Haha, yeah, I meant to reference the "geek" thing after I said that.

Yeah, I do spend a shit load of my free time on the computer, and I know about nerdy shit, but it all stems from being consumed by the art.

If being a geek means being immersed in an art form that really moves you, then beat me up and steal my lunch money, I wouldn't want to be anything else.

wow, this is really well said. talk about a quotable quote.

it gets worse when U start to make music for makin´ money instead of makin music

agreed, Zarkov that line is genius

In this crazy technological age that we live in, geeks are what keep the world running

I always find it funny (and aggravating) when some "popular" girl is making fun of geeks or trash talking them or something. It's so tempting to just walk up and say, "Well geeks keep facebook and myspace running so that you can tell all your friends about that new flashy $200 dress you just got because it "looked too cute to not buy" even though you already have more than enough "hot clothes" and they don't give you any more much needed character or intelligence, and geeks design your cell phone and keep it running smoothly so you can tweet to all your friends how that jerk never returned your phone call because you have nothing to say more than how much you love shopping and the jonas brothers with no individual thoughts or opinions that aren't given to you by some form of media...

/end brutal off topic popular girl rant

and all the popular kids that act to cool for school at the gigs... You favorite nerd from high school is now the guy you go see on sat. night...

HAHA

alright, im reading "The War of Art" by steven pressfield right now. i HIGHLY recommend it. seriously one of the best kick-in-the-ass books i've read. It's all about overcoming your personal resistance to create 'art' consistently. very dope.

buy it NOW

being a dj means i get more ass than if i wasn't a dj

..and a sugar box of this under your mixer;

okok people it's getting a bit offtopic here.

Post your story or something meaningful/insightful to keep this thread filled with inspiration.



woa, I gotto have that.
Curious about how 'loose' or 'stuck' I am in my creativity.

First of all, forgive me for my truancy on this board.

Secondly, Mr. Samples looks a bit surly in that pic and he has a point. I don't think it is off topic.

I'm currently broke, set lists are running amok, my gear is in various states of working order, etc, etc, etc.

I'm 26, I've been paid to perform music for 10 years. In that time I've had my struggles, but I have never believed in the 'struggling' or 'starving' artist (although I have been very hungry).

Get your head right and get out there. What is it you want? Have you spent 10,000 hours at it?

Most working artists spend a lot of time in 'the shed' or balancing work, school, and art.

I believe what Samples is saying is that he IS that kid that you go to see on Saturday nights. This references both the struggle and provides support.

The drugs are neither here nor there (to me) but it might serve to open up a dialog about them.

Now that you know who you are, what do you want to be?

well i think "off topic" was supposed to me - i overdidiT, sorry!

it was a quite bad joke even if drugs are involved sometimes...

just take my first statement serious, please



happy weekend, glitchhopper´s

I got a little creative with it, but the thread wasn't going off topic to me at all.

Samples made a joke; maybe I read into to it too much... but the metaphor still works.

Money, sex and drugs are a reality (that in combination make for a massive distraction).

What is the ultimate expression of success?

Money?

Sex?

This?

Or this?




It isn't always easy to prioritize (in my experience) but that's where you have to decide what is most important to you, what you want, and what your definition of success is.

You won't get where you want to go... if you don't know where you want to go.

This is EXACTLY what i'm saying! i dont think i've spent 10,000 hours at production, but at least 7,500

i work fulltime doing a shitty job so i can pay to buy shit. sitting there listening to a middle aged balding man talk about fibre optic cabling is fucking depressing when all you want is to be at home with ableton and a massive spliff. heh.

i don't get as much time to work on music as i would like. I tend to get frustrated as fuck with it as well. i've chucked in it for years and come back to it and had to start the learning process all over again.

Seems the people i know that have done the best with music have been the peeps that stuck at it no matter what. they didn't let their ego's get the better of them and just worked on bettering there production skills almost 24/7.

On point. Production, performance, promotion skills 24/7.

People called a music career hopeless before the mp3 or the recession, so you have to get over that if you want to do it.

Quincy Jones said something along the lines of doing anything (sound, stage, promotion, towels) to be close to the action. Side Hustle, as some people call it.

The question is, what do you want to do and what are hustling on the side that helps you set it up?

Always be zoning in on the target. I've hovered and procrastinated, so it is saving me right now that I stayed in. Your fallback plan will look like joke compared to the trove of valuable experience, contacts and information you will obtain.

This is where I'm at. I still have a lot to learn. New music and new production techniques, new art, new ideas, new people. I'm not on the level of professionalism I would like to be. That starts with me.

However:

I would never in a million years consider giving up music as a life plan.

Having toured and made more money than not being on tour (next to nothing) I would rather tour than not, as it were.

That was on piano. I played for 4 hours every day in high school. I was just into it. These days, at 26, I have to take care of myself and foster that childlike sense of wonder.

Ego arises from fear and we must be fearless if we want to get better. Accomplishment early on and much encouragement can be easier to dwell on than the growing pains of getting better.

