Making Your Passion Your Profession

I was digging through some of my del.i.cio.us links and found this great article. In it is a 4 step process on how to harness your passion and turn it into a profession.

The Four-Step Process

* The dream develops a passion.
* The passion develops a plan.
* The plan determines the action.
* The action helps us to dream better.

I'd like to add a step. The first step is to have a dream. Sometimes this is the hardest thing for people. I know for me, the difficult thing is being able to scale down my dreams into something tangible that I can start working on immediately (without 1 million).

Unconsciously, I've been following this process with my music. The dream: To make a living doing what I love; Music. The passion: Giving life to the sounds and emotions inside me. The plan: Produce something tangible for others to experience.

I'm still working on 'The Plan', and hope to be in 'Action' soon.

Word of Mouth

Presumably, it's the gold mine of marketing. It's something I've thought about a lot over the past year working for a company that specializes in creating 'fans' for their clients.

It's an interesting topic for musicians as well. How do you get people so excited about your music that they not only become a fan, but they are willing to go to bat for you. Willing to go out of their way to spread the word about you and your music.

I believe unique experiences play a big part in this. John Moore threw up a cool quote on his blog from Hugh MacLeod.

"Word of mouth is not created, it is co-created. People will only spread your virus if there's something in it for them."

True, we're all looking for 'what's in it for us', but I think even more powerful is the idea of relationships, the co-creating. How can I involve my fans in the process? Let them be a part of the experience? Give them the tools to let them create the experiences that touch their friends?

I've been thinking through this as I look to choose one of my songs as the single. Once the record is complete, I'd love to get feedback from people, as to which song they love the most. Which one moved them enough to share with others?

Being a Smart Artist

There are a lot of amazing musicians and recording artists in the world. A lot of them are even better than some of the recording artists you hear everyday on the radio. So. In my mind, making it in the music industry goes much further than just being a good musician. Sure, connection help. Really help. But there are some practical things we can all do to help move our music careers along.

James Lee Stanley makes a great point in this article. His basic point. Have a plan. For a lot of musicians, it's easy to write, sing, and play. But when it comes to thinking business, having a plan, and thinking strategically, well. That's hard.

My thought, is to surround yourself with the type of people that will help you fill the weakness in your life.

The one thing that made the recording go so well last week was the fact that I surrounded myself with people who are more talented than myself. And that can only make me better.

The same goes for thinking about your music as a career. Thinking through the business side of the music industry.

Take the time to think. Make a plan.

Day 7 - More Vocals

This morning we have been working on the vocal parts to 'Hold Me Tighter'. It's one of my favorite songs and is a good song to start the day on.

As the recording gets closer to the end, I'm realizing the amoung of energy and time we have put into this has been amazing. I am totally exhaused.

Here's some more pics for you to look at.

Day 6 - Pics

Here's some more pics to entertain you with:

Day 6 - Vocals

Today we finished laying down vocals for 2 songs. It's amazing to keep seeing how these songs are taking shape the more layers we add to them.

One song, 'Last Chance', keeps getting cooler the more we add to it. Today while tracking, a whole new melodic ending came out of me while I was singing. And to that, some really powerful lyrics that add a new sense of passion to the song. I love seeing those things happen as a part of recording.

The lyrics: "Hurt won't break us, Love will make us, And this pain won't tear us a part."

In context with the song, they are really powerful. The song is 'Last Chance'. Here are the lyrics to he song:

How does life look now
After years of beating down
This is my last chance to make it right.

After all is said
And done, will love forget
The hurt that drove our past deep inside.

Burned cold heart
Please bleed warm
Let me feel emotion.

Burned cold heart
Please bleed warm
Don't let me miss this moment.

Time will heal most pain,
but when things just stay the same
Covered up to come back and break us down

When anger takes control
Certain words just bruise the soul
And damage all the love we'd stored inside

Burned cold heart
Please bleed warm
Let me feel emotion

Burned cold heart
Please bleeed warm
Don't let me miss this moment.

We Need an Intern!

After 6 days of recording, it is becoming clear that an intern is an essential part of the recording process.

I'm hungry!

Day 5 - Overdubs

Today has been filled with trying to find those perfect guitar parts. This part of recording has been really fun for me. One of the things I like most about songwriting is finding the melodies that really grab me, and I'm finding the same is true for a lot of the guitar parts I like. Finding the melodies that really add to the depth of the song.

Anyway, here's some pics from today.

Day 4 - Bill Champlin's Studio

We had an awesome opportunity to record at Bill Champlin's, of Chicago, studio today. They had the piano I needed for a few songs. One song, 'Keep Moving Forward', is going to be just piano, vocals, and possibly cello.

Here's some pics from the studio.

Day 4 - Pics

To see some pics of the day, go here.