Category Archives: Rants

Learning To Love The Gigs Again

Posted on by
Reply

I officially ended my holidays by playing my first gig for 2012 at the Hotel Royal last night and you know what… I was enjoying getting back in to the groove after a much needed break.

By the end of it all I was getting to the stage where I was starting to actually miss the gigs again, I realised that it’s amazing how much your perspective changes after taking some time off.

Last nights gig was awesome… The songs sounded better, the voice was in great shape, the guitar played easier, the audiences were more friendly plus, the venue and its staff seemed more accommodating.

One of the key things I did was making a point of incorporating a whole bunch of new songs into the repertoire and they all worked, I was really proud of myself and it made me want to play the songs.

No, I would go so far as saying that it made me want to perform again.

I was looking back on what I did over the last 18 months and I was amazed that I did 253 shows in that time.

Now that’s insane…

No wonder that by the end of last year I felt that I had just about enough with the gigs.

With my new found energy I’ve spent most of the last week learning new covers, re-charting the old covers, playing the guitar, practicing the piano, writing some songs and reconnecting with a whole bunch of people.

All in all I’ve been just getting back into the swing of things again and I’ve been loving it.

This coming week the Open Mics at the Daniel O’Connell Hotel and The Brunswick Hotel start up again which signifies to me that life is just about to get a whole lot busier.

All I can say is “Bring It On…”

Peace,

Corey :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Goals For 2012 – #1 Get Healthy (and Happy)

Posted on by
Reply

Now with the haze that is the Xmas and New Year’s festivities out of the way, the realisation has hit me that 2012 is finally here. I’m now back in the land of the living which means it’s time to get back to work.

I do feel refreshed after my little break however, I also feel a lot heavier and a lot more sluggish from all of the excesses and over-indulgences of the past 12 days since my last blog post just before Xmas day.

I must do something about that.

The first (and most important) goal that I want to set myself for 2012 is to “Get Healthy.”

But what does that really mean?

Getting my health back to an optimum level is my number one priority for this year as I’ve come to the conclusion (through having a shocking 2011 health-wise) that none of my other goals will become fully realised if my health is not taken care of first and foremost.

I know that “Get Healthy” is a bit of a nebulous statement and nebulous goals of this nature are really easy to break so I want to take this time to define what getting healthy really means to me.

It means…

1. Going Back To The Gym
A couple of months ago I joined the EFM Fitness Centres network and started going to their gym in Brompton two to three times a week.

Things were going well until I started experiencing the side effects of expelling a lot of toxins from my body resulting in some nasty infections which required a severe course of antibiotics which prevented me from going to the gym.

Then came Xmas and New Year…

Even though getting the routine back is going to be difficult I’m more determined to go back to the gym because when I was there I really enjoyed it.

I might even consider getting some personal training once I reclaim some level of fitness.

2. Finding More Ways To Be Active
I have noticed that I spend most of my time sitting down and this needs to change.

While I might not be able to change the sitting down component of my work I can find more reasons to get up from the chair and do something else for a while like go for a walk, use the treadmill, get out in the garden or play some tennis/squash.

The list of things to do is as endless as my imagination.

Experts say that being active for 30 minutes to an hour every day is essential. I’m sure I can find some time to become a more active person in-between gym sessions.

3. Giving Myself Some ‘Me’ Time
Meditation, contemplation, naval gazing, whatever I want to call it I need to give myself the permission to experience it every day.

It seems that my brain runs at a million miles an hour all the time and this year I want to be able to find a way to slow it down so it wont chatter so much. Maybe then I can get some more sleep and perhaps be a better person to be around without being so preoccupied with what’s going on in my own head.

Taking some time out to ‘just be’ is something that frightens me. Even thinking about brings up feelings of guilt because I should be using that time to ‘do something’ hence why I have never read a book cover to cover for pleasure.

Now there’s a great way to start things off…

4. Paying Attention To My Diet
I love my junk food way too much, especially pizza and ice cream… Now there’s my downfall.

I’m addicted to dairy products and I’ve got to do something to control these junk food cravings. I’ve been able to give up smoking so surely I can do something about my diet.

I’m certain that preparing and cooking more food at home plus being more mindful of my food portions will be a really good start.