Which reminds me, I need to get better...

I've always played the piano... but this became a problem in the last 4 or 5 years when I moved out from my parents'. I really missed it.

Last week a house-mate lend me his electric piano for an undefined period (it plays 99% like a real one)
And this got me learning again.

Now again it amazes me to be actively teaching myself an training a skill. it's very motivating to hear yourself make progress day by day, or even hourly.
And playing a real instrument vs producing gives different feedback.

I could even argue that i.e."mastering a compression technique" maybe less (directly) satisfying than getting a melody/piece spot-on after practicing it.
(Or drumming, scratching, playing the flute... whathaveyou.)
It's like that "YEAH! I did it" feeling, which encourages you to move another step further.

For me this is like being re-united with a long lost love. Here is the baby:

I just got a job at Subway. I haven't worked there since I was 15, but the manager offered me a job and I need the money.

This is kind of a cathartic process for me because I have enjoyed living purely off of music and related gigs.

It isn't glamorous, I've loved living without a regular job, but a part-time shift won't kill me and I know what I want to do with the money and the rest of my time.

I have a couple other freelance arrangements, but it isn't steady.

I had to add this to the discussion. I'm sure as hell not giving up and I want to be back on a regular tour as soon as possible, but I want to finance it properly, print up some nice CDs and stickers, etc.

I also wanted to put out there that I have a studio space on the Sante Fe artwalk in Denver which is open to the public- I've had a high rate of traffic.

I'm working on an interactive sound and light installation, people have been digging it (you walk in and it whomps to you in stereo, with a buried lofi vocal sample).

If anyone in the Denver area is interested in collabing with me on that, or selling CDs/merch out of my spot, hit me up. The overall concept is an interactive boutique, I will be selling my stuff out of here as well.

Also I'm working hard on my live set and productions, and I'm down for remixes and collaborations in general.

Turns out the installation got a little press:

"As one
walks back through the gallery, there is an ‘open studio’ space that
allows the common visitor to see the inner-workings of an artist’s
creative space. It is almost as though the room is something out of a
museum—it is difficult to tell if, as the viewer, you’re crossing some
sort of invisible boundary by entering such a sacred space. Beyond this
is a super small, dark room—in which a man was experimenting with the
way that footsteps in the space caused a reaction in his sound device.
With each step taken in his taped-off area, different sounds emitted
into the room. I believe that upon looking to my right I saw bunk
beds—almost as though this young man is a contemporary conducting an
endless experiment of art and interaction that has become seamlessly
integrated into his day-to-day life."

Big up to the whomp truck crew:

"In a high-end gallery one minute and dancing on the street to the house beats put out of an eccentric parked van hosting a DJ station and wild light projections the next."


http://www.examiner.com/x-38464-Denver-Architecture-Examiner~y2010m6d13-The-ArtSpace-Analysis-I-Boxcar-Gallery

I wouldnt be able to be an artist especially an electronic music artist if I had no hussle or business skills. It's not really a struggle with monetary for me its a struggle to kick all the losers out of the area and stay in the mood to make music. Barley enough time after I work, get high, fuck and rest to stay in the studio to make the next banger, stay tuned tho were building a new studio on island that is da RIPPAHs.....

Ya'll rock for sharing. Glad to be in good company.

Last year while journaling i got the message that I wanted to make electronic music. It was like "duh!, I knew that..."
Took me a while to take myself seriously, but over the summer I went to alot of festivals and talked to some producers
about it. After a beatbox session in a sauna at Beloved Festival with Kaminanda (producer) and some others, I got the message
really strongly to get on with it.

Then I had a dream where my grandma said: Don't make such a big deal out of it, just play the game. Two weeks later my grandma died in real life...

I got some money together and bought a mac, and dug in...


Being an artist is hard for me, I always feel like everything is already done, or that I'm basically just making art for me
cause who knows what someone's really going to like, and anyway i'm the first and maybe only listener.

It makes me wish I could be like everyone else, happy to piddle away my life...
But I can't, I go crazy and can't stand bland boring bullshit evenings of pointless conversation and getting fucked up...
I guess I used to wish I could, now I just try not to think about it.

Awesome thread firstly,

I moved to a new city to start djing more (this was 2 1/2 years ago), ironically I didn't start playing out until this past March. In October I quit/got fired from my job. I went from work 40 hrs a week with a paycheck that covered everything and allowed for me to splurge a little.

But damn, was I miserable. I was literally living a double life. Not having that financial stability sucks, but being able to get up everyday with the mentality that every hour I spend working on music is paying for my rent. It probably helps a bunch that I don't have cable or dedicated internet.

As far as support goes, after my mom watched me play for the first time she gave me her blessing. I don't hang out with nearly as man. y friends as I used to but, I've been ridiculously lucky with the ones I have. One writes and performs on her piano and the other is also a producer/dj...and he's skyrocketed my chance at having a shot.

