Processes and Gut Feelings
I was plugged into the world of thinking about the significance of names by my manager who asked: “Why did you choose TheSymphny as your name?”. I instinctively responded, “I just used a band name generator, and that’s what came up, but I chose it because I basically see myself as a Orchestra whereby there are many elements that I bring to the table from Producing to singing to writing [and everything in between].”
Like many moments in my life, the process of choosing “TheSymphny” started as a rather random process motivated by a gut feeling but upon reflection revealed a process previously hidden even from myself. As a result of what I had gone through – from leaving Swaziland for Johannesburg with my family at 9 to joining a dance crew at 13 to even running several businesses throughout high school – I had unlocked my desire to be more than a one-dimensional creative.
To be all you can be calls for a willingness to put oneself in uncomfortable situations for the sake of growth. The unconscious is powerful because, among other things, it organizes your desires so the day you decide to follow your heart, it already knows what it truly wants – much like a maverick conductor standing before a group of talented instrumentalists.
Soft, Prodding Power to Honest Words
“TheSymphny” doesn’t just speak to the breadth my music soundscape but more importantly to the substance itself. I write music which I hope will contribute meaningfully to the content of the story of my listeners’ lives. The uniqueness of artistic endeavor is the power our listeners entrust us with.
We accompany the lonely and remind them they matter, we stay up late with the dreamers who (just as we are) just need that one opportunity to fulfill lifelong ambitions, we’re with the heartbroken and in the same breath provide the prose to succinctly capture the joy of new love and life.
I cannot claim Shakespearean literary ability, but there is a soft, prodding power to honest words over smooth melodies and a groovy 808. It is an honor to wake up every day and challenge myself to live up the entire range of expectations carried by the name I chose.
For serious inquiries
TheSymphny on Bandcamp
TheSymphny on Instagram
TheSymphny on Twitter
TheSymphny on Facebook