I’m 39yrs old (40 in May!), and have been playing drums for 26yrs, and with that, there are 2 things I’m certain of…
1. My desire to play is the most important thing to me. (yes, I think of my desire to play the drums as something that I manage, not something I’m at the mercy of).
2. My only ‘gift’ (or talent), is my love for the craft. That’s it. My obsession with this instrument is the only talent I have, and I’m grateful for that.
My eagerness to sit down on the pad or behind the kit is stronger than ever. Seriously! And I mean for hours too. In fact, the hardest thing I’m currently finding in my life, when it comes to the drums, is actually getting OFF the pad or kit, as time just dissolves away as soon as I engage.
But how? How can it be that after all these years my desire to progress and express myself on this instrument is stronger than it’s ever been? Shouldn’t it be the opposite? Shouldn’t I be starving for inspiration at this point? Rinsed out with nothing left to offer? Shouldn’t I be struggling to find time because, “oh you know how it is, life is just so busy – the family, the kids, the house…” etc (as they reach for the Netflix remote and start scrolling on their phone). Sound familiar?
Well, if I was like everyone else, then yes, that is exactly how I would/should be. And I know that because I hear and see that attitude ALL THE TIME.
But guess what, I’m not like everyone else, and I’m certainly not going to let life get in the way of my pursuit of mastery. I mean, really, who does that? What sort of person uses their life situation or circumstance as an excuse for not working on their craft? Who uses their life as an excuse for not showing up daily, on AND off the kit. Seriously! Wink, wink… nudge, nudge.
So what did I do differently to get to this point? What did I do to be in a position where, after all this time, my desire to practice and my love for the craft, is stronger than ever? Well, in simple terms, I guard my creativity at all costs.
Pursuing a creative outlet is a very fine balance between the ‘have-to-dos’ and the ‘want-to-dos’, meaning, you need to make sure the things that you ‘have to do’ on this instrument are not out of balance with the things you ‘want to do.’
This is imperative.
Let me explain that a little more….
The ‘have to dos’ are by in large work related. So this could be a covers gig you agreed to, a student you took on when maybe you didn’t really want to, or maybe too many students in general? Or it could be writing and tracking drums for a project that you’re not that invested in, but you agreed to? These are the ‘have to do’s’.
Whereas the ‘want to do’s’ are the things you like spending time working on, things such as your flow around the kit, strengthening your doubles (essential), developing your single kick to world-class status (also essential). Things of that nature. No one is paying you for these things. They are the ‘want to dos’.
And it’s the balance between these two things that keeps your ‘creativity pool’ either full, or empty.
The idea of the ‘creativity pool’ is a simple analogy I came up with a few years ago. It’s a way to think about the amount of creative energy we have each week, for everything we do on our instrument that week, eg. teaching, gigging, covers, studio work, content creation, ALL pull from this ‘creativity pool’, whether you’re aware of it, or not.
Case in point – Let’s say you teach 30 students a week. In MOST cases, you’ll find that no matter how much you want to improve on the instrument yourself, your desire to actually sit down and log a couple of hours of solid practice diminishes as the week plays out, as the teaching rolls out. The energy you’re giving to your students is pulled from the same energy stockpile that you would use for your own practice. The ‘creativity pool’.
How do I know of this example specifically? Because I teach teachers. I teach the people who are experiencing this creative burnout, and almost daily too, and these people haven’t yet connected the dots to realise that they can actually fix it, and that they have full control over this situation.
Oh, and I should add, I’ve also been through this all myself, first hand.
So, for me, what I’ve realised over the years, is that my love for the craft and my desire to sit down to practice for hours on end, THAT is my superpower here. THAT is the most important thing to me. It’s not how I play that’s important, it’s the creative energy I have inside me that is, and I must protect it at ALL costs.
So how do I do that? How do I protect it? This part is actually quite personal, as what fuels you or drains you, is actually quite unique to you and your situation, BUT… in my case, it’s quite simple….
