artist

D.I.Y. attitude

Local initiative Last Friday I was at the opening of COEN, a local initiative with workshops for artists to become more commercial. At the reception a theater maker told me how difficult it is for her to combine commercial thinking with creative action. We had an interesting conversation. Problems as artist ‘They want us artists to become commercial entrepreneurs. But as artist, I want to create without having to think about the commercial value. ‘ ‘I agree, it’s your creativity […]

Go your own way – compass for creatives

There is no easy road to success, every artist has to go his/her own way. Or as I saw in a quote from Joseph Campbell last week: “If the path before you is clear, you’re probably on somebody else’s.” So if the path is not clear, that should be a good sign, right? Does that mean that you should feel lost all the time? That sounds quite depressing, like the myth that an artist has to suffer in order to […]

Like a diva …

Last night I felt like a diva, sitting with sunglasses at the terrace of a nice restaurant, the sun shining right into my face, a glass of wine on the table, great food, accompanied by three nice men. What is a diva like? Often people (women) are called a diva, if they are very picky and have unrealistic specific demands, like eating the yellow M&M’s only. The picky attitude is associated with a nagging voice, portrayed as  childish behavior. At […]

Free as an artist

Art is always something new, something that hasn’t been there before, at least not in that form. It requires a certain amount of freedom, freedom of fear, to create something new. And new is unpredictable, therefore scary for many people. Today is a national mourning day in the Netherlands, for the victims of the plane crash in eastern Ukraine. Another conflict area that is dominating the news is the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I see many one-sided and aggressive reactions on social […]

How you can get creative again when being blocked by feeling-special 1

When I was 11 years old, I survived a heavy car crash. A car, driving 120 km/h, drove on the back of my bicycle. There were rumors that I would have been dead, that one leg was amputated or that I’d been paralyzed in my legs. Fortunately I survived, with a heavy concussion and a flesh-wound on my right leg. After 6 weeks hospital I returned home, after half a year I was sporting again. In hospital at 11 years […]

Pain and loss

Last month my father in law passed away. I’ve known him for 22 years and we became quite close, especially in the last two years when he needed more and more care. He had a good life,  played tennis until he was 90 years old and could say goodbye to family and life before he died. Still, the emotional roller coaster in the last month was quite intense. I’m happy to have known him for so long and I’m sad […]

Get the audience you want

As musician you want your music to be heard, you want to reach an audience. In the past, the best tool was to record your music and sell it, and than get played on the radio.  Booking a tour was a tool to sell more albums. You needed an expensive studio to record your music, labels and distributors to distribute it throughout the country and record shops to sell it. The infrastructure is still in place, though the situation has […]

Kick your ass

Do you know the situations when you feel a victim? It’s often because the press doesn’t pay attention to your album or performances, because you can’t afford to go to that amazing showcase festival, because a band member doesn’t act like you would want him to, because the world and everyone is plotting against you. Well, I do know that feeling. And sometimes it can even feel good to indulge in the mud-pool of self-pity. And while indulging the mud-pool […]

How to discover your ambitions 1

Have you ever had a mentor or a coach, asking you where you want to be in five or ten or twenty years? I had a coach shortly after I became partner in the company. She asked me that question, and I didn’t know. I do my work, I know what I like and what I’m doing it for, without having a goal or a picture of where I want to be in five years. I felt like I was […]

Perspective and fame

Square or circle? If you look at a cylinder it  depends on the perspective, on the context, as illustrated so clear in the picture. A friend posted it yesterday at Facebook. Context is important in everyday life too. Like the right-wing Dutch politician who asked his voters yesterday if they would prefer more or less foreigners, and the all shouted “less, less, less”. If you ask the same question to employers who are looking for a work force, they would […]

Take the director’s chair

Here’s your very own director’s chair. Are you ready for it? Are you ready to take direction of your own life and career? A director knows the direction, knows where he wants to go with the picture. He also looks at the actors from a distance, sees the big picture and works on it in the detail. He needs a certain distance and engagement at the same time. Are you able to look at yourself from a distance? Do you […]

Important things in life 1

This week I saw an interview with Angelo Kelly, the youngest guy from the Kelly Family. He was famous already when he was a child and got used to everything that goes with it. It was surprising to hear, that he and his wife choose to live in a caravan and to travel for several years. He avoided Germany, too many people would recognize him there, and performed as street musician for two or three days a week. That brought […]

Creative or commercial success – a paradox? 4

Traditionally, many artists think that you can’t have both, creative success and commercial success. You can only be really creative, if you don’t give a damn about commerce. And if you do want to become rich, you make so many compromises that you can’t call yourself creative anymore. A thought that is doing quite well recently in business theories, is that if you show your true self  and if you discover your unique talents, that commercial success will come to […]

Miley Cyrus – comparing apples and oranges?

The open letter of Sinead O’Connor to Miley Cyrus seems to be an issue in the music business right now. Sinead writes about Mileys new video clip Wrecking Ball.  Below I have the link, in case you haven’t seen it yet.  Sinead has great respect for Miley as an artist, and is telling her that she is exploited by all the men in the music business, who are prostituting her in order to make money for themselves. A great addition […]