Why Getting Scrappy Is Still One of the Best Skills an Indie Musician Can Have

My favorite secret for seeing results in the music industry? Getting scrappy.

Scrappiness isn’t something you can teach, and it certainly isn’t something you can force. (Speaking from experience here.) It’s born from curiosity, creativity, and the willingness to try something before you know exactly how it will turn out. It’s why when we’re at the start of our careers, we’re so dogged about what we’ll do. We’re genuinely excited about our career and our path forward and we’ll do anything to get there. We’ll send that extra email. Play the show that doesn’t pay. Pitch the venue. Go to the networking event and hello to someone new, even when it’s scary.

As we spend more time in the industry, that wanes.

The more time we spend spinning our wheels and feeling the pressure of making it, the more cynical I think a lot of us become. It’s one of the curses of knowing more and starting to play by the rules.

And what are rules?

That’s right. They’re a fun sponge.

I’m kidding. Sort of. We need to manage the chaos of the industry with structure, but it does take a toll on our creativity to get hyper focused on doing what’s expected of us instead of simply acting on creative impulse. Before long, we’ve lost the spark that brought us here.

Who were you? What excited you? What made you decide to enter this crazy, wild, industry against (probably) the advice of absolutely everyone.

Can you honestly say you’re the same person you were then? Because I know I’m not.

When I came in as a music journalist with no experience in 2009, I had no idea what I was doing. And I loved that. I didn’t know any better so I just did whatever I thought made sense. I operated on pure intution. Not research rabbit holes. Not strategy.

Just pure fun and magic.

I’ll never forget the thrill of finding out I was added to a new PR list. I felt so special! And I was never too nervous to pitch a label for an interview or (gasp!) call them!

To be fair, i had my mom call them, pretending to be my secretary. She was “calling on behalf of Angela at Infectious Magazine, to follow up on an interview request.” But that’s exactly what I’m talking about! The boldness! The tenacity! Who was that girl?! I would be terrified to do that today. But oh, how I wish I wasn’t.

I said yes to almost every band interview I was offered in those early years. Every guest list spot I was given, no matter how small the band or how far a drive. I drove home at two a.m. delirious but with a full heart, only to wake up four hours later and start writing my review. A review, I will add, almost no one would read.

But I didn’t care. I was doing this. Chasing my dreams. It was such a rush.

Burnout doesn’t happen because we stop caring. It’s because we’re tired. Because we haven’t seen things pan out the way we want. Slowly, we lose faith in ourselves. In the dream.

And yet, whenever I hear established artists speak about their careers and the thing they miss most about being indie, they almost always say they miss the early days. The late nights and wild ideas. The DIY approach they brought to every release. The feeling they could do anything, be anyone, and not have to run it by a team of five first. The spirit of those early days.

There’s a reason we love an origin story. Think of all the movies and shows dedicated to the scrappy way companies that would later become household names started out. No one is making movies about the messy middle. It’s always the chaos of the start up. Blackberry. WeCrashed. Every single Steve Jobs movie/documentary/show.

And I know it’s so hard. It really is, I won’t pretend it’s not. But there’s something so inspiring about watching someone fight with so much love in their heart for the thing they believe in. Seeing a musician claw their way towards a career that still ignites them is so special.

And that’s what I think of when I think of getting scrappy. Not working harder, but rediscovering that spark. That blind faith. The willingness to leave it all on the field.

Does this resonate? I’m thinking of a companion post to share a few ideas for reigniting that spark. Would that be helpful?