Ever feel like giving up music?

[Boxer Monkey]

Recording, recording, recording, sweating blood over homemade demo EPs for which I will receive no feedback from the "friends" to whom I must dispense copies unsolicited (like they'd ever ask). Thanks for nothing. Do I suck? Should I worry what they think? Shouldn't I be doing this for myself? I mean, validation is important, yet I can't kid myself into believing I'm some "misunderstood genius." But if the imperfect is truly more alive, shouldn't my follies resonate all the more? Play guitar for, like, three hours a night to forget that I'm alone: Shouldn't the guitar make me less alone somehow? Strapping it on is like being tied to an anchor (and I don't mean it gives my life a center of gravity). Sinkin' thinkin'.

[the captain]

No, because I know how good it feels to wander back to recordings I've done, put on the headphones and listen.

And proving myself inferior is a hell of a lot more worthwhile than imagining myself superior.

[Boxer Monkey]

No, because I know how good it feels to wander back to recordings I've done, put on the headphones and listen.

And proving myself inferior is a hell of a lot more worthwhile than imagining myself superior.

See, I can't even listen to my stuff anymore without hearing what's wrong with it. One night I had this terrifying moment of branding-iron hot ephiphany where a track I'd created dissolved into the river of sludge that I imagine most people hear. I have no objectivity otherwise, and this flash of detachment filled me with revulsion. I ended up fleeing my apartment and walking, like, four miles angsting over how I've wasted the last 10 years or so of my life on this garbage (like in "Ed Wood": "These movies are TERRIBLE! You're wasting your lives making merda!!!!").

Proving myself inferior is no picnic. (I'd much rather imagine I control the weather.)

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I too feel like this very often.

I know I have some talent for songwriting, and I can play my guitar and keyboards pretty well.

I'm trying not to lose hope and faith in myself.

I actually think i've written better songs than Lennon & Mccartney must have at 17 years old. Maybe this is just my ego and foolishness coming into play. It gives me hope.

I am happy though, with the thought of being a cool Uncle who teaches his nephews/neices how to play/write songs. I'm in love with the whole idea of a family sitting around a piano having a great time, though you'd never find that in my house now.

[b.dfzo]

It's when things get rough that you've got all the more reason not to quit.  That is, unless you're a quitter; then it's best to quit and not fool yourself.  Not you, but someone other than you, who is a quitter. 

(That came out wrong, I think.  Someone flame me quick.)

[wind chime]

It happens to me...I wrote one song last spring and made about 35 demos of it and now cant listen to it....to me they are my diary...sometimes I have to take a sabbaticals and just have fun with my music etc...I give CD's to friends and get no feedback....totally....I get more feedback from downloads...take a break...you need to refresh the mind and soul...

[Aegir]

Well, personally I don't write/record music for others... I do it just because I feel the need to. Creative fulfillment and all that nonsense. I don't need other people to like them.. in fact, most people think I'm a joke. But I just record anyway. Many of my songs have never been heard by anyone but me.. and I don't care. I just to try to get people to listen to them, years ago, but now I realize that it's not about what others think of you. It's just for yourself.

And I've been recording songs since I was 14, so it's quite interesting to hear how my voice and personality change over the years.

[no]

Just discovered this thread. It's amazing how it mirrors my frustrations in the "Wishlist Thread."

Dude. Writing music is hell. Thinking about my "heroes" and their youthful ages upon being signed and accomplished is also.

I've been in bands a plenty; pop, punk, two foda-ing prog-metal bands (yikes!) and even a cover act. I just turned 24 and feel like a mummified old foda, yet I still think from time to time that playing music and thinking music is the obvious answer.  Performing/writing has healed and hurt me in wicked ways -- I can't imagine anything more tortuous than those formative years, attempting to write structurally-sound tunes without a foda-ing clue as to the mechanics of writing (or pitch).  Sheer horror.  One of those "wouldn't wish it on my..." sorta things.  I'd love to offer some advice, but I'm clearly too jaded.  I suppose if it grants you euphoria, even if it's only once a month and fleeting, don't hang up, man.

[Matinee Idyll]

What a resounding thread...

I'd completely given up, and I don't mean to gloat... but I spent part of last week with one of me musical heroes, and it was amazing to see how damn simple writing music came to him...  No self consciousness, just draw up a ukelele tab, tune it to some wierd 6th chord, and start making stuff up... once things started flowing, it just came natural. Now I feel a whole lot more confident in my own ability to 'do it'.

I too appreciate not having family who give any feedback on what you're coming up with, even a "That sounds sh*t" would be a start.  Like Heroes, I too yearn for rollickin' family sing songs (we're two peas punchin' it out in the same pod man, I love ya)

Stick with it guys,  if only for yourself.

[richardsnow]

I did give up.

I did it hard from 89-96
The nail in the coffin for me was when a sh*t band beat my band in a competition. We'd got complex 3 part harmonies down, they'd brought a bigger crowd. 
Any how I gave up for 5 years. Didn't write one song.
It was only the internet that got me started again. By putting up my old recordings on MP3.com for a laugh, then I started getting the response I'd never got when I was just sending out the tapes.

God bless t'internet :-)

[b.dfzo]

If you feel like you can't write, check out these two fellows; maybe it will inspire you.  All you need is a few chords and something/anything to say.  How do you think these guys feel about their validity?

