Be a Pro not a Schmo!

Recently, a good friend of mine sent me a message on facebook. My friend is an established musician. She has travelled the world playing Top 40 music and she has also just released some of her own original music. Her message to me outlined her utter disbelief at the lack of professionalism displayed by a lot of musicians out there. She asked me if I could write an article about her experience. So here it is.

The Case of the Misbegotten Schmo:

To give you some background on the subject matter. Her complaint was centered upon musicians general lack of organization, laziness, and apparent inability to put all of their promotional material into one easy-to-access place.
She gave me some examples of some replies she had received from various musicians.
Below are two replies she received from two applications for an ad she placed looking for 'Pro' musicians to work with her.

"The agent already has my passport copy"
"I think my last band put up some video on YouTube"

You may be thinking to yourself 'hmmm that seems ok' and you would be wrong.
Lets get something straight: A Pro musician would not send in an application with that content.

The Schmos approach...

Let's discuss the two comments that my friend received:

1. "The agent already has my passport copy"

That is not going to win you any friends and worse- any contracts. If a potential employer asks you for that information you need to give it. This reminds of school when someone who hadn't done their homework would exclaim "my dog ate it". This answer means that you can't really be bothered providing your potential employer with the necessary info and you are just giving them another job to do, or you don't have it, or some other equally horrible and lame excuse. A candidate that has provided them with all of the info that they ask for without sending them off to find it from someone else is going to look a lot more attractive to them.

N.B Be wary of scammers who are trying to steal your identity. It does happen all of the time, so make sure you trust the person that is asking for sensitive and private information such as a copy of your passport.

    2. "I think my last band put up some video on YouTube"

Hmm, this reeks of poor organizational skills and a lack of care and consideration towards the profession which you purportedly take so seriously. To make matters worse this person didn't even supply a link. Mind you I suppose you can't supply a link to something that you're not sure exists or not!
This is really shocking. A patient agent or employer may reply to you and ask for a link, but in reality they probably wouldn't bother unless they were really desperate. As a real life example, I recently contacted several suppliers in Indonesia to supply me with some products for an import/export business. To cut a long story short the supplier that I hired wasn't the cheapest, it was the supplier that replied to me in a timely manner, was able to supply me with the necessary information I required, and was willing to help me get whatever I needed to get the job done.


The Pros approach...

Before I continue let's just have a look at my definition of a 'Pro' musician.

A Pro musician is defined by two things:

1. Decent technique and performance ability
2. An ability for conscientious, advanced planning that is well-organized, focused, and executed in accordance with deadlines.

Musicians that have all of this sorted out (especially the second bullet point) are constantly in work and are usually always being offered work and contracts because employers, agents, and venues know that they are on top of their game in most or all aspects of their profession. In short- they take care of business.

A Pros' answer to my friends' advertisement would resemble this:

1. I have uploaded a copy of my passport to my Skydrive account. It is up-to-date, has one year validity remaining, and plenty of spare pages. You will receive an email notification allowing you to view the shared file.
2. I have several links to my promotional videos. Here is the link to my website, where you will also find my repertoire, promotional photos etc etc. Here are some links to the same videos on Youtube. The video is recent and was filmed at etc etc

Transform from Schmo to Pro...

1. Decent technique and performance ability
2. An ability for conscientious, advanced planning that is well-organized, focused, and executed in accordance with deadlines.

If you are lacking in one these areas then you need to take stock of where your weakness lies and turn it into a strength or at least raise it so that is on a par with your strongest trait.

I know so many musicians that have incredible technique and ability. Unfortunately, I also know a lot of musicians that are terribly disorganized and have no idea where any photos are of themselves, and or videos of themselves, a written-down repertoire, references or anything of that nature. Great people, but they are often scrambling around doing a million and one other things instead of just taking care of the basics.

In itself there is really no problem with that if you are working steadily. However, if you are trying to break into this scene or land a job with a touring band or a solo contract or whatever you will need to ensure that your promotional material is in order.

Some tips to aid your transformation:

• Assemble all of your promo material in one online place
• Do not expect agents or managers or employers to run around searching for your stuff
• Try to be helpful and considerate of other people's time
• Keep your promotional material up-to-date
• Do not assume anything

I have all of my relevant promotional material in two online places. The first is a dedicated website and the second is in my Hotmail Skydrive. A website is great as it is a one-stop-shop that contains almost all of the information that someone may need. Skydrive is great as you can upload one-off documents that are of a more private nature and unsuitable for your website(such as contracts and passport copies) and share them with the necessary people when you need to.

Summary:

An application is not just words online, or pictures and video links. It is an indication of how 'together' you are and it relates your abilities on and off stage to employers. Think about brilliant sales assistants that have helped you in a store. They knew exactly where the product you wanted was, they could tell you the price, the day it came to the shop, the available colors, discounts, they were pleasant, and bending over backwards to help you out. That is what you should emulate- after all we're all selling something... 

