Contributing to the Arts and the World Around Us

I attended a workshop and lecture by Dr. Michael Bakan earlier this week where he talked about music, autism, and community. When he talked about his students in ARTISM, the story that stood out to me at first was during a rehearsal where he was trying to get a student to come play but she didn't want to. After talking to her mom, who attended classes with her, he realized that she didn't want to play. She was emotionally connecting to the music in a way that created a unique experience for her. Experience music in this way I have only known by performing it. But she insisted on not playing, so she would come to rehearsal and sit in the back and just soak in the music.

We all have a vital role in bringing music to life, composer, performer, and listener. Whether a songwriter writing pop chart hits, a composer writing a symphony or scoring a film, a hip-hop artist sampling other music to make something new, a drummer trying to create something out of nothing, or even just a passerby humming a tune. There are endless ways to make music. The creators of music are responsible for being true to the musings of the world around them, trying to express some range of human emotion or simply just reflecting their surroundings.

The performer has the task of bringing the ink on the page to life. Many times this is the same person that composed the tune, but in large orchestral settings or in studio songwriting sessions this is not the case. The performers are highly experienced in their craft, I have met many studio drummers that are great in the studio but are lacking in a live setting and vice versa. That is perfectly beautiful because we need musicians who can relate to a compositional idea and express it as the writer intended. They use various techniques to bring the appropriate textures to life. Performers breathe life into each piece they play.

The listener, in many ways has the most important role in the creation of music. Without someone to listen to and enjoy the music there would be less purpose for the creation of it. Listeners not only enjoy, or dislike both are important, music but in our current day and age they are patrons of the arts. They are the ones attending concerts, buying band merchandise, and supporting the further creation of more and hopefully better music.

I have maintained for a long time that we all have unique perceptions of life because no one can live the same life as another. No matter how similar, we all have influences that change our perception every moment of every day, whether we know it or not. Whatever your perception or path in life follow it and strive to be the best you can be. Even if you have no musical skill but enjoy listening, be a patron of the arts support in any way you can. I hope your weekend is filled with interesting, wonderful, and enjoyable music. I know mine will be as I continue work on a new record, new compositions, and just generally being creative. 

I never wanted to be a salesman.

Traditionally, salesmen are known as liars, deceptors, manipulators, and cheaters. All for the sole purpose of selling you something you probably don’t need. At an early age I saw that people disliked even hated salesmen. Who can blame them?

In this day and age we are forced to survive, to do anything necessary to put food on the table in the hopes to pursue some level of happiness or this “American dream” people talk so fondly of. Most do what they feel they have to, some do what they’re told to, but a few of us work hard and struggle through thicker forests to pursue a passion that is less of a choice and more of a necessity to find happiness. The job, whatever it may be, is simply a means to get to the real work.

I’ve worked many jobs, most of which did not require me to sell anything or at least not direct sales. Along the way I’ve learned many aspects to being a good salesman. In good business it’s important to have all of your employees really buy into your company. The more your workers feel good about their positions the more likely they are to sell your product with little assistance from cold call selling.

Currently I work at the Rhythm Discovery Center (R!DC) in Indianapolis, IN owned and operated by the Percussive Arts Society. To be honest, when I first accepted this internship I didn’t think I would be selling much. Tickets at the ticket counter and merchandise in the gift shop but not pushing people to buy things they don’t want. The best part about a company with a great product is that it tends to sell itself. Selling memberships, gift shop items, and tickets at the front desk is easy as pie because we have a great product here. Drums and percussion is something that everyone likes on some level harking back to a time when our primal selves wandered the earth. Most kids, of all ages, come out smiling from ear to ear and want to come back and are inspired to know more about our business. I find myself talking to people and selling the product of R!DC without even realizing it.

As a musician my job is no longer to just be creative and make the best music I can. My job is wrapped up in marketing, audio/video editing, promotion, networking, design, etc. with as much creativity as I can squeeze in. At the heart and soul of my music career I have to be a salesman, not necessarily to sell something people don’t want, but to convince people that I’m worth the risk they’re taking by spending $5 on a record. I noticed recently that the salesman tactics I use in my day-to-day work and career have begun to seep into my personal life and it’s ruining everything I work for.

The pendulum of life has started to swing toward happiness again. For there to be happiness we first have to wade through the trenches of the past and learn to forgive or at least purge the negativity to make room for enjoyment. Absolution is on the horizon, keeping the ship afloat just long enough to see the sunrise to see the sandy beach on which we can rebuild. May the salesman in all of us take a break, at least for a little while and remember that we are here to make magic.