Lining Up To Pay $100

Paying U2 $100 to get into the show doesn’t create the feeling I get when I go to there show.  The money doesn’t cause the result.

Paying Jerry Seinfeld $100 to get into the show doesn’t make him funny and cause me to laugh all night.  The money is just the price to get in.

Paying someone $100 to clean your house causes your house to get clean. It’s a transaction where I give $100 worth of money and a company gives me $100 worth of cleaning services.  It equals out.  Zero sum.

But artists like U2 or Seinfeld give me something I can’t really compensate them for.  I get much much more from Bono than he does from my $100.  It’s a feeling, an inspiration, hope, community…it’s invaluable.

That’s what artists do.  They understand that their true gift is to give, knowing that the transaction will leave the audience with far more than the artist will take home in their guarantee.

That’s why when we find artists who get this and can do this and connect with us, we line up to pay, to get inside, to receive and experience a gift that can’t possibly have a price tag.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Leading As Influence

Leading is all about influencing.

Not manipulating, influencing.

The difference, as I’ve heard it described, is that manipulating is getting someone to do something that they’ll regret later. Influencing is getting someone to do something that will benefit them, and possibly you too.

Being the smart one in the band, the most talkative, the prettiest, the most talented, the one who started the band, the micro-manager…doesn’t make you a good leader, or even a leader at all.

Leading is about building influence through trust, communication, honesty and a genuine care for others.

Who is doing that? Are you doing that? Should you, could you be doing that?

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Ego Bombing

Ego-Bombing:
When taking a band picture with fans, the lead singer does something crazy, different, dumb, childish, wild, sexual, egocentric so that the fans don’t forget who the top dog is when they look back at the pic later.

Ego Bombing has several different appearances. Here are a few:

-pointing at someone else in the picture
-blue steel
-a raised eyebrow
-crazy eyes
-general dis-interest
-rock n roll hands
-surf’s up hands
-double thumbs up
-single thumbs up
-hands in pockets/no physical touch with others
-wide eyed
-lifting up someones leg and playing it like a guitar

To the Ego Bombers: Hopefully by dragging this phenomenon out into the open, your Ego Bombing will get more interesting and creative.

To those who aren’t Ego Bombers: put your arm around someone who is and remind them they are loved and special even without doing a bunch of attention seeking, dumb stuff in pictures.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Artist Distractions

Distractions from doing the hard part…

-changing the picture on your website
-99% of what you do on your phone
-rehashing
-going on the road
-not going on the road
-searching for reassurance
-making a song perfect
-tweaks on your demo mix
-making a logo
-resentment
-busyness
-gossip
-any website where you can scroll down more than once to see new things
-blowing your nose
-binge watching
-checking email
-complaining

You’ve sat down to work on the hard part but then you decided to to something else instead.  That other thing is a distraction.  

Distractions make us feel like we’re winning (or that everything is ok), but the reality it they put is in the land of mediocre.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Likers And Lovers

There are people who like your band, and people who love your band.

What makes someone fall into one group or the other? (the answer is different for each artist)

The definition and identity of these two groups will change over the course of your career and it will be important to recognize that evolution, and let your communication to the Likers and Lovers evolve as well.

For instance-

When you sell out your first club show, the vast majority of those people are Lovers of your band.  When Katy Perry sells out an arena, she banks on the fact that a lot of Likers will show up as well.  If only the Lovers showed up, she wouldn’t sell it out.

It’s also vital that you’re aware of when you’re communicating to each group.  When are you talking to the Likers? When is your communication meant for the Lovers, the insiders?

You’ll be able to manage your expectations better and be able to contribute more value if you have a clear picture of which group you’re talking to, why they exist, their identity and the story you’re helping them tell.

An exercise to help you start down this road…

Who likes your band?

Who loves your band?

What’s the difference?

p.s. There are two other groups.  

The Haters- who are actually lovers, because their strong reaction is a great contribution to the conversation.  The old saying “if you could get a million people to hate your band, you’d be just fine”.  

The Bystanders- the only type of person you’re hoping against, but a lot of them exist for every act big or small.  There’s nothing wrong with these people.  Just don’t use much of your time communicating to this type.  The hope is that they convert to one of the other groups by not catering to them.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com

Michael Jordan’s Free-Throw Dunk

Where did Michael Jordan dunk it from?  The free throw line.

Or, at least that’s what everyone answers.

But most people don’t realize that they’ve never seen Michael Jordan dunk from the free throw line.  

Because he didn’t.  In both slam dunk contests, his foot was well beyond the free throw line.  You can see it plainly.  Everyone in the world gave him credit for something he didn’t do.

But it doesn’t matter, because everyone wants and needs to believe that he’s Air Jordan and that he can dunk 15 feet away from the basket.  We’re inspired, excited, entertained and adopt it as a staple of excellence in our pop culture.

It’s a GREAT story.

The truth…Michael Jordan got really close and then our minds filled in the rest.

The story we tell ourselves is more important than the truth of the story.

Michael Jordan can dunk from the free throw line because we want him to be able to dunk from the free throw line.

We want to believe. You don’t have to make it perfect or just right or 100%. You just have to be great enough so that our hearts can fill the gap.  You have to give enough so that our feeble minds can attach to it and fill in the story we desire.

I’m always interested in your perspective, whether affirming or dissenting. Continue the conversation anytime: gabethebassplayer@gmail.com