Follow your dreams.
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| That's it. That's the blog. Odist out. |
Everyone I know who is involved in an arts-based profession started off while working in another job. Though I would never want to discourage you from following your dreams—and always used to get pissed at people who would tell me to be more “rational” or “practical”—I think the way we often see ourselves pursuing those dreams is too narrow. It’s important to be sure what FAILURE and SUCCESS truly mean to you, and that’s different for different people.
When I first moved down to Nashville, I wanted to be a professional singer/songwriter. When my rooming situation didn’t work out as planned, I slept in my car for nearly two months. I got work in a thrift store, and a few weeks after that was finally able to find a place to stay and some roommates. A few months after that, I found a (slightly) better paying job at a hotel and later moved in with a friend who also felt drawn to the music industry.
During that whole time and ever since, I never stopped writing songs, practicing singing and playing instruments, playing out at open mics, and booking gigs WHENEVER and WHEREVER I could. I was lucky to know other musicians for whom I could open shows, but I met a whole lot of people by playing shows, going to open mics, and being open to meeting new folks via friend of a friend of a friend. That’s how I was able to meet folks with whom I could record or set up shows together or even (early on) have a couch to sleep on or a shower to use before work.
As with many “industries” it does have a lot to do with who you know, and like many aspects of this life, that can be discouraging. Rather, I think it’s important firstly to be the best person you can be for the kind of role you’d like. You want to be a successful musician? Then you better be practicing your craft daily.
Writing, playing, performing as much as possible, everything gets better with experience.
Booking shows is tough and I don’t have many answers. I will recommend indie on the move for finding local gigs, but that can be hit or miss. On those lines, there are diff message boards for various cities, but the biggest help is probably getting in touch with acts you’ll meet at open mics, those you’ve opened for before, those you might go to see in your town (support local music!), or even getting in touch with the employee in charge of booking at local venues. If you have any kind of local following, the booking agents for venues will be more receptive. If you don’t or it’s still small, there’s always the chance they have an opening spot to fill or you’ll be able to find a spot with a group coming through town who needs to fill that spot quickly.
Obviously, the more you play, the more you’ll get to play. Gaining an online following is easier than ever by sharing your music on youtube. You don’t have to be some enormous YT celeb or constantly trending. You don’t even always have to be that cliche YT star who found some gimmick. Truth is, the professional songwriters I’ve met are mostly folks that no one outside the industry has heard of, but they continue to get work because they continue to work. The folks who are in bands that play a lot of shows do so because they continue to practice and play the best shows when they get to.
I do know some folks who are on the road right now, and not a one of them was an overnight success story. Most people who are professionals in the arts weren’t discovered all of a sudden and became huge. I’m sure you get this, but the important thing is that while spending their days or nights working at a job necessary to survive, they devoted their free time to their art.
If you’re like me, the daily grind of a “normal job” can drain all your emotional, physical, and mental energy away, but the truth is, I played a lot more shows when I didn’t have to worry about being woken up by a cop at my car window every night. I had the energy to keep practicing and recording and open mic-ing when I’d eaten at least one meal that day.
I would never ever want to discourage you. Quite the opposite. You will need every bit of encouragement. Because while everyone else around you may be spending their time off gaming or relaxing or dating or watching Netflix or whatever (all great things, no lie), folks like you and me have to be on the grind making great art. Every job you have doesn’t have to be life-fulfilling and most won’t be if you’re anything like me and most folks I know. You may not have much juice left over at the end of a long shift, but everything you have has gotta go into becoming better and better. That way, when you are able to book a show or record a single, you can give the performance which blows everything else away. Those are the moments we live for. Those are the moments which make angry customers or dirty toilets or long commutes worth it.
Being a success in music isn’t fame. If you crave fame more than you crave music, than your music will suffer for it. However, if you pursue the best music you can make and you give yourself over to it, than all the toil and idiocy of the stuff you gotta do to make time and money for it will be worthwhile. It’s a daily grind. It’s a very purposeful habit to make, but here’s the choice: while some folks may be musicians as an occupation without ever having to work anywhere else, no one who has had to work elsewhere ever became a full-time musician without taking any and all extra time to devote to their art.
That’s why so many famous actors, authors, and musicians all have stories of the awful jobs they had back in the day. There are so many folks who have those same jobs and wish they were acting or writing or making music, but when their shift is done, they don’t spend any time on that dream.
Follow your dreams! DO IT. But don’t you dare sit around waiting for them to come to you. Every moment you have to mop up some drunk a-holes throw up or listen to a customer curse you out or choose paying rent over going out with your friends, those moments don’t have to be complete bummers. You can know that those moments mean something because when you get back to your house or apartment or car or friends’ couch or curbside by the park, you will be making music. You sweep and hum. You type and practice rhythm. You file and write a song in your head. You get up early to practice and stay up late to practice. You spend one less minute on facebook or twitter or quora and one more emailing bands or bookers about gigs. You record on your phone or your laptop and upload it, because quality is in the music not the expense. You look for any and every chance to make contacts with others who share your dream. You collaborate. You play in as many loud, sticky bars and pretentious coffee shops as you can. You stand in line to sign up for an open mic not because some A&R agent is hiding in the crowd, but because every single chance you get to play your music is what your life is about.
I’m not saying that every “successful” musician who ever lived spent years suffering through crappy day jobs or scary night shifts or getting stale beer thrown at them for not playing Free Bird, but what I am saying is that the musicians who did go through that kinda muck and kept at it anyway are the only ones who had a chance of making it out of there.
Pursue your art. Every day. Hard as it is to find the time or energy. Don’t give up just because you have to get a day job for now. It’s just for now. Tell yourself that, and don’t forget what you’re doing it for.
If you really care about music. You’ll find the time and energy to work at it. If you do, you’ll be miles ahead of most folks with big dreams.
Follow your dreams. Not like you follow a speck of dust through the air during math class or you follow a route on the GPS. No.
Follow your dreams like your chasing something fast. Follow your dreams like your life depends on it. Follow your dreams like they actually matter to you enough to do what it takes to survive long enough to reach them.
The fear of and/or romance of this idea of the homeless, starving artist grows dull real quick when you’re actually cold or hungry or walking around with nowhere to go. Some day it may mean cold beans on the road, touring across the country.
For now it may mean sweeping the floor or sitting in a business meeting that is so not punk rock.
My grandpa cut meat at the super market for most of his adult life. His big dream wasn’t to be a rock star or win the world cup but to provide for his family and spend time being a good dad, husband, and friend. Did every slice feel like he was winning that dream, I doubt it. But when he got home, he worked at that dream. Like an actor running lines on their fifteen minute lunch break. Like a writer typing into the night after a grueling double shift.
Maybe that’s not what you’re looking for, but that’s all I know. That’s where I am now as a writer and musician and performer. That’s where a lot of my friends are with their art, too. Chewing on some raw pasta I found in a crack the back seat of my civic may not have directly led to playing for a packed cafe or eventual grammy success someday or whatever, but it did keep me from going too hungry that one night. The next morning I went to work, and after that I went to work with my guitar.
Who knows? Maybe someday we’ll both look back and have all these stories and know what led to what.
Thanks,
Odist
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| Quote from Daniel Avidan of GameGrumps and NSP |
