Excitement about your music starts with you, so be excited about it.
Your band, your music, your live shows, your recordings, your websites… everything about your music-making endeavours should make you excited. It should be exactly the way you want it to be, because it reflects who you are and helps other people to percieve you the way you want to be percieved.
True, you should feel as though making your music is what you were always meant to be doing, but on the other hand, no one is forcing you to do it. You’re doing it because you love it. (or at least you should be.) So in everything you do, that relates to your band/music, be excited about it. Don’t just “let” others feel your excitement, MAKE them feel your undeniable excitement! Be passionate about the work you’re putting out into the world, because it’s YOUR work. Don’t put it out there until you get it right, and then when you do, be proud of it. Be excited for it, be excited BY it! When presenting your music to others, don’t be sheepish, embarassed, shy, or nervous. Show people how much your music means to you… be passionate, vibrant, and enthusiastic.
People want to get excited about music, but you need to help them realize that your music is worth getting excited about. That has to start with you, because if your music isn’t exciting to you, why should you expect it to be exciting to anyone else?
Hi Ian,
I really like the way you quantified ego in relation to being excited. As a music school >survivor< I witnessed plenty of ego in my day… um, including myself at times. When you are starting out trying to get better, it’s natural to compare oneself to others–which makes it easy for ego to surreptitiously creep up on ya. Especially when our technique hasn’t quite caught up with we want to express. Somehow we need to snap out of the ego spell and remember that we are doing this because we love it!
Hi Andrew, thanks for the comment. Are you referring to extremes? It seems so, and to me, extremes are rarely good. Yes, work on something until you’re proud of it, but be aware you can nitpick and over analyze things to the point that all the magic gets sucked out, and then you won’t ever know when you’re done… to your second point, there’s a distinct difference between being excited about something and being egotistical about it. You’re allowed to be proud and excited about your music, but watch feelings that compare it to anyone else… see the difference here: Compare “we just finished our new record and we’re really proud of how the songs turned out” to “we just finished our new record and it’s better than any other record you’ll ever make or hear, ever.” One, nice… the other, not so much! Thanks for reading and commenting!
So right on! I would say that for many artists, perfectionism can really affect the putting-it-out-there thing. And sometimes it can be difficult to detach oneself from one’s work. Putting it out there without getting too enthusiastic could be a way to test the waters, like Kanye did with some of his music. Although Kanye certainly has the passion! For many solo artists, it’s hard to find that fine line between being excited and staying humble.