So here we are with another common sense piece of advice. I’m sorry that we keep having to write over-simplified stuff like this, but there just aren’t any other options because people keep asking us how to advance their careers before they do so many of the most foundational level things! It’s kind of infuriating if I’m being honest. If I’m being extra honest, sometimes even more established artists also need a reminder to do this. It’s easy to get into a comfortable situation where you forget that the most important thing you can do to keep your fans engaged is to actually MAKE them engage directly with what you’re doing. That traditionally comes in the form with interacting personally with them.

There’s something about saying “have a routine” that just inherently sounds boring. However, as a full-time artist manager, owner/operator of Brooklyn Basement Records, and part time cool side project taker-on-er (that’s a thing), I can tell you that the most productive & successful people I know (creative or otherwise) work off of some sort of routine. Remember when I said we’d come back to having a routine? Don’t freak out, but here we are! It’s an invaluable piece of your career that you can learn to do.

By this point you’ve probably seen about 38 lists of the best bands to check out at SXSW… and you aren’t on any of them. And you’ve read 37 opinion pieces about the conference and why it sucks to go… and you made plans months ago to be down there.  Well, all is not lost - you can still get something out of the behemoth known as SXSW.  

Homework?! How old are we, 15??? Thank God, we’re past that stage (I assume). But yes, I’m definitely suggesting homework. That you give yourself. To reiterate -- that’s more work… that you give yourself. So you know a few weeks ago when we talked about making your music project your job… even when it’s not? Yeah, this is part of that.

Almost fifteen years ago, I started writing the songs that would end up becoming my first album with The District (holy shit, it was that long ago? Yeah. Wow!). Of the (many) people in my social circle who were fronting bands at that time, I certainly wasn’t the most talented songwriter or guitar player, I wasn’t the most engaging performer, I wasn’t the best looking or best dressed and I didn’t come from a family with industry connections or money to help me get going. Very few of the markers that point towards possible music industry success were there, but somehow, in 2017, I’m the only one from that incredibly talented group of friends who makes the whole of his/her living writing, recording, and performing my original music.