- Music
- 03 Sep 17
Over in the Mind Field Literary tent, Tony Clayton-Lea of The Irish Times led a panel discussion with crime writer, Alex Barclay, singer and filmmaker Nick Kelly, and singer-songwriter John Murry.
Speaking about mental health in arts and literature, the trio, all coming from different perspectives on the subject, once the subject of isolation and creativity was brought up by Clayton-Lea, surprisingly enough each came out to espouse the benefits of collaboration.
Kelly, explaining the process behind his feature-length debut The Drummer and the Keeper said, “it’s very crowded, but in a collaborative space everyone who works on the film changes the film itself, whatever their ideas about say autism, football or rock ‘n’ roll. I’m open to those gifts that other people bring.”
Adding to this was Murry, in relation to his latest album, A Short History of Decay, when he stated, “I don’t really write songs alone. I will write something and then realise tha I stole a bunch of it, and it’s because [that music] was already there before.”
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“Ego is the fundamental destroyer of art”, he continued. “We just live in a time when ego is celebrated though.”
“I have heard of authors who refused to be edited by an editor”, Barclay said, agreeing with the sentiment. “Usually they are the one’s who need an edit the most.”