This is part 5 in my “Importance of Acting Professional as a Working Musician” series. Moving right along here. I’ve worked with musicians that have stormed out of rooms because they weren’t getting their way. I’ve worked with musicians that show up drunk. I’ve worked with musicians that are belligerent. All I’m trying to say is: when you get an opportunity, don’t blow it.
But go beyond not blowing it.
You have to knock your first opportunities out of the park. Show these people that by coming to you their going to get something that no one else can bring. Work harder than you think you can work; work longer than you think you can work. But with all that in mind, don’t forget to stay objective to your material. If something is bothering you in your writing and it’s tingling you in the back of your mind – then you have to address it. If you think something is out of key then someone else will think it’s out of key. If you don’t think the mix is good enough then someone else won’t think it’s good enough.
Your work in the studio has to be so satisfying to you that no matter what negative comments you get you’ll be able to brush them off with the knowledge that you know the work is good.
If you walk away with anything from what I’m saying it’s should be that “it’s not what they think, it’s what you know.”
There have been many times that I’ve gone beyond what I was hired for without being a noodge.
Not only do I come prepared but many times I know additional parts in case someone doesn’t show up or is sick. If a singer is sick, no problem, I know his parts. As a keyboardist that knows bass I learn not only the keyboard parts but the bass parts as well. Bass player can’t make it? No problem I’ve got a set here with the keyboards are automated and I can play the bass live. In my own band I even have a backup plan if the drummer can’t make it.
And being sick shouldn’t be such a common excuse. You should be able to push through a sickness. You’re playing a live show for people that have bought tickets. This isn’t a day off from work where someone else can stock the fruit stand. You’re in a unique position and, for the most part, there are people that have been looking forward to your gig. So it’s time to deliver the goods. You can push through the flu. You can push through a cold. You can push through a tooth ache.
I’ve performed with the flu. I’ve performed with food poisoning. And I’ve performed with two broken teeth that were sensitive to air – I still performed and I still sang. Suck it up and get it done.
Of course there are generous exceptions to this. I would understand if you’re an acrobat that has to twirl around in the air and you’ve got food poisoning. No one wants to see a vomit tornado. I mean, some people would but the vast majority would be turned off by that.
You have to expect the unexpected and be prepared when things go wrong, when people are sick, and when equipment doesn’t work right.
These are things that you can’t prepare for on the job. When it happens, it’ll happen on stage, and it’ll happen in front of people. These are things you have to be prepared for by thinking about them before they actually do go down in real life. I often think of what I would do if the curtain doesn’t open on time. I often think of what I will do if someone falls down on stage, a string breaks, the electricity goes out, etc. What would you do if your guitar strap breaks on you halfway through a song and your singing lead?
It happened to me. Halfway through a song by guitar strap breaks and my two thousand dollar 6-string Music Man Bongo bass drops. Fortunately I was able to catch it, prop it up on my knee, play with one hand, adjust my microphone, and keep going. This also allowed me the unique opportunity to be able to hold my guitar up high during the parts that didn’t require me to play the bass. Make the best out of every bad situation.
What happens when your drummer’s in-ear monitor completely goes out?
It happened to me once. In a show where we all have to follow a click track I look over at our drummer and he’s watching my leg for some reason. I knew he was having problems with his in-ear mix going in and out so I stood over by him, propped my foot up by his riser, and bounced my leg up and down with my click track. That way he at least had a visual cue of where the click was. And this went on for several songs. By the end of that set me legs were killing me from having to support myself with one leg and keep a constant visual timing cue with the other.
Things will come up when you least expect it and if you want to separate yourself from the flock of other people vying for your job you have to make yourself invaluable.
I remember one show I was doing with acrobats and this particular night one girl was sick. So it was either cut the song or ad lib something. One of the other performers stepped up and said she could do her act. Well, she did her act that night and it looked incredible. And there’s a reason why that particular girl gets called back to perform with that company over and over again. That same night there was another performing telling me that they could’ve done the act as well. But they didn’t say anything; they didn’t step up. And now the company will never know that that particular performer would be able to do more than just performing a couple of things per show.
But that goes back to my point of speaking out when there’s a time and a place; not being a noodge and not being a bother. Something was needed and someone stepped up. They spoke up; they got the gig. It wasn’t for the fame and it wasn’t for the notoriety. It was because it needed to be done.
I’ve touched on a lot of examples here. I’ve brought up many things in my experience that I hope some people will read and internalize.
Knowledge is gained when someone is presented with facts, internalizes them, and then is able to add that to their everyday life. If you refuse to see the correlation on how actions have consequences then you’ll never gain the knowledge you need to go further in life. You’ll repeat the same mistakes over and over again. You’ll sit there wondering why you’re so miserable and how you’ve made so many mistakes.
It’s pretty simple: being a decent person, doing decent things, treating people the way you would want to be treated, and generally having common sense will only result in good things.
While on the other end, people that act shitty, do shitty things to people, will ultimately put themselves in shitty situations. And when you’re a shitty person in shitty situations then shitty things can only come your shitty way.