Do I plan on making a career out of this? Hells yea. So long as I can make enough to pay my bills and eat non-top ramen food once or twice a week I'm down. At my old job success was dependent on how much DIDN'T go wrong and how well everyone else was performing; now my success is solely dependent on the effort I put forth.

My biggest problem lately is the once a month "everything I make is elementary" phase.

Its ironic though...when I first started djing I heard that some people did it to get the girls. So far I get a lot of free alcohol and drugs (in that order)...still waiting on the groupies.

here is my rant on this subject

Being serious and passionate about music for me is fucking depressing as all fucking get down, I swear to fucking christ!! (I could say FUCK a lot more, trust me)

Making a decent living out of it is hard as hell and a huge struggle, but if you live in the city, show face and show your love for the scene, it will pay you back.

I fortunately have support from my GF, (we make music and DJ together as Free Crush) and thankfully she can mix better than me and she keeps things melodic.

The internet (SoundCloud, Facebook, blogs ect..) has made it possible for people lacking in creative skill or lacking in even making music for that mater, to rise to the top due to their online presence, this to me is the depressing part. Makes me want to quit half the time, but then i got this nagging itch to constantly make noise, torn.

But as i get older and have better ways to create revenue I find myself slipping further away from EDM and going closer to the Jerk scene and some other gangster shit.

Honestly, when I'm not trying 100% to be an artist is when I'm the most miserable. I find that when I'm dedicated I can push through anything. I'm normally a very depressed person, so I find that music has been a great way to express myself. Sadly I only get the opportunity to show my tracks to a few people in between shows, and these people tend to be my closest friends. So while they are supportive, they often hear my tracks over and over again before they are finished. It's not even because I show my tracks all off, but more the fact that my roommates and them are all in the same friend circle so they are over here when I'm producing.

Overall I get a lot of support. My family is extremely supportive, and so are my friends. The thing that sucks is that it's hard to get good criticism from anyone that truly knows you. Because if they do, then they are either too close to 1) you, or 2) your music. Either way they are going to be unable to express how they really feel about it.

I guess for a long time I felt very discouraged, but I realized that I was not learning or making good tracks if I was not happy with the direction I was going in. It took some really shitty times in my life to finally learn that constant production is the only thing that keeps me sane.

I am a young kid who just turned 16 this past week and I am amazed to see so many of you out here on the internet who are so passionate and heartfelt about music, I thought I was a crazy kid cause none of my friends really understand the music I listen to or what I do here in my little cave. they don't really have creative minds either, so I guess you could expect them to not understand.

I live in San Antonio, TX and the people down here don't really seem to understand music that comes out of the west coast like (the glitch mob,Mimosa,Flying Lotus,all the Low end theory guys ect.)

i agree that having double the free time means double the time down the rabbit hole. (mathematically, TIME = HOLE) for me, when I move somewhere new and get settled, I don't know anyone at first, and after awhile I'll get to know people, but it is pretty great being able to be by yourself and get shit done.

As far as the question of how being an artist affect my life -- and do people around me support it?
..I feel like some do and some don't. I don't think most people realize how much time a lot of folks put into something creative. Especially non-creative type people who have no concept for it. Not that my art/music is all super-fucking-mind-blowing/breath-taking, but anytime you put a lot of time into something, it's going to mean something to you, and (hopefully anyway) to other people, too.

A friend of mine heard a track I put out that got tons and tons of plays, and my friend was like, "Hey Will, maybe this'll be your BIG BREAK, maybe you'll get signed to a major label now and make a million dollars?" and he was being hopeful, and there's def some truth in that there are breaks, and i want to get my music out there, but at the same time its like... im not in some rock band from 1995. I'm not trying to get on TRL. you know? lol. He was just being hopeful tho, so kudos, but I think some people around me assume that, "oh, music is Will's hobby," until the day I "gets the big break," and make a lot of money on a regular basis, THEN it won't be a hobby but something you can actually respect.

I really feel like, if I came out with the dopest album i could possibly make, and it didnt do super well commercially, my friends would be like, "oh, yea, nice music, Will." but then, lets say some huge label saw the music and was like, "word, we want to put this out," and a week later it was all over the radio or tv or whatever, i feel like at THAT point, people around me would be like, "Will, your music is incredible! This is fucking awesome!" even tho before they were only half as supportive bout the same damn songs.. I guess what Im saying is, some people like to be told whats good music, and if it's popular, it must be good. If its the biggest thing on reddit, THEN it's worthy of their time.

Plus I think, unless I make dubstep, most people outside glitchhop aren't gonna give a fuck what I'm doing in electronic music. Maybe thats not fair, but that's what I've seen in my life. When I make something noisy, people get excited. So to be honest, I think some people do respect that I am passionate about music, but when they hear my music, and it's not dubstep, they usually don't care too much.

..DAMN, sorry for the negativity, i just read over this post and I guess I'm in a bad mood. lol