We spend a lot of time only taking the risks we know will work out.
Sometimes it pays to run up against the big scary giant so you can feel the push. To feel your own strength, going as hard as you can…and then to feel the intense push in return. But to know that you went nose to nose with the beast…and lived to tell the tale.
A few years ago I went to a Halloween party. The theme? Rockstar Halloween. Typical for a Nashville halloween party.
So many amazing costumes. I was Keith Richards.
The most interesting part was that no one had to ask anyone who they were. Everyone knew.
The hair, or the shirt, or the glasses, or the hat, or the shoes, or the face paint…something immediately recognizable about the different costumes.
‘Immediately recognizable’ is the key. What do you have that is?
To add subtlety is to spend extra time, energy and money on an aspect of the project that (by definition) won’t be specifically recognized by most people. But subtlety can make all the difference.
‘Felt, not heard’ as we say when adding the fine details to a song.
The average listener doesn’t care about the top end of the snare, the vocal reverb decay time, the guitar panning, or the tambourine EQ…The average listener is simply asking, ‘Do I like this song?’
Subtlety, while expensive to add, increases the chances that their simple answer will be Yes.
When performing on stage and you’re fifty seconds into a song and it’s not working…you don’t skip to the next song.
You have to figure something else out. You have to do something you didn’t think you were going to have to do in order to sell the song. Change the melody, change eye contact, change the volume, change your position on stage…
It doesn’t always go how you think it will. Sometimes you really gotta work for it. This is why playing live never gets old and why the skills of playing live can always be refined.
Professionals have figured out some things that pretty much work night after night…but the thrill of having to win the audience all over again within the scope of a three minute song…that keeps professionals professional.
Michael Jordan was the best in the world.
And Michael Jordan had a coach. Actually a bunch of coaches.
His coaches weren’t better at basketball than he was but they knew how to make him better.
If you wanna be like Mike you need to find coaches like Mike.
»» Shout out to Brad for this one.
Hiring great musicians is the best way to get your music to sound like it does in your head…and probably even better than in what you’ve dreamed up in your head.
Top talent is expensive but if the ideas are worth putting into the world, then it seems worth it to give them the best chance to connect.