Bassists who also Cook and other arts.

PastorofMuppets · #1 08-20-2011, 08:08 PM

I am a 20 year bass player and also a classically trained chef.
I am also a 25 year practitioner of Okinawan Martial Arts and hold the rank of Rokudan (6th degree black).

I think its natural for a person who has a mindset of being in the arts to go from one to another.

Studying culinary arts flows in much the same way as musical arts and martial arts for me. All of them practice technique, and have performance aspects. In all of them it is impossible to learn everything and continual lifelong study is available if you have the passion.

Just wondering who else here dabbles or is flat out devoted to another art. It could be a fascinating subject to talk about here.

Learning a new dish I have never made before is akin to learning a new song on bass, or a new kata in karate. Its not about the destination but about the journey. All of these things has formed who I am today and I am grateful for them in my life. The more time and energy that you focus into the arts the greater the reward.

Share your thoughts.

schecter5string · #2 08-20-2011, 08:33 PM

I have been running kitchens for the last 13 years, I have found that playing music after work helps the stress......If you have ever cooked for a living you know what I mean.

Mirios · #3 08-20-2011, 08:35 PM

I am in the horticulture business myself. Think that would be similar since I'm always doing design work it seems these days.

Is skiing an art? I think it is

I do like to do plenty of that as well.

LongHairFreak · #4 08-20-2011, 08:42 PM

I'm 52yo and it's been little more than a year since I began learning to cook with real foods. My mentor and her partner are awesome cooks and I've since become the main chef in my household. I throw clay too.

My blindness has been more challenging with cooking than pottery. Man those knives are sharp!! Though to be fair, I've been throwing pottery for several years so feel much more adept with clay in my hands rather than food.

lowfreq33 · #5 08-20-2011, 08:58 PM

I cook as well, had 15 years in the restaurant biz before I got out. Glad for the skills, but it ruined my back.

I also have a degree in audio.

chef_tater · #6 08-20-2011, 09:25 PM

I am a classically trained chef and getting ready for my CEC exams. I equate culinary arts the same as performing arts. When I create a "masterpiece" of a dish I spend many hours on it to have it be gone in as little as ten minutes. The same is true for music. we spend hours honing our craft and finding the right sound for our masterpiece and then "serve" it to our guest to be gone in ten minutes. Unlike Visual Arts, We strive for the moment, the feelings of that dish/ song, the experience. I would not trade the experience of hearing Victor for the first time or enjoying a meal by Thomas Keller for all the Rembrandt's or DaVinci's in the world.

MysticMichael · #7 08-20-2011, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PastorofMuppets

Just wondering who else here dabbles or is flat out devoted to another art.

My alternate art form is creative writing...specifically poetry.

MM

Ayce · #8 08-20-2011, 10:01 PM

Not sure if this is considered an art form (yet) but I do 3d modeling on the computer, specificly track layouts and static models, including textures, for the game I'm helping create. I guess that comes from 2 years of HS art, plus my short sheet metal career. It can be satisfying and frustrating at the same time, just like playing bass, or any instrument for that matter.

Raven2k360 · #9 08-22-2011, 02:04 AM

On top of not practicing bass nearly enough, I'm also a photographer, and got back into the Martial Arts last May. Shaolin Kempo, currently sitting at Green Belt.

Sundogue · #10 08-22-2011, 12:25 PM

I agree with you that when a person has a fertile, creative mind, exploration into many art forms is pretty natural.

Besides being a bass player, I'm also a fine artist (which is my main profession) as well as being a writer (many books started, none finished except one I was hired as a ghost writer for). Really I don't think there are any creative endeavors I don't pursue to some degree.

Once you start using that side of your mind, taking up just one of the many art forms is kind of limiting.

PastorofMuppets · #11 08-22-2011, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chef_tater

I am a classically trained chef and getting ready for my CEC exams. I equate culinary arts the same as performing arts. When I create a "masterpiece" of a dish I spend many hours on it to have it be gone in as little as ten minutes. The same is true for music. we spend hours honing our craft and finding the right sound for our masterpiece and then "serve" it to our guest to be gone in ten minutes. Unlike Visual Arts, We strive for the moment, the feelings of that dish/ song, the experience. I would not trade the experience of hearing Victor for the first time or enjoying a meal by Thomas Keller for all the Rembrandt's or DaVinci's in the world.

