Last night I was asked to speak on a panel about being a success in the music industry. I guess when your name gets around enough people begin to seek you out to speak to others about what you do. Sometimes it’s really odd to be in a room full of people as a guest speaker to talk about yourself and what you’ve done. Especially when the list gets kinda long.
It’s also very flattering to be asked to do such things. The main thing I tried to express about success is first write songs people want to hear, second network your butt off to get them out to people, and third be entertaining when you perform. That’s the combination that seems to work every time.
I found that one of the best things I ended up doing was to stop talking about me to people who don’t know me, unless they ask. That’s when you realize people are interested. As I was saying yesterday it’s odd when you begin to disappear or withdraw from constant contact, it probably leads to a bit of mystery or something and it gets friends to start wondering about you.
Though you do have to be prepared for when people you were hoping would miss you or contact you end up not doing so. Who knows what the meaning behind that ever is, but generally it probably means you weren’t missed. At which point it’s probably a good time to let that person go.
One of the things I talked about when listening to some of the music being presented was how some of the music wasn’t fully getting into the genre or vibe it should have. A song should really not be afraid to go over the top in it’s genre. It shouldn’t be confused as to where it should be presented. That type of thing. It took me a while to learn that concept. I kept trying to straddle things. But now I work at pointing a song or piece of music in the direction it should go.
Which is why I appreciate today’s choice of Tragically Hip. They are one of those essential straight up rock band. I really like how they don’t redefine anything other than their own tunes which fit very well into the idea of rock and only rock. This particular tune is talking straight up about going fully and completely into whatever it is you decide to go after. Which is how I approach most of what I do in my life.
I really like the Hip’s groove sensibility. I like their guitar tones, their bass tones, their drum tones, and the vocal style. It all works so well. There’s really not much more I can say about that. It’s pretty pure and simple.
Go get it now!