Don’t Give Heartbreak So Much Credit

Sure, great songs come from heartbreak.

They come from crisis and hard times.

They come from desperation and loneliness and longing and celebration.

But those things aren’t the songs.

Great songs come from sitting down and writing them. The writing. That’s the real key.

Don’t give the heartbreak and difficulty so much credit. Because you can certainly have the hard times and not have a great song as a result.

It’s not the crisis that brings you your best stuff.

You simply need to show up and write, crisis or not.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Time To Move

There’s no need to wait to move forward.

When the landscape shifts, the definition and process of moving forward simply change (sometimes in complex ways).

You can wait for the landscape to move back to the way it was in hopes of moving forward with your plan as planned…but you might be waiting a long time.

Now is not the time to wait. Now is the time to move.


Along similar lines…

I talked with a band last week that makes a lot of money from monetizing their videos. And that process hasn’t stopped in recent weeks. Perhaps not surprisingly, it has grown. So for the last month they’ve been inundated with phone calls from other artists and their teams of ‘how do we do what you’re doing’.

The short answer is: Start monetizing videos ten years ago and commit to making it part of what we do around here along with touring, merch, publishing, etc, etc.

They started shifting when the landscape started shifting.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Simple Equation

Figure out what you want to say.

Say it in a way that people (ie. your people) want to hear it over and over again.


It’s easy to think ‘easier said than done’ and just move on.

But the first part is too often overlooked. And the process of figuring it out gets rushed and then  commitment is low and the message comes off thin.

It’s easier to commit to what you have to say if you actually believe in what you’re saying. And from belief and commitment comes the perceived consistency that will build reliability.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Worthwhile Releases

Not every song is meant to be a hit.

It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t release it.

You just need to have a reason (and a plan) for why you’re releasing what you’re releasing.

Not every song gets the same marketing push.

Maybe you’re releasing a song so your fans will know you better.

Maybe you’re releasing a song so your fans will feel cool about telling their friends.

Maybe you’re releasing a song so the gatekeepers will open their gates.

Maybe you’re releasing a song to reinvent or steer the public perception of you.

Maybe you’re releasing a song so your world thinks you’re smart, talented, rebellious, clever, hip, thoughtful, understated.

It could be anything. You decide. Beforehand.

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

Self Interest

You get more fans when you become a part of their self interest.

So what makes you in someone else’s self interest?

***If you’re stuck, consider the reverse…Your current fans are your fans because you are serving their self interest (whether you realize that or not).

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com

A Lot Longer. A Lot Shorter.

You usually write three minute songs.

What if you wrote a song that was only ninety seconds long…what would that sound like coming from you?

What about an eight minute song? How does someone like you make something like that?

The outcomes can help but be different than what you’re use to.

Making it a lot shorter or a lot longer doesn’t require you to learn new skills it just requires you to use your skills differently.


***The new Jerry Seinfeld special is up on Netflix- 23 Hours To Kill. That is an amazing title, low hanging fruit, it’s so obvious it hurts, should have been an album title or the name of the next Guns N Roses tour. But of course Jerry thought of it.  

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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com