A really short post today. Go to YouTube and search out “Rules To This Sh!t” It’s a Hip Hop/Rap interview show about the trials and pitfalls of the music industry.
I think everyone in the business of making and preforming music should watch these – several times.
Success comes from knowing the path to get there.
I listen to Podcasts when I’m not in the studio: long form interviews with successful people. Over and over one thing keeps coming up; what seemed to be a failure turned out to be - what was most important to success.
A late-night host said he was devastated when he didn’t get a certain writing job. Because of that, he took another job and stretched himself to where he could also be in front of the camera. If he had got that job, he’d likely still be a writer. Another successful artist described years of one setback after another. When things did start to come together he realized everything was getting him ready for the success he achieved. A female comedian described the uphill battle to achieving any success at all.
All the stories added up to a willingness to take those setbacks in stride and learn in every situation – and keep moving forward.
When you’re striving it’s hard to see the end goal. But that’s what separates the truly successful from the rest of the crowd. You will achieve the level of success you’re comfortable with. Once you are comfortable, you can’t help but settle in and quit trying as hard.
You may be happy playing on weekends. You may want to play bigger shows and make more money. You may not be satisfied till you play to sold-out venues all over the country. You may find your spot somewhere in the middle.
Getting “What You Want” too soon may keep you from achieving your best.
Along the way it’s good to have music to sell and send out. Rough Wood Studio can help with that.
Playing a different club or event every night you will plug your cord into a lot of strange outlets. Don't trust that they are safe.
I got a call to bring PA out for a private party almost an hour from home. I got there early and the homeowner was switching out a plug where an RV had been parked. They had built a stage and gone to Home Depot for a plug that turned that large outlet into 3 regular plugs.
When I plugged the power distribution in, it sounded like a welder, and smoke billowed out of the rack. I traced the line back and saw it was a double breaker; 220, or is it called 230 now?
I turned off the breaker and taped over the receptacle to keep the band from plugging in there. We ran extension cords to the house and were able to do the show without a hitch. Fortunately the distro took the hit and protected the gear.
Lesson learned. Now I bring a tester - 2 actually. One tells you if the power 110, 220, or even higher. The second one looks like a plug with no cord to let you know if the outlet is wired correctly as far as plus, minus, and ground. I replaced the varistors in the power distributor and it works perfectly.
Be careful where you plug in your cord. Get a tester. Your gear is too valuable to damage.
Oh, and yes - I get that "where you plug your cord" sounds like something else. Be careful about that too.
We have a great music store here in Weatherford. Craig's music has been around since 1978 and may be the biggest independent music store in Texas. They are bigger than most Guitar Center locations. More than their size, it's the history and knowledge they bring.
So not long ago I had an amp fall over and break off some knobs - just sheared em' right off. So after the session I opened up the amp and de-soldered the pots. Got online and found the part numbers from Fender.
Now this is where I could have just ordered them and fixed it when the parts arrived, but I went to Craig's instead. They had the original factory parts and even offered an improvement - a better volume pot that comes on more gradually. Definitely better for an amp used in a recording environment.
The final ticket wasn't much, but I would have gladly paid more for the convenience and expertise.
If you are lucky enough to have a great little music store in your town, do all you can to support them. You would miss them more than you think.
You can take a picture. You can write a song. You can do almost anything well, and it isn't automatically Art.
Different people have their own opinions. To me, something rises to the level of "Art" when two people experience it and take away something unique. That is, their experiences are different.
It's good to talk about your songs. How you were feeling - what led to the song - but don't give too much away. You could write a great song that people love, but too much detail funnels everyones experience in the same direction. You could miss out on interpretations that raise your well crafted song - into Art.
Kids watching Star Trek saw Captain Kirk and Spock as best friends. There were people who saw it much differently. Funny as that sounds; that makes it art. Anything that reaches so deeply into your audience, that different people experience it - unique to their own experience, is truly Art!
I read conflicting explanations about what the movie "Get Out" meant and realized they had created a work of art. To some it was a cool horror movie. To others it was social commentary. But depending on their beliefs, it was saying completely different things! That's Art!
I heard an artist reveal a very specific detail about one of his more popular songs. The audience experienced it in a new way, and that was art too. I saw men wipe away tears just because there was a new context to a story they thought they already knew.
It's another reason to use subtlety and imagery, allegory and all the rest. When many people take away a different meaning to your song, they'll talk about it, argue about it, and remember it.
Keep it up and you'll have a place in their hearts.