Why (Share) Music?
Creation is a prerequisite to everything, but inevitably you come to a fork in the road. What the hell do I do with this thing? One part of you is eager and ambitious - hell yeah, people are gonna love this, they HAVE to see it. The other says, screw that, sharing will just mess my life up.
I honestly don’t know why we have this inner desire to make sure everyone sees what we’ve done. I blame mommy and daddy. I mean, they loved that ashtray I made.
Of course, everyone else will, too. Right?
Something To Say & A Way To Say It
But, we’re getting a bit ahead of ourselves. Why Share requires two things. Something you feel needs to be said AND a medium within which to say it. The first part is more about your confidence level. EVERYONE and I mean EVERYONE has something to say. However, only the uber confident or emotionally inept need to say it out loud to EVERYONE. The trick is words are cool, but to get scale they need to be packaged - wrapped in an emotional adornment for distribution. You can try “just” words at scale without any polish but man you are working against millennia of human defense mechanisms. You ever made it through an asteroid belt? Me, either. So, you need to go with the proverbial “spoonful of honey” to get past all of those mine fields. The message needs to sail on the wings of an emotionally driven mechanism. Music. Poetry. Dance. Painting. These are great ways to circumvent human defenses. But this is craft. This is art. Blunt objects don’t do much to move your audience. We’re sophisticated - we like our subterfuge to be provided bespoke - hand crafted.
Toil
So, we toil.
Or . . . somewhere along the line we say screw it. I mean, do you really need this much toil to get my message across?! Once abandoned, it’s time to blame . . . everyone. That said, even if you are justified in the abandonment, the toil is the thing. No sh!t. It is the thing. There is no other thing. The rest is someone just someone “getting” your toil. Please, please, please - f! YouTube and its constant drum beat of 10 ways to “Get Good” ASAP. There is no easy way out because the delivery mechanism is as much the art as the art itself.
There may very well be easier ways to learn the mechanics of your chosen art, BUT and I beg of you to listen to me here - that is often counterproductive. Because, as your local sansei will tell you, knowledge or skill learned too quickly isn’t skill it is a hack. And hacks (what an awful word) are just that - shortcuts to deeper meaning that you will second guess until they actually become the deeper meaning you are looking for.
So back to more toil.
There Is No ‘One Size Fits All’
No one wants the same thing. Sounding like Jimi Hendrix would be cool, but I can assure you once you cop Hendrix you will find out your limitations.
Said differently, what you want is to deliver the emotional impact of Jimi Hendrix. The heart punch.
Life does throw you a bone. That punch can come from almost any delivery mechanism. That’s why Zamfir can exist. Your heart (someone else’s heart not mine), doesn’t care that pan flutes aren’t exactly cool. The heart wants what the heart wants. But, even this is short lived. The painful truth? There’s always a catch. No matter what medium you use, your art will only resonate with some, not all. Believe it or not, there are people out there that don’t get Jimi. We can summon any demon to haunt the naysayers for the rest of their lives and we will still be left with this truth, some people won’t get your (Jimi’s) best. And, this is as it should be - read on.
Private School
O.k., we may have once again gotten ahead of ourselves. There are two kinds of sharing - private and public. We’ve all gone the private route. I mean this is life. All of the psychologists and therapists in the world exist based on our attempts to share. Interpersonal relationships are nothing more than that. Now, let’s move from basic verbal interactions to our attempts at “art.” Go back, think hard. How freakin’ amazing was it to show your mom and dad your first piece of art? You probably can’t even remember that FIRST art piece, but I can assure you it is wired in your soul and it was f!’ing amazing. Nice job!
When did it stop? Remember that? You might have taken band or a cool elective like drafting or art in high school, but for most of us it ended at some point around high school.
All throughout that key time in our life we shared our work privately and our parents were dutifully impressed, awed and so darn proud that their plastered smile started to make their face hurt.
Personally, I can’t remember when a family member took me to the side and said - “Mike, you’re a good kid but we need to talk about this penchant you have for sharing those “art” things. We really need to reign that in - we just can’t take it anymore.” If that did happen to you, leave that experience in the comments. The engagement scores will go through the roof!
Public School
And then (you know I’m going there), there’s sharing in public. Not Aunt Suzy public, we’re talking some random dude I’ve never heard of, public. Or, worst yet, your former co-workers from your first act, public. Gasp!
This is where real fear resides. This is where Dorothy is skipping nervously through the forest and her trusted Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow have already met their unfortunate fate. You are now going . . . SOLO. Your brain is your best ally and your worst foe. It has the uncanny knack of being able to concoct the worst fates known to man. And, all we’re talking about is sharing freakin’ art in public. I’ve heard the word ‘brave’ more than a few times now. When I first read that word, I said, really?! Now I say, damn straight!
