Earlier today I blogged about how this is a great time to be an artist, especially if you do it part time, because technology is so great. But there’s a flip side to doing anything creative part time – nobody understands what it means unless they also create.
You’re on vacation – you have a week or two weeks off. You’re fired up because it means you’re going to have some free time to work on those lyrics you want to write, or that song you want to work on. Then some family member or relative does something to piss you off, and there goes your good mood. And your motivation to make art along with it.
Nobody cares that they just screwed up your plans. Nobody understands that you need to be in the right frame of mind to compose music. They think it’s like woodworking – they think it’s like jogging. They think if you’re stressed, doing “your music” will be a good “release” for you. If you don’t feel like “doing your hobby,” oh well. Sometimes they don’t feel like doing their hobby, either.
They don’t have a goddamn clue.
In the best of circumstances, writing songs can still be difficult.
I think this might be a big reason why rock stars struggle in their marriages so often. And they are hopefully with people who should understand how important it is that no one screws up their creative time. It’s their JOB.
Look at the most successful NFL player of all time, Tom Brady. During football season, you think he’s wasting time arguing with his mother in law about where the kids are going to college? Hell no. Nobody gets access to him. He’s only worried about football. He’s literally all in. Some songwriters are that way, too. No distractions. You have to focus.
I believe very strongly in not bringing up problems unless I can also bring up solutions, so here’s my fix for this: go away off by yourself somewhere. Take your guitar or keyboard or laptop and take a Saturday and just go. Doesn’t matter where. I used to write lyrics in the coffee shop at the bookstore. I was surrounded by noise and it acted like white noise for me – I didn’t hear it. It was wonderful.
My dream is to take a week off from work, rent some Airbnb place with a pool, stock the fridge with whatever I want, and just spend 5 or 6 days there all alone, and write and record music. Just me. Turn off my phone – any emergencies, oh well. No Facebook, no email. Just disappear for a week and see what kind of music I can come up with.
But if I can’t do that, a smaller scale version would be to book a hotel room for a night. Check in as early as I can, maybe 2 pm, and sit in the room and write, then go to the pool and swim and write, and go out to dinner by myself and go back to the room and write. Get up in the morning, get a nice breakfast. Then go home.
If none of that is possible, then it might be effective to book time in my own home studio and tell the family “Look, from 7 pm to 10 pm tonight I’m going to really concentrate on my music, and I don’t want to be disturbed.” That’s not too much to ask. And if it is, you need to have a long talk with your family.
If you write songs and you feel the same way I do, at least know that you’re not alone. You’re feeling some things that most songwriters also feel. Maybe even the pros, sometimes. If it gets to be too much, think outside the box. Nobody should have to be a slave to their life 24/7. If you’re not giving yourself an hour or two a day (more if possible,) then you’re likely not taking care of YOU enough.
