tag:semusic.org,2005:/blogs/beating-heartsBeating Hearts2019-05-05T19:26:13+01:00Success Express Musicfalsetag:semusic.org,2005:Post/57437702019-05-05T19:22:05+01:002023-12-10T16:50:14+00:00004: Fall Fast by Mike Willis from Kiku Songs<p>Fail Fast - Get it wrong today. Kick ass tomorrow! There are piles upon piles of books, VHS tapes, Ted Talks and podcasts about overcoming the age-old “Fear of Failure.” And everyone knows we should “learn from our mistakes" and that “good things can come of bad.” Indeed, as failure is often described as the quickest and most reliable route to success, why do we dread it so much? Why? Human nature. Fear of failure is essentially fear itself.</p>
<p>Without fear, we’d refuse to educate ourselves. We’d walk blindly into traffic or jump into the deep end of the pool without knowing how to swim. Etc etc etc… On the one hand, fear of failure is a life-saver and the driving force behind our desire to grow and better ourselves. But, on the other, if left to run wild, this particular fear can stifle creativity turning a corner from self-preservation and quality control to self-defeating perfectionism. Successful people view failure as an unique opportunity to earn first-hand wisdom.</p>
<p>These do-ers quiet their perfectionist tendencies enough to realize failure almost never results in absolute catastrophe. In reality, making mistakes or falling short of expectations rarely involves more than losing a little money and wasting some time - a small price to pay for a potentially invaluable experience… regardless of the outcome. So, how might you apply this mindset specifically as a MusicMaker?</p>
<p>Here are a number of suggestions from your friends at KiKu:</p>
<p>1) Seek out and embrace criticism... and do it early in the creative process. Play your newest songs to anyone that will listen - not just to your mother and your closest friends. Ask other MusicMakers and MusicPros what they think and really Listen, not just to their words but also to their reactions. Once you have feedback from your Inner Circle. Play your song at an Open Mic or a KiKu SongCircle. Is your audience losing interest after the first chorus? Does the message in the lyric provoke conversation? Is the subject or feeling coming across like you hoped it would? Once you've done this, use this information to determine for yourself if the song is up to the standard you want for yourself. You don't have to take everyone’s advice on board (and you probably shouldn't!) but never reject what you hear simply because it challenges you.</p>
<p>2) Put yourself out there and widen your network! Pick up the phone, reach out via social media, go to a KiKu networking event and introduce yourself...to everyone. Ask them about themselves and be ready to talk about yourself in honest and direct terms. Where you are in your career... where you'd like to be... Most people are afraid of rejection - a particularly emotionally challenging form of failure. But a little persistence can go a long way towards developing new and empowering relationships. If someone rejects you, don't be afraid to ask why. If you get an answer, maybe you're being presented with an opportunity to grow. As long as you’re friendly and polite, you lose nothing by trying to make new connections.</p>
<p>3) Get out of your comfort zone! Expose yourself to new music and new production styles that challenge you and broaden your horizons. If you’ve never co-written, do it. If you’re 40 years old or older, use the Social Media that you don’t understand. Sure it’ll be disorienting and somewhat embarrassing at first, but don’t avoid or pre-judge things out of ignorance.</p>
<p>Put yourself out there and try new stuff. Like we said earlier, what’s the worst that could happen? There's an old saying that goes: "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger." The happiest and most fulfilled MusicMakers know this and they are out there taking chances, writing for the waste basket, starting that new band they've always talked about, and more.</p>
<p>Whatever is holding you back, whatever idea you have or song you’ve written that just "isn’t ready”... Let it go. Let it fly or fall.</p>
<p>Either way, the result probably won’t kill you.</p>
<p>This blog post is part of a four part series on failure from<a contents=" http://KiKuSongs.com" data-link-label="" data-link-type="url" href="http://KiKuSongs.com" target="_blank"> http://KiKuSongs.com</a></p>
<p> </p>Success Express Musictag:semusic.org,2005:Post/56778632019-03-12T20:23:15+00:002023-12-10T17:03:21+00:00003: First Steps by Lorraine Solomons<p>In the first blog, Si painted the picture of where we were back in 2012 and his own artist experience of his first SE gig, but it wasnt the whole story. What Si didnt tell you was how that evening ended and his part in it. I have a burning recollection of that one Sunday evening at Proud Camden (another venue gone) but before I share that you should really know the lead up, </p>
