Java with Justin

One step closer

justin | 06 June, 2009 13:16

Soon after moving to Nashville, I was told by someone, “This industry is full of people that are not here to make your dreams come true. This is an industry full of people that are trying so hard to make you go back from where you came from. So, you have to show them how badly you want this.” When I heard that I thought it was a statement, but I did not realize at the time that it was a bit of advice.

The music industry is difficult to break into. American Idol and similar show make seem as if it something you can do with breaking a sweat. In the case of American Idol, it may be true but you have show the industry how badly you wanted to be a part of it in the first place. Where Carrie Underwood was once quoted in a television interview, as saying, that American Idol made it easy to get her name out there but once she entered the industry, that is when the real work started.

Recently, I had recorded a few songs that were covers of songs that people had heard many times before. They are not the best recordings, not only because I had recorded them in my apartment, but because I am by no means a recording engineer. I was asked by the company that I currently work for, to record a few songs in order to give them an idea of what I sound like. The recordings were not intended to be handed to music producers or anyone in the music industry.

I thought I would send the recordings to a few friends that I have outside of the music industry to get their opinion. Never did I imagine that one of the friends that I had sent them two would send them off to a music producer that has worked with the likes of Britney Spears and Ashlee Simpson, just to name a few. The feedback that I had gotten from the music producer, or should I say second-handed feedback, was that I should pursue another dream because singing was not what I was supposed to do with my life. I do realize that some music producers work with singers and genres of music that fit their own person taste, but it still hurts when you heard someone flat out say that you suck. You begin to doubt yourself and wonder if you have wasted time on a dream that was never meant to become reality in the first place.

I have always been told to have a thick skin. Over the years I have built my skin up to take whatever people have to say about my voice and my musical talent. Sometime it just hurt to have someone tell you that you do not have what it takes.

Last night I feel so down about myself. Where it was as if I was saying, excuse me, pity party for one. I am trying so hard to use this as fuel to keep pushing and keep follow the dream that I have had since I was little. To have just one album released. To have just one time to turn on the radio and hear myself. Sometime it seems that the more that I try to follow this dream, the more that it feels so far away. Perhaps it is because I have wanted this dream to be reality for so long.

Don't ever give up on your dreams, because I'm not ready to give up. I've only just begun. One rejection is just another step closer.