(00:03):
Welcome back to behind the space bar episode seven overcoming stage. Right? Hey everybody. This is will Doga and, uh, thanks so much for coming back. Joining me again. If this is your first time, then welcome. We're so glad you're here. Uh, this is the podcast for music directors, musicians, playback texts, anyone running to facts on stage in able to live or any other software. But most of us I think are Ableton folks. Uh, but we're so glad you're here. I'm glad you're here. Um, I'm super thankful for all the kind comments you guys have shared about these episodes. I do have a favor up at the top. If you're enjoying it, do me a favor, do two things for me. Number one, uh, send the link to someone that you think would enjoy this and say, Hey, check out this podcast. I think you would enjoy it.

(00:42):
Number two, leave me a rating review wherever you're watching, listening, apple podcast, whatever it is, Spotify, uh, unless you've pulled your music from Spotify or, or protesting Spotify, um, then, uh, then leave me a rating review wherever that is wherever you're not currently protesting or, um, uh, ING and hollering about something. Uh, today's episode is it's really about one thing. And I've got one suggestion typically week to week, I've got a couple different points, whatever today's episode. I really want to talk about overcoming stage, right? And this is something that all of us in whatever capacity that we are serving on stage as a guitar player is a front man, a front lady, a a playback tech standing off stage. I think you experienced stage right as well too. I know I have. Um, um, but even someone that's standing on stage, a CEO presenting, I don't know how many CEOs we have listening in this podcast.

(01:32):
If you're a CEO listening to this podcast, give me a like thumbs up or let me know the comments or something. You don't have to say what you're the CEO of. But, uh, I just would be interested to know it'd be interesting graphic, uh, information there, but, um, even someone presenting on stage giving a keynote, you have experienced stage, right? Uh, even in the world, just coming off of, uh, two years of, of doing tons and tons of zoom calls and meetings. And for me, uh, doing sales presentations to people over zoom and meeting with clients and doing trainings, um, you can even get a little bit of stage, right? I think, you know, sitting in your office at home, in your studio at home or whatever, we've all felt stage fright. We've experienced that feeling. I know for me, uh, again, I've felt it on stage as a guitar player.

(02:14):
I think I've told the story before of, uh, uh, some of the, the major mess ups and mistakes I've made as, as a guitar player on stage and hitting wrong core and hitting key changes that were a whole and a half key changes. And I thought it was just a whole step key change and, uh, nothing like playing a, a ACOR while everyone else is in the Kia be flat. So, uh, I've had some fun mess up moments, um, and some fun moments of feeling nervous, being in a stadium full of people, being in a very small club, uh, full of people. Uh, and I've had stage right moments of standing, um, off stage running tracks and my finger hovering over space by, or hoping and praying. I don't make a mistake or start the song too early or cut off the, the, the artist or worship bleeder I'm working with by starting to click too soon.

(02:58):
Right. And you kind of get the evil eyes as they look over at you. I think we all know the feeling of stage, right. Um, I know for me, I, I think, and for the most part it's gone away, but it just is a little different, right. You know, it's not like, and maybe me saying for the most part it's gone away is a better way. It's just morphed and it's changed. And it's shifted a little bit. I think one of the most recent times I can think of was being at, um, and this was a while ago, but one of the more recent kind of bigger moments of, um, of noticeable nervousness or stage fright for me was, uh, being on stage at Sweetwater and Sweetwater in Fort Wayne, Indiana. You've never been there, man. It's such a cool place to visit. It really is like Disney world for musicians.

(03:38):
Um, uh, they've got a cafe you can eat at, you can, you can play put putt, you can go to their music store, which is really, really cool. You can see where they ship out gear, um, all sorts of really, really cool things and, uh, just a cool place to be. So I met Sweetwater though, and I'm there with the company I was working with at the time. And, uh, we were partnering with Ableton and, uh, we were doing a, was a Monday sales meeting. If I remember correctly, maybe it was a Friday, but it was a sales, uh, meeting and presentation to the sales engineers there and kind of going into it. Uh, we were warned, we said, listen, these, these, uh, this group of people, they are ruthless. Like, they will sense that you don't know your stuff and they'll call you on it.

