Tag Archive for: Def Leppard

Destiny Feature MEME

Destiny Pilot Boy MEMEWould you prefer to control your destiny or let someone you don’t know control it for you?

 

 

I’m going to tell you a story about an amazing artist with all the right elements, the right team, and a killer debut record but they never really made it in America because of poor marketing.

 

They did everything in their power (I believe) to do it right but outside forces impacted their destiny.

 

You have so much more control over your destiny today than before, but only if you realize it, take responsibility for it, and begin controlling it.

 

Destiny DNR

 

One of the most amazing artists to come out of the hair band era was The Dan Reed Network.

 

Right now, you’re like, “Who?” unless you’re European.

 

 

 

The Dan Reed Network was a fresh breath of air for the hair band era. They were a unique and interesting mix of Prince-meets-Bon Jovi-with-killer Steven Tyler-Falsetto-screams.  A hair band image and an 80’s rock appeal but funky with great songs.

 

Destiny DNR 2

 

They were diverse musically and ethnically within the band. All total, the group was descendant from these different ancestries, German, Hawaiian, Native American, African American, Japanese American, Jamaican, Italian American, and Jewish.

 

 

They were a Mercury records major label artist with big-time management, a hit producer, a (supposed) major label budget, and a killer record, but they never caught on in America and they’re from the Northwest, Portland area.

 

So, what happened?

 

Why didn’t this band fulfill their destiny?

 

Destiny USA Marketing Failure

A marketing fail is what happened and it wasn’t their fault.

 

 

 

There are a million stories like this out there.

 

Let’s dissect it so we can learn how YOU can avoid this situation.

 

First off, the band put out a self-released EP in 1986 which had a #1 on Portland’s Z-100 (their local) radio station.

 

Destiny DNR Breathless Album Cover

 

 

 

That’s how they got their label attention, by proving their value in advance of the deal.

 

 

 

 

Right there, they didn’t wait for the label to discover them. They made themselves discoverable and the labels called them.

 

They were crafting their own destiny.

 

Destiny Bill Graham

 

DRN formed a management relationship shortly after that with music promoter icon, Bill Graham. FYI, Bill Graham was instrumental in the careers of The Grateful Dead, The Allman Brothers, and Janis Joplin to name a few.

 

 

 

Their #1 single on their local radio station garnered interest from Derek Shulman (Bon Jovi, Cinderella) at Polygram and they were signed to Mercury Records (a division of Polygram).Destiny Mercury Records Logo

 

 

 

 

 

In the winter of 1987, The Dan Reed Network released their debut record which was produced by Bruce Fairbairn (Bon Jovi, Aerosmith).

 

Destiny DNR Album Cover Debut

 

 

It’s an awesome record. I recommend listening to it.

 

Even if you don’t dig the style, it’s incredibly well done.

 

 

 

 

Everything is coming up roses for Dan Reed Network, right? Major label, killer producer, different sound, iconic manager, etc.

 

But here’s how the potholes developed.

 

Destiny Hysteria Album Cover

 

 

 

Mercury Records label mates, Def Leppard, FINALLY released Hysteria which was 3 years overdue in August of 1987; a few months prior to DNR debut effort.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Destiny Pyromania Album Cover

 

 

Hysteria was the follow up to the 10 million + selling Pyromania and the record label obviously had huge expectations on sales. (If we remember that records were grossing the equivalent of around $30/record back then we can surmise that the labels were getting around 50% of that or $15/record. So, they grossed at least $150 million [not including publishing revenue] on Pyromania).

 

 

 

But, Hysteria was plagued by delays and MASSIVELY over budget.

 

On December 31, 1984, Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen lost his arm in an auto accident.

 

Destiny Rick Allen Wreck Image

 

 

The band was over the Mutt Lange tedious production process they endured on Pyromania and chose Jim Steinman (Steinman was famous for writing and credited for co-producing Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell) to produce Hysteria.

 

 

 

 

Destiny Bat Out of Hell

 

 

 

Steinman’s approach was to record a raw rock sound that was a definite departure from the polished pop metal sound of Pyromania. Once the band realized that, they sacked Steinman but still had to pay his $2-Million-Dollar production fee.

