Three Things That Make Great Bands Great, That You Could Learn From

I have been reading a lot of music biographies lately. Musicians fascinate me. I am enamored by music and in awe of talented performers. I am finding a lot of commonality among exceptional musicians (and creators in general).

1. It takes a lot of practice and focus to be exceptional at something.

While I am not a Beatles fan. They are arguably one of the most influential bands of all time. They weren’t always so great. In fact, they spent thousands of hours playing in horrible venues for little or no pay in Germany on several tours. No one would give them a record deal. Essentially tireless hours were spent honing their craft in Hamburg during 1960 and 1961. Before coming an “overnight” success in 1963.

2. Sometimes being scared shitless opens us up for our best performance.

Kurt Cobain of Nirvana had changed music of his generation leading up to his performance on MTV’s Unplugged in 1993. Kurt strung out and afraid of playing an acoustical set, refused to take the stage, but director Beth McCarthy wouldn’t stand for it. Kurt took the stage and made history absolutely crushing the set. In fact, the entire thing was done in a single take.  He wouldn’t return for an encore because he was still too nervous about not being able to perform his best.

3. Professionals don’t make excuses. They motivate each other to just kick ass.

Bill Ward of Black Sabbath when asked what was his proudest moment of being in Black Sabbath stated that he was most proud of them kicking ass when it was least expected. Citing that often after months on the road, being tired, hungry missing home and quite ill sometimes, they always kicked it into high gear and performed when they needed to. When they didn’t want to play, they forced each other to take the stage and kick ass.

Bonus:

Nearly every success story I see in the music industry is laden with an enormous amount of sacrifice by the musician. Leaving family and comfort behind to give nearly everything up for their dream. What are you giving up today? How are you making yourself uncomfortable?  How focused are you on your goals?