(04:17):
Cuz these are subject matter experts. They know their stuff. Um, and, and I, I really think they do know their stuff really well, but they said, you know, you gotta be prepared, you gotta be ready. And so I just remember walking into that and kind of having this feeling of like, well, um, I wouldn't be here and I wouldn't be invited to be here. If someone, at least one person didn't believe I have the skills and ability to be doing this. And some like, uh, you know, I gotta trust that I do have the skills and abilities. Uh, it ended up being a really great meeting and afterwards you get like ratings and reviews and, and, um, my presentation was, was, uh, rated highly, which I was super thankful for that. And it did also help that, uh, someone asked a question which I answered and they kind of said, oh, that's not possible.

(04:59):
And I said, oh, actually it is possible. I have the piece gear that you guys sell that, you know, back over side stage to talk about that. And so I was prepared, which was great. Uh, and that was super helpful. But I just remember walking into that and, you know, literally walking up the, the short flight of stairs to the stage. And it's not that I didn't feel stage, right. It was just a different feeling than when I first started playing guitar, stepping on stage, uh, that was at my church at that time in, in middle school. But stepping on stage was, you know, a small group of 50 people or whatever. Uh, and just being terrified outta my mind. Uh, it was a different feeling, but it, it, it, it was still there. So I think all of us, um, have stage fright in some capacity.

(05:39):
What I wanted to talk about today is I wanna tell you a story, um, of, uh, something that I've kind of held onto for, um, uh, since this story happened, this story happened in Florida and I'll set this up for you, uh, that I have found to be a really great solution for really two things stage frame, and then two that, that, uh, that feeling you get when, uh, which I think is, is part of stage, right. Of you being afraid to make a mistake, you're so terrified you're gonna make a mistake. Um, and, and you're struggling with that. Maybe you made a giant mistake in the past, uh, or you're working with this artist that artist told you not to start the track until they, you know, give you two winks and a pull of the ear. And, uh, and you started the, the, the one pull of the ear, um, or you weren't able to read that worship leader's mind when they wanted to repeat the course five times as opposed to four.

(06:24):
Um, and so you're super nervous. This is a story that happened that I want to tell you that I think will be a really great solution to stage track. I there's a lot more I could say here. Um, I would love to know in the comments, anything you found that see you, uh, you know, maybe it's like the, what is it when you, you, you speak, you get the advice to picture everyone in their underwear or whatever, which is really weird, bizarre, I think, bad advice, but if that works for you, then, then so be it, uh, I don't know if that gets this podcast an explicit rating now, because I said unaware, but, uh, uh, maybe that's your thing maybe that helped see, I'd love to know all the comments, but, um, let me dive into the story. So for those of you don't know, um, for almost about five years, um, my wife and I lived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, uh, I was on staff at a church there, and it was a large enough church that we also had.

(07:12):
Um, uh, I mean, they had a K through, uh, 12th grade, like a full school, but after at school they had a, um, a school of worship. So it was like a two year program that was really intense. And it was just all focused on people that are wanting to do music in a church capacity. And so sometimes that was a worship leader. Sometimes that was like a musician, a church musician, we some incredibly, incredibly talented kids, um, that, that came through the program while I was there, that worship leader, songwriters musicians, um, uh, production folks, uh, producers, just all sorts of different types of, of, of students that came through. But while I was there in Florida, working at that school worship, as well as being on south of the church, uh, one of my goals was to, to lead, uh, particular band. So we kind of split everyone up into different bands.

(08:01):
And so I was leading a band on top of that. I was in charge of the guitar department there, uh, at the time was teaching guitar lessons and developing guitar curriculum and stuff. It was really, really super fun, um, for a guy who doesn't really play guitar live anymore. It, it just reminded me like, it's, it was, we had a, we had a lot of fun, a lot of good times. I, um, but at the school, one of the years, I was there, there was this really sweet guy, really sweet student named David. And, uh, David was a guitar player and, uh, David came in, he was, you know, super shy, like you could tell very kind, really sweet kid, um, had great gear. Uh, you could tell he had great sensibilities. Um, he was a player. He really was a good player. Um, but he would, um, he was always just kind of missing something like there was a little missing piece there.

