Why Talented Musicians Don't Succeed | Philosophy Sunday | /@theartistguides

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[00:00:00]I think it was Andy Edwards. You know Andy? Uh it's like he was on this like a English commentator on on music.

[00:00:17]Hello and welcome to this video. There is a YouTuber out there called the artist guides and uh on this channel this man um offers advice for musicians and then you can go and uh join up on these sessions where he's providing guidance for musicians who want to I suppose get their music out there take their music further and he's done a video uh which is called why talented musicians don't succeed. And as soon as I saw that title, I wanted to watch that video. And being a YouTuber, I noticed these things. I thought, I've got to click on that. Most music YouTubers I don't click on, but I thought, I've got to click on that. And I watched it. And what he does over about 10 minutes is give you a really wellthoughtout um sort of overview of how talent works, what talent is, the sort of talents you need that you might not have thought of to to uh be a successful musician and all those types of things. And so I recommend it. Uh the guy uh was very eloquent um affable, you know, it was it's great youtubing. It's what I love to see and I love to uh help people out cuz he's not as big as me. He's only got 14,000 subscribers, but that's a reasonable amount of sub subscribers really knowing how hard it is to do this. So, some of you musicians out there might be interested in toddling over and having a watch of that and having a look at his other content.

[00:01:49]But with me, when I read that title, why talented musicians don't succeed, these are the sort of things that send me off on thoughts. I start thinking about it. You see why? Why is that true or not? And I also think why did why did I want to click on it? And the reason I want to click on it is because there's a part of me that wants to uh see that as being the case.

[00:02:15]Failed musician syndrome. Now, the thing is, I've never met a musician that doesn't either believe that they fluke their way into a career that they don't deserve or they have not gone as far as they should and they're more talented and they deserve to do better than they actually did. And most musicians are a weird mix of those two things. To put that more simply, they uh have a whole dose of self-loathing. So they don't think they're good enough, but by the other's token, they think that the world's against them and they're not the right face and they're not in with the right people and all these non-talented people are coming through and they look at this person and that how can they be doing that, you know? And this is really um it's a symptom of a sort of mental health issue really really that musicians have and I imagine the general public have too. And so this idea that the music industry is full of untalented people that just got there cuz their uncle works in the industry, you know, and or they just have to have the right face and the right time or whatever it is that you you know, these are the things that we all want to tell each other because, you know, when your friend who is is uh not as talented as you uh but goes and plays golf with the boss gets the promotion and you don't and it's big, oh, you know, I've never been able to kiss. Oh, I've never been able to do it, you know, and all that starts to happen. And I think um this idea of the star, something that we all know very well, the whole a star is born. This idea that the powers that be come and sort of lift you off the streets, you know, like some weird fairy godmother. They descend down and go, I can see your inner talent when no one else can and then you you you require this help. Now, this guy touched on this, which I was very impressed with. I call it the Cinderella theory. You know that a lot of musicians think that they have to do something to get noticed and then when they get noticed uh some somehow it will all then fit into place you know and the magic will happen. Now what that really is is an observation that is that those people who make it it's usually a fluke. I've sat with very famous musicians and said you know what do you think it was that made you become you know world famous whatever they've said it was a fluke. Those magicians sit there thinking I fluke my way to this and yet I am being woripped and it's such a strange dichotomy that exists within the realm of fame which is mirrored in the realm of nonfame and I think um we get fame confused with uh earning a living as well. Most people that earn a living in the industry are not creating they're doing another job.

[00:04:58]Um, I can remember once um I was doing uh working with some musicians in a in a in a local town hall and we had to stop the rehearsals because some guys came in to replace the lights. So these we stop and these guys climb up their ladders.

[00:05:14]They're changing the lights and I thought, well, I'll turn this into a a bit of an education for them. So I said, "Excuse me, mate." All my students are sat there. I said, "You you change the lights? Could you tell us how you got here? Change that lights. I mean, is this your job?" They went, "Yeah, this is my job. I worked for this company.

[00:05:28]And then I said, "How did you where did you start?" And he went, "Well, I was originally a music producer. I made dance music." And then he told a story that his love of music had took him towards, you know, learning about music technology. Then he got interested in live sound systems because, you know, he was DJing and then they had to put lights in and then he became an expert on lights. And you got to understand that one of the biggest employers in the music industry, one of the biggest ones is companies that install PA systems.

[00:05:58]All right? How do you get knowledge of a PA system by utilizing them, using them?

[00:06:03]I've used PA systems. I got one behind me right now. And I can set that up. I'm no expert, but I know how they work. I'm sure was a job, you know, and I was there saying, you know, do you know how to set up a PA system? I go, yeah, I know how it works. I know a lot of the technical bits and so you know every hospital, every airport, every shopping mall, every doctor's waiting room have every church have PA systems in them.

[00:06:29]This is how the music industry actually works and companies have to put those those systems in. And who knows about PA? Well, some electricians would probably be able to do the job on the electrical side, but what about the acoustic side? You know what about knowing what sounds right and what doesn't sound right. So talents a weird thing and a lot of musicians have a whole bunch of employable talents which you wouldn't actually associate as being talents but that's that's a knowledge talent. All right.

[00:07:00]So when we back up and we look at this statement here I feel that there's a few other things that you need to sort of get straight before we get into this is like what do you want? If you want to make your living out of it, why do you want to make your living? If you were a millionaire, would you want to make your living out of it? Probably not. You would probably spend your money to do the music you want to do. Now, a millionaire that just does the music they want to do, they're the only people have absolute creative control. And there are some people that don't need to be millionaires. When you're younger, say you're living at your parents, you know, and you've got a sort of part-time job, you can get little studio set up at home. You have creative freedom in a way that people are earning a living out of it haven't. Every artist you know, every band you know that have made it, right?

[00:07:45]If which is a ridiculous term in itself.

