Just make sure you're prepared for constantly rescheduled and cancelled gigs, spending more time networking than creating, broken relationships, ignoring girlfriends and skadging off your mates when it's pub-time.

And then, the real fun starts. You get management, publishing, a deal and even some groupies trickle in. But you've been wearing the same boxer shorts for a week because you're stuck on a tour bus, you feel nauseous.

If you're not in some state of perpetual motion, and you're living off per diem cash payments that come out of your recording budget - which is essentially an investment in you making that money back (plus interest) for the label through sales and merchandising cash cows - because you don't make any money for yourself until you've broken even and squared your budget loan with them.

It's easy to be cynical about the music industry, it's easy to feel demoralised and constantly disappointed. It's easy to point the finger at us, calling us has-beens, with our dole mentality and hardened inability to perform like dancing monkeys for free. It's easy to say that we're ruining the dream.

It's important that you know it's not all pixies and elves, it's not all peaches and cream.

I started off wanting to make hip-hop and spoken word poetry. A natural ear for the classical Indian and Bollywood music I had grown up with meant that these sounds inevitably seeped into my production. I became an experimental classically Indian poetical rap superstar-wannabe without management.

I realised that this was a difficult thing to market and an even more difficult thing to present to record companies.

Record companies exist on a lower common denominator basis (well, the ones that can afford to pay you, at least) and they will only sign on to bands that they can visualise a marketing scheme for. Therefore, with my brand of challenging music, I had some hard work to do. Because, there is a market and a niche for it. I mean, I like it. There are others like me.

The trick is to find ways to find them. I'm not a lowest common denominator musician. Are you?

The main problem was getting people to listen to the music. Now, at no point can you be a musical snob in this. You have to try and attract whoever you can find. Because if you wish to generate your own buzz to present to a record label, you can't be trying to discriminate your fans. You got to take them where you can find them.

You need to stay strong. If you don't sell yourself, no one else is going to. Remember that. You are only as good as how you present yourself.

You want to get known? Well, you better grow a thick skin because it takes a lot of heartache and rejection to inch forward, and once you've progressed, you've got to fight and moan and push and push and push to keep the momentum going.

There are 1000's of people out there who want to live the dream. They are all vying for the same places you are. Lucky breaks will inch you all forward but sheer passion and defiance and self-belief will keep it going.

Comments (0) >>

Write comment

Name

Email

Website

Title

Comment

Write the displayed characters

Add Comment