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by indigoshift 6135 days ago
> It will take as long as it takes, doing what it takes, but it's the only approach that works.

And that right there was my first big mistake. I'd jump into an art career half-assed, and if it didn't take off like a rocket in six months, I'd put it aside and collect a Day Job paycheck. As a result, I'm pushing 40 and my art is at a stage right now where it should've been fifteen years ago.

But I didn't stick with it, and all that time is wasted time now. I listened to people who didn't understand a thing about art, and measured my success by the "get rich quick and get a Hollywood deal!" crap that everyone thinks is the true measure of success. I fucked it up and missed out on all those years of working every day to get better. Right now, I'm scrambling as fast as I can to catch up.

Those of you in your 20s, let me say this: If there's something you can't stop thinking about--whether it's art, music, coding, or whatever--then just do it. Even if you suck at it right now, it's better to get all the suckitude out of your system now, while you're young, so that by the time you're my age, you've put all that behind you and your craft is nice and polished.

Hook me up with a link to your music, man! I wanna hear it. If it's something that jives with my artwork, I'd be willing to give you a free plug. If you'd like to reciprocate, let me know.

Currently, I'm creating a comic and related artwork for that niche of people who are tired of all-ages, family-friendly nonsense. The comic's NSFW, but it's nothing racier than you'd find in an old copy of Heavy Metal.

Link to the comic is: http://locus.keenspot.com

You'll wanna read it from the beginning, or it'll make no sense. TOC link is towards the top, under the banner and above the nav buttons.

And good luck with your music career! I've always wanted to make music, but have no talent for it. I live vicariously through all my musician friends. :)

1 comments

I like your drawing style! I love horror stuff :) Got you bookmarked now, thanks for sharing!

My music site is http://www.johnnybroadway.com/ The main album up there is basically unplugged/acoustic but there are clips from my next one in the player on the left. I'm actually working on 3 more projects now, a 12 song album about a mobster (with a producer too, first time in a proper studio in 10 years! :), one EP just for fun I'm recording at home, and I've started writing a handful of songs for the next one as well...

The styles seem to be ranging from folk/country/blues to faster pop/rock and with the newer stuff more electronic as well (getting into Ableton, super fun!). On stage, it's pretty much me on vocals/guitar and I do some harmonica and use a looping pedal for a lot of stuff too. The video on my page is a song that starts with just a drum loop and ends up with five guitars going over it :)

That's some good stuff, man. I dig it.

I'm an old metal fan, but going back to college gave me a taste for this kind of stuff.

Hands In The Air is spot-on. It's my favorite. You've got good story-telling skills, which isn't common in music nowadays. And the guitar work is great!

Question, though:

How on earth do you keep it together on stage when people are talking and girls are cackling in the audience during your whole performance? That would totally blow my concentration.

Thanks, glad you like!

The camera had to be positioned in the middle of a table of girls at that show, so any talking came through as loud as I did unfortunately. You couldn't hear them at all from on stage though, and people are going to be talking -- or rather yelling to each other over the music! -- at a bar on a Saturday night :)