The Sadness

Music is just so hard.

Every artist is burning it, trying to write a few good tunes so that when he walks into his local coffee shop he gets some looks.  But secretly trying to change the world too.

Every artist in their 20’s, 30’s, 40’s and beyond is simply chasing that feeling they had when they heard Hey Jude for the first time when they were 9 years old.  

At it’s core, it’s truly such an amazing, and innocent quest.  Grown men and women riding the highs and lows of life for those few moments per year, per 5 years, per career where it all comes together.

Bands and artists try so hard. And try again, and then again.  Every day is considered a comeback.  They give it all up. They lose friends, use time, take chances, and roll the dice every single day.

There is a sadness in the back of the eyes of every artist.  Part innocence, part desperation, part longing, part reality check, part scared, part bold, part vulnerable, part yearning, part honest, part lying.  It’s really a thing of beauty.

And yet somehow bands and artists find a way to stumble back up to the plate and believe this time they’re going to be the hero.  Because they believe in the hero, and they believe they can be the hero. If only for a moment.

The sadness does not leave when you sell some albums or play some arenas.  It does not leave when you get on a private jet. It was there when you got your first guitar and it’ll be there till you strum your last.  

The reason why moments of victory, whether consuming them or providing them, are so special is because for a few seconds in a row you rise above the waves.  The waves don’t disappear, you just levitate above them in a brief, life giving, life fulfilling moment.

Most People

Most people don’t own a Beatles album

Most people don’t own a Chevy

Most people didn’t vote for Barack Obama

Most people didn’t vote

Most people haven’t heard of Kanye West

Most people don’t watch House of Cards

Most people didn’t watch the Super Bowl

You don’t need most people. You just need some. Because if you have some, you can be very successful.

And successful people know exactly who their “some” is.

Do you? Ready, set, discuss with the people around you.

The Things You Do Every Day

The things you do every day, that’s your life. A mysterious woman once told me that, and I think you’ll find out she was right.

Noel Gallagher (from the once biggest band in the world, Oasis) is making the PR rounds again, in support of his album coming out.  Every interview he’s done is worth reading. He’s great at it. He doesn’t give typical answers. He doesn’t care about making the interviewer comfortable or happy. He cares about honesty.

But in the midst of the creative cussing, stabs at other bands and general discontent with lots of other things, he drops a gem in his latest RollingStone interview.

“I write everyday.”

He slips it in there, not calling too much attention to it, but matter of fact. 

Saying he writes everyday isn’t part of his marketing strategy, and it isn’t a silly call for attention. It’s just the way it is for him. Because he’s a writer.

What do you do everyday?

p.s. In case you’ve forgotten what a good looking man, singing a great melody, giving people a great experience looks like, here.

p.p.s. It’s infinitely more (and unnecessarily) difficult to do something every other day than it is to do it everyday.

Free eBook For SXSW

It’s common to go to SXSW expecting good things, significant conversations, shows and meetings. And you should.  But it’s also very common to leave SXSW feeling defeated, dehydrated and annoyed with your band mates along with the music business as a whole.

Starting with the blog post from the other day about RSVP'ing to parties at SXSW,  I put this short eBook together to help you achieve more of what you want while you’re in Austin this March.   

I’ve spent a lot of time at SXSW and have had countless conversations with other bands who have done the same.  The lessons, tips and advice given here were paid for dearly over the years by doing things the wrong way in order to discover a better way.

I hope this helps you.

Please feel free to pass it around or email it to anyone else it would be helpful to.

Click for the free eBook: Six Things To Know Before SXSW

One Band. Two Rooms. One Choice.

A person is about to enter the venue.  When they walk through the entrance they are presented with two more doors.  Both doors are open, but each door leads to it’s own room.

In both rooms your band is playing. Magically your band has reproduced itself and is playing in both rooms at the same time.  Same songs, same lighting, same set list, at the same time.

Everything is identical except that in the room on the left there are ten people watching and in the room on the right there are a hundred people watching.

The room that our guest chooses has everything to do with what story they’re telling themselves and next to nothing about your music.

They’re going to choose a door, but which one and why?

Are the type of person who wants to be the 11th person or the 101st? Do they like to be an early adopter or one of the gang? Do they slant towards intimacy or excitement?

You have a type of fan, and it’s largely based around a common story they are telling themselves about you.

Run with this scenario, spend some time with it and figure out which room the patron would choose and get into the nitty gritty details of why.

p.s. You can substitute other things for the number of people.  Maybe the two rooms have the same amount of people but different lighting, or different band attire, or even a different temperature or decibel level.  Keep the rooms identical except for one thing and then dive into which room your fan would choose and why.

The Most Common Villain

When we think of the most common villains in movies, the ones causing the most problems, the ones being battled against, we usually think of Godzilla, The Joker, or some type of Aliens.

But underneath so many movies, there is one common villain people are suffering under the power of…the sun. The constant ball of fire at the center of everything. 

The rocket ship can’t get too close to it else the heat shield burns up, it’s making living conditions in New York city unbearable during the summer with no AC, it needs to not be so hot because our characters are in the desert and have sunburn, if the sun would come out it would be day time and the monsters would go back home.

In movies we don’t expect the sun to accommodate humans in their daily lives, or life long goals or missions.  In movies, they find another way, regardless of what the sun does.  It’s simply going to be there, doing its thing, and the humans have to deal with it.

The equivalent, the most common villain in your life and in mine, is fear.  It’s not lack of opportunity, lack of fans, lack of songs, lack of a great manager or team…the most common villain is fear. 

We are constantly battling it’s effects and we don’t even realize it. And it’s never completely going away.  If it does, you need to find something new to spend your time doing.  Causes facing fear everyday means you’re on the right track. You’re growing.

So the goal is to work with it, to dance with it, to use the useful parts to your advantage. 

Never make decisions based out of fear; but that doesn’t mean fear won’t constantly be on the fringe, trying to impose it’s will on to you. 

If you’re doing something worth while, fear is going to beat down on you, that’s partly how you know your work is worth doing. 

The more meaningful your work, the more you’re going to have to face fear everyday.  

Fear is the villain. You are the hero. Everyday.