[00:07:47]If they are still living off that, I promise you they are living off the legacy of something they did maybe 10 years, 20 years, 30 years or 40 years and they are standing on stage pretending that they still are 23 years old or in a band that had a successful album, you know, many decades before and probably feel as unfulfilled in doing that uh as as you do, not being able to do your music full-time. And so it's very elusive. It's very elusive. Being creatively fulfilled is a desire we have and it's it nags away some people that they they can't really function just be happy with life normally. Now, if you actually examine that as an idea, very interesting, isn't it? You get you there's certain people out there, they can't just do the 9 to5, can't be happy with normality. They need to pass judgment on the world around them, the aesthetic world around them. They want to make their mark. All right. Now this gets sublimated because once they get into it, they conform to the style of music that they like or they conform to what they think the music industry is and the music industry is not there anymore. And now we have the internet and the internet is much more conducive to you expressing yourself in exactly the way you are, but no one seems to realize it. Right? Fundamentally, and I've said this to every musician I've ever taught, right? And this goes beyond I'm hoping we've got people here that that feel frustrated and unfulfilled.

[00:09:13]Maybe middle-aged people fulfilled. You just love music. You love you know me talking about music. This is for everybody here. This is not just for musicians right. Um the reason why we create right is usually as a rebalance to the way life is and the way you observe it. So, in other words, um you have a mental health issue and your mental health issue isn't really a mental health issue. It's just you're wired different and you're wired in that you have a certain type of sensitivity. Now, that sensitivity might take you down the road towards depression and anxiety. That's the bad side of it. But that sensitivity also means you're very sensitive to the world around you and you can react to it.

[00:10:00]Right? When I said about those guys setting up the PA, yeah, you could do all the electrics, but when that microphone plugs in and you got to see if the PA is working, whether it sounds any good, and whether it was worth the money, you have to use the these and you have to make an aesthetic decision. And if it's not right, and you need now to walk up to the equalizer, right? You could do it two ways. You can get some sort of measurement and go, well, actually, there's there seems to be a boost around about 200, you know, hertz and and I think we need to just notch that down. You can measure that or you can go no no no I I've got it and then you can go up and do something which is a completely different thing. It's got nothing to do with science or facts or evidence. It's you taking the aesthetic that is in front of you and you tune it to make it more beautiful based upon your idea of what beauty is. You own that. We all own it. We all own um our autonomous idea of what beauty is. But the thing is, you want to know whether other people have a similar idea. Are you just nuts? Or do other people see it the same way? And if you can show it to other people, if you can show them the way you see the world, and maybe you go, well, this is I find this very beautiful. And most people don't, but actually I do. Other people go, I do as well. I really appreciate that because you drew that out. This is what art does. It's such an important thing. Now, of course, we're going through um a cultural shift at the moment. That's pretty obvious. And uh we're going through a creative aesthetic uh shift as well. And uh the arts are being democratized on a huge level. That's terrifying to the elites because it means people can just express themselves. I know this because I have gone from a system that I'd had some luck in. So, you know, I was in bands.

[00:11:46]We would get record deals. I've had hundreds of record deals. I put albums out. They've never they've never sold in huge amounts, but they had an audience there. I could get out and play and then I could teach and by teaching and playing I could sort of be semi-professional, you know. I had 10 years when I was completely professional, just earning my living from drumming, you know. Um, and I'm very grateful that I managed to do that and I learned a lot doing that, you know. But back then it's like you would get in a room with a bunch of other people. you'd have to sort of um put your own artistic desires down to work with the other people in the band and then you would get an album out and that album it could take a year and I found that very frustrating. Then this album would come out and basically fall on nothing and this is I had we had an audience but it still felt like my god we did all that. Now my job is to get up and dream up some video every single day of the week. right now. I could drop this down and I've been told Andy, you're working yourself into the ground.

[00:12:45]You, you know, you're putting a video every single day. What people don't understand is that mentally I'm not well balanced. And I'm quite happy to say that, right? I'm quite happy to say that. And I know I'm wired differently.

[00:12:57]And I know that if I'm creating and thinking about this stuff, right?

[00:13:04]Especially when I'm in the flow state, you know, I've got a whole bunch of ideas. I really want to talk about this subject to you. I'm here now talking to you about it. I'm in flow now. My ideas are running, you know, and I'm creating a pro product and then this will go up and if people like it, they will put the like on. And I love it when everyone says, "Oh, great that video. I love that Andy. That was really, you know, and I want to produce something here which really, you know, gets people fired up, gets them interested in it, thinking about art, and maybe motivates them.

[00:13:35]Because one thing this guy, the artist guy didn't say, he said, he was saying things like, "You may have a will to do it, but you're not doing the right things." Well, why aren't you doing the right things? It's because you're not motivated to do the right things. I discovered this about 25 years ago that becoming great at music was all about motivation. And I started to study um from a cognitive science point of view um how motivation works and how it works right down to the stimulus response level of being able to create skills.

[00:14:06]And this is what we mean by talent.

[00:14:08]Talent are those skills you've developed. And in the artistic realm, it's almost like um uh reaction. It's like a reaction time thing, okay? It's like reaction. It's like you see something, you react. You see something, you react. If you're not making art, you just you're just seeing things or hearing things or or thinking things, then you start making the art. Now, you're reacting. And the great artists have an incredibly fast reaction time.

