A few years ago, a good friend introduced me to Jojo Mayer’s playing and I was knocked over. If you get a chance, check out his latest record “The distance between Zero and One”. Apart from his unique playing, I’ve loved his vibe, and hearing his responses to questions. This interview is no exception: http://www.thedrummersjournal.com/blog/the-jojo-mayer-interview
A couple things I dug was his thoughts on social media:
Don’t listen to people in magazines talking about getting PR agents and the importance of social media. Instead, start by orientating yourself to things that will likely never go out of fashion: honesty, sincerity and enthusiasm. Take these basic values and put them into your music, and it will be worth hundreds of times more than all the Facebook “likes” in the world.
Absolutely right. While I have a new site, and spend some time with twitter and Facebook, they are merely tools. 98% of me as a musician, is the traditional. In a nutshell, practice, practice more, play as much as I can, meet people, build relationships face to face, and make as much music as I can. But none of this involves social media. It’s important to put social media into perspective, it is by no means, a replacement for anything. I know a number of successful musicians who do little to no social media. But social media, used properly, can be a great tool if you have something worth talking about!
The interview finishes with this piece of advice to aspiring musicians:
Buy music. Buy a ticket to a show. Do not watch shitty movies. Don’t just complain. Instead take action. You can make the change. You. Make a decision to support what you believe in, not what someone tells you that you should. People will respect you. I certainly will.
I love his directness! I couldn’t agree more with his advice. The invention of the internet came much later in my life, and to be honest, thank god for that. I would have likely missed life as Jojo Mayer described above, and I think too many spend too much time online and it’s offerings, rather than getting out your front door and putting your money where your mouth is, and supporting what interests you. “Likes”, “maybe going”, as appreciated by artists as they may be, doesn’t equal support!