Worth the Price?

Music has been such a huge part of my life. If you go back and read my first few blog posts, it is obvious that I eat, sleep, and breathe music. It is clear that I've had to give up A LOT to be able to be a musician. Most serious musicians have a similar story to tell...one that speaks of extreme passion for music, that totally justifies the many sacrifices they have had to make. We sacrifice our time, money, social life, and much more, so that we can let this "music monster" consume us. It is a love/hate relationship. We know what we've had to give up to be a serious musician. People remind us everyday by their words, actions, and lifestyle. However, musicians know what they've gained by becoming a serious musician. It isn't anything that a non-musician would understand. We try to explain it to them and we either get the glazed over eyes or the whole "music isn't a practical career choice" speech. Newsflash...there really isn't a "safe" and "practical" career choice these days. The safest job is the one that you have the SKILL and DESIRE for. Why? Because no matter how many times someone shuts the door in your face, you will not give up. You will continue to pursue your career AND do an amazing job without cutting corners. You will perform your career with excellence. You will find a job and you will work because you love it. People give up so easily when they don't really care about their career. They collect their paycheck, complain about their job constantly, and when things get tough...they jump ship and move onto the next thing they get hired for and the process usually starts all over again. Most people are afraid to pursue the career that they truly love for various reasons...but if you are in a career solely for the money and hate the job, I'm willing to bet that you don't perform well and you only do the bare minimum required to keep that job. I'm also willing to bet that you hate going to work. Consider the amount of time that you spend at a job you hate. I think that this is a pathetic waste of a life. Life is too short to be miserable and all of the excuses that you keep making to justify your poor career choices will not stop the misery. When you choose to accept a career that you don't love, you are saying "yes" to a miserable life. Why do I care about these people that choose a miserable existence? Two reasons: #1 They're the ones that try to talk us happy people out of pursuing our "not so practical career choice" so that we might trade in our happiness and sanity for a larger paycheck and society's approval #2 They are negative people that constantly pull everyone down because they hate their lives...but hey...they have a large paycheck and make society proud! The tax man is grateful for their contribution. I understand that kids, mortgages, cars, healthcare, etc. makes life more complicated when it comes to finances...but let's consider how many people must take some sort of anti-depressant to be able to survive their miserable life. I personally feel that there is more to life than just surviving and paying bills. You CAN make money in a career that you love, but you must be brave and willing to sacrifice a lot for your happiness. I believe that happiness is worth fighting for. The "safe road" of a practical career is not safe when you consider the stress, anxiety, medications, and poor attitude that are a direct result. It stuns me to see how little people are willing to sacrifice for their own health and happiness...but we sure are quick to dump money into various medical expenses so we can keep going to the same miserable job. It is ridiculous. We have become so good at masking symptoms instead of actually fixing the real problem.

I think that we all have specific talents/interests for a reason. I think that if we'd all start listening to ourselves instead of society, we'd pursue careers that we love, feel great about our lives, be much healthier, and produce everything with quality in mind. There's something wonderful about working hard on things you enjoy and the sense of pride/accomplishment that comes from creating with quality in mind. People used to take pride in having their name on excellent work. Now, people take pride in surviving another week, collecting their paycheck after completing mediocre work, and being able to pay for their medications and/or booze that helps them to briefly forget their miserable existence. People would rather sacrifice their mental & physical health (which in turn leads to poor social life, lack of energy, huge medical bills, unhappy families, death, etc) than sacrifice some of their time, energy, money, social life, etc. on a career that would have a huge payout in terms of quality of life. People are great at making excuses. There are many that claim to want to be a professional musician, basketball player, ballerina, author, small business owner, or whatever their dream job is...but they let society's fears take control of their lives. They believe that you CAN'T be a successful __________ (fill in blank with dream job of your choice), based solely on the lies that society has placed in most people's heads. Why on earth do people assume that just because one person didn't succeed, that they will also fail? Why do people think that if someone says they can't achieve something, that it must be true? Why do people discount the fact that hard work, talent, and drive CAN actually get you someplace? Why do people believe that each person is the same as others and CAN'T succeed? It is completely ridiculous that we buy into all of this nonsense. Wake up and believe that you CAN achieve whatever you truly WANT. Quit letting someone else decide your fate. Don't let people make you feel like a failure. They're just angry and bitter because they chose to sell out on their dreams & bought into society's lies.