Good luck with your exams that is very cool. I thought about taking my cooking career that far but other opportunities presented themselves and I went in another direction.

Phalex · #12 08-22-2011, 12:46 PM

I can cook. My best friend was an award winning chef, and I used assist here and there way back when.

I also didn't suck to bad sculpting in clay. That never really stuck though.

sanderic · #13 08-22-2011, 12:51 PM

I am an artist in the french quarter in new orleans, not sure if we are allowed to post our web sites etc. If any of you venture to vacation in these parts, please give me an email or a post, or whatever.

scottfeldstein · #14 08-22-2011, 12:53 PM

Great topic! In addition to music, I'm also a photographer. I dabble in food. For years I was into traditional martial arts as well. Judo, hapkido and taekwondo.

I'm just one of those people who have to have a creative outlet or two going on at all times.

tekdiver500ft · #15 08-22-2011, 01:56 PM

I'm a retired CWC and a CPP (Certified Professional Photographer). Now, if I could just learn how to play the bass, I'd be able to join this thread...

stingraysvt · #16 08-22-2011, 02:06 PM

I'm a Graphic Designer, I have my Bachelor of Fine Arts in that field, and I also own a sound company, we've done sound for everyone from Snoop Dogg to Dierks Bently.

I am also a photographer, kinda comes with the territory of being a Graphic Designer, got my wife back into doing photography professionally.

Not a trained chef but I've cooked a slammin' steak dinner or two in my lifetime...

renobassman · #17 08-22-2011, 02:08 PM

I'm not trained in cooking at all, but I sure do love it! Sometimes cooking a good meal is the best way to relieve stress.

KillianRussell · #18 08-22-2011, 02:11 PM

I do not cook, however in so far as other art forms, I do not let the 1000 or so rejections discourage me, writin' is my bag !

scottfeldstein · #19 08-22-2011, 02:13 PM

Speaking of writing and photography... I wrote some lovely articles on photography for Lifehacker back in the day. I still think they hold up pretty well, if I do say so myself

Master Your DSLR Camera, Part 1: Program Mode

MikeBC · #20 08-22-2011, 02:36 PM

Coincidently my ex told some neighbors she wanted me to go to cooking school. She hated my cooking! When a neighbor asked me how it was going getting into cooking school that was a surprise. Asking my ex about that was the beginning of the end.

Music, art, and writing have been part of my life from an early age.

Wrote some short stories and poetry in high school. Worked for my college newspaper and part-time for pay for the local paper, more on the presses than the copy room. Continued writing after, did some freelance for newspapers and magazines. Threw out 300 pages of my first attempt at the next great American novel, shortly before my 30th. My most successful writing has been in grants and program development. True it is not the traditional creative writing but I found combining statistics and analytics with a few good story lines can make for a successful proposal.

In high school I did take some art classes as electives. In college I studied painting, graphics, film, and architecture. I went on to earn a Master's in Urban Planing. I did sell some paintings and prints but the net was not positive. While in grad school I was a member of a team that won 3rd place in the Pabst Brewing Company's History of Brewing Mural Contest.

Began violin in grade school. Took one for the team and switched to viola for the high school orchestra's sake. Picked up bass guitar and acoustic six string in college. Learned them on my own. Wrote a few songs and some experimental electronic type music. One piece was played on Pacifica Radio in the San Francisco-Oakland area. Was in several bands but that ceased some time ago. Knew music well enough I think but not the music biz.

Most of all that ceased as I pursued a career in urban planning. I have come to loathe it. Politics on both sides of the isle has rendered it a useless profession.

Semi- retired now. Picking up music again, and digital photography has opened up a new hobby if nothing else.

Now I am back to deciding what I want to do when I grow up.

Thanks for listening.