(Bono…and maybe Voltaire)

Doing the Work

As a musician or performer, have you ever found yourself deeply and intently focused on your material as you prepare for that “really important gig”? Have you worked and re-worked your musical chops, putting in mammoth practice sessions? Perhaps you’ve experimented with all the latest ideas and technologies that might improve your performance? Have you taken a leaf from the 10 000 hours movement about practising so that you optimize the way you lay down those all-important myelin-coated neural pathways?  Perhaps you’ve explored the world of “neuroplasticity” and the exciting breakthroughs in accelerated learning offered by stimulating the motor cortex as in Halo Sport? Maybe you’ve recorded or videoed your rehearsals and studied them looking for ways to improve aspects of your playing or performance? If the answer to any (or indeed all) of the above is an emphatic “Yes”, then I salute you. (We should get T-Shirts  ‘cos it looks like we are all members of the same club already).

Chop Chop

So, getting the musical chops right will go a long way to getting the performance right? Right?

Well…maybe…and I am certainly a big believer in doing as much as you can to prepare for the best possible performance – it’s obvious, right?

Getting it Wrong – To Get it Right

I’ve been lucky enough to work with musicians who have taught me that getting it right at all costs might have its limits – strange but true. It took me a long time to accept “bad gigs” from some of my favourite artists and at times have found myself immensely disappointed and even furious with them. Some of them were musicians I had admired for a long time and in whom I had made a considerable emotional investment, not to mention the monetary investment too. So how could I accept paying for a gig that might fall so far below my expectations? Did I lose faith in them because that one night when I went to see them they were “crap”?

To be totally honest, yes, for a while I did. So what changed for me?

Trust the Artist

Going back to the early days of Nizlopi and FDM, with so many nights on the road witnessing first hand the growth and development of a great band, I got used to the comfort zone of the guys knowing their stuff and “nailing it” night-after-night with some pretty amazing shows. And as their manager and label boss, I was there to encourage what I saw as “the good stuff” and perhaps gently dissuade the “less than good” stuff. But, and this was key, we were a label that lived by the motto ‘trust the artist’. And in the end, despite some misgivings, that’s what I did – and it was a revelation

Closer to the Source

So what was I seeing? What was I recognizing in Luke and John’s development that put me in mind of those other musicians who sometimes had nights where they more than fulfilled my expectations and others where I was left feeling disappointed?

The lesson I learned was that for an artist to be true to their art they must strive to go beyond “very good” and venture out of their comfort zone.

Very good is a highly desirable place to be for an artist and it can deliver a lot of joy and happiness to a lot of people – but it can also be a sticky place. But, what if, just beyond “very good” is the place we call Great? What if, just for a moment, we are willing to let go of what we know, of what’s gone before and see what lies over the creative horizon?

Well, I guess, to a certain extent, I already answered this earlier by identifying my disappointment in some of those gigs where I saw my heroes “fail”?

Seeing the Light

Things are different for me now. I can look back on those nights where my musical giants fell flat on their arses. And I can also look back on those nights when they soared heavenward taking their fans with them. What separates the very good from the great is the willingness to get it wrong and I now recognise the immense bravery of any artist who attempts it. The ones who are strong enough (crazy enough?) to push up to and look over that edge, those are the ones that inspire me most.

O.K. so you get the occasional “bad gig”, but now I can see it as part of that ark of the artists development and I’m at ease with it.

Bono the Beneficent

So maybe Bono is right, perhaps very good really is the enemy of great. Or maybe, as with so many declarations of this nature  (controversial and provocative), there is more to it than meets the eye?

Whatever.

Let me conclude by saying I salute those that attempt the journey beyond the comfort zone, whether they achieve what they are aiming at or not. Perhaps it really is a journey and not a destination? I also salute the “very good” artists out there for they have worked their backsides off to get to that level. But now I have much more respect (and tolerance) for the artist that gets it wrong in an attempt to get it “more right”. I will attend their gigs with that little frisson of the unknown – where will they take me tonight, heaven or hell? Either way, I can live with it, in the hope that next time, just maybe…….

Where am I going

So, musicians, I urge you, find your place. Do you belong in the “very good” column? Fantastic (and well done). Or will you try looking over that precipice to see what might lie there?

Either way, I will support you all in your attempt to do so.

Let me leave you with the immortal words of Charles Bukowski

 ‘If you’re going to try, go all the way.’