A. My teaching is on my terms. This means I keep it to a minimum, and at a level I am interested in. So I only teach my concepts, ideas, and material as this is the stuff I care about most, the stuff I’m most passionate about, and ultimately, the stuff I am still a student to myself. – (To be a great teacher you must be a primarily a student – but more on that another time).
B. I don’t play in cover bands. This is just a personal thing, but I’m pretty firm on it. I’ll expand on this properly another time also, but I learned first hand many many years ago that this absolutely kills my creative energy, and very quickly, so it’s a no-go for me.
C. Session work (live & studio) must be inspiring and fulfilling, or pay VERY well, lol. It’s that simple. Gone are the days where I am willing to take every gig or session offered to me.
It’s interesting being a professional creative; being someone who can charge money for their creative services. These two things seem quite counterintuitive, right? The idea of commoditising our creative outlets. This seems very opposite to me, yet it’s something we all try to work towards! A photographer getting paid to take photos, a painter getting paid to paint, and a drummer getting paid to gig.
I made an interesting realisation a few years back.
The first 10 years of our creative journey is all about ‘skill acquisition’, gaining as much ability on our instrument as we can possibly muster.
Then the second 10 years is all about commoditising those skills, turning them into a job, or attempting to ‘turn pro’. The simple idea of now charging for your services, whether it be through teaching or performance. That’s the goal in most cases, right? Working full time as a musician?
Well, this is where the conflict starts, as often the work we have to do to gain a full-time wage is not the most creative or inspiring. This is where we start to ‘drain the pool’, as I mentioned earlier, and kill the creative energy we have for our craft.
So this leads to the third 10 years of your creative journey; trying to find your love for the craft again. I see this all the time. People attempting to tap back into the same original energy from those first 10 years of their journey, the energy that had you working on your craft for hours every day, with no problem at all, and purely for the love of getting better, too!
Sound familiar?
It may not be as visceral as this, but EVERYONE has experienced their version of their ‘creative pool’ being drained.
So what do we do about this? How do we get back to a place where we are nurturing our creativity to the point where we have an absolute abundance of the stuff again, like we once had?
What I recommend is doing a ‘CREATIVITY STOCKTAKE’. Have a good look at your situation, take a look at everything you do in your life day to day, and see if there is anything in particular that is getting in the way of your desire to practice, play and/or be creative.
Are you teaching too much? Are you doing too many sessions that are not fulfilling? Are you doing too many cover gigs? Is your practice environment not inspiring enough to actually make you want to sit down on a daily basis and log those hours? Really think about this, and then consider making some adjustments to balance it all out.
I actually have an amazing story about this very thing, suggesting to a student they do a creativity stocktake, and the results were amazing. But I’ll save this for another day too!
So that’s it. Make changes in your life and repurpose the energy back into the love for this instrument, and the pursuit of the craft. The pursuit of MASTERY.
I get it, don’t worry, I fully understand this may mean making some BIG changes, and maybe even mean supplementing your income in other ways, but if that’s what it takes to free up some of that creative energy, then its an easy trade in my opinion. But that’s something for you to think over and figure out yourself.
Just remember…
Your creativity is your superpower.
Your desire to play is your superpower.
Your love for the craft is your superpower.
Do not take this for granted. You must protect it at ALL costs.
Some people may have more of a proclivity towards this instrument than others, but as I mentioned at the start, I believe the only ‘gift’ or ‘talent’ we have, is the desire and obsession to sit down and do the work. The willing to sit down and practice for hours, upon hours, upon hours, upon hours. That’s it. That’s real talent, our love for the pursuit of the craft.
Again, don’t take this for granted. Respect it. Nurture it. Care for it. And understand full well that you have the power here, you are in FULL control of it.
So…
Guard your creativity AT ALL COSTS.
Stay hungry, and see you next week,
Stan