A time to act
So in June 2011 I bought a Mac. I didn’t read the manual. I bought a DAW (digital audio workstation) and the rest of the gear and then I hammered some carpet underlay into the garage walls, some spare curtains which the in-laws generously donated and some random cut off pieces of mismatched carpet. Another friend gave up a thick piece of wood and this became the door for my studio. Many choice words were uttered, but then that’s another advantage of DIY: no one can hear.
All the risk was mine. I worked every hour I possibly could and went days without seeing another human being. When the Parcelforce man delivered monitor speakers for the studio, he came face to face with a socially inept, tea-stained person who could muster only a single stray comment about the weather.
A time to keep
In my mid(late) twenties I have varied experiences of work. I have been a teacher, a youth worker, a project manager within the public and charity sectors. I gave everything to my work and then some. I remember occasions of manning the on-call phone and sorting accommodation for an unaccompanied refugee late into the night. I definitely felt I was doing my bit. I was part of a team.
The strategy and direction was provided (albeit with some input from those of us lower down the chain). Ultimate responsibility would tend to fall to someone higher (as long as you’d ticked all the boxes). And if the strain was ever too great there were colleagues to moan with over a cup of tea.
But I chose the life of a musician. I decided to make the change and I wanted to make it work. That’s where self- motivation comes into its own. Music is my cocoon as well as my weapon and the one thing which helps me get up and get on. It’s the thing I enjoy doing most and the only thing I have had any real confidence that I am good at. Music is the means as well as the end.
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