 

 

 

 

Def Leppard singer Joe Elliott was quoted as saying, “Todd Rundgren produced Bat Out of Hell Jim Steinman wrote it.”

 

They reenlisted Mutt Lange and got to work on the record after scrapping all the previously recorded material but they had to pay Mutt Lange too and this was going to take a while.

 

By the release date of Hysteria, Def Leppard had to sell 5 million copies to break even!

 

This made Mercury nervous. Understandably as the cash equivalent to 5 million records to the label would be around half of the take from Pyromania or $75 million dollars in today’s money.

 

The record immediately shot up the charts in England, but the momentum from Pyromania had faded in the USA and the new record was TANKING.

 

Polygram/Mercury understandably began freaking out.

 

Guess who didn’t get any attention?

 

The new bands that were signed to the label including Dan Reed Network.

 

Destiny Def Leppard Women

It was all-hands-on-deck at Mercury Records. Every available monetary and personnel resource was allotted to making Hysteria at least break even.

 

This dynamic dragged on and on through 3 American singles, “Women”, “Animal”, and “Hysteria”.

 

 

 

The record didn’t begin to sell in American until the fourth single was released, “Pour Some Sugar on Me”.

 

Destiny Abandoned MEMEThe first Dan Reed Network record suffered a painful, slow death because of abandonment.

 

 

The label couldn’t and wouldn’t afford to promote it correctly with all the hysteria from Hysteria.

 

Destiny Q-PrimeSomewhere along the line, the band apprehensively switched management companies to Q-Prime with Peter Mensch and Cliff Burnstein. Q-Prime ironically started with and were still managing Def Leppard (along with Metallica, Queensryche, AC/DC, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, and some other huge acts).

 

 

DNR finally got on the road as an opener on the last American leg of Def Leppard’s Hysteria tour but it wasn’t until the 2nd album was released and they toured with the Rolling Stones in Europe that they blew up…over there.

 

Destiny DNR Slam Album Cover

 

 

 

Dan Reed Network is still out there doing it today, man, but they never caught on in America and it was largely due to the circumstances that revolved around the marketing of their debut record.

 

 

 

 

The bigger band with the bigger budget and the bigger fires to put out got all the attention at the big label while the promising baby bands with all the potential suffered.

 

Guess what?

 

That hasn’t changed.

 

Well, it has changed but it’s worse today.

 

Destiny Leverage MEMEWhy would you want to be signed before you crafted some leverage to apply to the deal?

 

 

Especially considering you have the power to construct this leverage today and create your destiny?

 

Here’s what HAS changed.

 

Destiny Target MEME

YOU can do what the Dan Reed Network couldn’t do, define, target, connect, and capture the contact information for YOUR audience.

 

 

 

 

You can grow your audience. It’s not difficult like brain surgery, but it does require work and understanding.

 

Do you want a record deal?

 

Destiny Brat Boy MEMEBring them an audience and you’ll get what you want.

 

Do you want a manager?

 

Bring them an audience (i.e. something to manage) and you’ll get what you want.

 

Do you want a booking agent?

 

Bring them an audience and you’ll get what you want.

 

YOU must do the work and it’s never been easier to reach people, but it does require work.

 

Every show you fail to collect contact data is a wasted opportunity.

Every day that you don’t expand your social media to reach new people is a wasted day.

 

The new music business is all about artists with audiences.

 

Destiny Audience MEME

 

 

Let me be clear, YES, I’m generalizing, but you are NOT going to get signed on your talent alone and frankly, you don’t really want to be.

 

 

 

You don’t want to be the exception to the rule.

 

When you come into a record deal with a decent audience and some cash flow in your business you have power.

 

Destiny Power

 

 

Power bands like Dan Reed Network didn’t have because they didn’t know who their audience was and couldn’t reach them outside of radio.

 

 

 

But you can.

 

You might just get signed on your talent, but the Def Leppards of the world will ensure that you are ignored.

