What was it like for you when you first began playing and/or singing in public (talent show, open mike night, first gig...your choice)?
What's it like for you now?

Also, if you have any words of wisdom to offer to future first time performers what would they be?
[This message was edited Thu Sep 5 1:58:04 PDT 2002 by CandyEyce]

Well, I first started performing in talent shows in high school with my friends, Susannah, Joey, Dennis, and Tyke. Me and Joey did hardcore rap back then, and when we all got together, we did funk stuff, kinda similar to The Time. We won many talent shows in the Columbus, Ohio area. After high school, I got married and had a child, and I continued making music in my spare time, but nothing major. I went to school for musical engineering and got my certificate. I got some decent equipment in 99 and I started making better spiritual music in 2001 when I developed a closer relationship with my God. Since then I have performed locally here in Southern Illinois where I live now with my wife and soon to be child, and I have lined up some other performances for the fall in the Chicago area at some Christian youth outreaches. I have 6 CD's that I have completed, 5 released so far.

My message for future performers...don't let the media and your peers make you doubt yourself, be original, and always start out right on the positive side and never let the negative take you down.

I have played hundreds of shows and have toured extensively... you get so used to it that it doesn't feel like anything... that is when it becomes a job... touring sucks.

It was very cool when I was just playing around town and stuff... that was much more fun... in fact, it was thrilling at times.

EDIT: Advice - Don't worry about the audience, just have fun. You will fuck up if you get worried... just pretend it is rehearsal but jump around more.

...
[This message was edited Thu Sep 5 13:53:06 PDT 2002 by IceNine]

IceNine said:

Oh, I TOTALLY disagree! I LOVE touring! I've played major shows opening for Soul Asylum, Jars of Clay, toured the U.S. and also played a handful of shows in europe. (London, Paris, Athens, Greece)

I'm on my way to band rehearsal now, I'll tell you some great road stories when I return.

Zum said:

It is fun for the first few weeks and then it gets really old... to me at least.

Never been 42nate enough 2 tour, but, at first I HAD 2 get drunk 2 get up on stage and let everyone hear me sing. It is such a personal thing 2 do that, u R under everyone's scrutiny.

After about 20 shows or so...I realized, no matter how I felt, people everywhere were loving me and my singing, SO, not as much J. Daniels B4 the shows, I find closing my eyes and losing myself in the song gets me over my fear. Then, I can open my eyes and B more down 2 earth and realize, HEY! we're all just having a great time!!!

I love getting the crowd pumped and feelin' it and dancing, the more theyt do all that, the more I/WE feed off them, the more pumped I/WE get, the more the crowd feeds...etc Its a fantastic cycle.

I'd take the high of being on stage doing something I like in front of a vibing crowd over sex, ANYDAY!!!
[This message was edited Thu Sep 5 15:37:53 PDT 2002 by feltbluish]

Well, i played in some udnerground places around the city with my punk rock band some years ago. Then I quit and made a grunge band. Ad i played sometimes with them. Then I was called to be the lead guitarrist of a hard rock band to play at partys in my town. I loved thsi band, we used to play all that 80's hair rock, like guns n roses,bon jovi and metallica. I got a cool story. One time with this band, I went to play to a punk rock crowd and we were playing wasting love from Iron Maiden, everybody was staring at us smiling with irony, killing us with the eyes, It was really a stupid idea play a heavy metal ballad to a punk crowd, i tought I wouldn't survive that night, then we started playing offspring (i don't remember the song), but we didn't knwow the song very well and it didn't sound right. We almost were booed off the stage, then we started playing welcome to the jungle, cause everybody loves slash and maybe the punks would dig. BINGO, the punks went nuts, they loved the song. I think that welcome to the jungle saved my skin that night. Then we played more guns n roses and metallica til the end, cause they seemed to like metallica too.
P.S. Lesson of the day: you should NEVER play Iron Maiden to a punk crowd. Or you'll be in trouble. :p

I was 6 & my mum & dad wanted me to be able to play in front of people at an early age so it wouldnt be a problem in later life.

My mum asked if I would play a few songs on the drums with my Dad's band. I refused for ages till she offered me a 5 pound note lol. I did 3 songs that night & have jammed with my dad every night since.

Now when it comes to playing live in front of large audiences I dont get stage fright at all as Ive been doing it so long.

Guess I owe my mum 5 pounds

Advice to other musicians:

Practise!!! at least 3 hours a day. Theres no other way to get good. Remember your not practising to make it faster, your practising to make it easier.

Try not to be cliche, do something that others wouldnt normally do.

Always remember that the art of originality is to disguise your influences. Its ok to be inspired

great advice you all.

the first time i ever sang was in toy r' us a few months ago. the lady was displaying a karoke machine and i got the mic. i had to do n*sync's Bye,bye,bye or It's gonna be me.

i was very nervous cos it was my first time to sing in public and i never had a lesson in my life. i kept making sure that i kept bumping into kids and adults so it can look like my mistakes were becuase of them.

anyway, when i finished my "singing". the lady was looking at me with an open mouth and big eyes. like "wow". she said something like: are u a singer? i said, i'm trying to be and i walked away.


the first time i played an insturment in front of ppl. was in 7th grade. i played the tuba. i was so nervous and i kept getting lost. and i kept starting all over the place and i felt like i was missing all the notes. BUT... somehow the other tubaist next to me was like: woah! and he told the teacher that for the first time i played all the right notes and i played with a great power.