[00:14:34]When when you're drawing and you you're bringing your pencil on the page, you're looking, you're trying to draw it, and then you're basically adjusting as you go. You're going, "Right, there's a line here, there's a line there." And if you see great artists, they their pen often never leaves the page and they bring it all in. Great. You know, these people who are meticulously trying to get reality. It's there's one way of doing it, but there's something fascinating about the artist that just has this reaction time and just goes, "There you go." And that's quite magical. You know, people who can do caricatures and go bang bang bang a few lines go, "Oh my god, they've got that person and they are at one." Um, and I feel that when you're creating, you're in this zone where these two places meet in the middle. That's what we want. That's what I'm doing right now. And so, I've got my free flow. I'm trying to follow where my brain wants to go, but I'm also go got a sort of overarching idea of this video, the structure to it, and where I want to land, you know. And, uh, in a funny way, what I'm doing is I know where I want to go with this one. I know the point I want to make and I'm almost like not going there because then almost like a method actor, I want to start on this talk and I want to arrive at the point I was thinking. Sometimes that doesn't work. Sometimes I go off on another tangent and I end up somewhere else like a jazz musician and it's like I'm like, well, I didn't expect to get here and I want that option over open. When I do these videos, I haven't planned them out at all, right? I'm I'm reaching out in the hope that I can get to a realization that I was like, "Oh, that was quite interesting." Because then I believe that you guys have the same thing as well. You are following the conversation in real time. And so here at this point of the video, I look up 15 minutes. This is what I normally do. You always see I do this and I take stock. I take stock.

[00:16:23]You know, so where are we at the moment?

[00:16:25]Well, we've got to look at the desires of the musician. Why they want to create? Why the artist wants to create?

[00:16:30]by the writer. Why anybody wants to create and and what is creativity is your reaction to the world around you.

[00:16:37]And why would you do that? Well, because it communitates communicates to other people and they need it to stay sane.

[00:16:43]You need to be on the reception of art as well as dishing it out, right? But what's really important is you might have a sort of a sensitivity that other people haven't got. You might have been aware of that. You might spend most of your time, especially through your teenage years, trying to push down that sensitivity you had and pretend like you just don't give a toss about anything.

[00:17:03]You know, conform to the group, just don't give a toss, you know, all that bit. But the thing is is that you knew you were like that. And then the stresses in between those two voices, which I feel like when you become a teenager, it's like you're turning into an adult. You go, I'm trying to be an adult. And the little kids going, yeah, but I don't like it here and I don't like them and I don't like what I'm doing. You be quiet. I've got to conform to the group. No, no, no. I'm here and if you don't if you don't if you don't if you don't listen to me, I'll make you want to you'll I I'll give you a sweaty armpits and make you have diarrhea. I don't want to have diarrhea. The last thing I can have is diarrhea. Don't give me diarrhea. I'm going to give you diarrhea. Oh, I'm panicking now. I don't want diarrhea now. Everyone's going to see me having diarrhea and I won't be conforming to the grip. They all call me smelly poo bum. I don't care. You need to know about me. Right. I'm acting out there. the transactional um dynamics of someone with the sort of mental health issues I've got. I'm at my best doing this. I'm at my best doing this. That's the motivator.

[00:18:03]That's the motivator, right? What's the biggest motivator for getting up your off your ass and doing it? Seeing other people do it, right? That's what motivates you. You see other people, you know, other music, other arts. And that goes to non-m musicians. You know, you sit there, listen to the album, and it moves you so much and you think, well, what I want to do, I want to be involved. That's your creative side. And all those people who earn a living where they're doing the PAS or setting up the lights, you know, or producing or running a record label or running now, you got all the new ones. So, they've got a YouTube channel where they review stuff or they, you know, they've got like a website or a blog, you know, or they or they there's so many other jobs you can do because you love music, you know, put on a Prague festival, I don't know, um work with a band first off, you know, um uh you know, do it for nothing and then when the band gets off the ground, you sort of manage them.

[00:18:56]Managers are what managers are is friends with a band that they can trust.

[00:18:59]There's so much work out there. So when this guy was talking I thought yeah but it's chaotic. There is so much work out there but the work really is not the issue. What the issue is that you as a musician are able to sustain your creativity. Now I'm in a great zone at the moment because now I earn my living by making these YouTube videos. And what surprised me is me doing this now. I wake up in the morning and it's like I got this niggling anxiety going on. But then the anxiety which is like a is like a it's like a pressure to do something, you know, fight or flight. I can channel that into doing the video. And so I'm up and I'm getting my cameras charged. I'm coming down here. I'm making notes. I've got this idea. I've got this in my head.

[00:19:44]I sit down. I deliver the video. It's done. Then I take it home. Sometimes I really edit them. Sometimes I edit them a bit. I do the thumbnail. It goes up.

[00:19:52]Once all that's up and it's up, that video's up. I feel like, oh, now I can relax, put a film on, you know, make a cup of tea, have some cake, you know, all the things. And I don't feel the need. I'm I'm in that state, that relaxed state. But for me, I wake up the next day and I'm back there. Now, when I was a musician, if I played anything that was very heavily improvised, really improvised, and I got into a certain zone, that never happens on the YouTube videos when I'm doing this, but there's a certain point when you're playing and you can get into a zone. I try and capture that with various musicians out there, and you always get some some level into that zone. It has to be improvised. If I can get there and be in there for an hour, my demons leave me for about four or five days, then it's like being on some weird drug, happy drug. Um, this is really what was missing, I think, from that guy's video is the weird swirling psychological issues that go with being a creative person. Is this conducive to the business that he was talking about about knowing about business? No. And the truth is, I've never really known about business. I've taught music business. I know how it works, right? But in the end, I'm too much of an artsy fartsya chaotic sort of, you know, person to really be worried about that. And so, you know, there was always always somebody else doing it, always someone collecting the royalties, always someone passing on the money to me. You know, every single record deal I signed, I signed on a piece of paper. I never read it. I never knew about anything here. My knowledge of the YouTube business is much better because I've had to do it all myself. But I have noticed that every stage that I've had to jump through to get this to work, I put off for weeks, weeks and weeks. And then when I have to uh say set up a Patreon or, you know, get the tax forms off for YouTube, I have to do it like pulling a plaster off. And it really is a battle between first order desire and second order desire. Right now, if you're watching this video, we're coming up. Yeah, we're not quite up to the half half passing. I'm I'm doing do that brearian thing where I'm letting you know that there is some structure to where I'm going with this.