The bigger your audience, the more power you have.

 

How’s that for a goal?

 

Listen, this works.

 

Destiny Daredevil LogoI’ve grown Daredevil Production the same way. I find the audience first. It’s so easy (and FUN) to make relationships with important managers, producers, label executives, booking agents, etc. by bringing them business as opposed to asking for a favor.

 

That’s leverage.

 

Why wouldn’t you want to do that too?

 

Why wouldn’t you want to be in charge of your destiny?

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

 

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Value Feature MEME

Your songs have no value.

Value Believe

It’s true.

 

Not yet anyway.

 

Do I have your attention?

 

 

I think that most artists make the same mistake in believing that their music has value simply because they value it.

 

The reality is there is exactly ZERO perceived value in the marketplace for art until the value is created.

 

The marketing signals get crossed when artists inadvertently compare their art, which they think is valuable, to a product that actually has a definite market value.

 

Value dominoes Interrupt

Marketing requires reach and frequency.

 

 

 

 

We interrupt new people to make them aware that the product exists and then keep touching and telling them about our brand until we sink into their subconscious mind.

 

But for some products, the value is already inherently understood in the mind of the consumer.

 

I’ll explain.

 

Value Hammer MEME

 

The market understands the relative value of a hammer. In fact, people from time to time will desperately need a hammer, so they’ll go to the store and purchase one.

 

 

 

In this scenario, the market can absolutely comprehend the value that this tool will bring them.

 

Because we often have this need for hammers, there is a certain amount of money that will be spent every year on hammers.

 

If you were to create a new brand of hammer, you begin to make a dent in that product’s universe with decent marketing.

 

What’s more, having a relationship with a major distributor like Home Depot would mean an astronomical increase in sales simply because the product is there when consumers need it.

 

Value Umbrella

 

How about a street vendor selling cheap umbrellas when a huge storm arrives?

 

 

 

In a city like New York, vendors make tons of money selling last minute, on-the-spot umbrellas because the need is so immediate, the consumer really doesn’t care about the quality as much as will it work right now?

 

The same could be said about Gas, clothing, food, automobiles, etc. These are items that we need as a society, some more often than others, but the need is real and everyone understands the value of each of these products.

 

They understand they need these products.  Once a consumer knows what they need the next stage of the game is what price will they pay.

 

Is it a commodity?

 

Does the product dictate a certain social status where the price could be higher?

 

But it’s different with music and art, isn’t it?

 

Value Consumers are All Set MEMEAsk 1,000 people if they need new music and they’ll tell you they’re all set up.

 

 

 

 

With music, the art in marketing is creating value in something that nobody needs.

 

The art of music marketing is creating a buzz.

 

Think about it, you don’t just upload your song to iTunes and experience a massive increase in sales like if you put your hammer into Home Depot.

 

Does this make sense? (If you’ve ever uploaded one of your songs to iTunes, I’m quite sure it does!)

 

As artists, we think that if we make compelling music we’ll get a couple people to listen and they’ll love it. Then they’ll tell 2 friends, and they’ll tell 2 friends, and so on, and so on, and so on.

 

Yes and No.

 

This is not the way it happens.

 

At least not at first.

 

Not before you reach “critical mass”.

 

Value Critical MassYou must continue to build the buzz until you reach a certain “critical mass” and then the brand takes on a life of its own.

 

 

Until then, you’re not done working.

 

You’re not done working after critical mass is reached either it’s just that some of the job descriptions change a bit.

 

Value Not Done WorkingBy the time you hopped on board with most music/artist brands, critical mass was already achieved. Therefore, your experience was that once you were turned onto the artist, you became excited and told a friend or two. Then they might have experienced a little excitement from you but they heard about it again and again on the radio, TV, or from other friends.

 

This is “critical” mass. Everyone is talking about it whether it’s paid advertising or not.

 

The awareness in the marketplace is rampant because the reach and frequency are sufficient.

 

Let’s take Def Leppard as an example of how to create critical mass from a buzz.

 

Value On Through the Night

Their first record was On Through the Night.

