The Real Story

You’re never going to get it.

If you wanted to know the real story of how someone’s career was made, at a minimum it would be boring. With factors and situations and details so nuanced and seemingly insignificant it would be a weeks long marathon for someone to tell the real story.

And more than that, there’s even more factors that are completely unknown to the teller. People and conversations and timing and coincidences that will forever go unrecognized.

The Netflix documentary version or the autobiography or the anthology series is about the closest we get…and yet we know there’s so much more to the story. There always is.

Here’s a little example…

I was in a band called The Kicks. Our very first song placement on TV was for a commercial for Lowes. We would get asked how this came to be and would reply with some version of ‘It just kinda happened. They liked the music and it all came together’.

By saying that answer I was saving people from the having to hear the stepped up version that spans about six years…

I met Adam from across the hall in my freshman dorm.

Then Adam and I moved in with Jeff.

Jeff interned at a label in town.

I met Jordan through a friend of a friend.

We put a group together.

Jeff brought his colleage Jeremy to a show.

Jeremy brought us to the people in charge at BMI.

BMI put us on their stage at Austin City Limits.

Whitaker was walking by the stage. He liked it.

He invited us to a day party at SXSW.

We met Lynn and sent her our music.

She liked it and also worked at a tv/film company.

Lynn’s company pitched our song and it was accepted by the ad agency.

Our song was on TV a lot.

And while this storyline is probably a bit hard to follow it only scratches the surface.

For any of us, the real story is almost impossible to tell or discover. It’s too much.

It’s helpful for us to realize that we’ll never really know how the greats got to be the greats. So while it’s important and stimulating and fun to hear about the process and journey that others have been on…there’s no need to try to uncover every last detail in hopes of being able to copy the path…because the teller doesn’t even have all the information.

And if they did it would be too boring to handle.

Might as well just go back to work.

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Influence and Inspiration

I remember as a kid reading and watching interviews of artists and inevitably they’d get asked who their influences were. The artist would rattle off a short list…usually including The Beatles.

Then I’d go listen to their music and the music sounded nothing like The Beatles.

It turns out the question the artist was really answering was ‘who are you inspired by’.

Influence has to do with things that have an effect on you…so everything from last night’s pizza, to a friend’s birthday party, to a hip hop beat you heard ten years ago that stuck in the recesses of your subconscious can be very influential.

Inspiration has to do with getting filled with desire to act, to go, to make…so last night’s pizza doesn’t fall into that category. But those artists that you listened to growing up, even though your music doesn’t sound like theirs, they’ve inspired you on a pretty deep level.

Not everything that has influenced you has inspired you.

Everything that has inspired you has influenced you.

»» And often (not always) the question the interviewer means to ask is ‘what other artists music is comparable to your own?’

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Progressing

…in one sense you might not need to.

If the verses and choruses you’ve been writing aren’t great chances are you don’t need to move on to writing super weird wandering seven minute songs just because it looks like intellectual progress.

i.e. If you haven’t written your Meet The Beatles yet no need to progress to writing your Sgt. Peppers

Progress has to do with destination and betterment. What’s the desired destination and do you need to adopt a new path or simply get better at the one you’re walking?

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Gigs Like This

‘If I just had a bunch more gigs like this one’

When we have a gig with the perfect audience, perfect pay, perfect food and the perfect travel details, it’s easy. Everything goes well and everyone is happy.

If this wonderful of a gig is so easy and smooth then why don’t we just book more like this one…and less of the hard ones.

But at this point we know it rarely works this way. In the world of gigs and freelancers a big part of the job is that big parts of the job have to be solved over and over again. The path of the artist has the unknown built into it at every curve. The more we do it the better we get, we learn how to avoid the pitfalls, how to say no and what the best questions are to ask at the outset.

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Max Speed and Recovery

How long until you can sprint how fast again?

Everyone has one sprint in them.

Everyone needs a rest.

Everyone has a pace they could do forever.

And then there’s all of the in-betweens.

If you practice doing all of them sometimes you’ll be able to utilize any mode when you really need it.

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Even The Deep Cuts

Every artist (even the big ones) has doubts about their deep cuts (at a minimum). There’s the popular songs on the album, maybe even a hit or two, there’s the songs that get mentioned on social media, the fan favorites at the live show…but then there’s the deep cuts.

The track that gets buried on the album. No one listens to it.

The b-side from the single. No one cares about that.

The exclusive song for the VIP package. No one remembers.

But here’s the thing…you listen to other artists’ deep cuts…and those artists think their deep cuts are getting totally ignored and don’t move anyone. But you listen…so they’re wrong.

Maybe you’re wrong about your doubts too.

Music has a long reach these days. If you’re a professional, if you are doing the work and putting out music don’t be surprised if it’s special to someone. In fact, it most likely is. Even the deep cuts.

Hum Love on Spotify and Apple