Hey, what's up?
I started making music not only because I liked it but it was the popular thing to do. That all changed very quickly. Never ever ever ever did I think it would consume my life.
For years, I made music with my friends but I never gave the actual craft my all. I would hide behind my more talented and serious friends acting as an impresario of sorts. I recorded and put out records that we sold and made money from on the streets of New York. However, I never really believed even though I knew there was more to it than that.
During our foray into the music selling business, we made two major discoveries that became turning points in our business. We distinctly marked these as missions. We even went as far as to title our 3rd release The 3rd Message: 2nd Mission. Our first mission was when we realized how we presented the music directly affected how people perceived it. The second was that music never sells itself, people sell music. These two valuable insights helped us become quite successful in selling music, yet the music itself didn’t change much.
Essentially, our sales machine was so good, the music itself didn’t have to be. We used to discuss how we were selling music, not of its own merit but on salesmanship. That always bothered me because I felt like I was hustling rather than making art. Also, I knew it wasn’t sustainable. Eventually, I got disheartened and the operation fell apart. But at this point, I was too invested and needed to recoup. Failure is not an option. But first, I had to woodshed.
Realizing there was no music business without music, I made my way back to core principles. I dedicated myself to learning and understanding myself and the music I make.
Over the years, I would put out this new music online even though I still had misgivings about them. I did it as a way of learning and understanding the new music business. Because of this I never really promoted it. I would take them down, remake the music, and then put them back up again. I did this for years. But I was learning.
This week’s song Third Mission is a song about ownership of the self one discovers and total non-judgmental acceptance of that self. This process of discovering my personal “why” for making music has really transformed the music I make. For the first time in my life, I don’t feel like I’m hustling music but experiencing the liberty of making art. Art I feel worthy of sharing. I hope it adds value to you the listener on the path of self-discovery. I can tell you first hand, it’s not an easy road but it’s worth all the pain it comes with.
Enjoy!
Logan