<p>I had never planned to be a music promoter, and I think safe to say I didn't exactly know what being a "music promoter" meant. I still don't feel Im a music promoter really. You see, Success Express was born in Costa East Finchley with Vocal Coach Joshua Alamu (today working with JP Cooper, Rita Ora and Little Mix) over coffee and stories. He shared his dearly held desire to give his time for free to help singers and artists with raw talent get to the next level and Success Express was born. For the first couple of years we ran amazing and completely inspirational workshops and showcases, where young would be artists from 13 years and up rubbed shoulders with more mature guys, all looking to improve their craft and achieve their goals, in a way that was meaningful to them. </p>
<p>Roll on three years, as our young artists grew up (Paulaa, Natalie Good, Brooke Law amongst them) it was the vital next step to help them find more performance opportunities ideally alongside more established emerging artists. Proud Camden loved our Success Express Artist Showcase hosted there (I think that was number #6) and offered us a regular Sunday night. I can tell you now I literally had no clue about promoting so it was genuinely a case of group messaging every musician singer, music teacher etc I knew back in 2012 and asking them "Do we want to do this?" and "How would we do this", plus of course "How does the money work so artists get paid?". We figured out a ticket split plan collectively and again, collectively, we set about the first few Sundays, and spreading the word. </p>
<p>Within a matter of weeks, amazing as it sounds today, there was a little weekly crowd of audience building up, but but my little artist list would dry up quite quickly so I set about looking around for new artists to invite. As I write this, Im proud that the exact same artists I met somehow or another at this time are the ones that still heavily involve themselves with SE. </p>
<p>The nights built up weekly and I remember the Proud Camden manager walking backwards and forwards through our little room to his office nodding and smiling. The difference in standard to the rest of Proud Camden's programme was considerable. The main room with bands was free entry, and ours was a fiver on the door, but every week walk ins would choose to pay the £5 surcharge to sit in our room and enjoy our acts. And why? Because you don't work with the likes of a top industry coach like Josh for years sitting in workshops and understanding what makes a voice and performance unique and then not care about the quality of who you book. I was so passionate and evangelical back then and people seemed to like that, and didn't say no to performing. </p>
<p>So roll on a few months and we reach that particular Sunday evening May that Si wrote about last month. I think we had a guest from the US, and a couple of other solo artists but in all truth all I can remember was a boy and a girl (Si and Hils) quietly arriving with their music gear, sitting on their own at a table with a bottle of wine, and then eventually stepping onto the stage at around 10pm. This quiet, reserved guy proceeded to literally explode on stage, and deliver the most emotional, tense and genuinely inspiring live performance I had ever seen. </p>
<p>His performance brought every single person in that room, at their respective tables, to their feet in unreserved admiration. Si sang"1982" (aka Hurt You), accompanied by Hils to close, and I found myself in tears. As I looked around the room I was not the only one moved. Unique, memorable and completely wonderful, we as an audience were all moved together. I have never forgotten that standing ovation at the end and it remains a treasured memory. </p>
<p>I have seen Si perform many 100's of times since that day but it was a defining moment, and his standing ovation and audience accolade that night is the bar I have since mentally set for being world class. I decided right there and then I wanted to whatever was needed to help gifted credible artists play to not just a few handfuls of people and bring them to their feet, but to the 'greater world' as they rightly deserve. </p>
