We don’t stop the song half way through.
We don’t turn off the mystery before we find out who the murderer is.
We don’t throw a couple puzzle pieces into the backyard.
Puzzles and mystery movies and songs offer completion. They offer resolve. That’s a big reason we like them and make them.
Real life is not having all the puzzle pieces and probably not having the box with the picture on it either.
That tension is what inspires us to make art that tells a complete story.
Are you a good laugher?
Do you give the compliment?
Do you listen and keep eye contact and ask good questions along the way?
A good audience is pure gold when we’re sharing our thing. It gives us confidence and amplifies all the good parts of the interaction.
We can’t change the audience but we can be a good audience when it’s our turn.
What’s your favorite song on the album?
What’s your favorite city to play in?
Who’s your favorite pop punk band?
People like asking questions like this and it’s a lot more fun to have an actual answer than to hem and haw about why it’s hard to pick a favorite.
And picking a favorite makes it more likely the audience will remember you have a favorite. You’re not locked into it forever. You can answer with something else next time.
On the other hand…if you’re the interviewer…
You can think of better questions than ‘what’s your favorite’.
»» The Spotify link didn’t work yesterday. Here’s one that works.
First Monday of the month, new Hum Love playlist on Spotify and Apple.
A little recap of what the Hum Love playlist is all about…
It’s ten new songs each month. I probably listen to about a hundred each month to find the ten…and it’s stuff that’s fun to get in the car and press play on. No slow songs. Poppy. Rocky. Sometimes snythy. Sometimes R&B-y. And usually songs that have been released recently.
So check it out. You can’t tell which artists have more monthly listeners and which have less. You can’t tell which recordings cost the most to make. You can’t tell who got the cool festival slot. It’s big bands and small bands all mashed up together on a playlist…it’s a modern miracle.
If your company’s vision, or motivation, or daily rhythm is built around needing a common enemy…
One of the best common enemies that can sustain that kind of pressure is the enemy of the deadline.
It’s another lesson from SNL. Everyone who’s been on the show has the shared enemy of 11pm on Saturday night. The deadline puts pressure on everyone, takes the blame for everything, inspires everyone and can handle every ounce of hatred and resentment of it…without taking it personally.
If there weren’t any problems what would the objective be?
Sometimes we get so bogged down in dealing with the problems of the day that it obscures the objective. And sometimes we get lulled into falling in love with those problems.
‘Hold on, why are we doing all of this?’ might be a good question.
If all Frodo ever does is look for another Orc to kill, the ring is never gonna get to Mount Doom.