Whats next?

Hello all, I should be focusing on the fact that in a few hours I will be seeing one of my biggest musical influences live. I have seen them before, with original drummer Bill Ward. And yes, I am one of these people that get bent out of shape when a reunion is missing one member(maybe its just an OCD tendency,idk). By now you should have guessed that I am going to see Black Sabbath. So here I am putting on a You Tube playlist of songs from Sabbath(yes in hopes that it will help me get through this entry) recalling stories of how they wrote some of their albums in the studio and came up with one of their most popular songs, Paranoid on a whim only because they had an extra three minutes on the tape to record with. Like I may have stated in older entries, I discover Sabbath as a Child when my Uncle had been listening to them(even admitting to truly subconsciously screw me by putting headphones on me in my sleep lol). Nevertheless, they have been engrained in me and keep me writing and inspire as if I am spiritually connected to them some how. Many artists have mentioned that the music of Black Sabbath has gotten them through tough times. Much like Sabbath’s music helped them overcome their early life struggles, much like any serious musician they created out of necessity and love of music(not out of ego and lust for power & money like musicians are often accused of).

I bring this up for a a few reasons, one being that I received a good response from my last post and started being consistent with my post that I started getting worried about asking myself, ok What’s Next?. I often ask myself this as in part after finalizing a song or an album. The fear of Writer’s block is not a good feeling. My advice to anyone that feels this way, just sit down and play and if you don’t have the drive than don’t force it. Another way to combat this is change up your routine, watch an old movie, take a walk or call an old friend and plan a meet up. There maybe a story in there from the past you forgot. And another of my favorites, go look through your old notes. I found many ideas I forgot about and fused them with new ones. For those of you that know this feeling, its like discovering buried treasure. It is also a good idea to keep a pen handy where ever you go (come guys, you should know this by now)you never know when inspiration will come or from where. I learned that early on as teenager hoping to get girl’s phone numbers and the habit stuck lol.

This next bit of advice maybe hard to do for many of us, and yes I am one of these people that it is hard for : Curb your ego and write about whatever is on your mind,any life experience not matter how signifgant or not. I mean good or bad, painful or happy, strange, perverted, cheesy, immature, who cares. It is an expression of how you are feeling and hopefully it will fit into a theme with other songs on an album. If Bret Michaels can do it anyone can, I belive “Every rose has it’s thorn” is about a Girlfriend that cheated on him. On a sadder note, Eric Clapton who had just tragically lost his young son was able to write a song about his son in the aftermath of his loss called “Tears in Heaven”. There have been many instances in my life when I was “too proud” to write about something, being on the losing end of a romantic situation, getting screwed over by band members, getting jumped, or whatever the case is. Expressing your pain doesn’t make you a loser, it shows that you are a real, and strong person that can continue create no matter what. These types of things happen to other people too and that’s the magic of music, if some can relate to a song they will love it, listen to it over and over and promote it to others.

When you choose to write music and lyrics, just have set goals in mind and let the songs evolve. Some songs may turn into two, other may not work well now, but over time you can fix them or even bring in a collaborator to co write with. This is lots of fun to do, but I suggest to not rely solely on this because things happen, people change and you should never allow anyone to hold you back(I speak from experience) and NEVER let anyone tell you what to write about. In some genres, a song can be “Remixed” by another engineer or a DJ to bring a new spin on it as well. Don’t allow yourself to be overcome by what others are doing, just plot out an idea or a “theme” for an album and work from their. I often look at work of many of my influences and realize that they did much more by this age then I have. I do realize, times were different, and the business and people were different. Bands actually worked together and shared goals, the recent trend has become its me,me,me,me or the accusation of that so much so that even those willing to help others are accused of having ulterior motives. Don’t get sucked into people’s paranoid mind traps, just keeping playing and do what feels right at the time, if that changes move on. Its your life and career, You steer the ship.

Well, time to get ready for Black Sabbath, here is a bit more on them. Enjoy: