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Self Appraisal - be brutal, be brave, be honest

skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
edited December 2008 in Strut Central
So you play better than Motorhead and you have more charisma than Boston.b, 21Your songs are better than Sabbath's, and you are funkier than Phil Collins.b, 21Damn right you better looking than Shane MacGowan.b, 21b, 21Your beats knock Clipse into a cocked hat and your record collection is a Gilles 'Quite a Raer One' Peterson wet dream.b, 21b, 21So why has your band/dj/rap/whatever career not hit the heights?
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  Comments

  • the_dLthe_dL 1,531 Posts
    because i gave up my dreams of producing beats to concentrate on increasing my soulstrut poast count
  • kalakala 3,362 Posts
    5 kidsb, 21a cushy cog desk job and a growing "waste-line"b, 21do the mathb, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21or b, 21archie THE SKKKINHEAD PUNK from repo manb, 21"i blAME SOCIETY"
  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 215 kids
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21CHECKb, 21b, 21/font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21a cushy
    s1cog
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    finance professional[/b] desk jobb, 21b, 21h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21CHECKb, 21b, 21/font1
    font class="small"1Quote:
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    h, 21
    b, 21and a growing "waste-line"
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21CHECKb, 21b, 21A place in your all-star academy is out of the question, then?
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,963 Posts
    People are only motivated by one of two things:b, 21b, 21Personal gain or fear of loss.b, 21b, 21You will be either one or the other. You have to be the former to crush the competition like Italians on grapes because to get to the top, it's a crush or be crushed world.b, 21b, 21Like most, I am the latter. Don't want to be killing myself outside of work hours. I class "Doing Nothing" as a legitimate use of spare time. And it's not often I get to "Do Nothing".
  • Birdman9Birdman9 5,417 Posts
    What is this thread about, anyway?
  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    It's about why you are not Led Zeppelin or Jay-Z
  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,794 Posts
    Jack of sweet FA and master of none I guess.b, 21b, 21Was very into sports in my late teens, early twenties, always good at atheletics, tennis, rugby, but best at football, and just when I probably should have been trying to join a club, I got hooked on basketball, and specifically the idea of slam-dunking... at 5'9" I suppose I was trying to beat the vertical challenge. Once I achieved that (3 years, lot of practice on my own at a local hoop), my interest in playing basketball stopped, and I went back to playing football, but had missed the boat on the age group that most clubs look at youngsters. And then I started travelling a lot.b, 21Just as my DJ scratch-a-lot skills were taking shape, I went back into education, met my girlfriend (now of 6 years), and became content to just play records... but this was probably good in the long-term: living with my girlfriend, she was quick to get bored of listening to wikki-wikki-wikki-thressssh, and whether by coincidence or not, my own tastes broadened for the better (less angry-young-man music, more melody).b, 21b, 21'Focus', as John Fashanu would say. I've always been good at throwing myself into something, but for most of the time I've also been unable to envisage the end-result that I should be striving for*, and quite content to take life as it comes.b, 21At the moment, just keeping my girl happy gives me all the satisfaction, and all of the trouble in the world (aaaawwww, yuck!)b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21b, 21*however... just been getting to grips with Abelton thanks to a friend, and have started pulling breaks and beats I bought over ten years ago and kept on the shelf with the vague notion that "one day, I'll use that to make a boombap beat". Feels strange to finally see some forward-planning in my life begin to come to fruition - watch this space.
  • SolidState16SolidState16 181 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21or
    b, 21archie THE SKKKINHEAD PUNK from repo man
    b, 21"i blAME SOCIETY"
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21Ha! "But it still hurts!"b, 21object width="425" height="344"1param name="movie" value=""1/param1param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"1/param1param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"1/param1embed src="" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"1/embed1/object1b, 21b, 21After taking a good, hard look at the real mechanics of the music industry, I decided it just wasn't for me. At all. The cost is too high and the benefits are too few. Now I piss people off on the interwebs and strum my guitar/make beats for fun.
  • JimsterJimster Cruffiton.etsy.com 6,963 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21'Focus', as John Fashanu would say.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21John Fashanu has revealed how he paid a tramp to secure his dream home.b, 21b, 21The former Wimbledon and England striker was desperate to get his hands on a ??1.25m flat in London's Knightsbridge, but found he was up against a host of other buyers.b, 21b, 21Upon discovering that he would have to queue outside the sales office for two days to be sure of success, Fash relied on the quick-thinking that used to terrorise top-flight defenders.b, 21b, 21He jumped into his Mercedes, after lining the back seat with polythene, sped down to King's Cross and persuaded a tramp to stand in the queue for him, in return for ??300b, 21b, 21^^^TALMBOUT THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,794 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21
    /font1
    font class="small"1Quote:
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    h, 21
    b, 21'Focus', as John Fashanu would say.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1
    b, 21
    b, 21John Fashanu has revealed how he paid a tramp to secure his dream home.
    b, 21
    b, 21The former Wimbledon and England striker was desperate to get his hands on a ??1.25m flat in London's Knightsbridge, but found he was up against a host of other buyers.
    b, 21
    b, 21Upon discovering that he would have to queue outside the sales office for two days to be sure of success, Fash relied on the quick-thinking that used to terrorise top-flight defenders.
    b, 21
    b, 21He jumped into his Mercedes, after lining the back seat with polythene, sped down to King's Cross and persuaded a tramp to stand in the queue for him, in return for ??300
    b, 21
    b, 21^^^TALMBOUT THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21LOL, I need to think of a way that I can say how that would apply to me without my girlfriend getting suspicious about the possible allusions: "So what you're saying is, I need to find my tramp?"b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/doggie.gif" alt="" 21
  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21Jack of sweet FA and master of none I guess.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21You're talking about the Butterfly Effect, something from which most of us suffer.b, 21b, 21For myself, my band got waylaid by a lack of drive to capitalise on some early local newspaper coverage, and was deeply handicapped through not having a USP.b, 21A lack of talent had something to do with it, that and our bassist's chronic acne problem. Otherwise we would have ruled the f*cking world, maaan.
  • DuderonomyDuderonomy Haut de la Garenne 7,794 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21
    i1
    Otherwise/b1[/i]...b, 21b, 21h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cos3ve.gif" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21Mid-life crisis here I come!
  • CosmophonicCosmophonic 1,172 Posts
    I do music for the fun of it, all my equipment put together is worth less than 1K British, I collect records for the music not the value, and I'm 6 months from a degree w/ girlfriend.b, 21b, 21All bases covered.
  • verb606verb606 2,518 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21It's about why you are not Led Zeppelin or Jay-Z
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21b, 21Well, the reason we're not on that level has more to do than talent than drive. There can only be so many Zeps or Jiggas. b, 21b, 21b, 21Or if the question is: "Why are we not doing music full time or following our bliss" or whatever, then yeah, there are lots of reasons, many of which have been touched on. b, 21b, 21With DJ'ing, I failed to establish a unique style/following early on and fell into more of a "working DJ" steez. While that resulted in a long-running weekend residency that paid mad money, I let myself get boxed into that whole corner. Too attached to the loot to try to take risks and perhaps lose my job and have to go elsewhere. Eight years later and it was kinda like a marriage that's not all that great, but not quite bad enough to get a divorce. I could try to start over and come out on some different shit, but I'm too old and married to be hustling with low-paying gigs on weeknights. b, 21b, 21As for beats, I determined my shit wasn't really good enough to make raw power moves. I'm back in school now, so all that shit's on hold, but I hope to get back on the beat thing on some hobby shit once I'm done. If I can put out a couple more "records" and get some more interwebs dap before I die I'll be cool.
  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    WEED
  • twoplytwoply Only Built 4 Manzanita Links 2,917 Posts
    I know too many talented people. I'd rather see--or even help--them continue to achieve recognition and success than spend all my spare time trying to get up to their level, which could easily never happen.
  • shawnald_reaganshawnald_reagan 318 Posts
    I live in Indianapolis. 'Nuff said.
  • DJ_EnkiDJ_Enki 6,475 Posts
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    h, 21
    b, 21
    b, 21So why has your band/dj/rap/whatever career not hit the heights?
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Racism. Everybody wants to keep the white man down.b, 21b, 21Seriously, there's about a bajillion reasons why, and most of them filter down to one key thing: I'm stubborn.
  • SupergoodSupergood 1,213 Posts
    I find that the older I become, the better my production skills get???but the genres I choose to work in also get increasingly obscure/less commercial with the passage of time (not that my music was all that mainstream to begin with). As long as I continue producing stuff I enjoy listening to, it???s all good with me.
  • DustedDonDustedDon 830 Posts
    LIFEb, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/WHYMUSTICRY.gif" alt="" 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/udoshithr8.gif" alt="" 21
  • dukeofdelridgedukeofdelridge urgent.monkey.mice 2,453 Posts
    AKA Al Bundy Appreciation Poast
  • 45toLife45toLife 37 Posts
    I am not nerdy enough for white boy wanna be hip hop. Plus I don't have a huge bank roll to do the big things I can dream of.
  • barjesusbarjesus 872 Posts
    My Rock and Roll lifestyle was derailed by my Rock and Roll lifestyle.