<p>The contract was formed back then at Proud Camden, and despite a few wobbles I have never ever contemplated doing anything else but to solely and completely focus on achieving that one purpose as Success Express. Some days I think we have done good, mostly I don't think we have made any impact or useful contribution at all, but the genuine love and community hub of audience, creatives and artists we have built from that day to this has remained strong and rewarding an I'm ever hopeful that if we continue with the right clarity and intent, artists can and will break through to that wider, bigger place. </p>Success Express Musictag:semusic.org,2005:Post/56272602019-02-04T21:17:12+00:002023-12-10T17:28:56+00:00002: Waltz Time by Si Connelly<p>Hey, thanks for plugging in here. My name is Si Connelly and I'm a Singer-Songwriter currently living in Brighton. Being an artist in 2019 also means I do a thousand other random things, one of which was to build this website and help SE with their rebirth into the next 10 years. </p>
<p>I was thinking recently what qualified me to even get involved. I mean I’m not a web designer. I have picked up certain skills for visuals and editing over the years, with some basic coding but it felt like a website for SE just had to be built by someone who understands where it came from 10 years ago. </p>
<p>Going back 10 years ago, even then it was clear (and kinda shocking) that there was an events company who actually cared about artists. I mean even today that is rare. There are many heroes across the UK music scene, but in London, you can count them on one hand. </p>
<p>Let me paint a picture of what it was like before SE came along, in the months before I stumbled into Proud Gallery, I’d been playing all over London, in heartless dead nights with about as much vibe as an empty carpark. You’d arrive at the gig at soundcheck, ask some angry looking guy wiping down the tables where the venue bit of the venue was. He’d sneer that the sound-guy should already be here, so just hang about. After a good 45 mins, a disinterested guy would stumble in and tell you to get on stage and just do your set. </p>
<p>“But the venue’s not open?” - “Doors should open in 5”. </p>
<p>I remember turning up to one gig, and the venue had left. </p>
<p>Long story. </p>
<p>So one time, about 9 years back, I stomped into Proud Camden looking like a Christmas tree decorated in music gear. Various damp items, dripping off me like icing on a lemon cake. </p>
<p>I was approached by a really strange site. This guy wanders over and says thanks for coming, soundcheck is underway, and here are some tokens for a drink. </p>
<p>This guy turned out to be Pete Solo. </p>
<p>The night got weirder and weirder when other acts started to arrive and were all smiling and openly chatting to each other. </p>
<p>This may seem strange to mention but the usual protocol, which I am assured went out with every copy of the NME, was for each act to take a corner of the room and compare the tightness of jeans, whilst scowling like hungry Cats at each other. </p>
<p>So you can imagine my discomfort at what appeared to be friendly musicians helping each other. </p>
<p>Shortly after this, this busy woman waltz in as if she had a parcel of smiles and desperately needed someone to sign for them, before she collapsed under the weight of the delivery. </p>
<p>From what I could make out from my table, she was circling the room looking for acts to attend to, to help them with anything they might need gig wise. Stage times, more drinks, guest-list passes, kit share, the list of helpful assistance went on. The gig started and every single act watch every single act. This confused me. It’s not normal. </p>
<p>Maybe we’re in the wrong place? The last time I played here the sound-guy left halfway through to eat a burger. </p>
<p>Every act at the gig made the vibe and for the first time in years, I witnessed a community. A group of people that backed each other up and made the event better as a whole. </p>
<p>It turns out that the waltzing lady/circus barker was called Lorraine Solomans, and that gig would be the first of hundreds. Ever since that show, I’ve seen SE bloom into the number one place for artists, and do you know why. </p>
<p>Unlike so many before and since it is not self-serving. </p>
<p>It Is owned by all artists, for the audience, for the moment. </p>
<p>It simply exists as a signpost. Directing and helping all the beating hearts that make the artist community. </p>
<p>I’m glad to have been one smile among thousands. </p>
<p>Thanks, Lorraine & Pete. Thanks, SE. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>---------------------</p>
<p>Si Connelly</p>Success Express Musictag:semusic.org,2005:Post/55443972018-12-07T19:37:28+00:002023-12-10T18:52:58+00:00001: Your Voice<p>Our blog is all about you. Whether you're an audience member, Photographer, Musician or Act, each blog post will be curated by you guys and girls. </p>
<p>Post one is currently in the oven. If you fancy featuring in our blog, just give us a holla via the contact page. </p>
<p> </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/145635/f729c84bfa7b750171b931809ddd2ed542416e66/original/handprint.png/!!/b:W10=.png" class="size_l justify_center border_" /></p>0:38Success Express Music