Being All Over The Place

In the news, on the blogs, on the podcasts, on tv, on the festival flyers, on tour, on everyone’s social media, the list is endless…

So many places to be. So many places to been seen.

I remember a bunch of years ago I decided to check out Fleet Foxes because I’d heard about them from three different people/places in one week…that was enough for me to tell myself “These guys are all over the place! I need to check out this new band.”

When the truth is they weren’t ‘all over the place’…and they very well might have ONLY been three places! But it was the three that I saw! 

See, they didn’t need to be all over the place. They only needed to be in some strategic places where a little name repetition would go a long way to someone (like me) who is paying attention to that sort of thing.

Same goes for you.  You don’t need to be everywhere. You just need to know where you need to be.  And keep showing up there.

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

The Good Thing About Season 2

I saw an ad the other day for a Netflix show I’d never heard of, and it looked really good.

And at the end of the ad it said “Stream Season Two beginning next week”.

Which tells us a couple important things…

1. There’s a Season One. An entire season that I can stream right NOW. The show looks good and I can consume a lot of it immediately.  That’s exciting.

2. The powers-that-be deemed the show good enough to warrant a Season Two…so Season One must be good!  Else there wouldn’t be a Second One.  For all the new great TV shows these days, there’s not a lot of mercy for the ones that don’t work. 

Those are two pretty good selling points that didn’t exist when the show first started.

The show had to evolve in order to garner those particular advertising strengths. 

So keep your eyes open. Your career is in flux.  New advantages will come to you as you keep going, and if your eyes are open you can fully capitalize on them.

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

Going Through The Motions

There will inevitably come a time, a season, a window where you’re just going through the motions.  And the reasons why are endless.

But knowing that time will come, it’s a good idea to make sure the motions themselves are really good, and professional, and kind, and generous, and thoughtful.

That way when you’re just going through them from time to time, it’s still beneficial for everyone involved.

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

Coughing Over Songs

Here’s an interesting experiment…

Your songs are in pretty good shape and you want to give them a test run for some people who’s opinion you truly appreciate.

Put a song on…and listen for the places where you wanna cough over it to distract your pal from hearing that part.

It doesn’t require much from your pal other than their valuable presence.  They don’t even have to say anything! You’ll already know. Their valuable presence is what makes you want to cough over certain parts.

Here’s the thing about the cough…

The parts you feel the need to cough over are the parts the either definitely need to be changed OR definitely need to stay in there.

p.s. An extra little insight on this one…

Because I write everyday my brain thinks of and remembers ideas to write about more than it ever has before…and today’s post is a perfect example…

The idea of coughing over songs was something I remembered today from a short Oasis documentary that came out in 2005 (13 years ago) where the other guitar player says, “We wanted to make a record where we could play it for our friends and not have to cough over it”.

And all these years later, when I sat down to write tonight, it popped up. Wow.

That isn’t a salute to my brain, it’s a salute to THE brain (ie. the creative human brain) and what it is capable of as we’re willing to grow it. 


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

The Allure Of Looking-Forward-To

It’s alluring because there’s always something (far off, mysterious, romantic, redemptive, hopeful) to look forward to.

The next show.

The next tour.

The next song.

The next session or record.

The next plan.

The next season of your career.

But here’s the thing about looking-forward-to…if you’re constantly looking-forward-to then when you get there you’re probably going to keep doing what you’ve been doing…which is to skip the present and continue looking-forward-to.

You were looking forward to the thing but you couldn’t enjoy it because the looking-forward-to muscle is the only one you’ve been training.

What the thing/event/season that you’re really looking forward to actually needs from you is to be present, engaging, appreciative and fully alive WHEN it happens.

Soooo…it turns out the best way to serve the thing you’re looking forward to is to tuck it away for now and practice being present, engaging, appreciative and fully alive in what’s going on right now.

If we get sucked into the allure of looking-forward-to, then that is what we will always do, and that is what we’ll be best at.  We will always have the build up and never the pay off.

The only way to have looking-forward-to actually pay off is to stop practicing so hard at looking-forward-to.

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

Pull The Answers Closer

I listen to and read a lot of artist interviews and most average interviewers ask about the songs, the record, the single, life on the road.

i.e. Things artists have full knowledge of.

So why is there so much…

“We kind of tried to do something different…”
-Did you kind of try or did you try?
-Did you try to do or did you do?
-Did you do something different?
-If you did something different, what was it specifically?

“I think we wanted to really go for it…”
-Did you think you wanted or did you actually want?
-Are you having a hard time remembering?
-Did you want to go for it, or did you go for it?

“It’s kind of like a new thing…”
-I don’t know what you mean, and either you don’t either, or you’re not willing to say.


and my favorite one

“We’re just trying to figure it out…”
-Are you trying (attempting) the act of figuring, or were you actually figuring?
-And if you are in fact ‘trying to figure’…why are you ‘just trying to figure’? The ‘just’ steals so much pride and dignity.


All these little words. All this insulation.  All this approximation.  All this distance between the question and the truth.

As an artist, strive to bring yourself to as close as you can to the real answers. The truth. 

We add all these little words because it keeps us a safe distance from vulnerability and responsibility.  The little words give us little ways we can squeak out of and avoid the boldness and magnitude of the full truth.

We want to hear the real deal from you. Full power, full impact.

p.s. A great way to get better at this is to not wait until you’re in the interview before practicing.

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