Making Your Ego Work For You

Hi,
Working and performing in the music industry isn’t always an easy thing, and sometimes that can be due to poor relationships with promoters, venues, or even fellow musicians. Anthony, one of our booking agents, is going to talk a little bit about how some of these problems can be caused by the misuse of an artist’s ego and how you can use your ego in a positive way. Before Anthony started working here at Gorilla, as a frontman and guitarist he played shows locally and through us for close to 7 years. In this newsletter, he’ll give you some of his insight into how you can improve your relationships in your local music scene.

We hope you enjoy this issue of the Gorilla Newsletter.

Cheers,

John Michalak
Author of “The 5 Steps to Becoming the Biggest Band in Town”
Vice President of Gorilla Music

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Making Your Ego Work For You

By Anthony Powers

When you’re a musician, having an ego kind of comes with the territory. No matter who you are or what you play, chances are you’re at least confident in your abilities as a guitarist, a drummer, a bassist, a singer, a songwriter, or maybe as a performer in general. Maybe you’re the type of musician who prefers playing by yourself in your basement, messing around with your effects pedals and jamming out for your ears only. Or maybe you’re the type of musician who thrives off playing in front of big crowds, doing back-flips off your amp and winking at pretty girls in the crowd while you rock out. Whatever the case may be, every musician is confident in at least a few of their abilities if not all of them. Otherwise, you probably would have hung up your gear a long time ago.

So we all have egos, each specific to our own skills and beliefs. Most of us know it even if we don’t talk about it all that often. What should be discussed more often though is that having an over-inflated ego in the music industry can do some serious damage to a single performer or their band as a whole. Regardless of how well you play, how well you write, or how well you perform, it’s incredibly crucial nowadays to take your ego and use it in the most positive way possible, to make it work for you instead of against you.

We’ve all met musicians who don’t use their egos positively: the guys in bands who won’t even make eye contact with other bands who are playing on the same show, the guys who are too busy talking to groupies after their set when they should be getting their gear off the stage (and your band is playing next), or the guys who show up late for a gig and want to cut someone else’s time-slot in half because they weren’t there for check in. Musicians like that think that venues, other bands, and the entire world revolve around them. Doing things like that work against you so much in this industry, because, above all else, the music industry is based on relationships.

Instead of ignoring the other bands you’re playing with, use your confidence to make friends with them. Cheer for them and they’ll cheer for you, and the same goes for both bands fans. By creating relationships with the other bands on the bill, you’re not only making friends with a group of peers who might give you valuable feedback on your performance and music, you’ll also gain access to a new fan-base in the band and their fans. Also, by making friends with bands that play similar music to your band, you might also be afforded more gig opportunities in the future. Just remember, a relationship is a two-way street, so do for the other bands as you would like them to do for you.

Another way to use your ego in a positive way is to give feedback to other bands. The most important thing to keep in mind about this however is that you should always come from a place of respect when talking about other people’s music. Make other musicians feel that both of you are on a level playing field; always give positive notes to other bands and, if the situation arises, make only suggestions on how they could improve their performance instead of telling them what to do differently.

Networking with promoters, venues, fans, and other bands is by far one of the most important aspects of the music industry. The relationships you foster with all of these different people will only make your band more well-known, more likable, and more confident. Always remember to be respectful and considerate of anyone and everyone your band interacts with, because a single negative opinion of your band can hurt you more than you probably realize. Most of all have fun at your shows, both on and off the stage, and the other bands will have fun with you—remember that a positive attitude is contagious, and making every show you have feel as much like a party as a concert will make clubs and other bands want to play more shows with you in the future, not to mention that it will make people at the shows want to come out to see you again.