(08:48):
And so, um, what I started noticing when I was watching him play, it was always kind of like he was a little reserved. Right. And, um, it was, again, it was always like, it was hard to put your finger on exactly what was missing there, but he, he had tons of potential. Uh, and sometimes you say that as like someone who was bad and you're like, they could be good. David was, was good, but it just, something was missing there. And so I was, um, leading his ensemble was also, I think he was my guitar, particular guitar student. I can't remember exactly, but leading the guitar program at that time as well, too. And so, um, one of these days, uh, or I, I kept observing these performances right. Where he would, he would play and we'd be in a rehearsal scenario or he'd actually play on stage.

(09:31):
And again, it always just felt like he was holding back. It always felt like there was something that was, was missing there. And so one day we're in a rehearsal and, um, it it's like just kind of in that moment, I, I, I sensed what was going on and I realized he was so afraid of making a mistake that he just was holding back. Right. He was so afraid of, he could potentially make a, a bad mistake. He could hit a wrong chord. He could be a Fred off, uh, from where he needed to be, um, that he just was constantly holding back. And it's one of those things where when you think about it, instead of a moment of not being great, like, you know, let's say you're like really giving a ear all, and you hit a, a, you know, you just really screw up a chord.

(10:15):
It's like, I think of you two at the, I dunno if it was the MTV music awards, the Grammys or whatever, but it was when they were doing beautiful day. And at the very end, it's just really the edge and tracks. And the edge was like, I think, supposed to play a D or something. And he's like C sharp or a C and bono kind of looks over him. The edge is like, you know, it's one of those moments like you have this big, uh, giant mistake. Um, well, in that moment, you, you make a, you know, for a brief moment in time, you make a big giant mistake, but the whole rest of it was great. Instead of that, he was saying, I'm so afraid of making this giant big mistake. I'm gonna make the whole performance mediocre and just, okay. So it's like, when you think about it, let's talk about these two scenarios.

(10:54):
They're scenario one where, uh, everything is, is really good, except for this one moment, this very brief moment in time, as opposed to scenario two, where there's no really big, awful moment, but it's just all pretty mediocre. And, and it's all pretty boring and all pretty uninspiring and all pretty, not great. Um, he was holding back, right? He was so afraid of making a state, and I think that's tied into stage, right. Uh, because you're, you're so afraid of what if I say the wrong thing, and particularly in a world where, um, uh, you know, you say the wrong thing and you get canceled or you get shut down, or you offend somebody and you're always gonna offend somebody, uh, whatever it is like, you're so afraid of saying, doing this thing that, that you kind of hold back in, holding back, you're making the whole thing pretty mediocre.

(11:41):
And in holding back, I, I think you're actually setting yourself up more for the possibility of a mistake than if you just went for it. So in that moment, I, I told David, I think maybe one of the only three wise things I've ever come up with or said in my life, but I said, David, if you're gonna make a mistake, here's what I want you to do. I want you to make the loudest mistake you've ever made in your life. Right. I want you to go for it. I want you just to dive in, I want you to play with so much passion, so much energy, uh, so much, um, uh, creativity so much, uh, I mean, passion is a, the big word that keeps going alive, but just like you're in the moment you're enjoying it. And I want you to do that so much that if you were to make a mistake, that mistake would be amplified to where it's the loudest mistake in the whole band.

(12:24):
No, one's gonna miss it. Everyone's gonna know David played a wrong note. David hit the wrong chord. And so it was interesting. He started doing that. And in that rehearsal, um, almost immediately, I started to see this change to where he was kind of just, you know, taking a deep breath. Um, he's having fun. He's, he's playing the part, he's enjoying it. He's adding to the music and yeah, there were some mistakes in there. And I, I think I got mad at him because he kind of started pulling back after that mistake, but I said, no, I want the next mistake to be louder than the previous mistake. Right. I want you to go for it. But what's, what's really interesting about what David did is he became like the most in demand player at, at the school that year, you know, and I think he, he stuck around for a second year too.

