What if The Trooper uses a sabre and the ocean makes you feel Alive?
187 shows in 331 days, more than 100 million sales. An Oscar nomination and a place in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. One might expect that Bruce Dickinson and Eddie Vedder, the frontmen of Iron Maiden and Pearl Jam, wouldn’t have much time beyond music to engage in sporting activities. But what if sport is what drives them to even greater success, ambition, perseverance and creativity?
Next to his passion for singing, Bruce Dickinson is a talented fencer who reached the UK’s top ten during his career’s peak. Fencing and singing complement each other in many ways. When fencing, feet are positioned at a precise angle to stabilise oneself during the fight. This might evoke pictures of Dickinson on stage: his feet are always apart, grounding him and ensuring his stability while singing.
Moreover, fencing is a complex numerical sport, ranging from tracking points to being aware of the opponent’s tactics and movements. As a member of a band, Dickinson needs to be able to position himself within a musical group by tracking the tact, the beat, and being aware of the silent dialogue between him and the other musicians.
These resemblances might be a coincidence or the root of their passions. Whatever one concludes, a similar approach can be taken when looking at Eddie Vedder’s leisurely activities.
Vedder, known for his extraordinary guitar-playing skills, is fascinated by surfing and has been surfing for decades. Standing on a surfboard demands controlling the board underneath one’s feet to stay superior to the vibrating ocean. When performing on stage, Vedder needs to take control of the vibrating guitar strings to lead the melody in his preferred direction. This leads to the second element of similarity: orientation and direction. Both guitarists and surfers use a corresponding diction. In surfing, waves are distinguished as right-hand and left-hand waves. To play his guitar, Vedder needs to possess an equal ability to handle orientation as his right hand is in charge of plucking the string, while his left hand forms chords. He needs to be able to combine different orientations to master the song, or rather, the waves.
Hence, being an accomplished musician does not exclude a career in sports. On the contrary, sports and music have a lot more in common than one might assume. Both share stability, rhythm, control and orientation, allowing musicians to transfer their joy for tunes into one for movement and bodily awareness.
“Eddie Vedder 2018 -2” by Raph_PH is licensed under CC BY 2.0.