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret: success, especially in the entertainment fields, has almost nothing to do with talent, and almost everything to do with persistence. Not saying that there are no talented people out there, but talent does not play as big a role as hard work. I mean, the Beatles were all good musicians, but none of them by themselves were facemelters. The fact that they had a gig in Germany playing 7 nights a week for hours on hours each night just made them one of the best rehearsed bands out there. So-called 'geniuses' in any field of accomplishment have more failures than successes throughout their lifetime, they just don't let the failures get to them and keep working at it until they succeed. One great success can wipe the memory of 100 failures from people's minds. b, 21b, 21So to answer the original question in this thread: I'm a lazy motherfucker.
  • PATXPATX 2,820 Posts
    Screw you Nelson. I've met or exceeded most of my goals already. I'm 35, don't live with my parents and am saving up for a new computer. b, 21b, 21 img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/GetOnMyComp_gm.jpg" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21AND I have posted over 5000 times on Soulstrut since Feb 2005. I know some people got me beat on that one, but hey it's better than most of the euro dudes.
  • DB_CooperDB_Cooper Manhatin' 7,823 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21So why has your band/dj/rap/whatever career not hit the heights?
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Who said I wanted a career in music? img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/bbb.gif" alt="" 21b, 21b, 21img src="http://i160.photobucket.com/albums/t178/Great_Blue_Hills/Picture1-58.png"1
  • skelskel You can't cheat karma 5,033 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21Screw you Nelson. I've met or exceeded most of my goals already. I'm 35, don't live with my parents and am saving up for a new computer.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/GetOnMyComp_gm.jpg" alt="" 21
    b, 21
    b, 21AND I have posted over 5000 times on Soulstrut since Feb 2005. I know some people got me beat on that one, but hey it's better than most of the euro dudes.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21hahahahab, 21b, 21I read last weekend that the Beatles clocked up 10,000 hours of playing time before hitting big.b, 21Now that don't guarantee huge success, but writer dude's hypothesis is that you can't have huge success without that kind of temporal investment.b, 21b, 21So most of us could be massive-in-the-game record listeners, but F*ck all else.b, 21I mean, who wants to play 10,000 hours worth of largely shitty gigs?b, 21Apart from Dire Straits.
  • prof_rockwellprof_rockwell 2,867 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21Screw you Nelson. I've met or exceeded most of my goals already. I'm 35, don't live with my parents and am saving up for a new computer.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/GetOnMyComp_gm.jpg" alt="" 21
    b, 21
    b, 21AND I have posted over 5000 times on Soulstrut since Feb 2005. I know some people got me beat on that one, but hey it's better than most of the euro dudes.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21Hey, I just turned 35, living with my girlfriend, and am on my FOURTH computer, plus I have 1000+ moar poasts than you AND A BLOG!! So why don't you just skip back over that pond back to ye olde bangers and mash.
  • dwyhajlodwyhajlo 420 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21I'm gonna let you all in on a little secret: success, especially in the entertainment fields, has almost nothing to do with talent, and almost everything to do with persistence. Not saying that there are no talented people out there, but talent does not play as big a role as hard work. I mean, the Beatles were all good musicians, but none of them by themselves were facemelters. The fact that they had a gig in Germany playing 7 nights a week for hours on hours each night just made them one of the best rehearsed bands out there. So-called 'geniuses' in any field of accomplishment have more failures than successes throughout their lifetime, they just don't let the failures get to them and keep working at it until they succeed. One great success can wipe the memory of 100 failures from people's minds.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21This is most of it. Jay-Z, for example, was 27 when Reasonable Doubt came out. Not exactly young by rap standards. He never stopped trying though, and look at him now!b, 21Part of it is luck, too, though. Sometimes you just have to be in the right place at the right time.b, 21b, 21As for myself, I'm perfectly happy with where I am. Granted, I never really had aspirations to be the next Led Zeppelin or Jay-Z or Lennon or McCartney, but things have still turned out really well for me. I've got my loot, I've got my job (which I love), I've got my girl and I've got my health. I never wanted anything more.
  • GropeGrope 2,970 Posts
    /font1
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    h, 21
    b, 21I read last weekend that the Beatles clocked up 10,000 hours of playing time before hitting big.
    b, 21Now that don't guarantee huge success, but writer dude's hypothesis is that you can't have huge success without that kind of temporal investment.
    b, 21
    b, 21So most of us could be massive-in-the-game record listeners, but F*ck all else.
    b, 21I mean, who wants to play 10,000 hours worth of largely shitty gigs?
    b, 21Apart from Dire Straits.
    b, 21
    b, 21
    h, 21
    font class="post"1b, 21b, 21you sound like a twelve year old that isn't sure about his sexual orientation yet.b, 21what's your job then?
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