After a band or a solo musician wins a huge competition like, “Battle of the Bands” or some other contest, it really bothers me, that after their huge win, they continuously act like it’s the biggest thing that ever happened in their life & career. I mean, really? I don’t mean to disrespect bands and not trying to, just being a little honest and expressing my opinion. I have every right to, as well. I’m also sure, many of you out there would actually agree with me on this one.

After a band wins a huge competition or contest, they’ll go on and on and on about it. Talking about it non stop in interviews and with other people. Congratulations on your win, but that doesn’t mean you’re the biggest band in the world. Sure, winning a battle of the bands or some other competition will definitely help give you a little more exposure, but don’t expect that will help give your band a break through in the music industry. You still have a long ways to go and tons more work to do before thinking about trying to make it in the music business.

When I get my own band going, someday, I’m not going to have anything to do with this stuff. I’m never going to have anything to do with Battle of the Bands or any of the stupid competitions on the radio or whatever. I will also not have anything to do with pay to play schemes.

To me, winning these competitions would mean very “little” to me. I might be a little excited, but I’m not going to be all over it like a person winning the lottery. The only thing that would matter to me the most, is playing the music for the people. That’s more rewarding than anything else. All these silly awards and competitions,  it’s not the Grammy’s or American Idol, folks. They need to get over themselves, no offense. It makes them a bit egotistical, the more they go on about this stuff.

This post isn’t aimed at any band in particular, I’m just expressing my feelings on this stuff. I wish some bands would quit being an opportunist and focus on the music. Bands do what they want to do, sure, but they must do things carefully and responsibly, so they don’t get screwed in their career, sometime down the road.

Kev

Loren Weisman wrote up another great blog, about the confusion of “tours” vs. “regular gigs”.

Read the post, here.

Once again, I totally agree! I too have seen plenty of bands who work regular day jobs and only play a couple of shows on the weekends in their hometown, they all call it a “tour”!!! It’s not!

A tour is when you travel many miles away from home, playing gigs across the states or even other countries! That’s called a, “tour”.

Just more evidence that other bands, can be “delusional” too.

Kev

One thing some folks out there like to call me is a delusional musician. I seemed to be getting called that a lot, but I learn to ignore it and laugh it off.

Definition of delusional, here:

When I first started performing live on stage in the past, I used to be scared as hell when I get on stage to perform. I used to get nervous, and shake a little bit. Messing up my singing and guitar playing a lot too. I notice a lot of musicians and bands STILL have stage fright. Even some of the most successful and well known musicians can still have it too. They stand on stage looking like a zombie. While playing their instrument, they would either stare at the floor or stare at the instrument, or worse, a lot of singers would sing with their eyes closed a lot. I see this all the time that singers, sing with their eyes closed. I don’t know why they do it, but I always believed it is very important to have eye contact with the crowd.

If you seen my live photos and videos over the years (or even seen me live at a show), you would know, I have full confidence performing on stage. I believe, confidence is key to playing a great show and drawing a crowd.

Ways to overcome stage fright, before booking an actual gig, play as many open mics as possible. Playing open mics at bars or cafes or where ever, will definitely help you get used to performing in front of large crowds. When rehearsing at home alone, pretend you’re performing in front of an actual audience. Picture yourself playing in front a lot of people even if there’s no one in the room or even  practice playing in front of a mirror. That stuff helps too.

When you have full confidence being on stage, you’ll be able to put on a much better and more exciting show. Remember, eye contact at the crowd, all the way through the performance. Smile often. Look like you’re having fun and enjoying yourself. Move around on stage, dance a little, do a little head banging, or whatever. When you want to give the crowd a blast of a good time, you want to look like you’re having a blast too.

I can’t wait when I get my own band going. When I do get a band and start playing full band gigs, you can very well believe, I’m not gonna stand there. I’m going to move around like a fucking rock star. Trust me on that.

Kev