goals – Alternative Student

My Musical Goals: 2022

In January of 2021 I made a list of music goals for the year. That December I looked back and saw that – miraculously – every single goal had been accomplished. Hoping for the same outcome, today I’ll be making a 2022 list.

1) Create a presence as a singer-songwriter. In 2021 I did a lot of performing, and that was fantastic. What I didn’t do was write new songs, record new music, or choose a name for my project (I perform as Luke Smith, but that’s too common). I did these things for Late Night Luke, but this year I’d like to do it for my acoustic project, too.

2) Create a presence as a producer. I did this a lot in 2021, so I mostly want to continue what’s worked: making videos, releasing songs, and creating microcontent. I plan on releasing more hip hop, collaborating more, and continuing to build a body of work.

3) Clarify brand / consistency. I’ve always had a slight musical identity crisis. For the longest time I was a singer-songwriter who did electronic music on the side, but for the last two years I’ve been a producer who’s a singer-songwriter on the side. I need to clarify who I am and spend my time accordingly. I am a combination of both, but I need focus.

4) Build / join more communities. One of the most rewarding experiences I’ve had as a musician was booking and hosting a monthly songwriter showcase. I got to provide paid gigs to all my musician friends, meet new musician friends, and enjoy a great night of music. It was your classic win-win-win scenario. Unfortunately, it was axed due to covid, but I’d love to start it up again. I also want to host an open mic night and join or start a club for music producers.

Notably absent from this list is anything career related. It’s not that I don’t have career aspirations; I’m just focusing on one thing at a time. This year is about growth, connection, paying off debt, and learning as much as I can.

My Musical Goals: 2021

I’m sitting in a room at my parents’ house right now, and I just finished a beat. I’m moving out soon and much of my stuff is packed. I’m listening to Tycho on headphones (Epoch). He’s been my go-to writing music ever since I started this blog in 2018. Since then, I’ve learned so much, and there’s a lot I want to accomplish. Here are my musical goals for 2021.

1) Be a singer-songwriter again. I started performing as a singer-songwriter in 2013, and because of the pandemic, I barely played in 2020. I found myself writing less for my singer-songwriter name and focusing more on beats and electronic music. I love writing electronically, but I want to come back to guitar and voice, too. There’s something personal and uniquely expressive about playing guitar and singing. In general, I want to sing more.

2) Collaborate with other artists. Working with people on Songs From Home was a really cool experience. I loved hearing my instrumentals come to life and the surprising directions they went. I haven’t worked with a rapper since 2014, and I really want to change that. I’ve been stockpiling rap beats and in February I’m going to start reaching out. I’m not trying to sell anything at first; I’ll be DMing talented locals with free beats and see if there’s any interest. In the future, I’d love to work with all kinds of singers and musicians.

3) Create consistent content. Every teacher, vlogger, YouTuber, and Gary V will tell you about the importance of content creation. I’ve done the random Instagram post, blog, or video, but it hasn’t been consistent in awhile. In 2018 I released a video and blog post every week for months and that was awesome; I want to return to that level of output. My goal now is to make a weekly YouTube video and take clips of it for microcontent on Instagram. I’m hoping to slowly build a following and get better at consistent creation.

4) Get an internship / volunteer. I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Science in Music Industry, and now I’m ready to be rich! And by rich I mean gainfully employed (but first, an internship). In my projects class I focused on the licensing side of music, but recently I’ve been interested in non-profits like Musicians on Call and the Harmony Project. I’m also excited for volunteer opportunities like working at Big Turn Music Festival. There’s a lot of people that need help and endless ways to get involved.

Whichever way I go, I’m excited to learn more about these fields and be part of a world I love. Thanks for following my journey!

2020 Year End Review

I know one day doesn’t really mean anything, but for a lot of us it’s the end of a terrible year and it feels like things will get better. I certainly hope so. 2020 has been rough on us all, but today I want to focus on the good parts.

For me the best part of 2020 was exploding creatively. I wrote 50 songs this year and released 17 of them. That includes the Beat Station EP, Songs From Home, Finals Week, and two singles (It’s Fall, and Covidween). Starting in June I wrote two songs a week and was able to continue for most of the year. I broke the mental block of being precious about my songwriting and was finally able to write without second guessing myself and judging every step. My Beat Station challenge of writing only at the coffee shop pushed me in the right direction; I was forced to make those songwriting decisions in the moment since I couldn’t make them later.

After releasing Songs From Home I was excited to get back into demo writing. It was here that I took the “Finish a song even if it’s bad” mantra to heart. After spending so much time agonizing over perfect mixes, writing a lot and not judging the result was like medicine. One of the coolest discoveries of writing songs even if they’re bad is that sometimes a “bad” song will turn into a “good” song by the time you’re done. The reverse is also true, but that’s why consistent writing is so important. I always heard this advice, but only in 2020 did I internalize it.

I had the awesome opportunity to perform on KEYC in Mankato, a local news network. And I had my songs played on Keepin’ It Local 89.7, a show on the MSU radio station. They even played the entire Finals Week EP. How cool is that? I also got some press for Songs From Home from Mankato Life and Faribault Daily News. It was really cool to have my music played and recognized locally.

Perhaps my biggest accomplishment of the year was getting my Bachelors in Music Industry from MSU. I started my college journey in 2018 with a music theory class and later made the decision to fully enroll. My plans for 2021 are to write a ton of music, work with rappers and artists, and learn more about the licensing side of the business.

Thanks for reading my highlight reel of the worst year ever. Here’s to an amazing 2021!

Why You Should Make To-do Lists

I’m a big fan of to-do lists, making a list of what needs to be done on a daily basis and holding myself accountable. It does wonders for my productivity and stops projects from falling through the cracks.

Every week I’ve been trying to post a video and a blog post. Since school ended, I’ve been missing weeks. Somehow, with more free time, I’m getting less done. I attribute this to the illusion of more time phenomenon, a phrase I just made up. Basically, when you have a ton of free time, you don’t think you need to plan things out because you assume what needs to be done will happen eventually, given all the available hours. But time has a way of slipping through our fingers, and only in retrospect do we notice it was wasted.

When I’m working on a project, I break down what little bit I can do each day. For instance, when planning a video for a song I already know, all I have to do is practice it a few times daily. It’s the same when I’m planning to record. I just practice my part to a metronome every day leading up to the day I record. It’s incredibly easy to do, but greatly improves the outcome.

In his book, Keep Going, Austin Kleon writes, “A little imprisonment – if it’s of your own making – can set you free. Rather than restricting your freedom, a routine gives you freedom by protecting you from the ups and downs of life…” (20). My advice to anyone starting a to-do list, start small. It can feel great to write a bunch of stuff down – imaging yourself as an unstoppable, productivity machine – but don’t overdue it. It’s better to have a small, completed list than a large, unfinished one.

That being said, don’t be discouraged when you fail. You may find that you “weren’t modest enough in your estimation,” to steal a line from Jordan Peterson. A good strategy for me is to put down the bare minimum of what needs to be done, but then make a secondary “If there’s time” list. Anything on the “If there’s time” list is strictly optional, and considered extra. That way, I accomplish more if I’m able to, but if I’m not, I won’t lose momentum.

Making lists, modifying them over time, and finding what works is helping me know myself. I’m not great at it, but I’m getting better. Even when I fail miserably, I still get more done than I otherwise would have. Failure is a part of the process, and shouldn’t be discouraging. We are still moving forward.

Works Cited

Kleon, Austin. Keep Going : 10 Ways to Stay Creative in Good Times and Bad. New York, Workman Publishing, 2019, p. 20.