What is an Outsider Artist?

Am I One?

This week I’m trying something different: a personal essay. I did quietly share a Soundscape yesterday, if that’s something you noticed missing lately. My next music release lands December 6th. Anyway, I hope this finds you well, wherever you are.

---

I’ve always struggled with a sense of belonging when it comes to creating art, both as a visual artist in my 20’s and more recently as a musician, so I’ve wondered if it would be appropriate to think of myself as an outsider artist?

Lately, if I’m pressed to explain what I do for a living I say, “I’m a musician.” Fine. But, often I find myself awkwardly trying to add detail that I don’t feel is that useful, and doesn’t really communicate how I feel.

I say, “Not a performing musician... I have a home studio. I work in the ambient genre, I guess you could say. I make field recordings. I use those in my music. Nature sounds. Birds, water, wind, that sort of thing…”

That’s what I say, and then I feel two things: I feel uninteresting and unconvincing. Recently someone replied, “Oh good for you.”

I feel like an outsider. Always have. Imposter syndrome sets in sometimes. Maybe it would be easier just say that, “I’m an outsider artist.” Erm...

Outsider artists are

1. Self taught. Check.

2. Work outside the boundaries of the art world. *Hesitates.* Che—. Hmmm…well no, not entirely. I mostly just work alone.

3. Original and authentic. Che—. I mean, I think so. There’s no one that makes music quite like mine.

So am I an outsider artist? Possibly maybe. Probably not.

Let’s get some perspective with a little primer on famous outsider artists.

Henry Darger

Henry Darger -”The Battle of Drossabellamaxmillian…” folkartmuseum.org

This reclusive hospital janitor spent his free time creating a massive, fantastical universe in his Chicago apartment. His magnum opus, "In the Realms of the Unreal," spans over 15,000 pages and is filled with vibrant, sometimes disturbing illustrations of a fictional world where young girls (the Vivian Girls) battle evil adults.

Howard Finster

Howard Finster “God Bless You All” coloradocollege.edu

Howard Finster started creating art after he saw a vision in a smudge of paint on his finger that instructed him to paint sacred art. Finster's art is colorful, densely packed with biblical references, and often features portraits of famous figures like Elvis Presley and George Washington. His pieces are filled with handwritten text, sharing messages and stories that blend spirituality, pop culture, and personal vision. Famously, he painted the cover art for Talking Heads’ Little Creatures and REM’s Reckoning.

Okay, but what about music? Who are the famous outsider musicians?

Daniel Johnston

Johnston recorded on cassette tapes in his parents' basement, creating beautifully simple songs about love, life, and everything in between. His most famous song, “True Love Will Find You in the End,” is a childlike anthem for hopeful romantics. He performed the song in this 2018 KCRW performance a year or so before he died.

The Shaggs

The Shaggs were a trio of sisters from New Hampshire whose father believed they were destined for musical stardom. Their 1969 album, Philosophy of the World, is often cited as a prime example of outsider music. Their unsynchronized performances and unfiltered lyrics possessed a hard-to-quantify magnetism.

Would I put my music on the shelf next to The Shaggs and Daniel Johnston (and Wesley Willis, Hasil Adkins, and R. Stevie Moore)? Nah. But that’s mostly a genre thing. They are vocal acts. What about instrumentalists?

Moondog

Moondog was a blind street musician and composer who performed on the streets of New York City. Dressed in Viking garb, he played a variety of homemade instruments and composed intricate pieces that blended classical, jazz, and world music influences. His work is both avant-garde and deeply melodic.

Basil Kirchin

Basil Kirchin started out as a jazz drummer but eventually became a pioneer of ambient and experimental music. He was one of the first to use tape manipulation techniques, creating soundscapes that incorporated field recordings, jazz, and electronic elements. His work laid the groundwork for much of what we now consider ambient and sound collage. His experimental pieces were released on two albums both called Worlds Within Worlds. The first was issued in 1971 on EMI Columbia. The second was not issued until 1974, on Island Records. The 1971 LP now sells for over $2000 on the collector’s market.

Ernest Hood

Ernest Hood was originally a jazz guitarist who, after contracting polio, transitioned to playing the zither and synthesizer. His album Neighborhoods, self released in 1975, is a serene, almost Mr. Rogers Neighborhood-esque nostalgic journey through the soundscapes of his youth. The album blends melodic ambient music with field recordings of children playing, birds chirping, and some early 20th century transportation sounds. An original copy the 1975 Neighborhoods LP fetches around $400 today.

Me?

Well, the only artist I remotely identify with here is Ernest Hood. Hood lived a pretty quiet life just outside of Portland, Oregon, my home, and quite close to my childhood stomping grounds. His melodic music and liberal use of field recordings is right up my alley. To be more precise, his conceptualization of an overarching mood—or in his words, “musical cinematography”—established by mixing field recordings and instrumental compositions was something that I found deeply affirming when I discovered his work in 2022.

In contrast, Kirchin’s experimental work is far more obtuse. Honestly, I find it inscrutable. His complete catalog is wide-ranging, however, and offers many inroads. I enjoy his jazz tunes.

Moondog’s music is, well, it’s pretty amazing. It can be very complex, but not what I would call Avant Garde, per se.

So what did these outsider instrumental musicians have in common?

1. Self taught? No. From what I can tell, Moondog was the most self-taught of the bunch.

2. Work outside the boundaries of the art world? Arguably only Ernest Hood came close, and he co-founded KBOO, a community radio station, still on air to this day. Not a very outsider-ish thing to do. Kirchin scored films and released recordings on major labels. Moondog also worked with ensembles and major labels to publish several of his recordings in the late 60’s.

3. Original and Authentic? Totally.

What else do they have in common?

1. Eccentric? One could argue only Moondog was the full-blown eccentric of the bunch.

2. Obsessive? Compulsive? Yeah, maybe, but doesn’t every artist work in a fever from time to time? Isn’t every artist driven to bring their inner vision to life?

3. Post-mortem popularity? Yes. I think they all died before their audience really took off. It seems like part of the appeal of the outsider, with some exceptions, is that they worked in relative obscurity while alive.

Now, I’m mildly eccentric, and compulsive—I publish a lot of music. I find it more difficult to slow down than to release music often. The premise of “quality, not quantity” is not lost on me, though. I wrestle with it all the time. In practice however, it is just a facet of my temperament and aesthetic to not edit and refine as much as some others do.

Outside of an obligatory amount of social media, and this Substack, I have not attempted to publicize my post-2018 work by soliciting reviews, media coverage, or radio play. That’s mostly down to me not knowing what track to focus on at any one time, and making a bet of sorts that the effort would just bog me down, emotionally, or resource-wise. Probably both.

Ultimately any self-referential claim to be an outsider artist is doomed to fail. It sounds pretentious to say. Only an insider, a storyteller, can make the case another artist is “outside”.

So, no, I won’t try out “I’m an outsider artist” in conversation. I can already feel my cheeks getting hot putting this all down on the record.

Resources

The Beautifully Strange World of Outsider Music YouTube Video

Outsider Music Wikipedia Entry