[MBTI General] nf songwriters/musicians

[sleuthiness]

Tori - ENFP
Ani - ENFJ

the imagination can be such a soothing place.

 

[sleuthiness]

I'm glad not at all surprised (now that I think about it) to see how much I'm witnessing the infj/istj ego pairing/attraction, in person and online. It's nice how much more one can see life more fluidly through this theory than otherwise.

 

[booyalab]

prince

ISFP

frank black (the pixies!) (unsure)

INTP

pj harvey

ISTP


Mark Knopfler- INFP

Prince is more of an ISFP

PJ Harvery ?
I've heard ISTP more than anything

oops yeah. Btw, Prince is to ISFP as Einstein is to INTP.
Quotes that prove that PJ Harvey is probably an ISTP and under no circumstances an NF:

" I firmly disbelieve that one has to be a tortured soul to write good music." (an NF might agree but I can't see them coming to the conclusion independently)
" People have a tendency to see country life through rose-colored glasses."
" I find it hard myself to feel justified to sing in a very politically direct way about war or social conditions because I feel so ignorant of a lot of it. "
" This is a dangerous thing to do. People pick up on one little thing that you say and never let go. "

 

[sleuthiness]

PJ... an istp. I can see that now. Nice.

 

[simulatedworld]

hmm

Mostly good, from what I've heard about the various people on the list.

Billy Corgan is ENTJ, though (2nd guess possibly INTJ.) F and P for him are both ridiculous. Talk to anyone who's been on tour or in the studio with him.

Rivers Cuomo is INTJ. I could maybe see INFJ, but absolutely not P. The man's entire career was one big methodical master plan to write catchy songs and become a rock star, and he rules Weezer with something of an iron fist (check out the recent biography, Rivers' Edge.) He's far too calculated to be P. Early in his musical career, he was obsessed with wank-metal and mastering every technical aspect of the guitar. The compulsive need for technical competence is characteristically NT.

Isaac Brock is probably INTP; he's definitely not an F. Everything I hear about him says he's a complete dick with little to no regard for the feelings of others. He obsesses over logical inconsistencies in religion/God/the afterlife far more than over his own ethical perfection. Name a single Modest Mouse song that sounds F to you in any way! Most of them are bitterly sarcastic or satirical--not that Fs aren't capable of this (see Nirvana's "In Bloom" about how much the very INFP Cobain hated rednecks.) But still, just listening to interviews and so on with Brock, his personal style comes off as very blunt, intentionally controversial NTP.

 

[hokie912]

Rivers Cuomo is INTJ. I could maybe see INFJ, but absolutely not P. The man's entire career was one big methodical master plan to write catchy songs and become a rock star, and he rules Weezer with something of an iron fist (check out the recent biography, Rivers' Edge.) He's far too calculated to be P. Early in his musical career, he was obsessed with wank-metal and mastering every technical aspect of the guitar. The compulsive need for technical competence is characteristically NT.

Isaac Brock is probably INTP; he's definitely not an F. Everything I hear about him says he's a complete dick with little to no regard for the feelings of others. He obsesses over logical inconsistencies in religion/God/the afterlife far more than over his own ethical perfection. Name a single Modest Mouse song that sounds F to you in any way! Most of them are bitterly sarcastic or satirical--not that Fs aren't capable of this (see Nirvana's "In Bloom" about how much the very INFP Cobain hated rednecks.) But still, just listening to interviews and so on with Brock, his personal style comes off as very blunt, intentionally controversial NTP.

Agreed on these. I don't know a great deal about him, but Isaac Brock's songwriting screams T...completely detached and analytical. Rivers Cuomo is definitely an INJ. I would have been inclined to say INFJ based on songs like "Say It Ain't So," "Only in Dreams" and, well, all of Pinkerton, but I think you make a great case for INTJ. There's nothing to say that Ts can't write emotionally expressive music, and INTJ seems to fit his motivations and personal life.

What about Elliott Smith? There's a thread about him on the celebrity type board. I_FP.

 

[BlueScreen]

I always thought Tracey Chapman felt like an ENFP. Know she's an FP of some kind.

On second thoughts, she's probably an ISFP.

 

[speculative]

Billy Corgan is ENTJ, though (2nd guess possibly INTJ.) F and P for him are both ridiculous. Talk to anyone who's been on tour or in the studio with him.

SP songs seem to be mainly about identity, feelings, and sentimentality. How does that point to T vs. F? P/J I'm not sure of however, but it seems like a P would be more likely to spend 36 hours straight mixing a song than a J. (A J would be more likely to know what they're looking for in a mix and get it done rather than messing around with it for hours on end.)

 

[the state i am in]

Mostly good, from what I've heard about the various people on the list.

thanks for the feedback.

Rivers Cuomo is INTJ. I could maybe see INFJ, but absolutely not P. The man's entire career was one big methodical master plan to write catchy songs and become a rock star, and he rules Weezer with something of an iron fist (check out the recent biography, Rivers' Edge.) He's far too calculated to be P. Early in his musical career, he was obsessed with wank-metal and mastering every technical aspect of the guitar. The compulsive need for technical competence is characteristically NT.

pinkerton from an intj. interesting. i don't have anything to add bc i personally hate weezer, the impression i'd had just was infp, albeit a gross and contrived version. but i'm just blathering...