5. Maintaining A Positive/Optimistic Attitude To Life
It would be impossible to eliminate stress from my life however, changing the way I work with and react to stress is something that I can do something about.

One of the ways I can work with and react to the everyday stresses of life a whole lot better is by maintaining a positive and optimistic attitude towards it.

Thankfully, I’ve always considered myself a “glass-is-half-full” kind of person so I think that maintaining this kind of attitude won’t be too hard but when things get a little too intense I can slip into negative territory pretty quickly.

It’s all about being mindful of my thoughts and my actions and whether they are congruent with my overall attitude.

All in all I’m really excited about what opportunities 2012 can bring to my life, my music and to the hopes and dreams of my friends and loved ones. I know that together we can make this year work for all of us.

May you have a happy and safe 2012.

Peace,

Corey :)

Movember 2011 – My Progress

Posted on by
Reply

This year I decided to join the many thousands of men all over Australia who are growing a moustache during the month of November to raise funds for Beyond Blue and the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia.

I thought about doing it last year just to see how I would go but I missed out. I made a pact with myself that I would give it a go in 2011 and now as I now move into day 23 of Movember 2011 I’m realising why I don’t grow a moustache in the first place.

First of all it’s been really itchy just above my top lip for a little while now and quite frankly I’m over it and secondly, it’s a really unattractive look.

Even right now I just want to go and shave the bloody thing off but I did make a promise to my mate Bryan Foley and the team that I belong to called the “Improver Groovers” that I would stick it out to the very end.

Besides, there’s only 7 more days to go before I can resume my normal facial hair growing activities.

Here are some images that have tracked my moustache growing over the past 23 days

Day 1 (Clean Shaven)

Day 4

Day 8

Day 16

Day 20

Day 23 (Today)

Not long ago someone told me that I was starting to look like porn star Ron Jeremy in which my reply was “I wish.”

At the end of the day though, the whole reason for putting myself through this follicular torture is to raise some money and this is where you all come into play here.

All you need to do is to go to http://mobro.co/coreystewart and click on the “Donate To Me” button underneath my profile photo on the top left hand side of the page.

Feel free to donate any amount you wish but remember, your donating to a couple of very worthwhile causes so dig in deep.

I wonder what my face is going to look like at day 30?

Peace,

Corey :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Finally, AFL Is Over For Another Year

Posted on by
1

For me, this time of year between the end of the AFL season and the beginning of the Cricket season is absolutely wonderful.

As a professional musician who plays in pubs where there are huge flatscreen televisions pumping out some kind or sport in all directions, I don’t have to compete for the attention of the punters so much.

That’s a refreshing change.

Personally, I don’t understand the concept of pubs with so many TV’s as it seems to defeat the whole purpose of going to a pub in the first place.

I see it time and time again, a pub full of people but no-one talking to each other. All eyes are glued to the sport, or the TAB or whatever else is flashing up on the multitude of screens around the place.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike sport. I just think there’s a time and place for everything.

Lately I’ve been experiencing a disturbing trend of being hired solely as a defacto jukebox politely playing in the background while the punters are watching TV or, rudely texting on their mobiles.

It seems that a lack of ambient background noise/images is the enemy and I have no idea why.

Another thing I’ve noticed lately is that no-one claps anymore (not even politely) and trying to communicate to people through live music is becoming harder and harder to achieve.

I don’t want to sound like I’m having a whinge, I really love what I do, playing music for a living and of course with every occupation there are good days and not so good days to experience.

I get that.

However, I just want live music to be seen (and heard) as something that makes a difference in peoples lives rather than a functional accompaniment to watching sport on the TV.

Is that too much to ask?

Oh well, AFL is over for another year and Summer is just around the corner. Things are already looking up.

Peace,

Corey :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

What Have I Been Doing Lately?

Posted on by
Reply

“Hey Corey, what have  you been doing lately?”

Now I like being busy but I’ve noticed that over the past three months I’ve been getting busier and busier and looking at my diary for the next three months it’s even busier again.

My normal response to being asked that question is “what haven’t I been doing lately” however, since my last full post “Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder” on July 29th, it’s safe to say that I’ve been doing a lot of activity.

