Is the Rock and Roll lifestyle taking its toll on You?

Hi there,

Are you a musician, or working in the music industry in a non-performing role, and having difficulties in keeping fit and healthy or maintaining a good level of energy to enable you to perform? Are the pressures of your work in music making you ill? With the gruelling schedules that you have to undertake it's not surprising if this is the case!

It's very tempting to find some kind of drug - caffeine, nicotine or otherwise, to get you through the day, the gig, the tour etc. However there is always a 'payback time' in terms of your health and you don't want this to come when you have another gig or tour or important deadline to meet.

There have been quite a number of reports lately of artists having to cancel or postpone their up and coming gigs or events, due to ill health, as well as quite a number of artists reportedly attending Rehab for addictions. For instance:

Music Week reported the following in their Daily News Bulletin, 11 October 2006: "Justin Hawkins has left The Darkness to recover from his addictions to drink and drugs".

And of course Tom Chaplin, lead singer of Keane, recently had a spell in Rehab for his own difficulties in drink and/or drug addiction, as well as Pete Doherty of the Baby Shambles, ex-Libertines, who has been reported to have had several visits to Rehab.

In addition, Luke Pritchard, lead singer with The Kooks had to postpone 4 gigs at the beginning of their current tour. Luke was suffering with both laryngitis and tonsillitis. An article in NME, 21 October 2006, states the following about Luke's illness: "Pritchard admitted that his voice had got into a state after The Kooks indulged in a few rock 'n' roll clichés while touring". Apparently Luke had been "out a bit too much and didn't really sleep".

James Morrison too had to cancel his visit to The Live Lounge on the Jo Wiley's Radio 1 Show due to ill health, recently.

So what's going on? I thought I would look at the issues and possible solutions that would help you to keep yourself fit and healthy to enable you to perform in the music industry. Let's take a look at just two examples of the work you may do within the industry.

A signed artist: okay your music is now your career and no longer a hobby - but it's not 9 to 5! You will be working odd hours depending on whether you are touring or recording etc. You are expected to produce excellent songs that are going to make lots of sales - no pressure there then! So your workload includes the usual writing and recording, but then also includes a massive amount of promotion when a single or album comes out, plus an enormous amount of touring etc. That may not sound too bad, but if you were to look at what was involved in promotion for instance, you would see just how hard work that is - several interviews a day - some with very early starts and others at night - some with a photo shoot or a TV appearance. In this scenario, you need to be at least looking fit and healthy!

An artist manager: this is a 24/7 job - trying to keep everyone happy around you: predominantly the artist, then the record company, the promoters etc. You have to arrange all the logistics that surrounds an artist - signed or unsigned - it's your job to steer the band or artist. Plus you have to keep an 'objectivity' so that the artists can make clear decisions - so you need to be completely on the ball and keep well informed of the music industry and all its machinations - which are constantly changing! Essentially you are a problem solver.

Okay, well that's what you do around the clock, but where is your chance to sleep, keep fit, eat well, and generally look after yourself? Not to mention keeping a balance between your music career and the rest of your life! These extreme workloads and lack of balance and lack of putting your body's needs first, can result in physical or mental illness - such as colds, sore throats, spots, sheer exhaustion, stress, depression, burnout, as well as using drink and drugs as a route for escapism which can lead to you being bad-tempered, behaving erratically, becoming unreliable and can lead to addiction of some degree. Sounds like a total lack of well-being doesn't it?

So what's the answer? They say that prevention is better than the cure, but even if you are in a poorly state, the following Tips may come in useful to regain or maintain your health - they are not rocket science and are things that you will already know - but you may have fallen out of the habit of doing them!

Tip 1 - Take stock of where you are: So what are your daily routines around eating, sleeping, exercising and taking relaxation? Do you get enough of any of them? Take 5 minutes to really consider this question. Take a deeper look into what you are eating and drinking - is your diet healthy? Are you drinking loads of coffee to keep you awake during the day? Do you eat at around the same time each day or do you eat on the hop when you remember to think about it?

To gain a better understanding of where you are at - jot down your current eating, sleeping, exercising and relaxation patterns each day, for a week - if you are feeling unhealthy or stressed or physically unwell, you could be in for a shock at your current habits in these areas.

Tip 2 - Form new habits - around what you should be eating, how much sleep you need a night, how much exercise is good for you each week and specifically make time for relaxation.

If this is difficult - think about the guidelines that the Government is pushing at us at the moment. They advise that you eat a combination of 5 pieces of fruit and veg each day, within your diet - are you doing this? In terms of exercise they advise you to be undertaking 30 minutes of moderate physical exercise, at least 5 days per week - this could be as easy as a brisk walk - are you doing this?

In general people don't need more than 8 hours sleep a night - but less than 6 hours and you may find your body and mind can't cope. Your body will tell you what you need - listen to it!

It is known that alcohol is a depressant and won't help you think clearly and can give you a false sense of well-being and will do nothing to help you nurture your mind and body. Also, caffeine is a stimulant and will not do anything to help you sleep! In addition to this caffeine is a diuretic and so you will be losing fluids by drinking so much and become de-hydrated - no good if you are a performer, so are you drinking enough water to keep your body hydrated? And if you are a singer - keep off milk and dairy products!

In terms of relaxation - there are many routes that you can take. For instance some form of meditation or massage would be a great way for you to relax - even if this is just once a week or fortnight. Some of you may decide that some other kind of complementary therapy would be better for you - such as reflexology, Indian head massage or Reiki. Reiki practitioners state that one hour of Reiki is the equivalent of 3-4 hours sleep!

There are also a wide variety of vitamins and nutritional supplements that are on offer to help you prevent illness and instil a sense of well-being and gain more energy - something you might wish to investigate to help you when you are out gigging a lot!

Tip 3 - Get the Balance Right - Okay, so it may sound boring or dull to have to think of the above aspects of your life, but as your music is your career and for many of you, your whole life - doesn't it make sense to be fit as you need to be so you can maintain it? I have heard that a performer needs to be as fit as an athlete - that's something to think about!

And it may be challenging for you to go to gigs or tour in clubs where everyone is consuming alcohol et al - but you can still go out and party and have a great time, but I guess it's about finding the right balance for you and your body. And if you do want to indulge now and then, it's even more important to make sure you look after yourself for the majority of the time.

The Kooks no doubt will continue to enjoy themselves, whilst looking after their vocal assets. The NME article mentioned above continued to state that Luke said, "We bought a juicer!...Beetroot's really good! It makes you feel like you're on speed for the whole day. My favourite combination is celery, apples, beetroot and ginger. It's pretty good - I recommend it!"

Finding the right kind of balance can prevent you from feeling the pressure and stress gained from working in such a fast-paced industry such as the music industry. It will also help you to keep away from the escapism route that so often take you down the road of drug and alcohol abuse. If Luke Pritchard can do it and still continue to be a pretty cool guy - do you think you could?

I hope this month's newsletter has given you food for thought! And of course if you wish to discuss any aspect of it with me and to get to the crux of your issues surrounding the pressures you are under, and to gain some balance in your music career and life, then feel free to contact me to arrange a free consultation call.

So, is the rock and roll lifestyle taking its toll on you?

With very best wishes,

Bravura Group
helping you brave the music industry

http://www.bravura-group.com

t: 01246 231 249 / 0845 456 460
e: lindsey@bravura-group.com

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I work with signed and unsigned artists and personnel working in the Music Industry who want to become more productive, creative and ultimately more successful in their music careers, whilst enjoying a more enriched, fulfilling and balanced personal life.

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