You Gotta Have A Gimmick

I had this article all set to go last night, but after having dinner with my sister last night, I am altering it just a bit, I told her about the subject matter of my article and she said, "Well, of course!" And then bursting into song, (which we sisters are prone to always do), She sang, You Gotta have a gimmick if you wanna be a star" .

Then she said, "What about Bowie, and Elton John, and Boy George? They had gimmicks, and they were, and still are successful"!

So, I've been thinking about that...and I have concluded, as you will read down the page, that gimmicks are okay, AS LONG AS THEY COME FROM YOU! This shall be explained later.

Many years ago, in my capacity as a health care professional, I had an occasion to attend a 2-day workshop on leadership and management skills. I don't remember a great deal of it, but I DO recall that we were given a short questionnaire to complete which would reveal the kind of leader, manager, instructor, etc. we were most similar to.

The choices were something like:

a) The Drill Sergeant: humorless and iron-fisted,
b) The Dilettante: negligent and indifferent,
c) The Cheerleader: nurturing and supportive, or
d) The Effective Manager: fair and objective

As I recall, getting to Letter D was the goal of this particular workshop, and I suppose we all went back to our facilities vowing to be fair and objective, but within 2 weeks or so, we had slipped back into our comfort zone of management. Mine turned out to be (C), by the way.

And as I continue to read over my past stuff to get inspired to create this month's feature article, I can see that this, (letter C) is indeed who I am as a teacher and coach, as those of you who have directly experienced me can attest.

I tell you this because every now and then, and this would be one of those times, I need to "get real" with you people, and tell you things you may not like to hear. Indeed, some of what I will tell you in this newsletter may come off as colder than usual. I've given my topic considerable thought so please just remember that these things I write are geared toward your improvement and success, okay? And I do you a shameful disservice if I don't drum these crucial ideas home.

I received literally dozens of emails following the Idol finals, and after your thoughts about the finalists most of them were about the upcoming auditions in August for the next season. A few of you sent me clips and asked me straight out if I thought you had a chance at the auditions. Some asked for gimmick ideas to get past the pre-panel process, while others wanted to know what to wear to make them stand out. While I answered each of you privately, I would like to encapsulate some of my thoughts here. You can take what I have to say at face value, and use it or not, but basically singers, it all boils down to this:

IF YOU'RE NOT YOU, THEN WHO ARE YOU?

If the 15 minutes is enough for you, then you can work on a costume or a gimmick, and maybe you'll get on TV, but if a SINGING LIFE of some longevity and personal integrity is what you're after, well...hopefully, you'll get the picture.

Okay! Let's begin by asking you some questions:

1. Why do you sing?

If your answer is anything but, "because I want to be famous", answer this next one:

2. Why do you love to sing?

Again, if your answer is anything but, "because my friends say I'm a great singer", then answer this next one:

3. Why do you NEED to sing?

Your answer to this question reveals your inner motivation, and could very well look something like, "because I am driven to it, because I want to express myself", or "because when I sing, all is right with the world".

To those of you that answered all three questions, this article is for YOU!

I believe that singing is the most personal and subjective art form there is, and furthermore, that unlike dance, or painting, or writing, or even playing an instrument, singing, because it comes out YOUR MOUTH, has the potential to totally unwrap your outside persona and expose your inner essence. And because of this [exposure], it can be one TERRIFYING endeavor.

I mean, who wants to stand naked before the world, right?

Even acting can be excused if it reveals too much of YOU in the process. You can always say, "I was just playing a part", right? But when you sing...when you perform a song, you are telling a story, and you are consciously or not, exposing yourself, your feelings and emotions about it to your audience. That is, IF you're doing it right!

With that in mind, then, let's take a look at you. Do you know who you are as an artist, as a person? Are you comfortable with letting the world discover you from the inside out? Because, as you know, revealing your true self through your performance makes magic on your audience.

What we are talking about here is how much of YOU you are willing to reveal...AND...do you hold back parts of yourself that you cannot or will not share with your audience?

We talk about connecting with the lyrics a lot around here, and then telling the story of those lyrics to your listeners, which means that if some of the lyrics are dark, then you need to be open to the communication of that darkness.

Some singers refuse to go there...to a dark place in a song, whether it be sadness, anger, despair, or any dark emotion. I'm here to tell you that if you cannot embrace the gambit of emotions in a song, your performance of the song can be less than thrilling to an audience.

Please understand this...a nice voice, even a great voice, is only 49% of a great performance. 51% is your delivery, your connection to the words, and how well you communicate the song's meaning to an audience.

But because singing is so subjective as an art form, and so very personal, you'll hear the judges on IDOL say things like,

"that song was safe...and it was "boring",

or

"in 4 weeks of hearing and watching you, we still don't have a clue as to who you are".

They react this way when the singer is reluctant to totally reveal their essence through a song. He/she will choose a song that doesn't ask for much, maybe just enough rhythm and harmonic changes to be barely interesting and fun, but emotionally vacant. The accolades come to the singer who will use all the emotions of his/her life in a song, and leave it all out there on the stage.

Okay, so here it is, guys! You need to identify yourself as an artist, and this requires you to identify yourself as a person. You need to embrace all of who you are, forgive the stuff of you that you don't like very much, and "let it all hang out" when you perform. And really guys...quit looking for a gimmick.

Lastly, I want to tell you this:

After you become aware of all the aspects of your personality, which you do by being honest and by looking deep inside yourself, it's a good idea to embrace them all, thereby integrating each aspect into all of WHO you are.

You can even give them names. For example,

If there's a part of you that has a hard time standing up for him/herself, you could call that part "The Wimp". If there's another part that loses his/her temper too easily and blows up at people only to regret it later, call that part, "The Hot-head".

As artists, some of us, (yes, me too) tend to beat up on ourselves a lot! I call this part of myself, "The Pompous Critic", and when I have a moment of negative self-judgment, I thank the "critic" for that nasty comment, and then send it off to its room so to speak.

For me, treating these various entities as children, and separate from my true self helps me to quiet them whenever I wish when I perform. Indeed, several of my "little friends" have disappeared completely over the years.

You yourself created these little creatures to help you cope, so rather than fight them, embrace them all, even love them, for loving them will quiet them...and as they fall away, they will be absorbed into your true essence.

Bottom Line: Getting comfortable with yourself is the key to becoming a true and authentic artist.

As always, your comments are welcome. Oh, and I need to let you know, I am saving all of your comments for the Blog Page when I get it up and running. Right now, we're working on the Database part. When we get it up there, there will be opportunities for you to comment on any article you read past and present.

Til' next time, Singers!