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I recently mentioned here a hard decision I had to take concering fundraising. Long stor yshort: I had two projects approved for fundraising by the city, but had tremendous problems finding sponsors (although the amount of taxes destinated would return as publicity).

After the sadness phase, I adapted quite well to the idea that all the work I had done had not been in vain, because I had learned a lot and could apply for the next call, now with a better understanding of the whole process etc

Well, now comes the best part of the story: apparently the other competitors were having the same problem and on a beautiful afternoon when I was checking my e-mails, I saw more than 25 messages appear (!). They were part of a “reply to all” discussion, in which people complained quite vocally about the difficulty in fundraising.

It was a huge relief to see that I was not alone, but at the same time I was quite surprised by the high level of explicit criticism in those messages. Keeping doors open and not burning bridges is fundamental for any professional and a real question of survival for any artist who wants a healthy career, but I had the impression people were not quite aware of that.

I know that interactions in the virtual world tend to be more passionate than in the flesh and blood world, but it is always good to exercise a more diplomatic than incendiary attitude when dealing with those who can provide the means to get your projects out of the drawer. Great achievements are always the result of a lot of struggles and a lot of negotiation and such a formula, to be balanced, cannot be understood as a mere exchange of comments on a social network, in the heat of the moment.

It is necessary to pay attention not only to the content of what is said, but also to the form: ‘Is this the best way to express what I want to say?’, “Am I using non-violent communication?”, “Am I showing respect for my reader through clear, well-written sentences?”, “Am I addressing people responsibly and accordingly?” These are just a few questions to keep in mind when dealing with professional communication.

I know that artists in general and musicians in particular prefer more direct forms of communication, like the one that happens from the top of the stage, but sometimes you have to prepare the ground for the magic to happen.

Wishing you all a new cycle full of magic.

Be seeing you!

G.F.

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I love Tina Turner and I remember singing Private Dancer (1984) before I was old enough to fully understanding its meaning. Perhaps because of this memory, apparently ingrained in the deepest corner of my mind, I remembered this song while redoing, for the third time this week, the calculations of the texts I need to deliver by the end of the month. An article here, a review there and let’s not even talk about the podcast I need to record. Phew!

If you imagine a day in the life of a jazz musician as a creative adventure plenty of improvisation and magical moments, I must say you are half right. The other half, on the other hand, has absolutely nothing to do with it. Well, ok, the improvisation part is true. Actually, each musician has a personal list of things not related to being on stage, nor to rehearsing to deal with daily and a lot of improvising is required in order to get it done.

Now do not you get wrong here: I love all those activities: writing, reviewing, researching, recording, promoting my music… Ok, the marketing part is not so exciting. I am not an enthusiast of social networks, and probably would delete my accounts in half of them, if it was not for the music promotion sake.

Technical chores (audio and video recording and editing) can also be very challenging for me. No wonder it is where I am usually way behind schedule, but all in all, I like to know how things related to my career are done and, as we know, learning new things is good exercising for the brain. But, come on! It is really a lot of stuff and I am not an enthusiast of multitasking either.

So, at least up to the end of the month (and, according to my last calculation, most probably for the first half of the next month, as well), I am more a writer than a singer, whether I like it or not.

In such moments, when it is easy to lose motivation, my trick is to remind myself that: 1. if I get tasks it’s because my opinion matters to someone and I should be proud of my professional reputation, and 2. I may not see the whole point now, but at some moment all the pieces will come together and voilà! That seemingly less interesting task can be the connecting point to other (more interesting) projects.

Be seeing you!

G.F.