[00:22:11]And I like my videos to be quite long. I like there to be a lot going on in them.

[00:22:15]I like people stay to the end. I want people to watch this. I know it's a lot to ask and listen to me talk for an hour, but I want to pack a lot of stuff in and I want to say all the stuff that I know no one else is going to say, right? So that's my ego, right? This is the next stage. There's a part of me that goes, "My YouTube videos are really good. I talk about stuff that no one else talks about. I go into areas and that's why people like me. I know it's only a small portion of the world out there, but you know, there's there's intelligent people like me, all sensitive and intelligent, and they like this. This is this is like go Andy's talking like me, you know, and uh what's my talent? My talent is being able to get up and do that. But you who like the channel, you are as talented as me, except you probably can't get up and talk like this. Why can I talk like this? I tell you why. Because I am a chaotic, unorganized fool. And my job was being a music lecturer for 30 years.

[00:23:09]So I had to go and walk into that class, but I never had a bloody lesson plan, right? I never looked at a scheme of work, right? I would go in, start chatting to those students and then I would deliver what they wanted that day and I had a a good enough knowledge to be able to to talk on a subject without being prepared, which means I could react and I could deliver what they wanted, right? And they knew that I was coming in to talk about something and I had no fear to to go towards any area and go and talk about that for them. And uh I had to learn that because there were great lecturers that would have a lesson planned. They have it all planned out and I needed those lecturers around me to deliver the course. But what I did was something else. Okay. And there was a period where I delivered a unit which was like music history and I used to love it and we put this class together.

[00:24:03]So it was about 40 50 kids in the room.

[00:24:05]It was a big lecture and I used to love it and the kids loved it. It should have been a really boring one for them, but it wasn't because I knew that music was motivating, right? And if I could sort of describe, you know, how I feel about Joanie Mitchell or, you know, the Sex Pistols or the Mavish Orchestra, if I could sort of explain it and then and then wind it out to what the audience was like and what they were feeling, you know, why people love the Beatles, why when they went to America, they were on the Ed Sullivan show, what was it like to be a kid then and see the Beatles turn up? We can't see it now. Why were Lu Armstrong's top fives so like groundbreaking? Why? Why? Why do people love them? And then you start to understand why people love things that are a success. Now, let's take the music industry at it. Because the other thing with this guy, he was a little bit talking like the old school music industry. That's gone. That has gone. A lot of what he says applies to the new technological age we're in at the moment. But fundamentally, there's one thing that doesn't go away. You have to do something with chime that chimes with the times, right? Art is working in two ways for it. It it it does it says things which which are sublime and perennial. And the really truly great artists say things about being a human being which have um ramifications and that has has um um a a an audience that will always be a like Shakespeare or Rembrandt you know or um Bark doesn't matter what era you're in that music has an aspect to it or that art has an aspect to it where it's uh it's always talking to what it is to be human. I know I'm trying to think of the word on an absolute level. Let us say like that. But bark, who did I just say?

[00:26:02]Bark Shakespeare and Rembrandt also had to chime with the times.

[00:26:10]We wouldn't need new art. If you if you're sitting there trying to frustrated, you want to be a great person. And I'm talking to the non-creatives as well. I'm talking to everybody human beings right if you feel that need to express yourself in some way and it feels like it's you don't know how to or you know you're not confident enough to right that is a state of being that is an absolute state of being which I'm trying to appeal to on this video that's what I'm trying to get to right here we are at the halfway mark where I start to show my uh true hand That's the That's the profound bit of this video is that I think there's a lot of people out there that feel like this, not just musicians. There's a whole bunch of people, right? And they will sometimes I think even the non-m musicians will go, "Oh my god, I love these bands, but nobody else likes them." Hence my t-shirt today. One perhaps the greatest band of all time. And how many people know this band? Why? cuz it's difficult.

[00:27:19]It's difficult. It delivers something so concentrated and sublime. And this band's got been going, you know, well, they're sort of still going now, but they've been going for decades. And when I go back to their early music in the early ' 80s and and listen to the original version of Rez, I'm like, it still speaks to me. It still speaks to me. It's profound. But the general public don't like it. And you think, oh, they're lording this song, right?

[00:27:44]They're lording this musicians. wears cardiacs in terms of the composition, in terms of the songwriting, in terms of the lyrical content, in terms of the virtuosity. These are incredibly talented musicians. Why don't they make it? Why?

[00:27:58]Well, it's quite obvious, isn't it really? It's quite obvious that all artists are saying different things.

[00:28:05]Some of the things they're saying are esoteric and others aren't.

[00:28:11]So, the person who writes a song and that song's about this, right?

[00:28:17]My husband or partner's left me, but I'm a powerful woman and I'm going to go out with my mates and I'm going to dance and dance and I don't care because I will carry on despite the fact that my husband's left me for a younger, more attractive model. I've still got it and I'm still proud. Right? If you can um get that down into a sort of three minute songs, uh I believe Gloria Gainer did such a thing. Uh then you know, every time that's played, it has this job and it just goes out. You know, people in the pub, the women are out there and even if they're not in that situation, they still feel it. And when that song comes out, they jump up and down and they believe it. Now, the talent to deliver that is a really interesting talent, right?

[00:29:05]What do cardiacs do? Cardiacs create this weird sort of cord just a circus world of of of eccentric eccentricity and weirdness. They're in the grand tradition that starts with I believe the sort of medieval court jester perhaps and you know goes through Alice in Wonderland you know um the goons Monty Python and cardiacs are another expression of that and they exist in a netherworld between progressive rock which is very aerodite sort of middle class educated music and then the workingass sort of punk movement and cardiac seem If you get down to the bottom of that and you then produce it in a hardcore form, that's what cardiacs are. But it's essentially esoteric. And uh so really in answering this question, why don't talented people, you know, why why don't they succeed in the industry? This is what I believe.