QUESTION:can nervousness make you better?!

i can't give the advice about how to play/sing or anything. but i can say is:

remember to practice so you can improve.
amaze the audience so your act must be a MUST-BE.

you know how ppl. get angry, and they eat trying to throw their worries away. you should use all the negative feelings you have to improve your work( use their anger,emotions, energy in your work.)
and remember always to make GOALS( on any kinda project, IMHO.) and also, ASK! FOR HELP. Ask the janitor, your grand mama, school kid, friend, boy friend, etc. how they think you sound, improve.

Band and Orchestra solos as a child were scary until someone gave me the trick that still works today.
Picture the crowd in their underware and you'll relax if you look at them.

High School was split between Jazz band and "Mack the Knife" in front of the scrutiny of highschool kids. At night it was playing Metal (Slayer, early Metallica) in dive bars in the ghetto. Just alot of anger.

Recently, just a few coffee houses and my acoustic guitar and sometimes a drum machine. If people aren't picking up what I'm laying down then I move on.

Practicing is the key and I feel it if I miss even a week.

JamesMarshallHendrix said:

!
how exactly does that work? pictureing them in their underwear!? how will that performers less nervous?

what if they don't like ur material>
what if nothing EXTRAdionary(sp?) happens with the performances?
what if the crowd was already disrespectful?
what if u mess up on stage?

subyduby said:

I don't use the underwear trick... after the first few shows, you will not worry about the audience again...

Don't worry about messing up... it will happen.

I have blown speakers, broken strings, unplugged my guitar, tripped, knocked my microphone over, completely blown my amplifier, forgotten where I was in songs and I have nearly broken my ankle landing wrong when leaping around the stage.

The key is that you have to go on if you are a professional. Don't worry about it and just keep playing.

how exactly does that work? pictureing them in their underwear!? how will that performers less nervous?

For me (when I was a kid & now), it takes my mind off of the fact that there's 50 people all watching me and it dulls the paranoia. For you, this may not work.
___
what if they don't like ur material>

I haven't had that experience in my life
___
what if nothing EXTRAdionary(sp?) happens with the performances?

Like what? I don't spit fire or anything so I'm not sure what you mean
___
what if the crowd was already disrespectful?

Well, when I was young and full of anger the crowd would get kicked in the face and the show would end at the emergency room with me getting stitches. Now, I'll just stop playing and walk away. Fuck em'
___

what if u mess up on stage?

This is always going to happen and how I deal with it is that I just keep playing. Sometimes I'll look at my guitar like it did something and people laugh.

JDODSON said:

So that's why your music sounds so good! I need an engineer/producer. Too bad you live so far away...

What was it like for you when you first began playing and/or singing in public (talent show, open mike night, first gig...your choice)?

Hmmm. I had a nerve-racking experience in jr high, so we wont go there. High school was better. I went to a performing arts school and my voice class had a recital. Everyone was singing Whitney Houston type stuff and our teacher said "make sure to wear your Sunday best".

Well, I didn't have Sunday best type clothing and the song I was singing was "Riders on the Storm" by the Doors. I borrowed a friends black trench coat and put on some heavy eyeliner and burgandy lipstick. I teased my hair a little bit. I had performed this song in class for a "movement" assignment, meaning we had to come up with gestures to fit the song and we had to walk around a bit, kind of acting it out. I got really into it. I liked how it came out.

I remember looking out at everyone in the auditorium, knowing I was giving them something different than the other people performing and I thought to myself, "I could get used to this." I projected this dark, mysterious attitude to go with the song and I didn't break character until the end of the show, when everyone took a bow together: I smiled when I came up from my bow. That was fun.

After that I had African Drumming classes in college and I was the only girl that could handle the lead or "master" drum part. Then my friend wanted me to sing backup for him and I would get a little nervous because it was much more intimate to play in coffeehouses.

Sooo, my advice is if you are nervous, close your eyes and just think about the music. Get into it, feel it and you will give a good show. Once you're in "the zone" you can open your eyes and look over people's heads! DON'T LOOK DOWN! After a while you will be able to make eye contact with people, but don't rush it. It will come.

***
What's it like for you now?

Now that I'm about to complete my first album, I'm looking forward to performing again. I can hardly wait! I'll keep my same philosophy, I'm sure I'll get a little anxious before the shows.

Thank you to everyone who posted their experiences, they were all very enjoyable to read. They also were helpful and enlightening.
Thank you again.
Peace

Funny road story number 1.

One time my band was playing at a corporate record store grand opening, my band had a new CD we were promoting, and the store had a big carnival atmosphere featuring my band, clowns blowing up balloons, and a petting zoo with goats.

My band gets set up, and as soon as we kicked into our first loud rock chord, the goats get freaked out by the noise and jumped over the fence.




So here we are playing to a couple of old ladies and a herd of goats being chased by clowns on roller skates.

Rock and Roll!

Zum

Man, that must have been too funny.