I enjoy the process of figuring it out. I like the micro-losing. I expect the adversity.
I think in life, I figured out pretty early that if you're going to win, you have to fight. When I was little, you didn't think you were going to be rich and famous; you thought that would be something really impossible and hard to fight for, and I think we've lost that. Somewhere along the line over the last 20 years, we lost this concept that you have to fight to win. There's been this entitlement that it should come easy—this weird concept that incredible wealth, happiness, joy, and ease isn't something you massively fight for.
I'm never discouraged, because life is hard—and that's okay. I actually believe there's beauty and enjoyment in the fight and the figuring out.
What I would tell an artist starting from zero today:
• Release consistently, even when it feels like nobody is listening 📝
• Treat content as part of the art, not an afterthought 🎧
• Build real relationships with labels, promoters and other artists 🙏
• Give it more than a few months/years
The artists winning right now are the ones still standing 3+ years in ❤️
I don't think people stack gratitude enough.
It's like a video game. If the bar is full and you get punched, you're still alive and keep going. And I think people don't get their "bar" full by being appreciative of the day.... and then when they get hit, they don't have anything there.
It's real.. if you got a lot of good coming, you need to stack that, so that when bad comes... something anxious, something adverse happens, you've got the juice to fight it.
The music biz discourse on here is so exhausting. It’s either people with no experience yapping or people with experience who are just dumb as rocks and lack any sort of critical thinking skills.
I really believe in analog. I'm a big believer in the size and scale that we're going into sporting events, alternative sporting events, festivals, music, food, collectibles... One of the reasons I'm very bullish on collectibles is like people going to conventions. And I just think we're going to live outside even more than people realize.