Activities such as:

  • Working on my CD Project
  • Learning news songs for FIGJAM and my solo shows
  • Writing more songs with Adrian Miller and Jeff Smith
  • Starting up the Open Mic @ The Brunswick Hotel
  • Completing my 2010/2011 APRA Live Performance Return
  • Completing my 2010/2011 Tax paperwork
  • Competing in FOOM 2011
  • Entering in the UK Songwriting Competition (with Adrian Miller)
  • Playing Bass with Joe Man Murphy at the Semaphore Music Festival
  • Auditioning for Australia’s Got Talent

Of course, in between all of this I have been playing loads of gigs (as you can tell with my CS Gigs updates) at night and working through the day at Pro Advanced Media.

“When do you sleep?” I hear you ask… Hmmm, no wonder my blogging has been few and far between of late.

I had a profound realisation recently. I rediscovered the fact that our lives are essentially the sum total of all of the choices that we’ve made and will continue to make until we die.

With that in mind, this would mean that right now, I am the way I am because I’ve made it that way, not through some external influence.

My hectic life is my choice and therefore I can also choose a less hectic life. How I achieve this is another story however, I’m in love with the idea of a more balanced life.

I’ll see what I can do to make it happen.

Peace,

Corey :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

Absence Makes The (Blogging) Heart Grow Fonder

Posted on by
1

Hi everybody,

I’ve been away from you for a little while and guess what, I’ve missed you.

Life has been very busy for me of late and I’ve been taking the time off from blogging to reassess a big part of my life as well as take up a wonderful opportunity.

First of all the reassessment…

You might have seen me post from time to time about how I’ve been unwell of late. Well, over the last four weeks I had again succumbed to a nasty flu which had knocked me about but the scary thing about it this time around was how it affected me both personally and professionally.

Personally because I started getting migraine headaches for the first time in many years (the pain being so intense I was wanting to throw up) and professionally because it’s been really affecting my ability to play gigs, especially with my singing voice plus, the way I go about my business.

There was only one thing I needed to do… Reassess the state of my health. The latest flu attack was the straw that broke the camels back and something had to be done.

RIGHT NOW!

I realised that my health was non-existent. I had let myself go to such an extent that I was the unhealthiest and heaviest I’ve ever been and this was affecting everything else in my life.

I couldn’t go on doing this to myself any longer.

As of three weeks ago I started making some changes in my life. Drinking more water, cutting out breads, pastas, take aways and cutting down on coffee.

I’ve also been making time to exercise regularly, cooking at home every night and joining up with the Kate Morgan weight loss program for some extra help and accountability and I’ve already lost 5 kilos and I feel much better physically and mentally.

I’m not going to be one of those people who go on and on about it but it’s amazing what happens when you start to notice the positive changes.

Anyway, now for the opportunity…

A couple of weeks ago I started moving my home office out and relocating to some office space at Pro Advanced Media located at 88 Gibson Street in Bowden. The reason for this is that now that I’ve tried working at home and away from home I now know which I prefer.

I’ve known Alec who runs Pro Advanced Media for a fair while now and we’ve discussed from time to time the possibility of doing some work together and a couple of months ago the time was right to get more serious with the discussions.

I wanted to move into an office space and Alec had some office space spare so as of Monday July 22nd I now run my affairs from a new location.

The space at home has now been converted into a dedicated home recording studio which I finished tidying up and reorganising a couple of days ago.

Now that I’m feeling much better and much more organised, I’m ready to blog again.

The only thing left to say now is… Hello world I’m back, did you miss me? I certainly missed you.

Peace,

Corey :)

Why I’ll Never Take My Car For Granted Again

Posted on by
Reply

Yes, I know I’ve been a bit quiet of late which has been due to a distinct lack of motivation on my part.

The lack of motivation has come from not being able to drive my car since March 20th because it was defected while driving home at from a gig.

Initially the police pulled me over for a random breath test but once they realised that I hadn’t had a drink they proceeded to defect my car for having faded brake lights, a faulty seatbelt and a faulty accelerator pedal.

These three items were fixed up easily enough but I tell you, not being able to drive has really, really mucked me around. I now have a greater appreciation of what it’s like to not have working transport at your disposal.