It did ok, they got a few radio spins and reached the top 15 in the UK, but this wasn’t enough to blow them up into the stratosphere.

 

 

 

 

Not even close.

 

It did create a small group of early adopter fans, a base if you will. (Not for nothing, it also created a legion of haters who shunned the band because they thought they were trying too hard to appeal to America with songs like “Hello America”.  TAKEAWAY:  Don’t worry about the haters!)

Value High n Dry

 

 

Then they switched producers to the legendary Mutt Lange and recorded their second effort, High n’ Dry. The first single faired about as well as the others, but the second single, “Bringing on the Heartbreak” began to create momentum. Mostly because MTV put the song in regular rotation.

 

MTV Regular rotation (in 1981) = massive reach + massive frequency.

 

But you must understand that MTV was constantly putting the band and their work in front of new people as was the tour schedule opening for Ozzy and Blackfoot. Even though the record was distributed everywhere, people weren’t shopping for Def Leppard like they were shopping for hammers until after they were exposed to the band enough times.

 

 

Because of MTV, the song received far more terrestrial radio airplay as well, but in the end, that record only sold about 250,000 copies. (It’s obviously sold more now after the huge sales of later releases but these are relatively accurate numbers for 1981/1982 sales)

 

Def Leppard’s third effort, Pyromania, was released to a much larger waiting audience than High ‘n’ Dry but still, they weren’t at critical mass, yet.

 

Value Pyromania

 

The production on Pyromania was groundbreaking. All the songs were amazing, the band had really gotten the hang of songwriting over the last 2 records and they exploded. Radio and MTV were spinning all the singles non-stop and now they had reached critical mass.

 

 

 

 

Completely different then hammer sales, huh?

 

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

 

How many NEW PEOPLE are exposed to you as an artist and your music every day?

 

Most of you emulate your favorite famous artists on social media by creating a cool “backstage pass” into your life. This is all well-and-good but how many new people are discovering you?

Value The World Is At Your Fingertips MEME

 

You need to continually grow your social media accounts as well as provide the content. This is the difference between using social media as a cool connection tool and a marketing tool for the artist to gain new fans.

 

 

 

Both approaches are important but the latter is almost always ignored by indie artists.

 

You can easily expand your reach every day.

 

Worldwide reach.

 

How about your YouTube strategy?  If you’re putting up crusty old covers of your favorite songs, the only people watching are current fans.

 

How is that strategy getting you into growth?

 

It’s not.

 

Cover current hits that are creating massive traffic. Some of these people will stumble across your version and if you’re compelling, you’ll gain new fans here.

 

Value Old Car MEME

 

Again, growing every day.

 

 

 

When you grow sufficiently that the fan base is large enough to begin to take over you’re reaching critical mass and your music now has value.

 

But until then, you need to keep creating the value in the marketplace or continue to starve.

 

 

Stay

 

In

 

Tune

 

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Perception Feature

Perception is reality in your art. You’d better freaking know this. Sadly, many of you don’t or you do and you choose to ignore it for some reason.Perception Perception

 

Perception is also reality in your marketing.

 

I want to talk about how the market, A.K.A. consumers, in other words YOUR POTENTIAL FANS perceive you.

 

I am seeing WAY too much of this online and on social media so I had to write about it.

 

Too many artists are stuck in that developmental stage that little children go through when they believe if they can’t see you, you can’t see them.

 

Do you know what I’m talking about?

 

Perception Hide Baby

It’s a lack of perception awareness.

 

 

They “hide” in the middle of the living room by crouching down and covering their eyes. At this stage they believe that you can’t see them.

 

It’s cute when their little kids.

 

It’s ugly when you’re an aspiring artist.

 

In the industry, it’s downright annoying.

 

Perception Looky Losers Photo Orin ZebestYou know, like the person at the party who won’t stop hitting on you in a super cheesy manner and can’t take the hint from all your body language and actual language that you’re SO not interested.

