Your stories please!?!

[Mark Kaufman]

Whoa--deal's off. Unless you throw in a gig bag.

[silvercord]

um..heh this is a weird one..but its the truth...i was mocked when i told my peers in the music university...(but oh well: ) i started recording (well of course because i have always loved music)but i had a very...surreal experience(lets leave it at that because i still dint want to be made fun of;)..i had a problem with my heart as a teenager..hmm calleda ventricular decept(sp?)and i remember just laying on the bed half awake..half asleepand fully in pain...and that weird surreal experience happened....it was quite...beautifulso i have always wanted to recreate that experience throughmusic....some of the stuff i write is not related to that experiencebut i think you all would know which songs were if you heard i dont ever think i will come close to making music that cancompletely emulate that experience...but i think thats whatart is all about...reaching for that unspeakable beauty

[timbehrens]

I started playing piano in middle school, saxophone in high school and college... I loved classical music, but hated being told there was only one right way to play things. My teachers just about had me in tears at points. I had one tell me I clearly didn't want 'it' bad enough, because I just wasn't playing something right. At that point, I took up guitar and writing my own music and have been doing that for the last seventeen years. It was a total rebellion, but has evolved into my personal therapy, my passion, my daily pursuit, and sometimes my greatest struggle. I've always been a bit of a quiet, shy type... and music has been the one form of expression that I felt comfortable with in a crowd. I minored in creative writing in college and I think it was around that point that I started mixing poetry with guitar and playing at being a songwriter. I'm sure we could all write a book on our musical journeys, but it's what has happened to me only recently that I really want to share. Most of my life, I've found myself moving from one situation to the next because of happenstance.... especially when it came to jobs. I'm 33 and recently found that my mindframe has abruptly shifted and I'm no longer okay with working jobs that just pay the bills. If there is such a thing as angels, it's almost as if they've grown impatient in letting me figure things out and are actively kicking me to make a change now. I'm in IT, and I'm not fulfilling any grand life purpose by fixing computers on a daily basis. It's not a bad job, by any means, but there is this part of me that is screaming out to pursue the things that have meaning for me and, in every chapter of my life, I have always come back to music, to the creative process in general.I'll bet some people can relate to this experience... it's like I've gotten some kind of bug and a drive to define myself instead of letting the world define me any more... and some times the desire is so strong that it's almost painful. My big question now is, how do you juggle a day job, a passion for music, all the technical hurdles that come with pursuing that, maintaining a social life, and keeping it all sane at the same time?Lots of good thoughts on this board. I've got a long, long ways to go, but I'm pretty certain there are some good people here who can help along the way.

[Mark Kaufman]

Quote: My big question now is, how do you juggle a day job, a passion for music, all the technical hurdles that come with pursuing that, maintaining a social life, and keeping it all sane at the same time?From what I can gather, it apparently has something to do with sleep deprivation...

[linziellen]

...I think this causes for a cuppa and some T.O this afternoon! Thank you for all your stories, can't wait to read...Lindsey

[telaak]

@ 26 I remember sitting on my couch watching an xtc documentary and being inspired..i've always been a big music fan and @ the time I was making most of my living as a dj..right then & there I decided to buy a guitar and start writing songs.I woke up the next day and did just that..never looking back..18 years later i'm still at it on a daily basis..best thing I ever did I've always been a bit of a risk taker, but music nudged me to do things I would've never done without its influence..if you told me back in high school that I would eventually write deeply personal songs and send them out for local, national & international review, post them where they could be heard worldwide, get them played on radio (mostly college) and even more daunting..get up on stage and play them..I would've told you to put the bong down..especially after living in a house where I actually got in trouble for listening to the radio..my father was deeply religous, ya know..devils music & all..anyway..songwriting actually showed me who I am..I was more than a little confused up til then..I may never make any $ from my music..but that's not really important anymore..I do this because I have to..it's what drives me..everytime I get a compliment about one of my songs..that's as good as a blank check to me..I've always felt that the "feeling" you get from that song that rocks your world is priceless anyway..being able to give that feeling to another is what I strive for..sure..getting paid would be cool but after struggling financially for my entire life I look at money differently these days.. great question..I look forward to reading everyone elses stories..later..jp

[mixopenta]

Age 4: Got a mini drum kit from my parents for Christmas, which they bought in order to save my mom's pots and pans from getting too dented. Discovered I didn't have rhythm.Age 8: Tried my fathers accordion - didn't like the sound of it.Age 9: Hammered on a vibraphone - too many things to keep track of.Age 10: Parents bought piano. I was stuck. Took piano lessons for two seasons. Didn't like reading scores.Age 15: joined my first band. wrote a song called "My little animal" The band laughed their socks off. Discovered I didn't like writing lyrics.Age 20: Stumbled across an opportunity to be a session musician. After a couple of sessions/records, I found out I wasn't talented enough.Age 23: Joined a band playing dance music at clubs 3-4 days a week for 3 years. Eventually I discovered I yawned my way through the gigs. Another concern was that this kind of crap was the best source of income up to this moment of my musical career...Age 26: Started my own business in running a project studio. Although the studio became quite popular (A band from New Jersey wanted to trek all the way to Sweden for a recording) But at that time, after 12 years I already decided I was going to close down. Discovered I wasn't a business man.Age 32: While still running the studio I joined a band playing progressive music. I'm still in that band, and we're fortunate enough to have a record deal.Age 44: Joined Taxi. Made discoveries I should have made some thirty years earlier. Results come from hard work, not from some fluffy, inspirational moments in la-la land. Best decision I made in my whole "career".

[stephen]

Hey Lindsey, I must say that I always liked singing music on the whole. Grew up singing at home with my mother and sisters listening to all kinds of stuff singing in choirs ... Songwriting just kinda happened to me I used to try really hard to write songs but just could never do it. Then one day (can't remember when though) it just clicked never stopped since almost 12-14 years now (maybe more).