The Thicker Sharpie

You just got done playing the festival and you decide to hang at the merch booth for a while.

Fans come up and buy CDs (this still happens at live shows) and want everyone in the band to sign the CD jacket.

There’s an envelope full of sharpies in the merch bin, so everyone grabs one and starts signing.

In the midst of autograph after autograph you start noticing…you’re signing your name with a classy, sheik, ultra fine tip sharpie, the kind that gets used to sign important contracts, cause that’s the kind of bass player you are…but the lead singer is using an giant over sized chisel tip sharpie. He’s sure putting a lot more black ink on that CD jacket than you.

When your elegantly written name is next to the thick letters of the lead singer, yours is barely noticeable.

The lead singer has it figured out…Big sharpies are just more fun…and easier to see.

And that’s the whole point :)

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The Next Melody

Do you go with the first melodic idea or do you let the first melody lead you to the second version? Do you stick with the second or do you let the second be the inspiration for the third?

And so on.

Whatever melody you decide to stick with, you’ll never know the one that was coming right after it.

That’s a huge part of being a songwriter. Making that judgement call. Deciding when it’s good enough. Forgoing the possibilities of the next (melodic) idea for the sake of finishing.

Professionals make the call. Professionals finish (that’s how they get paid). Professionals don’t always get it right, but understand that they’ll never know if they got it right or wrong until they finish.

At some point you have to make the call and be ok with not knowing what was behind the next door.

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Doing A Little Bit

The good thing about making a habit of doing a little bit everyday is that you can always do a little bit every day.

You may not be in the position to do a lot each day, but a little? Yeah you have time for a little.

***And it turns out that the hard part for doing a little everyday vs. doing a lot everyday is much the same hurdle: deciding.

Doing a little everyday is a huge leap.

Going from doing a little everyday to doing a lot everyday is the easy (usually logistical) part.

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While You Wait

What you do while you’re waiting is of utmost importance.

Waiting gives you the opportunity to do something else because there’s nothing else you can do about the current thing other than wait.

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Having The Need

If you need the services of the person you want to work with, you’re much more likely to get to work with that person.

There’s a graphic designer you love. This designer does all the big projects and is well respected by the other people in your world. It’s a bad idea to call the designer and ask ‘what would you like to design for me?’.

It’s much better to call the graphic designer and say ‘I have something I need you to design’.

Often times with artists at the beginning of the journey, the confusion is two fold…

-They want the association of working with the famous label, booking agency, management company without actually knowing what they do

-They don’t have a (current) need for what that company does.


When you have a need and express it to someone who is good at taking care of that need, good things happen for everyone involved.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

NBA Highlight Reel

By half way through any NBA season every team could make the same two minute highlight reel.

Some crazy dunks, some long three pointers, alley oops, fast breaks, some tricky passes, blocks and all the adrenaline infused reactions to go along with it.

They can all have an equal highlight reel, but the teams aren’t equal. In fact, some of those teams are really awful.

Highlight reels are good at hype, but highlight reels don’t have much to do with differentiation. And differentiation is what makes a championship team.


In case you aren’t seeing the metaphor…Your highlight reel (perhaps your Instagram, etc.) doesn’t mean you’re successful, it simply a signal that you are participating. It’s what those highlights are made from and built on that will dictate your level of success.

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