“I get so many messages asking me how to “make it” as an independent artist or even as a music artist in general. Most of the people asking me the questions aren’t looking for an answer, they’re looking for a shortcut. They want the easy route, the cheat code. I could talk myself blue in the face, and I have, and they’ll nod and thank me for my advice, but they will do nothing with it. They won’t implement it. Why? Because it’s not easy. It’s not the answer they were looking for. It’s work.”
Nic D “You Don’t Want It Bad Enough“
Buying Success
Let’s play a game called silly things I’ve done so you don’t have to do them.
This morning I picked up my banjitar. For those not familiar, it’s a banjo sounding guitar. I spent $600 on it 3 years ago. The goal was to add a different flavour to the royalty free western music I write.
To this day, I’ve not released any music I’ve played it on.
In 2002 I purchased a pair of Lomo 19a9 mics with a hand built preamp from a guy in the Ukraine from the 1960s. I was 5 years into my studio journey and just knew that I needed these “serious” mics because they would make my music productions legit. Since then I’ve spent over $1,000 repairing and modifying mics and preamp for use. The mics and preamp are probably worth around $6 – 8K.
I can count on one hand (maybe two) in the last 22 years how many times I’ve used those microphones on a project.
One more.
I saw an eBook advertised by a talented performer about how to supercharge your practice of any skill you’re trying to improve. I bought the book, downloaded it, skimmed a few pages and haven’t looked at it in 18 months.
The funny thing is, I consider myself pretty level headed when it comes to purchasing things. I’ve tried to operate by the principle of using what you have until you legitimately need something else. But I still fall prey to trying to outsource the work I need to do by purchasing things I think will do it for me.
The Uncomfortable Reality
Lately I’ve been thinking about what we want to be true versus what is actually true. It’s no secret we prefer to hear things that align with what we believe to be true. When they don’t align with this we experience cognitive dissonance which is uncomfortable. We’re faced with a choice, to embrace discomfort the new information brings and adjust our view accordingly OR we ignore or justify it and go happily on our way (and buy another piece of gear).
In the book Peak by Anders Ericsson, he says when you believe talent is something that you’re gifted with it is actually a form of mental placation. It enables you to opt out of trying to build the skills it would take to be remarkable at something because, in your reality, you’re either born with it or not. The truth is that this is simply not true in a majority of cases. Those people just did the work you didn’t do.
Buying Time & Effort
The same is true for purchasing gear, courses, books etc. and then not applying or using them. Whilst all those things can be very helpful and required at times they can give you a false sense of forward motion. James Clear puts it this way in his article passive learning VS practicing:
“We often hide behind information and use learning as an excuse to delay the more difficult and more important choice of actually doing something. Spend less time passively learning and more time actively practicing. Stop thinking and start doing.”
Replace information with “gear/course” and learning with “buying gear/courses” and it applies to the anecdotes I shared earlier.
So how do we fix this situation if we genuinely want to get more remarkable results as a musician, artist, songwriter or music producer?
Ready For Some Real Talk?
Speaking from my own experience and observations, I think there are a number of things to consider when it comes to growing your skills. These are directed squarely at myself too so no judgement here:
- Eat a Reality Sandwich: We need to come to terms with some things. Such as what you’re currently doing is probably not enough to get where you want to be in a year’s time (as an example). Being honest with ourselves about where we’re not doing the work required. We don’t need to get down on ourselves, we just need to get real. We need to orient ourselves in our current reality so we can start our journey towards the intended destination.
- Don’t try to do Everything at Once: I’m still mastering this one but I think I am starting to get it. I try to find something to work on and stay focussed on it. For example, you could try posting 3 times per week to your artist/band on Instagram for 3 months. First month you try a whole bunch of different types of posts. Month 2, analyse month 1’s posts and try to work out what did well and lean into those styles of posts. Month 3: Analyse and refine more and then at the end of the month analyse the last 3 months and try and determine if posting to Instagram moves the needle. If we’re bouncing about to a bunch of different things we might not give something enough attention and miss something that is highly effective.
- The Journey is the Reward: I spent many years wanting to get somewhere and feeling dissatisfied most of the time because I wasn’t there. When I started to enjoy the process and put systems in place to make regular progress happen, I saw forward motion and I was satisfied in the doing.
- Review your Journey regularly: To help you with the point above, you need to look back at your progress every 3 months. What worked, what didn’t work and what will you do in the next 3 months. This is eating a reality sandwich, being encouraged in the journey and renewing your inspiration all wrapped into one.
- Be Action Oriented: I remember reading a business book where the author was talking about working with many successful entrepreneurs. He remarked that most of them aren’t that exceptional in intellect or education but that they are predisposed to taking action.
Creatives can get stuck in the details or have a vision that they just won’t compromise. I get it – I still do it. BUT getting something done and released, posted, rehearsed, booked etc. is going to teach you far more and move you forward more than achieving the perfect version of how you envisioned things. You might also be surprised by the unexpected along the way.
I’ll probably add to the list above as I journey on but the above is what I’d say to you (and myself) if you asked me how to really move forward as a songwriter, artist, producer etc.
The Takeaway
Probably one thing I could add to the real talk list above is knowing when to let ideas go. I’ve mentioned before that I started out wanting to be a rockstar, realised I didn’t really enjoy touring, realised I liked studio work but then discovered I really loved mixing and mastering. Things changed for me as I made my way along like they do for us all.
At times it was scary, I felt like I was giving up part of my identity but in the end I’m where I need to be right now. I also know where I’m headed but I am also open to that changing. That’s why the journey (even when it’s hard) is so rewarding. Enjoying it should be our first goal.
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