Thoughts on the John Mayer Q and A at Berklee

If you’re a songwriter and you haven’t read this yet, check it out:

http://www.berklee-blogs.com/2011/07/john-mayer-2011-clinic-manage-the-temptation-to-publish-yourself/

It seems as though Mr. Mayer has gotten a hold of himself and regained some serious perspective on life, music, and success. I’ve always had respect for the man’s music and guitar playing, but he hit a serious low last year with his quest for the Joshua Tree of… Just look up his Rolling Stone interview if you have no idea what I’m talking about. Actually, one more thing about his music: using the word “respect” to describe how I feel about his music would be an understatement. I would say he’s one of my top 10 favorite artists of all time, actually. I wish that artists more often lived how their music sounded. Is it too much to expect the writers of extraordinary music to live extraordinarily virtuous lives?

Maybe not.

But this time around, I think Mayer has reformed some of his previous errors.

The biggest take-aways from this short interview/article are Mayer’s comments on social media. Mayer admits that this crap is addicting, distracting, and creatively worthless.

I’ve heard one artist, when asked “How did you get to where you are today?” say, “I just turned off the T.V.” What he was getting at is that media is a distraction and, ultimately, it is a progress killer.

Does anybody find it ironic that I’m blogging about this topic?

Finding Significance in Your Work

It might come to a surprise to some of you, but the majority of songwriters and music artists struggle to earn enough money to make ends meet. That means that the majority of songwriters often find themselves employed doing work completely unrelated to their music. And I think that’s okay – for a season.

For my own part, I’ve spent several hours this past week trying to drum up new business, new gigs (music- and non-music related), and I’ve come to one [I think] very important conclusion: wherever you work, and whatever you do, it has to be “work worth doing”:

“Far and away the best prize that life has to offer is the chance to work hard at work worth doing.”

– Theodore Roosevelt.
If your current job is just a job or just a way to pay the bills, I’d suggest seeking new employment. Why? Because jobs like that burn people out. These are positions that are a part of the modern corporate machine, but don’t really add value to our or any other peoples’ lives.  Some might say, “Yeah, but these things have to be done by somebody.” And to that I say, “You’re right.” But why should it be done by you? Find something else where you *know* you are adding value to society – not just to your 401k.
Life is too short to be somebody’s tool. I want to be a tool for change.