Iggy Azalea In RollingStone

Two things on her interview in RollingStone about canceling her first arena tour.

1. “I just feel I deserve a break”

Ha! After humans do a lot of work we feel we deserve a break.  It’s the same reason Nick Saban says Alabama will (at times) lose to an inferior team the week after winning a nail biter against LSU.

We think since we worked hard, now we get to punch the easy button a bunch of times.

When you put in the long hours on a project and bring it to completion, the true reward is the opportunity to do the next realm of work.

You’re welcome to TAKE a break (and maybe you need to), but you don’t DESERVE a break just because you worked hard for a couple years.

And I’m taking this quotation a little bit out of context, cause after saying she deserves a break, Iggy says she’s going to be working on new material and new visuals. I hope she does.  I think she will.

2. “Even though a lot of people just discovered it…I want to be able to perform new stuff and do new things”

It’s great she said this.  It’s something that a lot of artists feel but the public is usually pretty blind to it.  Most “new” artists have been pedaling the same tunes for years before they break through (i.e. The Beatles).

Being a new artist is hard, and you play those same 5 or 10 songs literally a thousand times.  You want new, but fans want what’s new to them.

Overcoming this struggle has everything to do with your connection to the songs as the performer.  And why you’re doing this to begin with.  Is it real, in your heart?  Or is it a tiny bit fake?  Do you phone it in? Are you a singer, or are you a lead singer?

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I don’t care if Iggy Azalea takes a break because she feels she deserves it.  And I don’t care if she doesn’t want to gig her first album anymore.

But you…I hope you don’t take a break.  Not right now.

And I hope you know why you should keep playing your gigs.

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

Habits

We’re embarrassed of talking about our bad habits because what kind of person would perpetually do something that is negative towards themselves.

We’re embarrassed of talking about our good habits because we think it makes us sound self-righteous, an air of superiority.  Also if good habits get talked about, it makes you somewhat accountable for keeping it going, which is scary.

So fine, don’t talk about them.

Just have them.

The good ones, that is.

What habits do you need to start?

What embarrassing, awkward things, things that make you feel out of place do you need to start a habit of doing?

Talking about them will be beneficial and helpful later on, but for now just start them.

Start a good habit.

 p.s. This is not a New Years resolution.  This is exposing fear and purpose and doing something about it.

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

Question Of The Day, Everyday

Why are you an artist today?

Not what are you going to do.  Not how are you going to achieve your goals.  Not who do you need to set up meetings with.

Why are you choosing to be an artist today?

Ask yourself this question everyday when you wake up.  If you can answer it, you will begin to attract and achieve all the other parts.

p.s.  You don’t need to be a musician or singer to feel the weight of the question.  If you’re willing to put your authentic self into the world for the sake of making a difference, you are an artist and should wrestle with this question.

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

The Problem With Solving Traffic

I get annoyed and frustrated with long car rides and with traffic.  I get annoyed because I know that one day 50 or 100 or 1000 years from now there won’t be long car rides and traffic.  

So I hate that I have to go through it and deal with it now.  Humans will look back on all the time we spend in vehicles and laugh at the wasted time.

That day is coming absolutely for sure.

But here’s the thing, I’m not the kind of person who does something about that problem.  

I’m the kind of person who writes a blog post about that problem even though I know that that problem is solvable and I know whoever solves that problem is going to be a billionaire or zillionaire and will have helped everyone on the planet.

I see the problem, and I take myself of the list for people who are going to do anything.

That’s fine. And it’s fine if you take yourself off that list for that problem too.

But the real question is, what problem ARE you on the list to solve?  What problem are you in the process of helping people solve?

Sign yourself up on a list.

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

Brushing Your Teeth

I hope you brush your teeth once a day.  I think that should be expected.

If you brush twice a day, you’re probably an fully functioning adult with an appropriate amount of self respect.

Now, if you brush three times a day, you are in a completely different league.  That’s impressive.  Going from 2 brushes a day to 3, you are set apart, an exclusive club, you are on a mission.  

There is a giant chasm between 2 brush people and 3 brush people.  They are not just “one” different, they are a million different.

The twice a day brusher thinks they’re close to the triple brusher, but they are far far away.  Because it’s not about the action it’s about the mindset and value system. Alteration and conversion have to happen to be a triple brusher.

It’s kinda like the people who are comfortable on stage vs. those who transform the stage.  The comfortable people think they’re close to the transform people.  But they are far far away.

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

One Album vs. Ten Songs

Launching 10 songs might be more beneficial than launching 1 album. With the album you only have one shot to succeed. So the two outcomes are one-for-one or zero-for-one.  Perfect or nothing.

With 10 songs you don’t have to be perfect to be successful.  Ten chances to knock it out of the park.  Even going one-for-ten is a fantastic, meaningful outcome.

There’s still a lot of room for innovation in the way artists release music, the terminology that gets used, the delivery, the frequency, how peoples’ attention is funneled and directed.

But so often artists release an album, and that’s their one shot for that year (or two) to win or lose.  If they win, jackpot.  But if they lose, the attention is lost for all ten songs when each of those songs never actually had the spotlight put on it.

“The way it is” is a giant ship that takes a long time to change course.  You can stay on board, or you can steal a life boat while no one is looking and take off for the new world.

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