I broke down today and did it.

Been putting it off since February, and it was time to do the deed.  Things were getting unruly.  I had no choice…

It was time to get a haircut.

This is another one of those things where it’s all about who you know.  There are probably thousands of talented stylists in L.A., and at a rate of once every couple of months, that’d take me a long time to find a good one.  I had to go on referrals.

It’s a good lesson for musicians though too.  There’s thousands of great songwriters, songs, bands, and acts out there.  Why is it that only a handful ever make it big?  Is Dave Matthews really that much better at songwriting than the 1,227 DMB wannabes out there, or is it the grassroots, word-of-mouth marketing that made Dave Matthews big?  What do you think?

The haircut looks great by the way.  Time to get some headshots… Any good photographers out there hit me up. 

It’s day 16 of 365.  Let the word spread…

DAY 15 - Met up with my buddy Tim this afternoon for surf and guitar. Yeah, we’re pretty big into the small-wave surfing scene. It’s gettin’ pretty popular I’d say. It’s pretty much the best sport ever. (Said in my best Kip Dynamite voice.)

We surfed until the wind blew out the remaining sun-drenched waves, then headed up to his studio to go over some charts I’d put together for the gig at Malloy’s next weekend. (See below)

Tim is one of the hardest working guitar players in the biz. He’s one of the few people I know who practices more than they preach. (Think about that… it’s deep.)

Tim’s got the inside scoop on the local musician scene (better than I), and when it comes to putting a band together, I trust his ear. He can pick apart a piece of music (i.e. a demo cd) and tell you whether the players were truly talented or just hacks. That saves a person a lot of time and energy hiring the wrong people for your band.

Most of my focus toward music has gone to writing and creating songs, not playing other people’s songs. I don’t have extensive gigging experience… yet. That’s where Tim really shines. Plus the kid can play. Really play. Just watch, you’ll see…

NEWS FLASH:

Patrick Malloy’s next Sunday, July 30 at 9:45p, Tim and I take the stage for the 1st annual Hermosa Beach Talent show. The act with the most applause at the end of the night wins everything: cash prizes, fame, forune. And you know I’m gonna share!We’re gonna rock hard with our acoustic guitars. Come see us?

I used to laugh at my friends when they went out on Thursdays and sang karaoke. It was loud. It was offkey. Rarely could they get all the words in without messing up the rhythm, and even then, weren’t they just copycatting the singer who did the tune originally? On top of that, the sound sucked. I thought I was trapped in a bar full of losers…

…But everybody loved it!

I couldn’t figure it out. The school I came from said you gotta be cool at all times. Don’t get out of your comfort zone and make a fool of yourself up there. You’re better than that.

So I didn’t sing. And I didn’t sing again the next week. Or the week after. And I grew more and more frustrated that my friends enjoyed making fools of themselves and didn’t care about how cool I was.

“Oh yeah, Nick’s a good singer. He writes some great songs too. But he’s too good for us.”

I remember meeting a guy named Orlando when I first moved to L.A., and he’d been a backup singer for some big-name bands in years past. Having some late-night/early morning food with him one Saturday night (after my coolness got me turned down by multiple girls :)) and thinking I had rapport with him, I blatently stated I was a singer too.

“Oh yeah?” he said. “Sing me something.”

“What do you mean? Right here in the restaurant? Oh I don’t think so. I don’t have my guitar.”

“Who cares about the guitar. Just sing me a line from one of your songs.” he prodded. “If you’ve got a good voice, let’s hear it.”

It scared me to death. Me, sing acapella in a crowded restaurant at 2am? People would stare. The “hot girls” would laugh. I couldn’t put my reputation on the line in this instant. Sorry Orlando…

He grew tired of prodding and gave up on me, disappointed I’m sure. But that night slapped me upside the head in a couple of ways. If I was ever going to make it as a singer or a songwriter or a guitar player, I had to be ready to perform. Anytime. Anywhere.

Lesson for the day: Check your “reputation” at the door. Doesn’t matter if it’s karaoke or singing for your supper. You’re not in the music business to be cool. You’re there to create and perform music. The more you do it, the better you get.

Sing every karaoke show you can. It only makes you a better performer. Who cares if you look stupid. That’s the point.

DAY 13 - Spent a few hours today combing through Craigslist ads and Myspace pages looking for a select few people who know their instruments better than I know mine. Yep, it’s time to put the band together.

I live in L.A., which is both a blessing and a curse. I found 20 quality bass players yesterday inside an hour. But everybody already has their own projects going on, or they are beginners looking for their first band, or they are “GUD.” (That’s an L.A. term for Geographically UnDesirable” — basically if you live more than 20 miles away, forget it. Traffic will drive you crazy.)

So the emails have been sent. I’m starting with drums and bass. Everything else right now is lagniappe until we build the foundation. And I need a groove…

I think the most painful part of this process is rebuilding the calluses on my fingers. When you play regularly, you don’t seem to notice the pain of pressing your fingertips on 6 thin wires for hours at a time. But man, today was painful. It’s a good problem to have I guess.

I finished up by stopping by an old hangout called Suzy’s and playing a quick set at their open mic. I love open mic nights because you never know who you’ll run into. The old guy in the corner with the scraggly beard and Harley t-shirt might have been Elvis’s roadie back in the 60’s and now he’s a beach bum who surfs every morning and loves the simple life.

I ran into “Southbay Bob,” an old friend who has done a ton to boost local musicians around here. After my set, he gave me the invite to a big Talent Contest coming up this Sunday night. Hey, cash prizes will be given to the winner.

Sounds like another gig. Turns out it’s all about WHO you know, not so much WHAT you know.

P.S. Happy 21st to my little sis today. Be careful out there Magen…