Wednesday 27th April, 2022
Is it nature? Or nurture? Why am I like this. . . ?
‘Change is a constant’ they say. They also say that ‘people don’t change’. I’ve been changing everyday for the past 10 years it feels, lately, more so. Actually, since the lockdowns I’ve been changing rapidly, like some kind of emotional & philosophical slot machine. If you’ve been reading & remembering, you’ll know just how often I can flip flop on an idea… & even then, I spare this blog the very embarrassing daily pendulum swings & try to stick to the bigger, seismic shifts. Where am I going with this… AH! Live music!
Lately I’ve been performing, studying, & breathing live music… with a little bit extra. Going forward into the year, as the album & film wrap themselves up… I must focus on the next stage of these projects, which is presenting them. The live show is all about giving the audience the best experience of these songs… & lifting them into another world for 2 hours. My history of Circus, Theatre, Dance…. it’s all beginning to ferment within me… all of those bubbles are exciting my insides. It’s hard to focus on anything else. THAT’S what I’m trying to articulate…
It’s hard to focus on anything else.
There is still work to finish up in college for the year, that’ll be done… I’m not too worried about it. The album & the film, however, have FAR more demanding requirements. New songs shifting in & out of the album. My (non-existing) distribution deal with Netflix… etc…. These projects I have lived with for just over two years now. I’m still in awe of it, but when those shiny, new performances start to twinkle I squint a little & lose sight of what’s around me. If you’re like me… then hopefully I’ll give you some kind of solution or action to take, something that’ll help us stay on track, give our most, & still move towards what we’re all giddy about on any given day.
Rules to focus your creative lust!
Find a tip to your spear… For me, it’s music. At the core of what I’m doing with circus, theatre, film, etc…. it all stands on the music. If I’m in doubt of what to focus on, or if I find myself getting distracted by the bucket list, I remember that I gotta return to the music. I call it the tip to my spear because it comes first. It pierces the noise, then it allows the rest to follow.
Finish before you start… This isn’t always possible, sometimes overlapping is needed (I’ll talk about that below), but essentially, finishing a project or a task before you start another is ideal. Even if you’ve lost the love for something you’re working on, finish it & file it. You can always come back & rewrite, or change update it if you really want… but don’t let ‘what it could have been’ weigh you down.
Cross pollinate… If your projects are overlapping, then allow them to influence one another. For me this is easy because my film is an extension of the album… as is the live show. When I’m in the studio with Brian, I can refer to the films visuals to add a new energy to the sessions…. the same is definitely true for the live show too. (this tip really only works if you’re working on your own projects… when working on multiple projects for other people… I cannot help you.)
Connect your goals… If I’m getting all excited about my live performance, why should I worry about planning the social media marketing? Or writing press releases? I need to realise that they’re still related to my goal of performing on stage. A strong social media campaign will pull in new & existing fans to come to shows. A press release will help me find coverage on the songs, again, helping me sell tickets. Both of these actions also help me solidify & communicate my artistic backbone… which will also need to be expressed on stage. OF all the work that you need to do but don’t see the point in…. find it. There’s a reason you ‘need’ to be doing it.
Structure your time… This one is really simple & boring… but it works. Let’s say I’ve got about 5 categories of work to be doing. The album, film, live show, Patreon, & marketing/PR. If I can divide my days… Monday to Friday, a new topic each day, I’ll be forced to work on the projects I might let slip for some work that I’m more excited about. This could also work on an hourly scale too. Have you got two hours of work? Split it between two of the projects you’re working on… & split it evenly!
(BONUS TIP) Procrastinate by writing your weekly journal*… *Or maybe, don’t? The sense of accomplishment I feel from getting this blog written is a little nefarious. It could allow me to take a break, even though I’ve been mostly relaxing today already & I really should be getting some work done. You may not have a blog to fabricate a sense of achievement, but I can imagine that you have something similar. I also use cleaning as a productive red herring… exercise is another one… Just because you’re being productive, doesn’t mean you’re getting the job done.
Okay enough of the lists! Let’s move on to another little revelation I had last Thursday… when I travelled to Belfast for the Output music convention/seminar… (dunno what the difference is).
Firstly, I’ll describe the day. A series of talks, panels, discussions, masterclasses, etc, take place in Belfast one day each year. A lot of music industry professionals from throughout Ireland & the UK descend on the city to schmooze & learn. While I didn’t learn anything new from the panels, I did learn something about myself from a discussion I had with a person who shall remain nameless. Why nameless? Because I never even bothered to listen to them when they said it. I was too focused on figuring out a way to talk about my music, my project, & me me me mememememememeeeeee….! That’s all… ME! After failing to ‘market’ myself to this human being, I heard the echoes of my voice… all the bullshit I had been spewing, for no good reason, to nobody’s benefit. For all I know, that person & I could have gotten on great. They might even like Kermit the Frog as much as I do…. but I’ll never know… cause I just SCHMOOOOZED all over them.
After sitting with myself in self disgust, those echoes of schmooze ruminating around my hollow skull, I made the decision to stop. Or at least change the way I network with the industry. In a previous blog I remarked that I’m going to stop chasing the industry & just focus on you, the reader/listener/parent…. It’s time to take a similar approach with networking. Networking is not about infecting people with an enthusiasm for you. It’s about finding someone you like. Someone’s company that you enjoy. Someone that you could hang out with & not even mention music. THAT’S what I’m now after. Again, the industry will find me. What I’m looking for is a friend or two who know’s what it’s like to be constantly rejected & complimented at the same time. Someone who know’s what it’s like to lean against a wall that isn’t there.
That’s all for this week folks. I must away to distract myself with decorating & organising my room to ‘make content’ in.
Until next week,
Nathan