There is an underlying issue to achieving your dreams. There is a group of people that have bought into society's lies in a twisted way. The idea that hard work, talent, and drive will NOT allow you to succeed...has been taken to heart by a small group that has decided to pursue their dreams regardless...BUT... they feel entitled. They look for the quick and easy route. In music, these are the people that think they don't need to practice. They act like they are doing everyone a favor by just stepping onto the same stage as you. They make very defensive excuses for their flaws. In short, they are very defensive because they know that they don't have the skills that they claim and they don't have the drive to actually obtain them. I believe that these people truly want to achieve their dream, but people have made them feel like it is ridiculous. Reality shows have made the music industry look like winning the lottery...try your luck with minimal effort compared to the real world and you get a recording contract. Seeing the "luck" of others has made this career look like a breeze. People don't realize the amount of effort required to be a great musician. Practicing isn't an option...it is a necessity! There's more to music than memorizing and matching pitch. Musicians that think that they can just step into a band and ride on the backs of the band members that are busting their butts, should not be given the encouragement to do so. Being a successful musician or any other career, involves extensive practice/skill (excellent work ethic/natural talent), responsibility (show up prepared & on time), drive (passion to succeed), respect (value the time of others and be grateful), and a good personality (no one likes to work with an ass). Unfortunately, this "entitled" breed of musician is making the rest of us irritable/hostile. As a musician, I have very little time and patience for entitled musicians that choose to waste my time with their excuses as to why they aren't prepared or why they can't practice. Since the age of 14, I've sacrificed outings with friends, relationships, job offers, money (gear, music school, lessons, are expensive), etc. to be able to be a good musician. I'm not complaining at all! I'm proud of the hard work that I've put in and CONTINUE to put in. I believe that I can always learn something new and work to improve my skills for the rest of my life. I love what I get to do. The sacrifices are worth it! Even as a teenager, I realized the sacrifices I was making (going to practice instead of hanging with my friends), and yet I was okay with it! I know I'm in the right field because I'm not focused on the money, the sacrifices are worth it, and I love my work! If you don't feel that way...I think you're in the wrong field. As a musician, you have to give up a lot if you're going to work your way up the ladder. If that sounds terrible to you, then being a pro, is probably not the best choice for you. Play music on the side, for enjoyment. Find the career that you love! You'll know what it is, when the sacrifices for that particular job are worth it! Be brave! Do what you love!

Check out my band! Waking Myth on Reverbnation and Waking Myth on Facebook

The Decline of Music? Enter...the cheater

Auto tune, lip syncing, reality music shows (i.e. American Idol), greedy record companies, companies promising to buy you a fan base on social networks...what's next? While there is great music happening in the world, you only get to hear what mainstream radio chooses...based off of money. Much of what you get to hear are the over processed, musical fakes that insist on auto tune because they can't match pitch. It makes me so angry that when I mess up the pitch and can't quite sing things up to my standard...I HAVE TO PRACTICE while the radio star is off vacationing on some tropical island. I practice my butt off. I want my music to be good, but it kinda stinks to work so hard when I know that the big radio star doesn't put in anywhere near the time as lesser known artists. I like to think that hard work will always win...but then you see American Idol. This show is a glorified karaoke contest that actually cheapens what non-American Idol musicians have to deal with on a daily basis. I'm not saying that the musicians on these reality shows aren't good...I'm just frustrated that the show is so obviously based around money. Do you really think that a jazz musician, opera musician, or metal musician could stand a chance in their true music genre on this show? Of course not! These musicians are not going to bring in much money for the TV show/record label. Today's music business is all about mainstream and money. I can't help but think that more people would listen to classical music if we grew up hearing it on a regular basis, and if the genre had as many radio stations and as much airplay as pop music. Our society has glorified the pop musician. Even many country music artists have sold out and have become "cross-over" artists so that their music can be played on country and pop stations. I understand the desire for money. I know we all need to make a buck...BUT my point is that there are so many truly talented musicians that NEVER get their big moment, since the industry controls what you hear...unless you go searching for something new. People don't like to try new things. Most people stick to what they've always known or been told by their family...everything from cars, sports, religion, politics...you name it! We believe other's opinions and rarely bother to go exploring on our own, unless something triggers us to wake up. I find this to be very sad. I think there are so many amazing, new things that we can experience in life. Trying new music is easy and relatively inexpensive. Most new artists have at least one free song that you can hear! However, we make excuses. We are stubborn. We assume too much. There are people that think opera is for the elite, filled with overbearing vibrato, and only in a foreign language. There are people that think metal is nothing more than a bunch of rebellious, blood drinking, satanic individuals that scream complete nonsense while randomly strumming their guitars & banging drums as loud as possible. Meanwhile, I've heard some pretty awful things from the mouths of church musicians...just saying! There are people that think an indie artist is one that has opted to smoke pot all day long and couldn't muster up the gumption to get their material to a record label. All of these awful assumptions are RIDICULOUS and completely false. Realize that there are always a few "bad eggs" in every bunch, but don't assume we are all that way. These stereotypes hurt the lesser known artists/genres. Please don't let someone else's opinion keep you from trying something new!

