Squintin’ Tarantino examines the darkside of musical envy on “The Weight,” a song that rehashes old beef to make a tasty folk rock single.
“I am very much a type of artist that doesn’t talk about meaning. I want others to find their meaning and put it into the song. People don’t have to know what I write about necessarily. It adds a little mystery to the whole thing,” says Ryan Mazerolle of Squintin’ Tarantino.
Despite his habitual air of mystery, Mazerolle breaks with tradition to impart a story of betrayal, jealousy, and butted heads. It all began long ago, in a far-off band, where Mazerolle has been assigned to play bass, and only bass. When he veered from that course and began writing his own material, it crossed a line for those of his bandmates who were less-than-comfortable with Mazerolle’s creative contributions.
“Not trying to steal your glory/If I did, I’d split the cost,” sings Mazerolle, pointing out the nature of floating boats. “Although, if they wanted songs out of me, they should have put me on another instrument then.”
The lesson of the song, he points out while dawning the mantel of a mystic, is to follow your gut and to remain positive—particularly when it comes to matters of music and doubly so when it comes to dealings with bandmates.
“Be happy with what others are doing, don’t try to manage what others do with their own intellectual property unless they are stealing from you or slandering you,” says Mazerolle. “If you want things, be willing to meet with a compromise. If your musical peers are releasing things, playing gigs, be positive about it.”
He notes that, like “The Weight” itself, that music is an artform, rarely perfected and always a journey; each final product, or song, is a step along the way. More importantly, the journey is, hopefully, enjoyed.
“If I see a band of people who believe in themselves and are having a great time doing it, I can back that. I dig it.I don’t even have to like the music. I can feel that energy from people when it’s being put down,” says Mazerolle.
“I try to make a conscious decision to live on the positive side of being envious towards other musicians. Got a new song? Did you have fun writing it? Do you see what you can do better for the next song? Good, that’s all that matters. Keep truckin’.”