 

 

 

 

Perception Fingerpaint Photo Erik (HASH) Hersman

 

It’s a sign of naiveté and complete lack of awareness by an artist who displays every little “finger painting”, every little step of their creative process on the world’s refrigerator expecting to be praised.

 

Arrogantly believing the world is interested.

 

You’re going to be judged.

Perception Judged

 

By consumers but also by the industry (if they happen to look. More on that later).

 

If it’s a well written, well recorded, rocking track, you’ll be praised.

 

If it isn’t finished, you’ll look like a novice.

 

Shoulder shrug.

 

On to the video of the talking dog.

 

You have to be aware of how you will be perceived. You’re an artist for Pete’s sake!! That’s exactly part of your job description; masterfullyPerception Magic Shit MEME manipulating perception and emotion.

 

 

When it’s well done it is like magic. People pay to see it.

 

When it’s ignored its shite.

 

 

 

 

 

You will always be judged on what you have done, NOT what you’re going to do or what you think you’re going to do.

Perception Reputation Quote

 

 

All too often, I’ll get an artist who asks me to “check out” their music. I almost NEVER respond to these based on the principle of the matter (crappy way to market) but sometimes I fall for it.

 

Usually I end up lamenting the fact that I can never get that 30 seconds of my life back.

 

 

 

 

I literally had one kid send me a link to a Soundcloud account that was filled with his “songs”.Perception Schizophrenic Girl

 

They were a selection of solitary, distorted, electric guitar rhythm tracks.

 

No melody.

No lyric.

No beat.

Zero on a scale of 1 to whatever in terms of any discernable creative riff.

No other instruments.

Boring.

 

Perception Mark KnopflerI’m not trying to be mean, but it was seriously useless. Chunk, chunk, chunk, chunk, with no meter, no pocket; ugh.

 

I just listened to this Dire Straits isolated guitar track by Mark Knopfler from “Sultans of Swing”. It’s AMAZING!!!

 

Mark Knopfler is a very special guitar player.

 

Here’s the key. As amazing as this isolated track is, we are only interested because we know Dire Straits,

 

we know Mark Knopfler, and most importantly, we know and love the song!

 

If this exact track, with this stellar performance was not a track from a hit song, I wouldn’t give it 5 seconds. Neither would you.

 

Get it?

 

Perception Marvin GayeIn my studio, I have many of the original multi tracks from Motown, The Beatles, The Doobie Brothers, Queen, Def Leppard, and more. These tracks are a party favorite because we know all the songs and it’s interesting to hear something we are so fond of being dissected.

 

We’re fascinated by the soloed vocal tracks.

 

Freddie’s finger snaps at the beginning of “Killer Queen”.

 

We’re floored when we discover that “Long Train Running” has 5 different guitar arrangements that brilliantly work together without cluttering the track.

We freak when we hear Queens, background vocals all alone.

 

I literally cried when I heard Marvin Gaye’s soloed voice from “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”. The natural distortion on the vocal mic. It was cut live with the band and Tammi Terrell (you can hear the bleed!). You can hear his toe tapping in the vocal booth. Ugh, so moving.

 

Nobody cares if they don’t know the song.

Perception Blind Consumer MEME

 

Perception is so important there are major label artists who refuse to let the A&R guys in the studio until the track is mixed lest the art be judged by some suit with no vision.

 

It’s the artist’s way of controlling the outcome as much as possible. They don’t want the suit’s possibly disheartened attitude over an unfinished product to affect their promo budget once the track is released.

 

Consumers have no vision. They want finished product.

 

 

Think about how much apprehension you feel when you shop for a used car. Imagine the experience of meeting a private seller, who is a stranger, to look at their restored ’64 candy apple red Ford Mustang. You walk into the garage and you see a chassis up on blocks with a seat and a steering wheel.Perception Fear Buyer

 

Wait, what is this?!?!

 

The seller says, “Hey man, it’s going to be great when it’s finished!”

 

Perception Chassis Photo KapitanTIF you are well versed at all the different stages of classic auto restoration you MIGHT take an interest and see the potential.

 

99.9% of consumers would be pissed and walk out; it doesn’t look like a car.