R. Stevie Moore: http://www.rsteviemoore.com/

Daniel Johnston: http://www.hihowareyou.com/

[Chris Brown]

I've never really felt like giving up creating music, but there are certainly times when I wonder if all the effort is worth it.  I don't write music to please other people though (unless it's a girlfriend or something); I do it to challenge myself and because I enjoy it.  If someone else enjoys it too, that's great, but it isn't the end of the world if they don't.  Like others have said, I also find it interesting to go back and listen to things I did when I was younger.  It is fun to listen to these songs and go back to those times in your life, and it also gives you a good perspective to see how far you've come since.  My point is that there are plenty of reasons to keep making music, but the best reason is to do it because you enjoy it.   

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I've never not felt like giving it up.  I hope someday I actually do give it up instead of giving it up for a few months and coming back.  I've never really felt one positive feeling from listening to my own music.  There are times I've thought the production job I did was good, but that's not enough.  Recording it is the biggest pain.  I'll just continue making music vicariously by pretending to be in the Beach Boys.

[wind chime]

OK here is one method...for instance...I have a CD called "Genesis Archive II 1976-2000"...the very last track is called "Mama work in progress" it is fascinating in that Phil Collins is just making up stuff to the beat of the electronic drums, Tony Banks live keys and Mike Rutherfords live guitar... at the end he says "need to write more words"...that's one method, you have abeat and just saing whatever feels right with it...the same for "No Son of Mine"... they jam and pick out the best bits for development.

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

I really labour with my songs. I have a hard time accepting mediocrity so I push the songs to the brim.

[b.dfzo]

Whenever I hear a song from Dylan's Love and Theft album, it makes me think about how easy it is to write great songs: take a bunch of great lines and cobble them together.  And the music?  Just rip off old blues numbers and tin pan alley standards.  Example:

The trailing moss and mystic glow
Purple blossoms soft as snow
My tears keep flowing to the sea
Doctor, lawyer, Indian chief
It takes a thief to catch a thief
For whom does the bell toll for, love? It tolls for you and me

It sounds brilliant, but why?  Because of the love of performing, clearly exuded by Dylan.  The love of it supercedes all else. 

[Chris Brown]

Funny you should mention laboring over your songs H&V...one of the fun things for me has been listening to old songs that I rushed and finished in a half hour and comparing them to more recent songs that I take forever to finish.  For better or worse, becoming familiar with the Smile saga made me realize that it is okay to take a long time to work on a song, as long as it turns out good in the end!

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Becoming familiar with the SMiLE saga left me thinking about rushing recordings just to get them done. It's okay for one Brian Wilson to not finish a project, he was already set for life financially.

[Jason]

I think about quitting music every day. Sometimes I feel like it just won't pay off, that I'm not hip to the newer music, which I've tried to be. Sometimes you have to sacrifice your artistic intents if you ever want to make any real money. I don't think my industrial album will make me any money whatsoever. My instrumental album was all done live, and I think that has no commercial potential (all the tracks are over 10 minutes).

[Reverend Joshua Sloane]

Jason, post some darn songs and we'll decide.

[Chris D.]

One night I had this terrifying moment of branding-iron hot ephiphany where a track I'd created dissolved into the river of sludge that I imagine most people hear.

You have no idea how much I can relate to that.

Always believe in your greatness.

Always know how much you can suck.

[Jason]

I found an instrumental that's actually listenable (I dunno if you guys want to hear the near-unlistenable stuff). I'll be posting it tomorrow, and showing off my love for cliched melodies and overlong instrumentals.

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

I think I figured out why music isn't fun for me.  It's because I have to do it by myself.  For me, music isn't overdubbing yourself, it's playing with other people.  I remember the first time I played guitar in a "band" sort of setting.  It was at a music camp I went to, and somehow there was a spontaneous jam on Live's hit of the day, "Lakini's Juice."  I remember having to wipe tears from my eyes as we played together, drums, bass, two guitars, piano.  It was so much fun to react to other people playing, hear the big sound in the room, etc.

I just don't enjoy having to play everything myself.  It's gratifying from a standpoint of I'm able to listen to it and have a document of how neat it is that I'm able to play tons of instruments at fairly proficient levels, but that's it.  Otherwise, it's a chore.

[b.dfzo]

I think I figured out why music isn't fun for me.  It's because I have to do it by myself.  For me, music isn't overdubbing yourself, it's playing with other people.  I remember the first time I played guitar in a "band" sort of setting.  It was at a music camp I went to, and somehow there was a spontaneous jam on Live's hit of the day, "Lakini's Juice."  I remember having to wipe tears from my eyes as we played together, drums, bass, two guitars, piano.  It was so much fun to react to other people playing, hear the big sound in the room, etc.

I just don't enjoy having to play everything myself.  It's gratifying from a standpoint of I'm able to listen to it and have a document of how neat it is that I'm able to play tons of instruments at fairly proficient levels, but that's it.  Otherwise, it's a chore.

I see your point, but there's a lot of good things about one person recordings...just, uh, let me think of a few...

[Joshilyn Hoisington]

One person recordings can be great, some of mine are...but it's not fun or enjoyable, for me.