and here i go again on my own… once again i left a band, well, left is not really correct. we started a little over two years ago but soon it became clear that this was going nowhere. i didn’t mind because it was fun to play and apart from rehearsals or a few gigs there was no time involved. but now i haven’t heard from them for maybe 3-4 months (!) and this time i won’t be the one to call them (i usually was). so i packed my stuff and took it somewhere else about 2-3 weeks ago and i’m quite sure they haven’t even recognized. it’s not hard to leave them (if there still is a ‘them’) because i’ve been through this so many times i lost count. what’s that you say? yes, maybe it is me. who can tell? and who cares? so here’s one of the most important lessons of all and it’s not confined to music only:

if you want something done, then do it yourself.

don’t get me wrong, i’m not talking about ego this time. you don’t need to stay all alone for the rest of your life. what i’m getting at is try to do your own thing, maybe on the side, maybe as your main focus but do something that nobody else can sabotage. write some songs completely on your own for example. i’ve worked on so many songs that will never be played/recorded again because of some childish brawl that ended a productive relationship.

so a while ago i started my own little project where nobody else will be involved. this takes unbelievable amounts of time because of all the new things i have to learn. but on the other side it’s so much fun and really rewarding. certainly i will never quit playing with others, that would be like dying. but from now on i won’t quit having my own projects either…

try to check that out. think about a project that’s completely your own and think about what you would have to do to make this happening. this might include learning basics of other instruments or recording. maybe you have songs lying around that never fit in any of your bands – i have. and there will be an album but not too soon because there is still a lot to learn and i’m excited about that already…