SHORT SUPPLY'S IN DEMAND
Being a Rock Star is all about supply and demand. The world has billions of people, but there’s only one of you.
You have two options:
1 – Walk along with the crowd and do as you’re told
2 – Follow your heart and ask yourself, “Where do I want to go”. Then ignore the crowd and head in that direction.
Standing out really isn’t difficult. Just look for something that needs to be done. Then go do it. The crowd stands around, waiting for direction. They’re easy to beat. Even in extremely competitive fields, you will stand out.
Every recording studio I’ve ever visited has an intern. They’re bright, young, good looking and work for free. So many people want to work in the music industry, recording studios have no problem finding free interns by the truckload.
When I’m in a session, we use the interns… a lot! If we forget something, they run to the store for us. They deliver our mail. They pick up food so we can work thru dinner.
They’ll literally do anything you ask. I got one to wash my car for me. We made it a game… “Let’s see what we can get the intern to do!”
When not running errands, they just hang out, waiting for your next request. But there are hundreds of interns willing to do anything you ask. So they all go unnoticed. They’re no where near memorable. I can tell you more about the guitars we played than I can about our interns.
I’ve forgotten them all but one. There was one intern who never hung out. He never read magazines. He was too busy figuring out ways to help us.
Allen’s the only intern who’s name I remember, and I only worked with him one day. But that day I didn’t have to ask for a music stand, or a glass of water, or waste time looking for my lyric sheets. Allen made sure I had what I needed before I even asked for it.
Allen didn’t wait for requests. He spent the entire day asking himself “What can I do to make their lives easier?” Then he did it.
He did the same thing for my whole band. We were blown away.
Allen was never bored. He never had time to kill. He was actively engaged in our session. Sure, he was doing menial, unskilled tasks, fetching coffee, tuning guitars, but he was actively engaged in those chores because he was actively engaged in us and our needs.
That active engagement made him more effective and, ironically, he had more fun than any intern I’ve seen.
Three days after we left, Sony Records’ Epic division came in to record ‘The Fray’s” debut album. That record went double Platinum. Allen’s work ethic impressed Sony Records as much as it had impressed us. When Sony Records left town, they took Allen with them and gave him a job in Los Angeles.
Now Allen gets to follow his heart’s desire, making a living in the music industry.
He was only an intern, but he was one of a kind. That’s the key to being a Rock Star.
Who’s your audience? Your clients? Your boss? Do what you can to make their lives easier, and you’ll have fans for life.