[00:30:10]Anybody that has any sort of success in the industry has to be talented. You can't get there unless you're talented and you are uniquely talented. A lot of these pop stars who fluke their way through, they think, and they just happen to be there and then they were the t, you know, flavor of the month, they themselves aren't aware of what their talents are. They themselves cannot see who they are. They're not aware of who they are. Right? And we have to understand and this guy sort of he when he was talking about this he sort of went there but for me it's a lot more random than what he made out um because talent could be well I've taught so many kids and sometimes you'd have a singer come in and they're amazing technically amazing and singing anything. They've been taught. They know what they're doing. They work hard. They've got it all going on. Right? They look great.

[00:31:15]They can perform. They're brilliant.

[00:31:18]Right? And then there's another singer and they're not quite as strong a singer and they really have got a lot of problems really uh when it comes to it. You know, there's a lot of uh um anxiety and stuff going on.

[00:31:33]They they are much more in the sort of darker realm. and they look great, but they look great in a in a way that's really mournful. And they get up on stage and we're trying to mark them and they don't perform. They just stand there and they just sing. They just sing and they deliver it. And when you're watching it, you like going, "Oh god, are they going to get through this? Are they going to burst out crying or storm off?" You know, what are they going to do? But they don't. They managed to get through it. And you could hear feel almost like a shaking in them as they as they are delivering this thing. And I started to realize that these singers were far more compelling and they didn't understand it. They didn't understand why they were compelling. And I started to realize that a lot of the greatest artists, you know, whether it be Michael Jackson or Kurt Cabain, you know, or Tina Turner, you felt that there was this underlying tension there. Uh some musicians could be brash but still have that there there was um um what's the word? a delicateness to them. There was um how could he describe it? Um you know when when vulnerability that's the one there was a vulnerability and then the idea that someone's on stage and they have a look which is charis man is is is charismatic and commanding because that's another thing is charisma. Some people have charisma most people don't.

[00:33:01]Okay. People can have charisma because their life and soul of the party, but other people can have charisma despite the fact they are shy and quiet. Okay.

[00:33:10]Um my wife's like this. She has a whole ton of charisma, but she's this is why she's never appeared on the channel because she's very shy, very quiet, and her charisma is almost like disabling to her because she's gone through life. You notice her.

[00:33:27]Um these are talents. These are the unknown talents that we all have.

[00:33:33]So when I started YouTubing, I became very aware that there was a real stress about doing this. I had to come in and switch the camera on and then as I start to speak, every single word I was aware of there was like, "Oh my god, you slipped up. You said the wrong word. Oh, I'll start again. Oh, this isn't going right." Blah, blah, blah. And then I would get the video home and I'd look at myself and I think, I hate when I do that and I hate this. I hate the way I look and I hate this. you know all the self-loathing would kick in. Then I started to have a really strange thought was there was a dichotomy going on here.

[00:34:06]There was the fact that I was a trained musician and I knew quite a bit about music that I taught in it and I have got an encyclopedic knowledge of music history especially on the jazz rock fusion progue and jazz side you know and I could call on that at will although I might forget some of my words and every now and then. Now there we have it. You see, I might forget some of my words.

[00:34:26]And when that would happen in the early days, I'd stop the video and I'd start again because I wanted to do this. Hello there. Uh, my name's Andy Edwards and welcome to my video. On this video, I'm going to be discussing the albums by Return to Forever. I'll be ranking them from bad to good, you know. And I will, oh, I said just said, you know. Oh, I don't hate it when I say, you know. Oh, let's start again. I might edit that out. Actually, maybe I got to get that AI to do that gappy thing with takes cuz I mean I started off where I wasn't and right all of that I was very aware of and I started to think about it and I thought the reason I'm like this is because there's another part of me that balances all this. It's the idiot side of me. It's the one who's prejudiced.

[00:35:07]The one that doesn't get things. The one that felt stupid because I didn't understand all the cool bands that all my mates like when I was at art college cuz I was into AC/DC made me feel inferior. that makes me angry, right? Um I get angry that I haven't fulfilled myself. There's an anger there. There's a stupidity there. There are all these ridiculous mannerisms I have. All this stuff I've realized was me.

[00:35:32]And actually the comedy that happens on this channel is me going into that zone and exposing it, which I feel I should do at the end of this video, which I will. I I will start to channel that and try and answer this situation that with this this subject matter that we're talking about. Um I will try and answer it in two ways. I've tried on this video to answer it in a in a in a very sort of cogent logical way in a way that will help people and try and deal because this bloke said it all. It's a great video. I've got it in the link. Go and watch it. But what I'm saying is to you is really just start doing stuff. Why aren't you doing stuff right? Because you're not following your nose. Why aren't you following your nose? Because you're worried. You're worried about not being good enough. And so this subject here is why the talent people not make it. Why? Because they don't think they're good enough. And so less talented people step in and fill the gap. How about that?

[00:36:30]There we go. 36 minutes. Right. You could have written that down on a piece of paper just read out the start. I could have, I suppose, but I didn't have it quite that articulated.

[00:36:41]Right.

[00:36:44]How about this?

[00:36:46]If a job's worth doing, it's worth doing badly.

[00:36:53]Most artistic forms are successful, they get there because it's right thing at the right time. Somebody steps in and feels what's needed. It's usually rooted in novelty and the establishment don't understand novelty. So it's also not seen as being artistically that great.

[00:37:13]Right? So if you imagine there's a thing that needs to exist, it's going to be seen as artistically not that great.

[00:37:19]Right? No one's really thinking of doing it. Somebody happens to fluke their way and they bang a thing out. They go bloody what else happen? Everyone's going nuts over this. You know why? Why did that thing happen at that point? So baby sharks like that, they do that and it's like bang, it goes out. Then when people start to notice it, they start to go, "Well, what? Why? What? What is this baby shark thing?" And baby shark does have something profound in it, but not enough for it to survive. It doesn't speak to what we are as human beings.

