{"id":6599,"date":"2012-05-23T05:47:29","date_gmt":"2012-05-23T12:47:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/?p=6599"},"modified":"2012-05-23T05:47:29","modified_gmt":"2012-05-23T12:47:29","slug":"wisdom-and-motivation-for-all-musicians-in-comments-by-ron-young-of-little-caesar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/2012\/05\/wisdom-and-motivation-for-all-musicians-in-comments-by-ron-young-of-little-caesar\/","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom and Motivation for All Musicians in Comments by Ron Young of Little Caesar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LittlePlease read this. In a recent episode of the podcast Dropping The Needle<\/a> Mitch Lafon and I discussed bands you have such a devotion to that you will buy their music without ever hearing it, sight unseen. One of the band’s we both mentioned that we feel that way about is Little Caesar<\/a>. I shared the podcast with Ron Young the band’s founder and lead singer. Within hours he left the comment below.<\/p>\n

I have worked with many musicians in my career, but Ron’s comments really meant a lot. But within his comments are some real pearls of wisdom, some great motivation for other musicians. Little Caesar is a band that came up in the LA scene in the 80s and was signed by Geffen Records. There was a period when they were the “it” band. Major tour opening for KISS. MTV exposure. Magazine covers. All the hype you could hope for. Ron talks about his reasons now for recording music, for releasing music. He talks about what role music plays in his life. He talks about idea of success and recognition.<\/p>\n

I am honestly touched beyond what I can even write that something I had to say about a band that has touched me meant so much to them.<\/p>\n

Read everything he has to say. Think about it. Then read it all again and think about it some more. This is one of the most honest, from the heart, posts I have ever seen a musician write. Ask yourself some questions… why are you doing this? Why do you want to record music? What motivates your band?<\/p>\n

We do it because we have to… for our souls.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Little<\/a><\/p>\n

From Ron Young, Little Caesar<\/p>\n

You gentlemen warm my heart….for many reasons. First, for being sooo passionate about music. You both have deep roots in the business side of music….but more importantly your lust for music is so evident in all that you do.<\/p>\n

Secondly, to hear your thoughts about Little Caesar…which was weird…it was like I was spying on your conversation…really, really means a tremendous amount to me.<\/p>\n

All we have is a love for music, and each other, and the need that we must make music together.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I’m very grateful that you appreciate what we do, and more importantly that you understand and respect why we do it…it’s just as important as relating to the music itself.<\/p>\n

We gave up the idea a long time ago that we were ever to achieve the level of success or recognition that the other bands that you mentioned have. All we have is a love for music, and each other, and the need that we must make music together. The connections, the experience of going into recording studio, rehearsal studio or to be on a stage together is the priceless blessing we get because of music fans like you.<\/p>\n

For a band like us, that had so much hype and promise, from some of the most powerful people in the industry, the simple fact that we still get to do it together, means riches for us. We never asked for any of that hype….we WERE excited about it, but it was almost secondary. For us, being in a band with other guys that adore music as it’s own entity, was a bond that is priceless.<\/p>\n

Some guys go to work and save up to take a fishing trip, or go golfing in an exotic location. We do that with music. We save up and go into a recording studio.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We can’t make music for profit…there is none for us. Some guys go to work and save up to take a fishing trip, or go golfing in an exotic location. We do that with music. We save up and go into a recording studio. The gifts we receive, the deepening of our connection to collectively build sounds, energy and tones is a safari for us. To attempt to create something that moves us in the way that our heroes music moves us, is our muse….and sole reward.<\/p>\n

We look at bands that get to make music all the time with envy. What makes their music more profitable than ours? Why can’t we do it? We came so close. Many of our difficulties were based in business, power struggles between giants, some bad series of events that occurred in the narrow window that a band gets to either perform or be banished to obscurity. It took me many years to separate commercial success and making credible music. Its very hard for a musician to not place his self worth in unit sales….especially when making music is your life’s blood. But there are way more commercial failures of good, honest music than most ever hear about…pardon the pun.<\/p>\n

Being in a band with other guys that adore music as it’s own entity, was a bond that is priceless.<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I can not put into words how much it means to me that 2 guys who love music as much as you both obviously do, appreciate what we do….so much so that you would buy it unheard just due to previous efforts. That is my “grammy”. I rely on those sentiments that you 2 discussed to keep my energy up to keep doing it. I don’t know if it’s masochism or stupidity, as it is the hardest thing in the world to get music out to people these days. We have no glory, no backing, and lots of humility and gratitude. We do it because we have to… for our souls. We make a record and listen as we make it to be as self critical as possible. We listen as if we are holding it up to the candles that shine brightly from music we adore to try and make it credible. We do it with little tools and weak weapons against the mass of corporate supported music that gets a million downloads or YouTube hits.<\/p>\n

In closing, let me express my deepest gratitude for your help. I’d cut my ear off but that’s been done by greater men than me. For us to hear one word uttered in support or appreciation for our little efforts is gas in the tank. Thanks for being fans…not just for our music, but for ALL of music. In these days of apathy, it’s a treat to hear men so passionate, for what to me, is the soundtrack of life and everything contained within it.<\/p>\n

Visit Little Caesar at www.LittleCaesar.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Please read this. In a recent episode of the podcast Dropping The Needle Mitch Lafon and I discussed bands you have such a devotion to that you will buy their music without ever hearing it, sight unseen. One of the band’s we both mentioned that we feel that way about is Little Caesar. I shared […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[1516,304,346,1628,1629],"class_list":["post-6599","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music-marketing-2","tag-dropping-the-needle-2","tag-little-caesar","tag-podcast","tag-ron-young","tag-wisdom-and-motivation"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6599"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6599\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6599"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6599"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaelbrandvold.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6599"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}