Isaac Brock is probably INTP; he's definitely not an F. Everything I hear about him says he's a complete dick with little to no regard for the feelings of others. He obsesses over logical inconsistencies in religion/God/the afterlife far more than over his own ethical perfection. Name a single Modest Mouse song that sounds F to you in any way! Most of them are bitterly sarcastic or satirical--not that Fs aren't capable of this. But still, just listening to interviews and so on with Brock, his personal style comes off as very blunt, intentionally controversial NTP.

i don't disagree. the songs i could maybe get some f from are wild pack of family dogs and third planet. overall i now see intp more than infp. my intp friend loves modest mouse.

i find it really really interesting when these things get pointed out to me, to understand what the hell intp emotion feels like. to me it feels like it is without the color. it is positive and negative energy but it's in black, white, and mostly grey. it's seen more as anxiety, paranoia, neurosis, anger, frustration (or energy, excitement, electricity, uppers on the positive spectrum) than the gold-tinged hues of melancholy, hope, longing, sadness.

what do you think about lou reed, frank black, david byrne, elvis costello, les claypool, tom waits, trent reznor, maynard ferguson? all intps?

also- no one ever said nfs don't act like pricks. especially unhealthy infs stuck in the limelight that they are ill-suited for. also, suicidal doesn't exactly help. nor does the spotlight ease down the trapped feeling of inf authenticity, perfectionism, etc. it's his work- i know if anyone fucked with my shit/didn't live up to my vision it would look embarrassingly like the wilco movie.

SP songs seem to be mainly about identity, feelings, and sentimentality. How does that point to T vs. F? P/J I'm not sure of however, but it seems like a P would be more likely to spend 36 hours straight mixing a song than a J. (A J would be more likely to know what they're looking for in a mix and get it done rather than messing around with it for hours on end.)

i agree. he seems very inf to me. i could see j or p. i don't think the best way to decide is whether he seems more j or p as much as whether he seems more Ni Fe or Fi Ne. neither j nor p is necessarily more perfectionistic, it has to do more with determining dominant function.

muzzle, thirty-three, and tonite tonite all point me in this direction. today and disarm off of siamese dream. it's so nf.

 

[simulatedworld]

^I don't know enough about Lou Reed, David Byrne, Elvis Costello, or Maynard Ferguson to have meaningful guesses on those.

But I would place Frank Black as INTP, Tom Waits as INFP, Les Claypool as ENTP and Trent Reznor as INTJ. (Flak seemed deadset on calling Reznor ENTP, but I still don't see it.)

Wild Pack of Family Dogs sounds like a scathing critique of evangelical religion, to me. The most telling line is "The dogs starting floating up towards the glowing sky / Now they'll receive their rewards." The dogs keep showing up and converting everyone in his family--dude really, really hates religion.

Third Planet has a little F in it, but it's still a little awkwardly vulgar. Baby cum angels? Really? An F can't think of a nicer way to describe this idea? Also, it goes into serious dissection of theoretical physics and evolutionary biology. Not that Fs aren't capable of discussing these things, just that it seems more likely that a T would write them into a song. There's very little direct discussion of anyone's feelings...like your black and white description of INTP emotion. Seems to ring true here. (btw, Moon and Antarctica is my #1 favorite record of all time.)

As for Waits, well, just from seeing a few interviews his personal style seems pretty INFP. I could be easily be wrong here; I don't know that much about him. ISFP is probably a good guess too--I'm hard pressed to think another more avant-garde stylistic trendsetter.

Claypool I place as ENTP because he's just such a fucking show-off. How many Primus songs (or C2B3 songs, or Oysterhead songs, or Frog Brigade songs, or Sausage songs...) don't involve him showing off his bass chops all the damn time? And this is coming from a fan that's seen him live in various bands several times! He just seems to need to be the center of attention all the time. Any normal techno-wizard bass player (and I'm something of a techno-wizard bass player myself) would just hire a separate singer because the things you can do vocally while playing all that stuff are so limited (hence the generally subpar vocals in all of his work)--but noooo, he had to do it himself, he had to be the frontman, or else people might not pay all of their attention to him!

About Corgan, now that you mention it, F makes a little more sense. Reading his recent blogs and such he's gone totally nutso-Fe...maybe he's an ENFJ that took a really really long time to grow up? He would need some serious charisma to convince club owners to book his band early in their career, being that his live vocals were so bad and all. I still can't really see P for him, though, because it takes a serious control freak to overdub virtually every guitar and bass part on the records, virtually eliminating Iha and D'arcy from the band's recorded output (except in rare cases.) Rivers Cuomo did this exact same thing to Jason Cropper/Brian Bell during the "Blue Album" sessions--according to Ric Ocasek, who produced it, 100% of the guitars on that record are Cuomo.