Now...getting to my main point (500 years later! Haha). My first sentence today listed 5 things in the industry that are skewing our view of music. You no longer have to match pitch...because there is auto tune. In fact, your whole sound can be changed if you lack talent. Please don't think that what you hear on the radio is always true talent. I'm not saying that these artists are all fakes...but I can't help but wonder what the poor sound engineer had to go through to make certain people with a pretty face, sound so amazing. News flash...all pretty people do not sing well! They DO have flaws! Shocking, right? When I attend live concerts, I'm often disappointed by the sound/lack of pitch. Interesting. Could it be that the artist was having a bad night...or is it a case of yet another auto tuned, lazy singer? Frustrating. Oh, and lip syncing is apparently okay now if it's cold, if you're sick, if you're tired, if ya just don't feel like singing, or if you can't handle the pressure of a televised event. I don't know of any lesser known artists/genres that are allowed to lip sync without getting booed off the stage. What is wrong with admitting...I'm sick, I lost my voice, I'm not able to sing under pressure, I'm not able to sing without auto tune? Haha! Don't answer that. Just think. We have created this. We have allowed this to be okay. Each time you support mainstream artists and deny lesser known artists...you are telling society that this is good and okay, so give me more! One more thing...companies that buy you a fan base. Grrrrrrrrr!!! Every single day I receive numerous emails and tweets from companies that say "for $19.99 you will receive 11,000 new fans for your Twitter account/Facebook account/etc." Why is this skewing music? Well, many big music festivals require bands to have a certain minimum number of fans on their social networks if they are to open for a big name band. Many record labels look at your fan base to decide if you have enough fans to make things worth their time. In other words, it is all about money. As I write this, my band's Facebook account has 598 fans and Twitter has 547 followers that were not bought by a promo company. These are friends/family/music fans/supporters that would like us to succeed at reaching our goals. They've had to put up with our hundreds of invites, requests, status pleas, and tweets BEGGING them to just support us with their vote. Meanwhile, other bands with 11.5K fans that got their funds together to buy a nice fan base package, are playing big music festivals with a set list that contains roughly three chords, a tone deaf singer, and some guy that claims to play the bass as long as he doesn't have to play on more than one string per song. So...something to think on. Things are skewed. You're missing out on some fabulous musicians if you only believe what the mainstream radio, American Idol, and social networks tell you. You're also contributing to the problem by falling for what the mainstream peeps tell you. If you'd like to try something new and make a difference for other artists...check out sites like Reverbnation, Youtube, and BandCamp. You can even check out the Facebook pages of lesser known bands and listen to their music there. Support smaller radio stations and record labels. Supporting the little guy seems to get you far more than you could ever imagine these days. Why? These people truly care about their work and take pride in what they present. They usually love their work so much that they don't care that they aren't making very much money. They do it for the sake of good music! They genuinely value their fans! Every "like" on Facebook and other social media is greatly appreciated! Don't support the artists that try to pull the wool over your eyes...or ears, with their lip syncing or auto tuned voice. Demand more!! Quality is still alive...you just have to look past the obvious and support the musicians that are who they say they are!
Happy new music hunting adventures to you! If you find something good...share it!

Band update: Things are going great with Waking Myth. The majority of our album is recorded and gigs are already planned. We will be releasing another song shortly! If you haven't heard our first song, please check it out. Share it! "Like" our Facebook! Spread the word! You have the ability to help a group of musicians achieve their goals. We appreciate all of the support! Thanks!

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