In this category you find texts that help artists to take the lead. “Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!” (Bob Lefsetz)
New Years Day always feels like a new start. It’s a new start of my life and career, a new start where I finally can become who I want to be, start to do exercises, start to live healthy, start to behave nicely, start to be more assertive. That’s the rush I feel when on a New Years Party and the new year has started. I hug and kiss everyone, everything is possible, it’s the start of something gorgeous, something […]
It’s the time of presents and gifts. In the last couple of weeks I haven’t seen any advertisement block on TV without an ad for perfume and toys and electronic gadgets. I feel pressured to buy gifts, as if the only way to show my friends and relatives that I care is, to give them expensive gifts with x-mas. And if I don’t, than it’s a sign that I don’t care. I prefer voluntary gifts. Oh, I still sent some […]
In the last years I came across many models and patterns that help you to get to know yourself better. One of the most popular ones is obviously astrology. According to astrology, your character is formed at your birth and depending on the relation of moon and stars to earth. The easy version relates on 12 constellations as basis for your horoscope. Most newspapers include a daily horoscope. Ayurveda is an ancient Indian way to cure people by first divide […]
Why is it so hard to know yourself? That’s the question I’ve asked myself several times in the last week. I discovered, that in the last couple of months, since the surgery last summer, the most simple things could scare me. And now it’s almost gone, I suddenly see the difference with the last few months. This reduction of fear gives an enormous sense of freedom. I can be myself again without being afraid of what others might think. I […]
“99% is shit”, that’s what a colleague booking agent said years ago about all the cd’s, lp’s and cassettes (yes, that long ago!) he received from musicians. I don’t remember who it was, and I don’t think that I would tell you if I would remember 😉 It sounds harsh and I don’t really agree. But than, most of the material I receive comes from foreign colleagues, it has already been filtered. I certainly don’t want to offend you as […]
Last week I did a speech for the program Mentoring & Sparring. The subject was Mentoring, what it is and when/why you would need it. Years ago I would have thought that I don’t need it, I can sort out everything myself. I love to do things myself, it gives me a great feeling of independence, especially when I head to new directions. During my life I often choose new direction. I grew up on a small farm in Germany. […]
Since my surgery end of July I still have problems with my concentration, and somehow this affects my blog posts too. I’m writing more theoretical, on a distance. As if I don’t dare yet to get personal. This is probably because I still feeling insecure, not my ‘normal’ self yet. Shortly after the surgery my creativity was totally lost. I couldn’t make up what to cook with the veggies in the fridge, everything that asked for a bit more than […]
Everyone knows by now that body and mind are linked, and that there is a connection between a healthy body and a healthy mind. Until summer my body was very fit and I was very productive and creative in my work, it was amazing! After serious surgery end of July the connection between body and mind has become a much deeper meaning to me. While my body was recovering really good and quick, my mind is still a bit infantile. […]
Oh yes, we all admire the pop-stars of the world for their freedom. They don’t have to adjust to the routines of normal people, we think, they can do whatever they want whenever they wan it. But is this really true? Rihanna tweeted a photo from herself in a train from London to Paris, and the departure time was on the photo. When arriving in Paris, she was welcomed by so many fans, that security and bodyguards had problems with […]
I used to hate routine. It’s like obligations, things I have to do, and it feels boring. Holiday is a great way to evaluate all of your routines. Traveling is putting yourself in a new environment, to look at your daily life from a distance. During the last couple of years I’ve learned to love routines, and to evaluate them on a regular basis. This leads to a positive confirmation of brushing my teeth twice a day and taking a […]
Waiting – don’t you hate it too? Waiting means that you are depending on others, that you have to wait for them to do something, or for the situation to change. Artists have to wait all the time, especially musicians on tour. It seems like most part of your day is waiting. You wait for your band mates to be ready to leave to the show, get in a traffic jam, wait for the sound engineers to be ready for […]
As booking agent I get many requests from artists, managers, labels etc. to start working for them and their artists. Usually it starts with an e-mail that I read and I listen to the link with music. If I like the music and the story behind it, I’ll react to the request and ask for an album. Last month I listened to an album of a female singer. The albums intrigued me, but somehow it didn’t fit. When the manager […]
You probably heard it too in your childhood: you have to say thank you when you get a treat, you have to count your blessings when you are complaining, and many more of those boring rules. That’s at least how I thought about it. I thought that it was about being polite on the surface, but that it didn’t have any deeper meaning. In the mean time I’ve learned that I was oh so wrong. Years ago I found Elizabeth […]
Since I started this blog, I’m convinced that artists can learn a lot from theories about (personal) leadership. Though I’ve might been a bit vague on why. And now I read the answer in an article of Bob Lefsetz: “Artists lead, they don’t follow. They’re not beholden to their audience, IT’S THE OTHER WAY AROUND!” And this is what my blog is about. I want to inspire and help artists to lead instead of to follow. Link for the article […]
At Tallinn Music Week yesterday I heard the speech of the Estonian president Toomas Hendrik Ilves. His speak was about freedom. Music is also about freedom, and about freedom of speech. In a free country you don’t have to take much risks to speak out freely. He mentioned PJ Harvey in a TV interview with the English prime minister Cameron, expressing freely her opinion in word and music about the policy of the English government. The risk she takes here, […]