[00:37:49]So, it dies away. And most arts doing that. And most people don't even get that. They don't even get the one hit wonder. They don't even get that. But they want to have that and then stop around long enough for it to create a job for themselves. Come on. How much what percentage of the population is that going to happen for? There's only a certain amount of space in the bandwidth of culture. It's only ever going to be a tiny amount of people making any sort of living out of it. Right?

[00:38:16]Do I did I work all this out? This YouTube channel? No. It's a massive fluke. It just is a fluke. Right? But I know myself and I know that I need to create and I create and bang it out there. And a long long time ago I stopped worrying about the quality. I stopped worried about be me being me. A lot of the time I can't stand listening to me talk or listen to the music I make. I can't stand listening to my drumming. That's the worst one. It sounds bloody amateur. My drumming does, you know, but of course if you're sensitive to things, you'll have all this. Okay. But the point here that's interesting is that the world needs certain things at certain times and it doesn't have to be done well.

[00:39:04]Right? Like when there's a dam and the pressure is building up, the cultural pressure is building up and an artist needs to release that pressure, right?

[00:39:14]And when that pressure release, it bursts forth. And and I've got me bloody metaphor wrong. rather than the art artist needs to release that pressure.

[00:39:21]They've got to try and get things back on track by blocking that up. Right now, there might be great artists will come in and they'll great build incredible dam that will block it up. But the person that's just stuck in sticking in old rags and dead cats to try and do it still manages to do the job. If something's worth doing, it's worth doing badly. Most of the artists that are important were they were important because they were there first. Why were they there first? because they were not conformists and they had the guts and bravery to do their thing. Once they did their thing, probably more talented people came in and did it better than them. And that's the history of the whole thing. You know, I'm sure um what they called um the band everybody hates. The one that sings, you know, that band, I can't remember what they're called.

[00:40:19]can't remember who were they really famous band. This is what happens you see and and I'm bloody 40 minutes in. In the old days I would have stopped this and go oh my god I'll try to edit it out you know but what do I do? I sit here not being able to remember the name of this bloody band that's saying never made it as a man.

[00:40:39]You know that band, right? And you now have the enjoyment, I suppose, if it is enjoyment of seeing an old man not trying to remember something halfway through his video and trying to cover it at the same time. And you might be having a little chuckle to yourself, probably because you have the same thing every now and then. You see, we're all humans. There's the humanity. You see, you shouldn't be afraid of it.

[00:41:03]I want to say stilt skin, but it wasn't steel skin. Ski shine skin n I just haven't got it. I can't think what they're called.

[00:41:16]But they are the competent version of Nana.

[00:41:21]Those musicians be way better than the musicians in Nivana. They're on that in that mean the worst man band. He'll be a better singer than Kurt Cabain. They'll be better, right? But they weren't the right band at the right time, were they?

[00:41:34]You see? And so to ask the question, why talented people not succeed? Because sometimes the world needs something else. They need the right person at the right time. They just come on, who wants to do it? There's a there's a there's there's a hole here in cultures. Anyone want to fill it? No, no, because I'm I'm thinking about what I'm doing or no, I want to be like the things I like and whatever it is. There's all those things there. this idea that we should see the world in terms of these talented people that didn't make it. It's the Cinderella theory. It's this idea, 20th century idea that we're all beautiful and we've all got beauty inside us and all it needs is a fairy godmother to come and bring us out. And that's what the music industry is. And it's the music industry. You hear I just snorted then I went like that. My nose is so blocked today. I'll tell you. Uh I don't know whe it's the weather and they're trying to talk like this and my mouth's drying up and u um I've been to the doctors. They're going to try and s sort my nose out. It's in a terrible way. You know, when you look at it, you think, "My god, that looks like a an incredibly powerful working nose." But, you know, it's all show. This is all show. And there that's I'm I I I in terms of my looks, I got a big nose and I got buck teeth, right? And then somebody said they were yellow the other day. All that does get to me. Right.

[00:42:53]Then I chipped my tooth.

[00:42:55]Right. Don't know. Cracked it. Went in.

[00:42:58]I had it filled. Put they put a little filling in. That lasted for about a week cuz it's come back out again. And I went back to the dentist. I said to them, "I don't know whether I want this filled again." And they said, "Yeah, I think it'll just come out." I said, "I know, but in the end, I got a chip tooth. It's not the end of the world." And I ate that tooth. So now it's got that chip on it. It's like rather than it being that because it's this it's it's this one here is the one I don't like. This one's all right. It's this one here. It's it's just too it's too big. I've never liked it. But gives me a a book tooth look and I don't like it. And you all know this is true. Right. Spoils my face when I'm trying to get thumbnails and I'm trying to steal them from, you know, the the camera then and I'm I'm talk so much my mouth never shuts. my mother's going and and I hate it. So now I've got the chip there. I think well it's got a chip on there now. So that's what's wrong with that tooth. Not the fact that it's too big and it's a bit you know bit rabbity and booked to the we've all got this right. We all have a we all have selfhate. This is like the fundamental thing that drives art. It's really really important. But you have to understand that that in the end will be your success.

[00:44:11]So to go back to the analogy that this guy's used on this video, what about all those incredible singers? You know, you know so many singers that can sing really well. They can sing better than famous singers. And I thought, yeah, I know, but when you put a Madonna record on, what you want to hear is Madonna, right? And the reason why we know it's Madonna is because she's not a virtuoso singer.

[00:44:33]Every singer that you could recognize their voice, it is because they are not singing in the established way. And one of the reasons why when you watch, you know, pop Idol or X Factor or whatever you want to call it, and these incredible singers get up and sing and you think, "Oh my god, why aren't they famous?" is because, think about it, they don't sound like anything but a whole bunch of other singers, right? Whitney Houston and then we had Mariah Carey and there's so many singers that are trying to sing like Mariah Carey. Now, when Mariah Carey came out, a lot of what she was doing is virtuoso, but it was still her, right? The virtuosity. Sometimes you get that. But on the whole, whether it's David Bowie or Lou Reed or um I don't know, you know, any singer you want to name, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, um Lionel Richie, anything you want to mention, you know, Joe Strummer, whoever it is you want to mention, the fact that they are them with those idiosyncrasies is what sells it. So, in a group, the three backing singers will always be better technical singers of the singer up front. But what they won't be is the singer up front.

