Portrait Mode

If there’s anything that portrait mode on newer iPhones (and the like) has shown us is that the blurry part informs our eyes where we should be focusing in order to understand what the photograph is all about.

It’s not that the blurry part isn’t important.

(In fact, it’s very important…it turns out making a large part of the photo really blurry is actually what we pay MORE for.)

The blurry parts tell us to stop looking over there and instead look here. Because here is where the purpose of the photo is.


It’s ok to have a blurry part (stuff that you aren’t at all focused on)…as long as the blur is highlighting your crystal clear part.

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

On Time Trust

A simple and effective way to build trust is to be on time.

Being on time doesn’t build a lot of trust at one time, but a little each time.

And little by little is how you go from building trust to being trusted.

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

A Bad Time To Hope

Walking on stage is a bad time to be hoping that you have a great show.

It’s really fun walking on stage knowing you have a great show.

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

How Could It Have Been Better

Artists want to get better, they want to be the best.

And yet very few regularly ask the question, out loud to a real person, “How could it have been better?”

I’m not saying you should go around asking that to everyone and become paralyzed from all the opinions…but I hope there’s two or three or five trusted people in your camp where when you get done with the show or the tour or the interview or the session you can ask

How could it have been better?

And maybe you’ve never asked that question or it’s been a long time since you asked anyone that question. So let this be your cue.

***The artists I know who ask that question with an open mind get better faster and build their confidence deeper.

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

Ten Dollar Operation

If you make one dollar a month for a while and then two dollars a month for a while and then have a TEN dollar month…it’s best not to enter the next month acting like you’re a ten dollar operation.

The burst of a great month is great but bursts are not the norm. That’s what makes them bursts…and makes them fun.

I was talking with a business manager who has a pretty big artist roster and I asked where she sees artists making money mistakes most often.

She said lifestyle on the road.

Because the expenses on the road aren’t a one time thing…they reoccur everyday you’re on the road. She said acts get a little money coming in, then maybe they have a big month or big season and upgrade their life on the road as though that big money is the norm.

And most of the time it isn’t.


A good rule of thumb is even if you’re over spending and bleeding money on tour buses, stylists, guitar techs and monitor engineers night after night…STOP when you run out of money. Worst case scenario let the zero balance be the wake up call.

If you let it go negative (i.e. borrow money), then the stupidity can be endless.

Get a good business manager. Check in with them if you already do. Learn how to grow steadily and make wise predictions on how and when to upgrade.

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

Forgetting

Becoming astute in cracking the code of the ‘how to make it'…i.e. memorizing the answers, memorizing the map, figuring it out…

…to go along with that, you’re going to have to be very good at forgetting.

All the answers you memorize are going to change. The mountain range on the map is going to move.

And now the old ‘knowing’ doesn’t really do you a whole lot of good. It’s best to forget as quickly as possible what you once knew in favor of what it has turned into.

That’s why it’s hard for a manager to break a second baby act. They have a really hard time forgetting the way they broke their first one.

We all want to believe we’re building our knowledge toward the sure-thing, the repeatable process.

But more than ever we need to be willing to forget in order to adapt quicker.

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