We’re getting close to Christmas time. All the sights, smells and sounds of the season.
One of the most notable sounds is them music. Specifically, crooner music. Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Bing Crosby. You know what I’m talking about.
We all put it on and feel warm and fuzzy, don’t we?
So good.
The interesting thing is…no one cares which crooner is singing, or which song happens to be on. No one’s really paying attention, nothing really sticks out, It’s simply a great vibe.
The entire genre feels amazing.
It seems to me a similar thing is happening in the electro/synth pop-rock genre.
You can turn it on and the vibes are great. The sounds are great. It’s a really cool mood.
But more often than not, songs aren’t sticking out. There’s very few smashes. It all kinda sounds the same. Not bad at all. Actually pretty good. And the ‘pretty good’ is seductive. Pretty good ain’t bad. And obviously, careers have been and can be built around that.
In the Christmas crooner genre and in the synth-pop-rock genre, feelgood and listenable comes pretty easily.
there’s months long of late nights early mornings.
you don’t feel inspired.
you don’t feel like it.
you’re tired.
everyone else is saying its break time.
no one is encouraging you or patting you on the back for taking the time.
But if this thing is gonna take off, you’re gonna have to resist the urge to stop writing. The writing is where the sky opens up and you’re reminded of the possibilities again.
You used to put out a record and play a hundred shows before even thinking about moving on to the next thing.
You believed that people would be better off if they came to your shows, experienced your show, experienced this music.
And then over time and the ups and downs, it changed.
You put out a record and play ten or twenty shows. Then you take the temperature. If it’s feeling like a loser, you begin putting distance between you and the particular project. Maybe you don’t say it yet, but that sentiment starts creeping its way into the visible and feel-able picture.
But the separation only leads to more separation and less commitment to the belief you need.
You HOPE people will be better off if they come to the show, but you don’t BELIEVE they will be. And that changes impact of the show. It makes it worse.
You need to remember how to believe. Like the colorful food fight in Hook.
We want to believe in you. We just need you to go first.
Being a hard worker doesn’t mean you’ll scale the heights of success you desire…but it helps.
People respect a hard worker. And successful artists, for the most part, are respected.
Hard work is also one of those things you don’t need to wait for anyone else to start doing. You don’t need the go-ahead from your manager or agent or label.
Go and work hard. In time, go work hard and delegate wisely.
Allow the definition of hard worker to evolve over time, circumstance and experience…but it’s always worth setting out to be one, and to be known as one.
p.s. Also worth mentioning here…
If you desire to be an iconic artist and everyday you unload and reload the trailer, chop down a tree to build a guitar, and play 3hrs a night down on Broadway and 4th Ave…that’s a horrible plan, but wow you’re a hard worker. Respect for commitment and sheer will power. You are exceptional. Not smart, but exceptional.
I was flipping channels tonight and ventured into the 300’s…all the sports and news in the 200’s was a snooze.
Channel 334 (on Directv) is called Audience. They play some cool music stuff…not a lot, but some.
I happened to come across it at the top of the hour when a Butch Walker special was just starting. I’ve never been some giant Butch fan, but I knew the Marvelous 3 hit way back when and a couple of his solo records (Left of Self Centered, and The Lets Go Out Tonights).
So I knew just enough to stop on the channel.
Instantly I got it. All my pals who have always told me “you gotta see Butch live”…I got it.
Absolutely magnetic.
The format of the show was Butch and his band would play a song in this LA studio and then they would cut to him being interviewed by the host.
I was hooked. Didn’t even hit previous-channel to check the score of the game I’d been watching.
About half way through I thought…I should write about this tonight. But I wanted to write something more than “he’s just got it” (he does) or “you know it when you see it” (I did).
So I started looking a little deeper. Here’s what I saw…
Butch really wanted to be there. There was no audience while they played the songs, but his joy was still evident. He even got the crowd clapping during the breakdowns even though there wasn’t a crowd. My guess is Butch appreciates and values most situations he finds himself in…that’s why when put in a cold studio for TV, it still comes out, he’s been practicing gratitude for the moment.
Butch is willing to bring his passion, show his passion and lead with it. He’s willing to be the energy that everyone else bounces off of. He’s willing to be physical, to enter into his songs with his face, fingers, legs, mouth, eyes, to amplify the strength of the signal of the song.
And specifically pertaining to the interview segments…he gained experience by DOING things, by being active. Going and Doing create magnetism. Experience is interesting. And age gives perspective if you’re willing to pay attention, which he is.
Check Butch out. Check out his tunes, his interviews, stuff he’s written and produced for other artists. I think you’ll learn a lot.
