BAND PRIMER

MAY 2009

BELIEF

-Hi everyone! My name is Wayne W. Johnson (WWJ) & here’s my 1st column for F.C.E.M.! A quick thanks to Scruffy (Mike) for letting me do this.

-So what’s this going to be about? Basically, I’ll be writing about things that will hopefully help those who are looking to start bands and/or those who want to get their bands moving forward. I’ve been doing this for many years-going thru quite a lot of experiences and I hope that by sharing them with you, I can help you move forward in what you want to do-or at least avoid some of the pitfalls & sharks that are out there. Although geared more towards beginners, pros might get something out of this as well-even if it’s a laugh at my expense 🙂

-So let’s get started. There are many things that I feel you have to have if you want to be a musician.There are some things that I feel one needs to have in their “foundation” so to speak. If you don’t have a good foundation, whatever you try to build upon will eventually collapse. One of the cornerstones of your foundation, IMHO, is to believe in yourself.

-If you go to the WWJ My Space page (link below), you’ll see next to my pic a quote that I created. It says “Believe in Yourself…Sometimes it’s all you’ll have…” It’s not as easy as it may sound. To believe in yourself means to sometimes go down paths that are not popular. It’s easy to believe in yourself when things are going good and friends & family are all behind you & supporting you. But when things aren’t going so well…when people close to you are suggesting that you quit music and/or change what you do, it’s not so easy…

-Believing in yourself means, 1st & foremost, that you believe that you can do the thing(s) that you want to do. And I don’t mean just saying it. You have to really feel it deep down to your core-because this is one of the main things that will help you during the tough times-and there will always be tough times. There will be times when no one believes in what you’re doing-when it seems that you’re only surrounded by naysayers. You can quickly get in an emotional rut from this, but believing in yourself can help you push through all that.

-However, believing in yourself is not a “be all,end all”. Just because you totally believe in yourself doesn’t mean that you will automatically get what you desire. It’s not that easy. You still need to come up with a plan, take action, and make adjustments along the way. You still need to do the work. It will, however, help fuel your desire/resolve and help you conquer through many obstacles in your path.

-My suggestion is to 1st be very clear about what you want to do, make a plan (at least guidelines), and then take action. Each success you achieve will build your belief in yourself. Surround yourself w/ people that support you and/or can take you further along your path. Constructive criticism is OK, but stay away from those who only offer destructive criticism. See what other people ahead of you are doing and model what they do.Constantly draw from the well of your inspirations. Let me say though, that even with all that, you may still fall short of what you wish to do-you may still fail. But without it, you will definitely fail.If you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect anyone else to believe in you? Not having that deep belief in yourself & what you’re doing is just one of the many pitfalls that cause so many bands to break-up.

-I hope you enjoyed this little article and I wish you all the best. Keep rockin & I’ll see you next month!

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