What do you have to say for yourself?
I'm not Edgar Meyer, but gosh I wish I was. To be able to pick one thing and just focus on THAT so you can do it better than everyone else in the entire world, that's amazing. Edgar Meyer did just that, as well as countless other artists musical or otherwise. As I've grown older in the art/music/theater world I have come to see what it takes to excel, and I might have to come to terms with the fact that I don't have all of the pieces that it takes. Discipline being the major factor in artistic success, something I lack in a major way. The ability to sit down and practice your craft every single day in an almost meditative state is a blessing not every musician has. I suppose that is something that can be learned, but don't you have to be disciplined enough to learn it? It happens all too often that I'll be talking to a friend about a favored musician or actor and the conversation will usually end with, "Yeah but I hear he/she is a real ass hole" or "He/she is full of themselves" to which my response has become "That seems to be a common denominator in successful musicians/ actors" because if you don't believe in what your doing 100% and don't think what your doing is better than anything else out there right now, you might not get farther than your grandma's living room, and by Grandma's living room I mean some DIY space in Chicago. And unless that’s you goal…
After my experience with the Classical music scene in High school while being part of the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, I decided it wasn't for me. A large majority people in that crowd have the kind of personality that compares to that of a black widow. And while I've met many a classical musician of which that is not true (My best friend Kate Brooks and my old Bass teacher Cleveland Orchestra asst. Principal bassist Kevin Switalski) most found that in order to move up: choose your friends and who you sleep with wisely, put others down, compete compete compete, back stab. Not something I could stick with much farther past high school. Yet, These people can't imagine doing anything else with their lives, hence we get some amazing musicians like Edgar Meyer, people who created their own way and couldn't help but be brilliant.
My boyfriend (the badass seen above) is a guitar player in a band, "God and the Architects" They're good, you should check them out. They play around Chicago at least once a month and frequently make trips back to Michigan to play shows in their home town of Jackson. They play a fun sort of Rock and Roll music. Every once in a while I'll here Ryan say something like "Making it big is all about luck", too which I (possibly annoyingly) reply. "Weeeelll it's not ALL about luck, it's not even all about Talent". What is it about? People have written books on this subject, and while I can't say I've read any other them I can only imagine that they say it has a lot to do with persistence and the right self promotion and these days that can come in many forms. These days we have the internet, which can be used in soooo many ways. And I hear way too many of my "Too cool for social networking on the internet" friends talk about how twitter and facebook and similar sites are "So lame and impersonal" guess what, that's where people are going to hear about you, because that's where the majority of everyone is. If you want people to know who you are, get over yourself and get a twitter account. So while God and the Architects is a Very good band and a handsome group of young gentlemen, the members of this band aren't all 100% committed to their band becoming big. I don't know if that's something they want, but the fact that most of them are pursuing other career paths communicates to me that this is just a hobby. (Love you Ryan)
The people I know that are around my age and beginning to find some kind of success in the music world are people that (in no particular order):
a) Have either fought through the bullshit or are a part of it
b) Have an account on every kind of social networking site there is be it geared toward musicians or just anyone.
c) Can’t imagine doing ANYTHING ELSE as a career.
d) Take every opportunity thrown at them – Whether it be at a home town spring festival or a year long job on a cruise ship.
e) Work with any and every musician that shows an interest in working with them. Eventually something will click.
I should also mention that most of these people went to school in order to become a musician, part of the "I can’t imagine doing anything else” quota. But this isn’t to say that people who didn’t go to school for music can’t be successful, they just might have to work a little harder to find the network and tools necessary to succeed.
Now, I would say I’m a musician, and while I am in a band I don’t have any dreams about getting big with them (Sorry Joel) it’s more of a fun thing to do sometimes. I see myself getting a career in something that is a bit more stable (ie. production), I suppose that has my high levels of anxiety to thank. I thank my lucky stars that my Parents supported me in my pursuit of the arts, sent me to nerdy music camps, gave me lessons with the top bass players in Cleveland, pushed me to pay for a good portion of my schooling by playing the bass for my University. The fact that they invested time and money into me being a musician is something that gives me joy and a little guilt, because I look at Edgar Meyer and I wonder…could I have done that? And who knows, maybe with a little time and a lot of effort I could, but is that what I want to do?
Every once in a while i’ll be listening to music with Ryan and I’ll say “If I had a band, this is the kind of music I would want to make”.
If. Maybe that should become a when. At this point, what’s realistic?
I feel like now is a good time to plug all my musician and Actor/writer type friends out there, serious or otherwise.
(I wish Kate Brookes had a website)
Please do not fail to check all of them out. Most, if not all, of my favorite music and theater is made by people I know personally. The reason behind that is probably a-whole-nother blog post.
Love
Leigh