[00:45:40]They won't be Madonna. They can try, but they won't be. And I promise you, if you met Madonna, you would go, "Oh my god, that's Madonna." I know this because I used to play with Robert Plant. And I used to be around Robert, and I never quite got over the amount of charisma and command that bloke has when he walks into a room. It's unbelievable. Now, a lot of that you go, "Oh my god, that's Robert Plant." But then I knew it was Robert Plant. But I still had it. He he was a very commanding man and it was like a mixture of some sort of woodland elf from Lord of the Rings and Clark Gable in Mongambo.

[00:46:20]Robert was somewhere between the two of those and it was powerful and it was wonderful. It was great to be around.

[00:46:27]So we we're coming up to the last 15 minutes because this will be an hour long.

[00:46:32]We will now go into what this video is really about. Okay. So, I am going to go away and when I come back, it will be idiot Andy talking about this. I've got to watch it because I've got my my my wires really short. So, I'm just going to go away and introduce the next video.

[00:46:52]Ladies and gentlemen, as a treat at the end of this video, we will get Andy's alter ego, idiot Andy, to talk about this topic. Hello there. My name's Andy Edwards. I'm a drummer, right? I used to drum in various bands. I've done I've done thing, you know, I play with Robert Plant, which is impressive, I think. You know, not many people have done that. I went around the world with him. I've had various record deals. I was a I was a um drummer with IQ and Frost. I know they're not as famous, but some of you progressive rock people might know that, you know. So, you know, I've I've been there, done it. I've been there, done it, you know. And it's been hard. Life's been hard, but I've done what I wanted to do, and I should be happy with the way the life's panned out, you know. Uh uh, you know, and I am I am um in doing this where you know, I've had students come through and various musicians and you thought, well, they're quite good, you know, but I was always aware they weren't quite as good as me because when I was a kid, technically no one could really touch me on the drums.

[00:47:58]I I really I mean I'm older now. You might not be able to see it and it's all changed now. Every bloody drummer on the internet's amazing. They get on my nerves. Those kids, you know, I get so angry and bitter when I see them, you know, doing things that I can't technically do cuz back, you know, 40 years ago when I was playing, no one could do what I was doing. I was playing fast. But that might have been because, you know, we didn't have the internet and I only knew drummers in my local area. But those local area, you know, I was the I was the best around, you know.

[00:48:24]And you know, my my auntie said, "Andy, you're a really great drummer. You know, you're you're like one of the best around." And I went, "Oh, thank you for that." But I knew she was right. You know, I knew she was right. Uh but it didn't matter how much the people said this to me. I I would I would practice.

[00:48:38]I used to I mean, people can't believe this. I used to practice six hours a day on the drums and then four hours a day on the guitar every single day. And you know why? That's because I had a strong work ethic. Uh I have to having said that, I was a bit antisocial. Couldn't make friends. I didn't have a girlfriend. And so I was sat in the house a lot of the time on me own whereas my mates were going out and getting drunk and coping off with other girls. I was at home listening to the Mavish Orchestra and trying to nail Billy Common Beats. And I think looking back even though I hated it at the time I I think now looking back I did the right thing really you know cuz my mates might have got their end away and enjoyed themselves but I can play in 1916.

[00:49:15]So I've gone through life you know and I've done all right. It's it's it's it's been all right. But one thing I've noticed is is that I don't bloss right and they're all right on the drums, but then it's like they they get in some band, right? And before you know it, right, someone says, "Oh, do you want to go to Los Angeles?" And these BS, you know, they just I can remember my one mate, he went just went they went just bought tickets, went to Los Angeles because there was there was a a gig there with some producer and they they were sleeping in the park. I I never wanted to do that because I was a bit too anxious. I I wouldn't just throw myself into into I think that's irresponsible. We can't just go buy a ticket and just go to bloody Los Angeles and hope you make it. I never live like that. I was never that type of person. I used to make sure that no one I was safe anyway. But they did this and because they did that, next thing you know, because they put themselves out there.

[00:50:05]They're in a band and they get the offering and they they opened up for this one band and that that got them really massive. Before you know, they got really successful. They were like really massive, right? And I, you know, and I was like, you know, trying to get hold of them. They didn't really want to talk to me anymore because they they were hanging out with all bloody famous people and models and stuff like that, you know, making loads and loads of money going around the world, you know, and I have to be honest, you know, a couple of years later when they brought their third album out and it didn't do so well cuz times had changed. I remember the guy ringing me up and he says, "I'm coming back to the UK. If you know any gigs, give us a shout." And I went, "Yeah, yeah, I'll try and help you out." But inside I was going, "Yes, yes, you bastard. Yes. You think you can go off and be better than me with your bloody lack of ability on the drums? Can't even do a bloody doublestroke roll. You great nana." And me, I can play 19 bloody 16.

[00:50:56]And I had to go I had to I had to fall.

[00:50:58]I had to be bloody celibate for most of my life to be able to do that. And there you are gallivating around with your bloody one Tom. Your one Tom on top of the bait. And what's wrong with you all?

[00:51:08]You all think that's a bloody badge of honor. You have your one Tom, right?

[00:51:12]Only gay drummers have a bloody one tom on the front. Proper drummers, but they have loads of bloody toms, but now you don't like it. You know, you get there, went to the gym, bloody cut your t-shirts off. Always have to have your arms out like this, don't you? Always like that playing away like that. All your tattoos going down your arms, your bloody cool haircut, you know, with your bloody blonde, bloody highlights going through, your spiky hair and all that bit. You know, your nose piercing tattoos sat there with your big muscles all tanned up. It's all right for you.