The Ten Questions

The life of a full-time touring musician is rather unique amongst occupations in this world. It can be an extremely rewarding job full of variety and surprises. On the other hand, it can be quite a lonely and treacherous path to travel too. During my time on the road I have experienced amazing highs and lows, euphoria and fatalism, trials and tribulations. At various times I have loved and loathed my work. I guess in some respects we all have, irrespective of our chosen vocation.

I have made a list of ten questions which I believe will help you to determine whether or not you think you can do this job for the long-term. If you answer most of these questions with a 'yes' then you are a likely candidate for this job.

These ten questions are by no means exhaustive regarding this subject, yet I have found in my years of playing, performing, and traveling with people that it was a failure to answer some of the questions below with a 'yes' that lead them to becoming discontent with touring and subsequently leaving after a short-period of time.
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The Ten Questions

1. Am I a team player that can commit and align my goals with others?
2. Can I both live AND work together with a group of people for months at a time?
3. Can I handle playing covers of other people's music night after night?
4. Can I handle playing music I don't like night after night?
5. Do I have a partner and/ or children and if so can I handle being apart from them for extended periods of time?

If you have answered 'no' to any of the above then maybe this lifestyle is not for you. However, continue reading anyway. Here are the last five:

1. Can I live out of a suitcase for months on end?
2. Do I love traveling and living in strange places?
3. Am I comfortable living in a country where I don't speak the National language?
4. Do I have the necessary self-discipline to work steadily and without supervision?
5. Can I leave behind a career, musical or otherwise that is just starting to blossom?

If you have answered 'yes' to all of the questions then there is every chance that you are a perfect candidate for the life of a Top 40 touring musician.

If for any reason you have answered 'no' then you may have to reassess your priorities and ask yourself why you answered 'no' to any particular question.

Don't get me wrong. Everyone's circumstances, needs and desires change as time passes. You may find that after a period of time that you find that you can't bear to be away from your kids or that you are tired of playing covers so you leave. The questions are however formulated for those of you that are contemplating embarking on this type of career. It reminds of a very famous saying 

"prevention is better than the cure"

A friendly chat...

I am not going to expound and elucidate any further in this article as I think it takes time to fully self-explore and analyse your answers to the questions. Take your time when answering these questions and be honest with yourself.

The life of a touring musician comes with consequences and its own set of rare and trade-specific challenges. Sit down with your loved ones and friends, and other musicians or people that you know that travel as part of their job and chat with them. Tell them about the questions and ask them to give you their opinions and real-world experiences and their thoughts about how they think you would or could cope with life out on the road.

Halloween night, Rockbottom Cafe, Abu Dhabi

Peace out everyone!

Right actions = Right people

 I am going to discuss what I believe to be the single most important action that I took to journey from a semi-professional musician to an international, full-time, touring musician.

 In brief, I advertised myself on a website in New Zealand. There was a section for musicians available, and a sub-section for guitarists.
I posted a brief description of my qualifications, experience and work ethic, and a picture.

 I had essentially kind of forgotten about my ad when out of the blue I received a phone call from a New Zealander who was living in Shanghai, China. He was leading a seven piece band. All of the members were from New Zealand and he had to find a new guitarist because their guitarist was leaving. He only wanted to work with other New Zealanders so he was constantly perusing New Zealand websites. During one of his perusals he found my ad and called me immediately.

The website that started it all!

 We talked for about thirty minutes during which time he explained the lifestyle and work requirements. I could scarcely believe that a life like that existed. Don't get me wrong, I was an experienced musician with a publication about my accomplishments in one of the UK's most prestigious classical music magazines, I had done National tours, given numerous recitals, played in more bands than I can remember, yet, despite all of that experience, I had no idea that there was a scene for musicians to travel around the world, live in hotels, perform, and earn a pretty good wage at the same time.

Details of my nationwide concert 2005

Why did I not know this type of job existed? I have often asked myself that question and I believe that the answer is quite simple.

Incorrect actions = Incorrect outcomes!

Consider my situation:

• I was an ignoramus
• I was an ignoramus from a small village (>200pax), in a small country, with a small population (New Zealand)
• I played classical music which meant that I was primarily exposed to classical musicians and music lovers, which meant almost zero contact and exposure to the Top 40 scene.
• I didn't really understand promotion and how to market myself effectively
• I knew no one that toured internationally for a living

Given the above its quite a miracle that I made it out of that scene at all. However, during the course of the next few days we talked frequently and developed a good relationship and a few weeks later I was flying to Dubai to begin my first job as a full-time professional musician and I haven't looked back since.

To summarize, you have to gain exposure somehow. It was many years ago when I did this and the social networks that are now in place did not exist then.

In my next post I will give you some tips on how to promote yourself efficiently and effectively to break free from the tyranny and oppression of a day job.

Halloween Night, Rockbottom Cafe, Abu Dhabi, 2011