(13:07):
And it was a similar experience. Like every campus, every venue was finding to have David come play guitar for him because he came a really incredible guitar player. He had great tone, great feel, sta great stage presence. Um, but he was no longer afraid of making a mistake and he just went for it. And because he went for it, he went for it 100% of the time instead of, uh, being so afraid of not going too far, that he held back 100% of the time. And so I was thinking about that when this, this topic came up as a potential topic to discuss the thought of stage, right? It, it doesn't necessarily go away. It just changes its form. It changes its shape to us. Uh, and I thought this is a great story because, um, I think what we need to do is, um, uh, play in a way, uh, this is gonna sound silly, cuz this is a podcast about running tracks, but even, um, create our track systems in a way, uh, run tracks in a way run tracks with, with such confidence that, uh, and the confidence can only come with putting in the time with knowing your stuff with being prepared.

(14:09):
I mean, that could be a whole nother episode. Again, this could be like a six part thing, but it all comes down to me, uh, of, of not holding back, not being so nervous, not so afraid that you're gonna make a mistake that you basically make the whole performance miserable for everyone miserable for the band that's playing with you miserable for the, the audience that's watching the performance. Um, um, instead of holding back the whole time, I want you to go for it. I want you to make the loudest mistake you've ever made. If you're gonna make a mistake, I, I want it to be the loudest possible mistake, uh, that you've ever made. So, uh, that's my advice for you. I think one really practical way to overcome stage fright is just to go for it. And if you're gonna make a mistake, make it the loudest possible mistake you've ever made.

(14:50):
I remember I'll, I'll wrap up with this. Um, I remember at that in that same time period, we were doing performances with the students there and we do a big performance, um, like twice a year, one for the summer, one for Christmas. And this particular performance was, um, highly automated. We had redundant, uh, Ableton rig. We were controlling lights, controlling video as well as lyrics and pro presenter. So a lot of stuff was automated. And so, um, uh, we would have, you know, I think the first year, maybe second year we did this, I did all of it. Right. And then we started to transition into me, teaching other people to do it and me eventually handing it off fully to other people so that I didn't have to be there for every performance. And if something went wrong, I could hop in and, you know, maybe help troubleshoot or whatever, but they were really the ones running it while I ended up, I kept catching all of us, including myself towards the beginning, but more the students as we progress, um, uh, really starting to make mistakes.

(15:45):
Like they they're like double triggering songs or they're triggering the wrong song or they're so like in their head thinking about it, they could get their head that they were missing things. And so I put a, a, a post-it note, a little sticky note, uh, on my computer. I wrote it. And the sticky note said, trust the tech. And, and it was just the idea of like, trust that when I press this key button three, it's gonna trigger song three. And when I trigger song three, it's gonna be the right video and it's gonna be the right lyrics. And it's gonna be the, whatever the right tracks for that song, the right click. Um, and the reason I did that is again, I sensed in all of us, uh, me initially, and then eventually the students, I just sensed that we were holding back and in us holding back, we were making mistakes cuz we weren't thinking our head wasn't in the moment.

(16:26):
And so it kind of came back then again, we're not playing guitar on stage, but um, we just gotta go for it. And if we're gonna make mistake and learn to be the biggest, most, worst mistake you've ever seen, and then we move on and we learn from it, right? So that's what I've got for you this week. Um, on episode seven of behind the space bar talking about overcoming stage, right? Uh, if you wanna learn more about using Ableton live, if you want some free resources to help you along the way, uh, then head to from studio to stage.com/free. And when you go there, you'll find some free click tracks, free guide cues, uh, a free template. This is pretty recent, a free track template for Ableton live that I just released, um, that will help you format your songs to then use on stage, to build a set to use on stage, um, that, uh, is gonna be really, really helpful and beneficial for you if you're using able to line on stage.

(17:15):
So don't try to do this on your own. Don't try to spend hours and hours trying to figure it out, go to from cds.com/free. Uh, if you had to guess how much those resources cost, what would you think if you guess free? You're correct. So head over there, you could download them for free. There's a lot of great stuff that's gonna help you along the process. Uh, and as a reminder, if you're gonna make a mistake, make it the loudest mistake you've ever made. Uh, and with that, I'll see you next week. Next Monday 10:00 AM central. Thanks so much for watching for listening. Make sure to give us a rating review, subscribe, whether you're watching, listening to this and again, we'll see you next week. Make those loud mistakes. See everybody.