For instance getting to gigs over the last four weeks has been a logistical nightmare of co-ordinating a ride up and back from the venue and making sure that there’s enough room to fit in all of the gear.

I’ve also not been able to get to the studio to record any more tracks for the CD but to tell you the truth, even if I could get there, my state of mind has not been conducive to create anything.

I must say though, not having a car has enabled me to find out some things about myself that I hadn’t noticed before. I’ve realised that being totally reliant on the help of others has sent my brain into some sort of cognitive dissonance.

I’m amazed at how much my pride has gotten in the way of my outlook to this situation, as if I’m still stuck in that “being a man = having a car” mentality.

When all of this first happened I actually got quite angry and then depressed about the whole thing. I’m sure for someone on the outside looking in, me getting depressed over a car would seem quite strange.

I mean, it’s just a car right?

But I’ve been thinking, my car means more to me than something that takes me from A to B. It means independence, self reliance, being able to make one’s way in life and being the one in a possible position of helping others rather than being the one to be helped.

I never realised how one defect notice can open a whole can of emotional worms. On the brighter side, I can now see some light at the end of this tunnel.

About a week and a half ago I had to take the car for a full inspection over at Regency Park so to make sure the car was presented in its best light I got it detailed plus, the engine was steam cleaned from top to bottom. As it turned out I was given another defect notice with a longer list of things to be fixed up (but at least the car looked a million bucks).

I’m taking the car to my mechanic tomorrow to fix up the rest of the stuff with another trip to Regency Park for its last inspection soon after. Hopefully I’ll be given the green light and I can join the rat race once again.

One thing is for sure, out of all of this I’ve learnt to never take my car (and the friends and loved one who have driven me around for the last four weeks) for granted ever again.

Wish me luck…

Peace,

Corey :)

Enhanced by Zemanta

A Word Of Advice – Do Your Taxes Yourself!

Posted on by
Reply

I think that the end of the financial year (which in Australia falls on June 30th) is a very stressful time of the year for a lot of people.

For me it’s stressful because (being a small business owner) it’s the time where I get out my receipts folder (or shoe box as was my filing system for a number of years) and spend days pouring over every receipt I’ve collected over the past twelve months and catalog my spending and purchasing habits for the previous year into a spreadsheet which will be then sent to my accountant for processing.

If you’re wondering why I’m writing about this now to you and not at financial years end well, I am at this very moment, waiting on hold to the Australian Tax Office (ATO) for the second time today. The first time was this morning but I gave up after 46 minutes listening to the most mind numbing music I’ve ever heard.

(Somehow I don’t believe it when the recorded voice on the phone says “thank you for holding, your call has progressed in the queue, you will be answered by a service representative shortly”)

Anyway, the reason for my correspondence with the ATO is that for the past couple of years I’ve had problems with my tax, well more precisely, the getting of all of my necessary information together to send off to my accountant.

This was because I allowed a bookkeeper to get my information together rather than doing it myself as I had done in other years. It seemed like a good idea at the time but it turned out be a big (and expensive) mistake.

Now, I’m no financial whizz or accounting genius but compiling all the necessary information needed for the yearly trip to the accountants office was not that hard for me (especially being a sole trader). I just need to be a little bit organised and have the ability to set aside some time to complete all of the necessary tasks but a couple of years ago I thought to myself in a flash of inspiration, “why don’t get someone else to do it?”

I soon realised however, that once I gave all of my receipts and other bits and pieces to the third party I was then working to another persons schedule and their ability to manage their own time, events and so on.

Now I’m not going into the full story of what happened but let me just say that after two years of delays, a couple of bookkeepers, a multitude of phone calls and a lengthy time in my accountants hands later, my tax information is now complete with the result being that I owe the tax office a bit of money.

It’s my hope that I can pay off my tax debt in instalments, hence why I’m waiting on hold to the ATO and hence why you’re reading this.

Being placed on hold has given me a lot of time to think about this present situation and my thoughts are that all of this wouldn’t have happened if I done what I’ve always done every other year and finished my taxes myself. I think this time my need to be in control of my own affairs has been vindicated in a big way.

