I still don’t like to think about it.
I’ve been performing live music for a long, long time. More than 3/4ths of my life. Good or bad, I’m extremely proud of every show because they all played a role in the larger scheme as it relates to taking that particular passion of mine and taking it to higher levels.
It’s one thing to learn how to play an instrument. It’s a step up to decide to start a band. And, yet another step up to decide you want to take said band and perform publicly.
This is a quick story I was reminded of just yesterday morning when perusing Facebook. I came across a story of a friend’s son performing at his school talent show. Flashback many years to my senior year, end-of-the-year outdoor lunch/talent show thing that happened.
Oh shit that happened.
[Big inhale]
[Big exhale]
[Ok here we go…]
As seniors, Luke, Aaron, and I were already done with school. Seniors took their final exams a few weeks early and got to start their summer break before college a bit earlier than everyone else. A school tradition that I hope still exists.
Our band, Previous Engagement, was invited to perform a few songs at this outdoor event which was to be held at school after we were out on our summer break, so yeah, sure, let’s do it. We got some good shows under our belt this past year and had some new songs we could throw out because whatever.
We Showed Up to Campus
It was our first time there in a few weeks but I recall it seemed like years. Look at all these kids! (Some were mere weeks younger than me). We started to scope it out to see where we needed to set up. It was on a grassy part of the main quad area in front of the gym because cliches happen, folks, and we need to be ok with that.
We arrived when we were told to arrive and, welp, the other bands were already set up. So, I helped Aaron and Luke get in a good spot near me after I decided to borrow someone else’s drum kit. We were going to play like 3 songs, so yeah…borrowing a kit.
I remember the weather being as good as it could possibly be for this event. I mean just gorgeous. This was a good idea and this was going to be super fun.
The other bands were good. They plugged in and did their thing. Then it was our turn. I sat down, grabbed my sticks, made sure the snare was on, checked the kick drum pedal, and looked for the monitor to make sure I’d be able to hear.
The monitor. Where the f**k is my monitor?
You guys…I didn’t have a monitor.
This was going to be bad
It’s Not A Happy Ending
I wish this paragraph was where I could tell you that we powered through it with incredible muscle memory because we were so well-rehearsed. I wish this was where I could write about how we were seasoned professionals, even back then, and sounded amazing against all odds. I wish those things so badly…still today.
But nope. The set was a complete and total shitshow. I mean bad. Really bad. Probably the worst set I’ve ever played. I couldn’t hear anything but I still knew it was bad. If it was for school credit and they decided to revoke our diplomas because of it, I would have been like, “Yeah. I get it. Ok.”
Reminder that we were just starting out and none of us knew what being in a band really entailed. We weren’t professionals and all we wanted to do was play a few of Luke’s 3-chord songs that were (and still are) catchy AF.
Instead, we took some good songs and publicly murdered them.
Why Am I Telling You This Now?
Because it’s a good reminder that no matter what you’re doing, if you want to get good at it, you can’t do it in a vacuum. You need to be able to measure what you’re doing and know how it’s working – or if it’s even working at all.
Listen to what you’re doing. Get a different perspective. It’s the only way to be an effective critic of yourself and improve at anything. There’s a lot of people out there saying “hustle all day” and “work harder” and “focus more” and whatever. Here’s the thing…all that is bullshit if what you’re hustling towards, or working hard on, or focusing on is not effective and you don’t even know it.
If you’re working really hard on something shitty without knowing it, then what the hell are you doing?
Take The Time
I recently launched a new size drumsticks for my online music supply business. It’s been months in the making, then on pause for a while, then picked up again. I didn’t put any deadlines on myself because I wanted to get it right. I got a few prototypes and shared them with some drummers I know. I got some great feedback and was able to make some key tweaks before production started.
The final product proves that it was worth the wait and extra work. They turned out better than I could have hoped and I’m already getting love notes about them from customers all over the world.
If you really want to get good at something, then have the courage to listen to yourself, receive honest critique from others, all while retaining the ability to make changes.
We’re all going to f**k up sometime. The sooner you know that you are, the sooner you can make it right.
Listen to what you’re doing, because other people are.
I can still hear those two people in the back slowly clapping after we finished…which was somehow worse than total silence.
Apologies to Luke and Aaron for this post. I feel like I may have broke a pact of silence.
#bewhatyoumake
