Ah yes, the joy of accomplishment. That moment when we hop on our two-wheeler and ride down the driveway yelling “Look ma, no hands” just before we crash into the Honda across the street. Suddenly, that moment turns into one of embarrassment.
We’ve all been there and have the T-shirts to prove it.
You’re probably wondering where I’m going with this one. Well, sit back, relax and I’m going to take you on a journey of success and failure. If you think you can have one without the other, you are sadly mistaken. The two go hand in hand in just about anything.
Music can be a cruel business. Of course if you’re not at all in it for the money and just want to have a good time writing, playing or whatever it is you do, then probably none of what’s going to come next is even going to matter to you. But if you want to someday get at least a little recognition for what you do, then you might find this article helpful.
I want to make something clear right from the start. I am coming from a viewpoint of very little success with my music. Notice I said “very little” and not “no success.” Believe me, it makes a difference.
When I first started composing in 1979, I didn’t do it with the idea that I was ever going to make money doing it. I did it to get over a girl. Yes, a girl. I was in this bowling league on Friday nights and this girl on my team was, well, she was my “dream” girl at the time. She was also gay. I knew I shouldn’t have allowed myself to get involved but I did and ended up with my heart carpeting the living room floor.
To escape the pain and heartache of losing my “dream girl” I started playing the piano in my living room (my mom was a concert pianist) and started making up these “songs.” Needless to say, they were dreadful. But they were good therapy. So I kept at it.
Eventually, I started to really get into it. I then imagined myself writing songs and even recording them. That’s when I went out and blew a few thousand bucks on keyboards, synthesizers and a 4 channel recorder.
I had my first home studio.
As the years went by, I got more and more stuff. My writing started to improve (which isn’t saying much) and I started to submit songs to publishers.
This was my first rude awakening.
Needless to say, the comments on my songs were not pretty. Most publishers were kind enough to simply respond “not what we’re looking for” but others were not so kind. They mostly tore my lyrics to shreds.
Eventually, I found one publisher who wanted to publish my song “And The Angels Sing.” In retrospect, this is probably the worst thing that ever happened to me. It was my “look ma, no hands moment” that ultimately had me crashing into that Honda.
See, this song contract made me think that I was a real songwriter. All those other publishers were wrong. I was great. Well, the song never got recorded and I never got another song contract again.
What happened?
In short, this song contract, which made me think I was a songwriter, also made me stop trying to improve myself. After all, I was a published songwriter. I didn’t need to get any better. I just had to find the right person to appreciate my talent.
Yeah, right. I kept crashing into that Honda without even knowing it.
Pride and ego can make you do some crazy things. One of those crazy things is thinking that you’re better than you are. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not the worst composer in the world. Even I know that much. In fact, I still scratch my head at some of the stuff that makes the radio these days. But I’ve learned over the years that there is always room for improvement.
That’s why I just recently enrolled in two online classes. One is an introduction to music production and the other is a course on songwriting. Now, I probably know most of this stuff, but even if I learn just one or two new techniques or tricks, it will have been time well spent. And if nothing else, it’s a good review.
I look at my life right now and it’s nothing like it was in 1979. I have a wonderful wife and daughter. I have my dream recording studio right in my own home. And for the first time in my life, I am starting to see some real success with my music. There was a time when I never thought any of this would happen.
As to the future, I have no idea what that holds in store for me. Nobody does. For all I know, it can all come crashing down around me. There are no guarantees in life. I learned that much a long time ago.
But I also learned this. If you keep working at things, no matter how futile it may seem at the time, eventually, you will see results. They may not be the kind of results you were hoping for, but they’ll be results just the same, even if it’s the confirmation that you probably should be doing something else with your life.
In the meantime, I take things one day at a time. I do what I need to do on a given day and then when the day is over, I put it behind me and move onto the next day. One foot in front of the other, day after day.
Otherwise, you ended up frustrated and discouraged. I mean can you imagine? 35 years of music writing and it wasn’t until this year that I started to see even a hint of success. You have to have an amazing amount of patience and persistence to last that long in this business.
If I can do it, you can do it.
For The Love Of Music,
Steven “Wags” Wagenheim