[00:51:40]You were, you know, when you when you were just waiting to go to the gig, you go to the gym in the bloody hotel, right? But but the other thing is there you are coaked up your head, you know, having sex with all these ladies all over the world. No wonder you got a six-pack. That's a bloody recipe for a six-pack. I couldn't do that here. What the I do practice bloody ratimic cues and things like that, you know, and and actually work on it. And I work bloody hard at this. And there's you bloody gallivanted around the world doing all this. Well, I'm glad. I'm glad you your your your time in the sunshine only lasted for a brief period of three albums, you know, and I bloody hope they everyone forgets about them. But apparently someone told me the other day that even though it's all gone bad for you, they're playing all your tracks on the bloody radio and you're receiving 50,000 a bloody year just out of royalties, I can't bloody believe it. So you're going to be able to come on just sit around do whatever you want. Play golf or whatever while you get your 50,000 for a crap song. I could have written a song better than that. I play all the instruments. I play the bass, the drums, the guitar, keyboard. I can't sing, you know, but you know, and it's all all this this is the way the industry works, right? And the thing is, at least, my mate, in the old days, at least you can form a band and get in the industry like that. You might have flooked his way in and had no talent, but it's not like that now, is it? No.

[00:52:57]It'll be some girl go, "Hello, daddy."

[00:53:00]And they're really posh. They went to private school and all their mates went to private school. And when they leave school, they'll make some bloody walking around like this and they will go, "Daddy, I want a good job in the music industry. Can I have a job in the music industry?" And the daddy go, "Of course you [ __ ] Of course you cunts." And I'll ring up my friend at EMI Records or in Glastonbury. We'll get you a job there. Oh, please please please. I'd love it. I want to hang out with with famous people like that that that um uh what's he called? You know, the one with the other posh mate. My mate went to school with him. Bob Villain. Oh, I'd love to hang out with him if I could.

[00:53:29]That would be wonderful. Oh, I can't wait to be working at Glastonbury, hanging out with Bomb V. I take it and put it on my Instagram. All my all my privileged friends will love it so much.

[00:53:39]And uh um yeah, well, you know, I I I'll get you a job there. But my friend, his daughter is reasonably attractive and can hold a note. So, we're thinking of making a music career for her. And we've sat her down and said, "You will have to show a lot of flesh." He said, "I don't mind f showing a lot of flesh. You'll have to show your bottom in the videos as much you possibly can." Now, all the wealth that we need you to flaunt in the videos, we could do that. Just do it around the pool. Get some of your friends around. No, they're around.

[00:54:06]Well, they they need to look like they're from the other side of the tracks, but not really. That Bob Villain fellow would be good. So, if you could bring him around the guy with the dreadlocks keeps going around shouting about, you know, to the river to the sea and all that [ __ ] you know, and uh I like that. I mean, if you look at our family home, it does go from the river to the sea. It's it's there's a lot of land here. We may be able to do our own festival our own like that. Like my my friend his son in the you know the one that was in the levelers he does his own festival on his grounds. Yes. You know that sort of thing. Well yes yes yes you you go and do that. And then the girls like there need so will you be able to get me in the industry. Yes. Yes. Just show a little bit of bottom. Wiggle that around a bit. You know don't I I I won't mind daughter you doing it. I mean when I'm when I'm married your mother she was 30 years younger than me. I know people said she was only interested in me for the money, but she was wiggling her bottom around in in in in various places, you know. That bottom was like a magnet to us rich people. Uh, you know, and that bottom's earned her a lot.

[00:55:06]She's had a good life. And I think, you know, I'm now 70 years old and she's 45 and I think she still looks good for 45.

[00:55:12]Don't you think? you know, and these if I keep talking like this, this is this is not If I start talking like this, I'll start believing it.

[00:55:23]I do believe it. It's true. It's bloody true. It's true. This is the way it works now. They're a bunch of poshies.

[00:55:31]Everybody in the industry now is a poshy, right? Why? Because they got the money to do it. They don't have to work.

[00:55:36]They can spend their whole time doing it. All their friends went to bloody posh school, so they all got great jobs.

[00:55:41]They got money. Most of them want jobs in the industry. They have the context into they can get in there and do it and it all adds up into a great big realm of poshiness. So when you talk about talent, yeah, it's not talent, it's how posh you are. It's the old bloody class system. Rock and roll wasn't about that and let people in every now and then.

[00:55:58]But they didn't want people like null Gallagher being in the industry. They couldn't st stick it cuz these blo said what they thought. They've swapped them all out. Now it's all a bloody great big poshy necropolis of death of death of of of nothingness. And that's why the industry is not creative anymore. Cuz these people, what are they going to say about the world? They're just going to sail the establishment thing. They don't rock the boat anymore. That's what rock and roll used to do. It's not about talent. It's about putting it to the man. And you're not going to put it to the man when you are the man.

[00:56:31]So that's the other side. I think here I on this video. I'm quite pleased with this. I've been able to uh show the two sides the the the the true dichotomy that is bound within the statement of how come talented people don't uh succeed in the music industry and that was my comment on it. So if you liked my approach uh to uh music commentary art commentary then uh please put a like on the video. If you want to see some more stuff like this, subscribe. Um, remember this is proper virtuoso YouTubing. Right, we're coming in just under the hour. I've delivered it. I feel like I have reached that point. And uh, if you think what I've just done over the last hour off the top of my head, it's pretty impressive, isn't it? And there's my talent, right?

[00:57:23]And if you want to know what this sort of um, arrogance that comes into a lot of my videos, you do need to have that to succeed, right? In the end, if you want to succeed, you've got to have some self-belief, right? And it's best to have some self-belief, which is a little bit tongue and cheek, because if you have any real self-belief, it will be your downfall. And that is another dichotomy that we need to deal with on another day. Thank you for watching.