Optimistic.

I was watching a podcast with a famous drummer. Let’s call him Bob. Bob is one of those players that are a living legend among musicians. He has performed on stage or in the studio with the best and most famous. He has been at the very top of the drumming art since the 80’s. He is an old man now. You can see it on his face, but also in the way he talks. That’s a problem. Not for me. For him.

Bob was reminiscing about the good old days and pitting that against our time. He was bitter. He didn’t understand the need for new comers to do a session and then talk extensively about it on social media. Bob saw it as something very vain. Necessary maybe, but vain. He thought that if one wasn’t constantly online promoting oneself, he/she will be without a job. He qualified the process as weird and a waste of time. He compared it to his young days, an era when you came to a session, did the job, got paid and then got out. No need to comment on it, no need for a camera. The work was speaking for itself. If you killed it, you will probably get another session, if not, you were back to practicing.

Bob thought the only way to survive in the music business nowadays was to use the digital world in one form or another. I don’t agree with that statement, by the way. I know plenty of professional musicians that are making an honest living and do not promote themselves online. The act of playing the drums or the piano is an analogue one. Same as the act of forming a band and playing together (If you wan to know how to do it, I teach those very concepts to wannabe pros).

Meanwhile, to come back to Bob, I was feeling for him. This legendary player, this hero of mine is someone I’ve always looked up to. Now it seemed like life had gone sour on him. That’s too bad because I know that you need to keep a lot of hope in your heart to be able to survive in the musician’s world. I have been a professional for close to 37 years. I intend to keep going for as long as I can. But I don’t entertain bitter feelings and weird thoughts about the present state of our world. I live in it and accept it for what it is, not what it should be. Do I think that one day I will have to stop doing my job? Yes, I do. That’ll be day when my body gives up. Not my mind. I’ve always been positive and looking forward to the future. That’s the way I’m built. I’m an optimistic kind of guy.