Being a new and talented band is tough in a few ways. Making anyone care is tough, breaking through to a wider audience is hard, and all the while you’ve probably got a person or people trying to take advantage of you. In an interview with comedian Bert Kreischer’s Bertcast, Maynard James Keenan (Tool, A Perfect Circle, Puscifer, etc.) gave some great (and funny) advice on how to cut to the core of what someone who might be less-than-reputable is saying to you.
“Early on we had a guy talking to us and he said in this industry you’re going to meet a manager, who is going to introduce you to the lawyer, who is going to introduce you to the agent, who is going to introduce you to the merchandiser, who is going to introduce you to blah, blah, blah just round in a circle of these people you’re all going to meet, they know each other and you’re new here and they’re going to compliment the fuck out of you,” said Keenan.
“So every time they say anything that’s a compliment, you have to replace it with ‘dumb’ and ‘naive.’ ‘Oh my God, I saw you guys play last night and you were so dumb and naive. I’ve never heard anything so dumb and naive.’ Just replace it with dumb and naive in your head and picture them with bunny ears. That just levels… what are you actually saying to me? What are you actually saying? Because all I hear is ‘dumb and naive’ and I see the bunny ears and inside I’m laughing. it kind of levels what’s being said. At the end of the day, we write the songs, we play the songs. What are we talking about right now? what do you want?”
And really, who better to take advice on that subject from than Keenan? Dude has fronted three extremely popular bands and has done very well in the business world. It seems pretty safe to assume that the guy knows what he’s talking about.
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