At the risk of dating myself, if you remember CD's you'll remember those parental advisory/explicit content stickers that artists had to start putting on their albums back in the 90's. These warned parents that the album contained foul language or explicit content. A lot of times you had to be over 18 to purchased such albums.
Imagine if we could put this kind of disclaimer on our own work. Except instead of explicit content, we could tell people of all the obstacle we had to overcome. We could let people know ahead of time what to expect, whether to raise or lower their expectations and it would help them appreciate the album more because they knew what we had to work with. Wouldn't it change your perspective of an album to know it was recorded in 5 days as opposed to 30? Or if the budget was $5,000 as opposed $50,000? If only people knew what we had to contend with, then they would appreciate it more. I mean, this song would be way better with a real orchestra section but I couldn't afford it... and if we had 3 more days to mix it would've been perfect... and we ran out of time for vocals so we couldn't fix those chorus lines... and the studio's AC was broken so the guitars kept going out of tune... but in spite of all those things, it's great!
Trust me, I'm not judging. I totally get it. I understand the struggle of working under less than ideal circumstances. Being short on time, money and resources. If only I had a month to make a record. If only I had a week to mix it. I would have nailed that part if I had a better guitar...
The unfortunate thing is that, in this industry, you're only as good as your last gig. You have to make it all count. People are pretty understanding, sure. They'll pat you on the back and tell you you did a great job. But in the end if you're not fast enough to run the race then you get cut. Maybe it's not your fault you can't afford better shoes or you twisted your ankle. I'm sure you are running really fast for a guy in flip flops and a broken toe... but it's still not fast enough. It's unfair. We're not all as privileged as others to have financial backing by an investor or a label, or have a comfortable job that can afford us the luxury of burning money in a studio. I am not debating for one second that it is fair. But unfortunately we don't get to enter our own category of "tries really hard" or "doing a good job". I deal with it all the time. I never get enough time to mix or record. The artists I work with are often on shoe string budgets. They have to go back to work on Monday. They have kids to take care of, bills to pay. They can't spend all their life savings in a studio, on gear and techs. It's frustrating to be limited by money and your technical resources. Even your skill. We're all not virtuousos. Some of us are trying the best with what we have. But at the end of the day we get sized up next to everyone else.
The digital age has given many people a voice that would never have had one 30 years ago. You don't need to be on a label to have half the advertising power that a major or indy label artist does. Sure, maybe you don't have all the financial support, but these days you can get really damn close without any support whatsoever. Most social media platforms cost absolutely nothing and if you're willing to spend some time and maybe a bit of money, you can learn to manipulate the algorithm in your favour. You've managed to market yourself, now you're here, and your music isn't holding up. Whats the excuse? You made it this far, even these days just about anyone can record music. Some people can do it better on a laptop with the most basic plugins. So again I ask, what is your excuse?
We will never get a chance to air our grievances about why we only half did something. We can't tell everyone why our work doesn't stand up. If you screw up a part, re-do it. If you can play it better, then play it better. If you have to perform something all over again then so be it. To a certain extent, there IS a lot that is in your control.
"There are no disclaimers on records." When I started working with Harry at Vespa he would tell me this all the time. It meant that we had to do whatever we had to in order to make things sound great because it was a reflection of us and the work that we did. If I had to edit something twice or stay up until all hours of the night to get something done in time, then that's what needed to be done. The budgets weren't always great, the musicians weren't always talented and time wasn't always on our side. We had to navigate these things, because if the album wasn't up to par, the onus was on us. We didn't have the opportunity to explain to 10 million people why it sounds bad. It just sounds bad and they're left thinking that we're no good at our jobs. How unfair, but how true.
So to this day I take this into my work ethic. When I do something, I try to keep in mind that this is a reflection of my work and there are thousands of people that may hear it and will either love it or hate it and I won't get to explain to them why it could have been better. If I'm agreeing to do work, I'm doing so under the premise that I will deliver my best work. Even if f I'm doing something at a discounted rate, I'm not sacrificing my quality of work. If you pay half price I don't give you half my effort. What good does it do me to get half the money and then have something floating around the internet that sounds like garbage with my name on it?
So next time someone offers you a gig and it's for less than ideal money or under less than ideal circumstances, remember that what you leave with them is a reflection of yourself. Sometimes, if all the odds are against you, you need to decide if it's in your best interest to pass or follow through, because if you can't deliver, there is no disclaimer to make excuses on your behalf.
