Listening Is a Big Deal
I was asked to write a letter for a friend. It’s his birthday or something.
It’s a good example of what listening means to an artist or musician.
Here it is:
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I don’t remember the exact time frame or what year it was. I’m guessing it was about 2018 when I was in the group. I was going through a lot. The company was tumultuous, but we’d figured out a way to sell it and kind of move that down the road. Myself as well.
I had really started searching for what to do next and was talking a lot in the group about music. And as you do, you go super deep. I had some stuff I was working on, and I shared a group of songs with the forum.
Out of anyone else, XX really listened.
He may not remember, because that’s a thing. People don’t remember what they said, but as the artist or musician, you remember it all.
And I try to keep account of the good stuff as well as the bad stuff, because you can really just concentrate on the poop. But not me.
XX took a close listen and talked about it, and that’s the kind of thing you never forget. Because when you’re restarting that kind of thing, especially at that age, you are super vulnerable. You’ve gotta hang it out there and see what happens.
Previously, I’d just shown the songs to a songwriting group I’d joined, which had an incredibly low bar. Like, they liked everything.
So, as I sit here today, years and years later, super busy musically, writing a lot, playing a lot, and also doing a bunch of DJing, which has been amazing, it’s in no small part thanks to that forum and the talks we had.
But especially people like XX, and specifically XX, who I doubt would even remember, but listened closely at a time when I really needed it.
And for that, I’m really always grateful to him.