Even Though It’s for Nothing — Do the Work
In music, if you work your ass off, throw in, do your part, and something gets successful, I got bad news for you.
If it’s any kind of band, there’s at least a 60% chance that someone will upset the apple cart and it’ll all go to shit. And you’ll kind of know when it’s peaked.
I used to play bass for a pretty popular guy in town. And we’d built his following back up through a series of happy hours and gigs, and it was an amazing time for me because I was the worst person in the band and I learned so much.
Anyway, we’d finally sold out a pretty cool venue and did this great show with a bunch of different people walking on and off the stage. Probably even a few people you guys have heard of.
And I just knew at the time: that was it.
We had this huge show. And I was just sitting there thinking to myself, oh, this is too much. He’s going to scotch the whole thing.
And he did.
And I’ve found over and over again, in two of the situations I’m in actually right now, that once everything starts working, the rug gets pulled out.
This is kind of why I really love and guard my DJing, because I’m in total control.
All of this to say, it’s okay to care. It’s okay to try. It’s okay to work your ass off, just so long as you know.
Someone put it—I forget where I heard it, probably read it somewhere—bands are for kids.
And when you’re an adult traveling in the band world, it can be, at times, incredibly frustrating.
Because they’re somewhat democratized, no matter what you do. No matter if you are the one filling the seats, you took that role on and you picked it.
So you’re stuck with it.
My advice to everyone is still do the work. It’s so rewarding. Just know these things are going to happen.
I said 60%.
I’d say they’re 60% likely to happen when everything is going right. And then stuff gets really messed up. 100% chance of failure, though.
Once it gets right, that’s when the real meddling begins—the 60% hits.
I can’t think of a time in my musical life, here at 55, that I was sorry for putting in the effort.
Not once.
Do the work.