The Perfect Tools Aren't Going To Help

When You're An Artist, Nobody Ever Tells You Or Hits You With The Magic Wand Of Legitimacy. You Have To Hit Your Own Head With Your Own Handmade Wand. And You Feel Stupid Doing It.

American Culture In Particular Has Instilled In Us The Bizarre Notion That To Ask For Help Amounts To An Admission Of Failure. But Some Of The Most Powerful, Successful, Admired People In The World Seem, To Me, To Have Something In Common: They Ask Constantly, Creatively, Compassionately, And Gracefully. And To Be Sure: When You Ask, There's Always The Possibility Of A No On The Other Side Of The Request. If We Don't Allow For That No, We're Not Actually Asking, We're Either Begging Or Demanding. But It Is The Fear Of The No That Keeps So Many Of Our Mouths Sewn Tightly Shut.

Donald Trump Is Going To Make Punk Rock Great Again.

What I Have Found Is, So Much Of That Is Like A Chinese Finger Trap: The More You Play To The Dark, The More You Will Get Trapped In The Dark, And If You Just Play To The Light And Focus On The People That Don't Misunderstand You And Focus On The Audience That Does Celebrate You And Focus On The People Who Aren't Trying To Tear You Down, All That Other Stuff Eventually Erases Itself Because It Has Nothing To Feed On.

There’s No “correct Path” To Becoming A Real Artist. You Might Think You’ll Gain Legitimacy By Going To University, Getting Published, Getting Signed To A Record Label. But It’s All Bullshit, And It’s All In Your Head. You’re An Artist When You Say You Are. And You’re A Good Artist When You Make Somebody Else Experience Or Feel Something Deep Or Unexpected.