Energized by Culture: How My Surroundings Fuel My Music

The first time I did a 31-day challenge I called Operation Ghost Town (31 songs in 31 days) I wasn't quite sure it would pan out. I was so unsure that I would be able to complete it in fact that I made sure I had a secure location I could complete the challenge from. That is, I stayed at one place for the duration of the entire challenge. I needed to be sure.

Since I completed that, I've gone on to now doing another 31-days of new songs, Codename: Dead Silence, but this time, as I have two days left on the challenge now, I've been regularly moving multiple locations. That means that I had to be comfortable with singing next to neighbors I had never met before ... repeatedly. Now, this comes easy to me, performing, having trained myself on many stages in many countries.

But I want to be clear about something - a lesson I learned. There, in fact, are specific locations more conducive to giving me the right vibes and feedback that naturally and effectively enable me to make higher quality music now. That is to say that you get out what you put in. If I let in the energies of a culture that is vibrant and colorful and fun, that's what's going to come out of me.

If I don't and I'm surrounded by a culture that is dead or dying, pushing myself to perform anyways, I can still manage but it won't feel as good for me on the inside and it won't be as fun. People talk about today surrounding yourself with the kinds of environment and individuals who reflect back to you yourself getting better. That's something that's almost intuitive now, isn't it?

The bottom line is that without a trajectory that course corrects you as an artist moving in the right direction, it's safe to say you might not know where you end up and you might not like where that is. Trust your feelings and your instinctual drives especially if you've trained and honed them to know what to look for. Doing so gives you a competitive advantage whether you stay in one location or stay on the move.