 

 

 

You have to be aware that as an indie artist; you are the stranger selling the car and in your case the consumer isn’t “looking for a car”.

Perception 64 Mustang

 

You have to know that the consumer is apprehensive on several levels because your marketing was probably dodgy and statistically the music is going to suck; BIG TIME.

 

Are you picking up what I’m putting down?

 

You have to blow them away first.

 

Look there are always exceptions, but as a rule, don’t post demos, work tapes, incomplete recordings, soloed guitar tracks, etc. up on the internet as you will be judged.

 

Perception Exception To The Rule

 

What are the exceptions?

 

A soloed vocal track to a beautiful melody, intense lyric, with a compelling vocal performance would be interesting.

 

Anything short of that will sound way better in the track and be boring without it.

 

I have posted work tapes (a simple iPhone recording of an acoustic vocal) before. We had a contest with Bailey James where we let the fans choose the 6th song on her EP. That worked really well. I will say that many (If not all) of the fans who participated had downloaded the free track we were trading in an exchange for an email which is how Bailey came into their awareness.

 

That free track was a KILLER recording of Cheap Trick’s “I Want You to Want Me”. Which allowed us to craft their perception. They were cognizant of Bailey’s professionalism and the work tapes were clearly positioned in the mind of the fans as a “behind the scenes” look at the future mixed with a fun, interactive exercise where they got to participate in the release somehow.

 

However, if we just posted all the damn work tapes from all songs that were written to be considered for her debut release it would’ve worked against us.

perception Scene

 

If the fans don’t see the “scene” they will misconstrue your “behind the scenes” as your “scene”.

 

Many of you don’t even have your “scene” put together so why would you show it?

 

Does that make sense?

 

In Steven Pressfield’s book, The War of Art he conveys that before you become a professional you have to think and act like a professional.

 

Perception War Of ArtThe world doesn’t care if it’s on purpose, lack of awareness, naiveté, or utter stupidity, if you don’t look like a professional then you’re not a professional. It’s that simple.

 

If the car doesn’t look like a cherry ’64 candy apple red Ford Mustang than it isn’t.

 

I saw it with my own eyes.

 

 

In Marketing I see this mistake often with images.

 

 

Images are everything today. There is a reason that Instagram and Pinterest are so huge.Perception Positive Negative

 

A picture is worth 1,000 words.

 

If it’s a bad picture, it’s 1,000 bad words. You disappear into the clutter of every other artist who won’t make the effort or spend the money to stand out.

 

When you present professional images as an artist, the selfies become a savory alternative look.

Perception Many Eyes

 

But only when juxtaposed against the killer images.

 

If your whole visual presence is based on selfies, you don’t look like a professional.

 

The world doesn’t want the blow-by-blow, play-by-play rundown of your amazing artistic ascent until AFTER you make it.

 

The Behind the Music VH1 series where we learn about the artist’s creative stories, business challenges, and addiction troubles are interesting when they’re famous. If they weren’t famous, it would just be a story about a pathetic drug addict.

 

Perception Behind The MusicWho cares?

 

You wouldn’t.

 

Let me ask you this.

 

What if they say “yes”?

 

I love to ask my artists this question.

 

What if you get your act together enough to pique the interest of some big label, booking agent, or manager, etc.?

 

Perception Search

 

What would their first step be to vet you as a possible business partner?

 

They’re going to Google the crap out of you.

 

If their perception becomes that you are unprofessional, happily ignorant of your image both creatively and in the market, you become a turn-off.

Do you want to be a turn off?

 

Do you want to blow a self-created opportunity because you are unaware of perception?

 

If you don’t know, you’d better learn.

 

Stay

In

Tune

Faith Feature 1

Faith Believe In Yourself

 

Faith.

 

How’s your faith these days?

 

Faith got faith image

 

Do you believe in your music even in the absence of proof of success?

Faith comes in all different shapes and sizes.

In your God.

In your significant other.

That your car is going to make it

Faith in your bandmates

In your cowriters.

In the future.

In your children.

In your business partners.Faith Fear shadow image

In your business.