Reznor is INTJ from his extremely private nature and is reportedly incredibly focused on everything he does. I'm reminded of that quote from the studio he originally got a janitorial job at, where his boss said something to the effect of, "He was so incredibly focused, even when he'd wax the floor!" Reznor also does the "EVERY GOD DAMN SOUND ON MY BAND'S RECORDS MUST COME FROM ME PERSONALLY!" thing, which is pretty J, and I don't see a single F thing about the guy. He's just an emotionally fragmented INTJ who has no idea how to deal with negative feelings.

 

[Thursday]

myspace.com/averydenamusic

Its me!

 

[Nonsensical]

myspace.com/averydenamusic

Its me!

Wow! You're really talented, and you have style and creativity and I think it crazy that no one has signed you onto some record deal! Keep it up!

 

[simulatedworld]

Wow! You're really talented, and you have style and creativity and I think it crazy that no one has signed you onto some record deal! Keep it up!

Yep, she sounds good, but the problem with record deals is that they're business propositions designed to make money, not benevolent attempts to bring exposure to good music.

There are tons and tons of great artists out there who will never get recording contracts with major labels because their music simply isn't marketable in the current musical landscape. It's a shame, but if you want a big company to invest in mass-producing your product, it needs to be something that the vulgar, stupid masses will buy en masse. Sad, but that's the way of the business.

 

[Thursday]

Yep, she sounds good, but the problem with record deals is that they're business propositions designed to make money, not benevolent attempts to bring exposure to good music.

There are tons and tons of great artists out there who will never get recording contracts with major labels because their music simply isn't marketable in the current musical landscape. It's a shame, but if you want a big company to invest in mass-producing your product, it needs to be something that the vulgar, stupid masses will buy en masse. Sad, but that's the way of the business.

which is why i have a dba
check please

 

[BlueScreen]

Great music Thursday! Lots of talent. Great voice also.

Yep, she sounds good, but the problem with record deals is that they're business propositions designed to make money, not benevolent attempts to bring exposure to good music.

There are tons and tons of great artists out there who will never get recording contracts with major labels because their music simply isn't marketable in the current musical landscape. It's a shame, but if you want a big company to invest in mass-producing your product, it needs to be something that the vulgar, stupid masses will buy en masse. Sad, but that's the way of the business.

Most of that is quite true, it's a myth that only crap gets on the radio and poor little geniuses are suffering on myspace though. If it is brilliant or radio catchy, it will make it. If it is just a nice listen, it might make it. If you released any classic as an unknown these days, you would still be signed, and it would still end up number one. Obviously, writing music is something you do for the love, whereas getting a contract brings business into it. But I still think there is art in making something perfect and simple enough to be loved en masse. I'd still take "stand by me" or "yesterday" over any complex melody or blurring of a million instruments, ever to enter myspace.

 

[ZiL]

I think Beck is probably INTP.


Ryan Adams is a massive ENFP. Just got back from seeing him in concert. An Ne/Fi explosion.

 

[quietmusician]

I was watching some interviews with Sara Bareilles as well as reading her biography recently and she seems like an xNFx to me.

 

[GZA]

Beck always seems Ni to me.

Hendrix seems INFP... sometimes I think ISFP but the more I listen to interviews and stuff the more he definitely seems to be N.

 

[speculative]

About Corgan, now that you mention it, F makes a little more sense. Reading his recent blogs and such he's gone totally nutso-Fe...maybe he's an ENFJ that took a really really long time to grow up? He would need some serious charisma to convince club owners to book his band early in their career, being that his live vocals were so bad and all. I still can't really see P for him, though, because it takes a serious control freak to overdub virtually every guitar and bass part on the records, virtually eliminating Iha and D'arcy from the band's recorded output (except in rare cases.) Rivers Cuomo did this exact same thing to Jason Cropper/Brian Bell during the "Blue Album" sessions--according to Ric Ocasek, who produced it, 100% of the guitars on that record are Cuomo.

Sounds reasonable - I wasn't sure about P/J so let's call Corgan a J. He seems more E than I so that would give us ENFJ? For a further glimpse, check out this clip I posted in the INFP music thread: [youtube="S88PcGqfYo4&NR=1"]Snyder Interview with Corgan[/youtube] Sorry for the audio - it's delayed a bit. He seems very communicative emotionally, you can see it in his eyes, his expression, and his smile.

Where he talks about "our natures were kind of diametrically opposed" and how he "sensed" D'Arcy's nature when they met, this seems very NF.

"I'm right, she hasn't realized she's wrong." Though he's joking, this seems J.

Also, listen to the section starting at 6:20 - he talks about the Beatles and idealism and a "new consciousness." He also talks about idealism and how you can't necessarily exist in that idealism in our culture. Seems kind of almost 4w3-ish? He seems focused on identity, the past, and beauty. I don't know, just putting that out there...

On another note, Beth Gibbons: what is her type?

P.s. - nice tune Thursday.

 

[BlueScreen]

Beck always seems Ni to me.

Hendrix seems INFP... sometimes I think ISFP but the more I listen to interviews and stuff the more he definitely seems to be N.

I always wanted to type him ISFP, because something tells me he has some strong Se in those fingers.