The Long Hard Walk
This is the walk. It is long and hard and it reflects on only one person - you. Let’s say you are perfect. You have the perfect message, you have the perfect delivery mechanism. Remember - somebody out there does NOT get Jimi Hendrix.
You are NOT going to survive this unscathed. Even if it’s just a bruised ego.
THAT is a feature not a bug. What?!?!?! Yeah, I said it. Your work of art ain’t for everyone. It may only be for you. BUT, this is the ultimate truth and gift. You are unique and you have something to say and only a part of humanity will get it. Said differently, yes, please god, only let part of humanity get it - I want to connect with specific humans that are ready to take in what I have to give. Universality works in the context of human rights, not so much in art. Different example - The Mona Lisa? I don’t get it.
The Payoff
I could talk about what nirvana might look like. Like, you get a DM from someone you barely know that says ‘Mike, whoa - that was really cool. I didn’t see that coming and I get it. I felt it.’ Oh, there it is. That’s it. There is nothing else. No numbers, no demographics, no engagement scores, just human connection. The only question you have to answer is how many of those DM’s do you need before sharing was worth it.
Why I Did It?
We’ve talked about why we share and it’s not hard to know why I did as well, but let me elaborate. Why did I share music (and my videos and my writing and, frankly, me)? First, I have something to say. I hope you are starting to see the arc. It started as Mike is a bada$$ and he is unique and he is going to tell the world about transformation from the first act to second act. Then it morphed into, we’re ALL going to go through this transformation at some point and wouldn’t it be nice if someone leaned into that concept and told people the reality of the situation? Now it’s more. It’s me sitting on a run-away train of ideas that must take seed outside my cranial cavity. In so doing, I am modeling what a 1st act to 2nd act transformation might look like, but I’m also modeling what I want life to be like. Truth. Clarity. Purpose. While that was happening in the background, somewhere along the line I said, you have a core delivery mechanism that is ready to see the light of day. Music. Then, grace of music, I stumbled on making videos for my music. Lastly, I can write. But, then I put it together with my music and videos and my eyes got big. I could use my first act skill - no convincing just revelation! Delivery mechanism(s) - check.
Something to say. Some way to say it. Now the will. I’ve got will in spades. Especially because I believe wholeheartedly in the product. I mean, it’s easy when the product is the new me.
The Test - Got Resonance? Got Privilege?
So, I said, let’s test it. This is a very important step. A LOT of people listened to my song - from family to friends to pros to ME. It took a while to numb myself to the parade of horribles, but I had enough proof that I was going to be ok before I ever decided to push that button. I also listened to this song A LOT - still do.
I was looking for a chink in the armor significant enough to sink this experiment. It never came. The exact opposite occurred. I’m like, yup, What’s Next? is a lock for my funeral playlist. {Cue uncomfortable grin}.
It was through this process -letting people in little by little. Listening over and over that it started to click. I realized that these tests aren’t about you (all apologies and know you are integral, so don’t take that as a dig), but they are every bit about me. As much as we all want to be altruists - our life is lived through our own lens. That lens, this test, has taught me a ton about my perception of interpersonal relationships and my attachment to them. I care very deeply about connecting with my listeners, readers and viewers, but before that can ever happen - that spark, that mainlined emotional resonance has to start with me (or any other artist) and my craft.
It feels cliché (and an oxymoron) but to love others you must love yourself first. And so the circle is the same with the life of an artist. One very important point, I am sitting on a bed of privilege. Earned and unearned alike, BUT the point is this - I am untethered from some basic requirements of human life vis-a-vis art (requirement to make a living through art, a desire for abnormal levels of attention through the same). This is said for one reason - I am living this experiment and maximizing the leverage this privilege provides.
This is a core point. Scale is a killer. It is effectively compromise by another word. If truth, clarity and integrity are your driving principles, you can bend compromise to your will. Or, at least, be ruthlessly purposeful when you are making tradeoffs. Where you find yourself on the spectrum of this privilege will in turn allow you to better gauge the tradeoffs that you will inevitably need to make should you go down this path.
No shame in where you are. Just know what you’re optimizing for—and what you’re sacrificing along the way.
The Playing Field
In the next article, we enter the playing field. Best check yourself before you enter because if you are not right you’ll find yourself running naked in a funhouse full of mirrors. The algorithm would love nothing better than to guide you through your predestined cattle chute sending you (meat) packing. Too many images but it’s reflective of the industry and ensures you have your sh!t together.
You've just been scared straight.
Welcome To The Machine! Next up - It’s time to show you how all of the shiny buttons work.
