Minor problems.

Don't mind the small things when you still have to do the big stuff. I know I'm that way in so many ways. I rather do the small fast things and if I get stuck with a problem then I keep on trying to solve that small problem for a whole day. Everything just to ignore that big problem I was supposed to do.

Much of the questions I get from the artist are those small problems. How do I pimp my MYspace page was one big question a couple of years ago. Why pimp that page when you don't have any people there. Yes, it becomes much easier to send out that newsletter if you can talk about how cool you MYspace page is. At the same time, you don't have any readers to your newsletter and that is where the big task is. So it's more fun to pimp the page then go out and get real fans.

And since that stops you yes, you keep on nagging around that page even though it won't take you anywhere. But in reality you don't need a pimped page, 99% of your fans don't mind the page or even care if it's pimped or not. This is just in your head.

Which leads me to get on and get to the bigger problems that I avoid.

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The showcase shows if you are proffessional.

I heard a story from a guy touring with the reggae superstar Peter Tosh. They played a big show in Italy. Suddenly the power went out. There they were standing in front of several thousand people. Peter then took out an acoustic guitar and told the audience to be as silent as possible. Then started to play songs acoustically from the front of the stage. He did this for a couple of songs then the power went back.

That is the professional way to do it. When the obstacle happens you just go around it. The artists that have been papered with usually can't really do things like Peter Tosh did. They are freaked out if anything is not in order and the sound needs to be utterly perfect for them to do their thing.

In reality that is actually a sign that there not good enough. They try to hide behind a manager that demands different stuff that really is not necessary.

That is why I like to see an artist get into a showcase where it's only 10 people in the audience. There is a struggle with the sound and not the best stage. If they can master that, well then it's no worries that they can take on 50 000 people on Madison Square Graden with perfect sound and stage.

It might not be fun, but it's a good test if you have the skills to make it. And the understanding to know what to do.

One of these moments was when we played at SXSW with You Say France & I Whistle. We got to the gig place and the drumset that supposed to be there was just a mess. The floor tomb only had one leg. Instead of start nagging and drag out on the misery, the drummer instead went behind the bar got a box to put under the drum to solve the problem.