The Pursuit Of Emptiness
There is nothing quite like music in it’s truest artform. When in the beginning stages of writing a song, my energy feels like a tributary flowing softly and organically with purpose. There is uncertainty of what lies ahead but a sense of peace and excitement that momentum is being gained as that flow of energy begins to pick up it’s intensity. I sit there piecing together words that just sound good. More of the primal part of the process. Good sounds and word-flow get sculpted into something of context. As I work through the kinks and find that path of least resistance in my tributary, IAmHim (Sterling) is flowing down on his own path from the other side eventually forming the river of fusion that is AztroGrizz.
A friend told us “it’s like you guys have an important pill for people to swallow and you do such a good job coating that pill with peanut butter”. Comments like this have a tendency to fuel a strong desire to get our message and sound out to many folks that share a similar viewpoint. Folks that have no idea that something like us exist and all the sudden catch us with a smile. Visions of sold out concerts and interviews on popular shows and podcasts almost come in so clear they feel like recent memory. “Let’s do this! Let’s grind so hard that there is no chance for failure. We will get into the hands and ears of people that need to hear this!” Says the internal voice. So grind we go. But the grind is not a grind of mental toughness, strength, and endurance. It’s not about overcoming a weak mind and taking the harder path and believing in yourself at all costs. No the grind for an independent artist is about algorithms and engagement.
How do your socials look?
How do we make it look like you guys are taking off?
You guys need to start posting more.
Make sure your stuff really stands out
Remember you’re competing with everyone.
Really try to be authentic, people relate more to authentic.
Do you guys have a TikTok?
People are busy scrolling other meaningless shit, so if your video has some great content be sure to put “wait till the end” in captions.
“The song is great but if you want to really get people to click on it you should consider naming it “Testicle Explodes” and grab a graphic image for the thumbnail.”
Somehow these types of questions and conversations make all the art turn grey. To enter this kind of grind requires playing believable roles of musicians on the pursuit of a dream. Sell it, baby. Screw the music. It’s not about the music. It’s about grabbing attention.
The intent of this is not to cry and bitch about how the world is changing and it’s changing for the worse. It’s not about how social media and our horizon is going in a direction that makes us all easy to control without us even knowing it. It’s not even about giving up social media. It’s about realizing where the energy should go. Should you spend your energy trying to convince the world that you are worth it or should you live? Should you try and convince strangers that you are on your way to greatness, or should you grind your way to greatness. Should you spend your time trying to figure out how to be clever and steal people’s attention, or focus so intensely on your own craft that no outside bullshit can steal yours. Would you rather make a song and video that is so incredibly powerful and real to you and those that love your craft but it only has 300 views or drop a song and video that you are not in alignment with, does not bring anything of value to the world, but gets you millions of views. This isn’t coming from judgement and I’m not trying to persuade the reader. These are questions that I have been asking myself a lot lately. Out of all of the things that are involved in the music business, I can tell you what fills my bucket and what drains it and life is so short and unpredictable that you better be in love with the journey and not the desperate hope of a better tomorrow filled with shallow possessions and fake love. If your life and journey currently is the shit then you shouldn’t constantly be feeling the urge to show others. I intend to pour my energy into the craft, the music, and the film and imagery that support it. That’s where the love is. Outside of that, I will use platforms to point you to the art but I will not dance for likes. I love entertaining and I love dancing to the beat from my drum or our drum. I hope many new eyes and ears discover us but not at the cost of jeopardizing mental well-being. If whoring your avatar out is the only way to make a living in the music industry then I will die trying to prove that wrong.
