Mobile
Monday, January 11, 2010
Opinion / Eric Mullis / News The critics vs. the haters
Posted By Jeff Hahne on Mon, Jan 11, 2010 at 11:16 AM
If you’re a musician or a band, you have to get feedback on your sound, compositions, performances and so on. There are many folks out there who will give you that kind of feedback, but it’s often difficult to figure out who you should listen to. In the best of all worlds, you’ll get an independent and knowledgeable music lover to listen to your music and to catch your live show. Ideally, they’ll give you some quality feedback since they know about your genre and since they’ll take the time to reflect on your music and your performance.
Of course, the reality is that the feedback that they give you might not be as good as you’d like it to be. They might think that you’re okay or mediocre or they may think that you’re generally good but that you need to work on some particular thing (for example, maybe your album is great but your live show is boring). So what do you do with that kind of feedback?
The answer is simple… you take the criticism to heart and get to work on making your band better. For example, if your live show is a bit boring, what can you do to liven it up? The best thing to do is to get out there and see what other local groups are up to. What are they doing that’s keeping the crowd interested? (As an aside, this is one of the reasons I try to catch as much local music as possible. I may not particularly like the genre that a band’s music falls into, but there’s almost always SOMETHING that they are doing well that I can learn from.)
That seems like an obvious answer to the question, but I’m writing this because it’s easy to write-off ANY kind of criticism that your band gets by calling the critic a “hater.” The hater is someone that criticizes anything and everything, usually because they have an agenda of their own. Unfortunately, many musicians are haters because being a hater makes you feel good about yourself as a person, your music or band. After all, if every other band in town sucks, then you and your band must be fabulous.
Regardless, it is easy to chalk up any negative feedback about your music to someone being a hater. It’s a safe way to convince yourself that you are God’s gift to music, but it’s a missed opportunity to genuinely improve yourself as a musician and performer. What I’m getting at is that becoming a continually improving musician or band entails cultivating a sense of honesty about yourself as a musician and as a person. Self-honesty is a reflection of what kind of person you are on and off stage.
Although he wasn’t talking about bands and haters, Confucius said:
“If I am walking with two other men, each of them will serve as my teacher.
I will pick out the good points of the one and imitate them
and the bad points of the other and correct them in myself.”
Speaking of...
Comments
Showing 1-1 of 1
Latest in Vibes
-
Chvrches ups the energy
Oct 17, 2018 -
Florence & The Machine offer a vocal showcase in Charlotte area
Oct 4, 2018 -
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends entertain with wit, classic arts
Oct 2, 2018 - More »
More by Jeff Hahne
-
Chvrches ups the energy
Oct 17, 2018 -
Florence & The Machine offer a vocal showcase in Charlotte area
Oct 4, 2018 -
Bill Murray, Jan Vogler and Friends entertain with wit, classic arts
Oct 2, 2018 - More »
-
Live photos: My Morning Jacket, Uptown Amphitheatre (7/29/2015)
Lucius opens the night, joins MMJ for a handful of songs.
-
Live Review: The Police
-
Live review: Dave Matthews Band 5
Branford Marsalis makes guest appearance at July 21, 2010 show at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.
