TheShade: Stop letting people kill your passion for supporting the arts!

Have you ever had that feeling people are talking s&%t about you and all the hard work you do behind your back?

Like no matter what achievement you make towards a common goal, or how hard you project your energies in a manner that helps out people for a greater good, someone is out there to bring you back down a few pegs.

But why!?

If you are doing something that is going to benefit people and not cause problems for others in the process, surely it’s a good thing right?!?

Well, Apparently not…

There has been a long history of Tall Poppy Syndrome in Australia… It is something we do extremely well and ultimately, it is absolutely nothing to be proud of in any sense. But allow me to shed some clarity on what I am rambling about here…

I have worked in the music industry for over a decade as a touring artist, session player, audio engineer, producer and music teacher. I have taken a lot of pride in the work that I do and when I first moved back to the town I live in; I was met with a lot of positive people in the local industry that helped and supported my dreams, even if I had no idea what they were at the time.

Through networking and hard work, I managed to land myself on some pretty big stages playing amongst some international heavyweights and considered this quite an accomplishment given my only goal was to write music and sing it to anyone who would hang around long enough to listen to it. I could have done that at a pub! But trust me, I’m not complaining!

I have since left my daytime job and steered my efforts full-time into helping a team of passionate people grow a platform built for musicians that gives them the opportunity to further reach out from their local area to a national network of artists through means of press coverage, radio play, chart placement and much more BUT… In my local town, I have been met with a fine mixture of negativity from what we are going to call “The Old Guard”.

Somehow, people who are considered artists of “stature” within the local scene have got it ingrained in their heads that because half the team aren’t musicians, the efforts and achievements we make don’t count…

Now I have heard stories of these people spraying negativity about other local music businesses because of their inability to play an instrument but for some reason, these people forget that passion is the reason the majority of us are doing this…

Passion is what drives the local music shop owner to open his/her door every morning to help aspiring artists develop their craft.

Passion is what drives the Radio DJ’s and Music/Promotion Managers to wake up at 4 am to sit in an office and play music day after day building artists’ footprint on a national stage. A lot of these people can’t even tap in time to the tunes they are playing!

Passion is what drives the roadies that don’t play an instrument to lug the heavy cases of audio and lighting gear around sh#tty places in 45-degree heat just to see an artist tear up the stage to the people that are passionate about a good time watching their favorites!

There are promoters out there that can’t play an instrument that will book you time and time again because they are passionate about the live music industry. These are the same people that pay your f&%king bills!

FFS, I know producers that have platinum records on their walls that can’t play an instrument! These people are some of the most respected people in the Australian music industry!

This list goes on and on, but one thing stands out…

It’s not about the ability to play an instrument or sing a note… It definitely isn’t about how many gigs you have played or even how long you have been in the “professional industry”…

It’s about Passion…

Passion for the music. Passion for the people involved. Passion to take the flag for all musicians and wave it as hard as you can in the face of those who want to do nothing but destroy the arts industry.

These people are the same people that grew up listening to music, buying CDs, sharing mix tapes of their favorite bands and have now dedicated their lives to help artists achieve THEIR goals!

If you are one to boast about how you are a muso and use it in a way that points you out as someone better than anyone else having a go…. You are cancer to the industry. You are everything that is a problem in this wide world of music and should hang your head in shame for trying to destroy the fire in people trying to do good things for all artists around them!

So be passionate about what you enjoy. Do what you believe in and do it to the best of your abilities. No-one should make you feel s&%t for doing something you believe in and don’t let it!!!

Especially if what you believe in, helps other people in the process.

Shade out