In your vendors.

In your employees

In your family.

_DSC2330

 

In humanity.

In your music.

In your ability to communicate.

Faith in yourself.Faith Believe in Yourself Hand

Boom.

Yeah, ultimately to believe in all these other things, you MUST believe in yourself.

That’s really the bitch of the bunch right there.

 

Faith Believe in Yourself 2

Devotion to oneself is the connective tissue between the impossible and the possible.

 

 

 

london-jpg

 

It’s the building blocks required to construct the bridge between your dreams and your reality: faith is the raw materials of your life edifice.

 

If you don’t like your reality you need to check your faith.

Faith Check it

 

These building blocks require hard work to assemble them into something you find to be beautiful, satisfying, and fulfilling even if it looks different than the way you initially imagined it.

 

Not satisfied?

 

How’s your faith these days?

 

Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about it saying faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Faith MLK Quote

 

We can never see the whole staircase, better get used to that .

 

 

 Faith means the either the glass is half full, or if it’s half empty which is ok because you’re the one pouring the water.

Faith Glass half full

 

Aeroplane
It kept the Wright brothers working to achieve the impossible.

 

It kept Def Leppard moving forward in the face of multiple terrible personal and business tragedies.

Faith Def Leppard image

 

 

 

 

The founding fathers of the United States had to of had it to risk their lives, speak their mind, take action, and make a new world.

 

Faith was what held us together as families, as a country, and for some as a human being, after WWI, WWII, The Korean War, The Vietnam War, The Gulf War, The War in Afghanistan, The Iraq War, and every other unspeakable conflict in our nation’s history.

 

One of the reasons we struggle to believe in ourselves is our education system in this country. It’s archaic dating back to the monarchy and designed to keep people on the proverbial hamster wheel.

That’s good for government and people control.

 

That’s bad for art.

 

 

Art requires faith in yourself.

You know this, though, don’t you?

To a degree, when your loved ones offer resistance of any kind about your career they are behaving out of a deeply rooted fear that has been planted in our society for hundreds of years.Faith Why So Jealous

Some are jealous because you are an uninhibited spirit and choose to live “outside the box” of societal standards.

 

 

 

Faith AngrySome are angry because you remind them that they lost faith in themselves a while ago. They secretly dream to live where you live.

You aren’t trying, but you make them feel inferior.

 

Everybody secretly dreams to live their own life.

 

Few do because it’s hard and requires and insane amount of conviction.

 

It’s easier to get on the hamster wheel.

Some friends and family are genuinely scared for you because they don’t want to see you suffer living against the norms of society. They come by this feeling honestly as that is what they were taught. So were their parents, grandparents, great grandparents, etc.; they’re drinking the Kool-Aid.

Our society teaches us to believe what they put forth rather than think for ourselves.Faith Kool Aid

 

It requires assurance in yourself to remember that and take heed.

 

 

It is not seeing exactly how your life will turn out rather it’s more about a deep understanding that in the face of danger, defeat, doubt, and utter failure you will find a way to survive, improvise, adapt, overcome, and even thrive.

Faith Step of Faith

 

It is a reliance in your own personal growth as a human, a soul, a friend, a lover, a parent, an artist.

It is the very thread of hope that gets you through the tough days and makes the good days taste sweeter.

 

 

With conviction in the uncertain times you get validation when the answers become clear in 20/20 hindsight.Faith validation

 

 

Validation manifests itself in the form of failure sometimes, think Thomas Edison finding 2,000 ways not to make a lightbulb.

 

 

 

 

Faith PAIN

 

Validation manifests itself in the form of pain sometimes like when you’re intuition was right all along and you finally have proof. Ugh. That one sucks.

Faith means believing, TRULY believing before validation.

Belief in yourself is paramount to any success and happiness of any kind.

Faith becomes validation.

 

You can’t succeed without believing in yourself.Faith plus hard work equals success

This convinction grows stronger through hard work.

Hard work begets validation.

Faith + Hard Work = Validation.

How’s your faith these days?

 

Stay

In

Tune

 

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