This will eventually become an expensive mistake for me to learn from, and learn from it I will.

Has anybody else had any issues with small business finances, dealing with bookkeepers and/or accountants? Let me know, I’m on hold… I have all the time in the world to listen.

I suppose I’m also being given a first hand lesson in patience and tolerance and that is what I am grateful for.

Peace,

Corey :)

Help! I Think I Have A Case Of Fringe Fatigue

Posted on by
Reply

With the 2011 Adelaide Fringe Festival in full swing there’s a lot of competition around for the attention (and the disposable income) of the general public.

There is so much going on in Adelaide at the moment it’s very easy to develop “Fringe Fatigue” (I know I have) and if you ever needed proof that we in Adelaide are spoilt by too much choice then check out the sheer amount of posters that have been put up around the place.

I mean, there are so many posters on display, especially for the comedy shows, adorning what seems to be every square metre of space in the city. For me, it’s an attack on the senses, like my optic nerves are being assaulted by the faces of comedians desperately peddling their latest show.

I was involved with the Fringe last Friday and Saturday night (February 25th and 26th) with The Synchronicity Police doing two shows in the Balcony Bar of the Colonel Light Hotel. At last years Fringe we did one show at the Queens Arms Hotel with about 130 people in the audience so we had a rough benchmark to aim for.

However, this year we didn’t even make 100 people for the two shows combined.

I thought we did everything possible to promote the shows with the little budget we had but we couldn’t reach last years numbers. This really upset me and it’s probably why I’m writing this post with a hint of cynicism clouded with a dash of fatigue.

Anecdotally, I’ve heard from other Fringe acts that attendances have been down from last year. I have also heard from punters plus friends of mine who have been given the arduous task of reviewing multiple Fringe acts for magazines such as Rip It Up that great shows have had small audiences, smaller than they should be.

There have also been others that have said that this phenomenon has been happening since the Fringe became an annual event while there’s another group who blame the after effects of the GFC (the Global Financial Crisis for those of you who live under a rock).

Whatever the “reasons” are there seems to be a real downward trend in audience numbers or, maybe we’re all turning into (exclusively) comedy fans or, I should’ve worked much harder and done a better job at promoting my own Fringe shows. That sounds more like it.

Oh dear, I’ll stop venting now. I think it’s time for a cup of tea and a lie down.

Peace,

Corey :)

Today I Reaffirm My Musical Goals

Posted on by
3

Now that I’m fully back in the land of the living and feeling much better than I have in a long time, I thought that today would be a good day to reaffirm my musical goals.

And it’s this…

“To sustain a career as a full time songwriter/musician/blogger using the internet as my primary tool of promotion, networking and marketing.”

This doesn’t mean that the more traditional face to face stuff does not get neglected by the way. I actually love the cut and thrust of getting out there and networking, securing my own gigs and using the power of word of mouth advertising to create a community around me, my music and other projects that I’m involved in (such as the Open Mic Network).

Now, how am I going to achieve this? Well, I’ll do it by:

Simplifying my life I know I’ve written about this before on my blog but I do have the tendency to over-complicate and over-think aspects of my life and work which paralyses me through having too much choice.

I’ve started on the road to simplicity by finally deciding that this site is the main focus for all of my musical endeavours. In light of this I’ve just recently deleted my Orangutang Music website and redirected the URL to this site. My other blogs Songwriting Zen and Corey Stewart Songwriting Tips will follow the same fate once I export all of the valuable content elsewhere.

I will be having a closer look at ways in which I can streamline my online presence in the near future and it’s my intention to blog about it.

Focusing on my activity As well as over-complicating and over-thinking aspects of my life I also fall into the habit of doing far too many things at once under the guise of needing to “diversify my income.” The old jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none thing gets really boring after a while when you realise that you don’t get anything achieved by adopting this business model.

I know I can do a lot of things but I need to be mindful of what I’m really doing every time I decide to take on another job here, another role there.

Which leads on nicely to the last point…

Internalising my efforts I admit it, I’m a people pleaser. In the past I’ve done anything for anyone because I wanted to be seen as the “nice guy” in any situation and would do whatever I could to protect that stance, even at the cost to myself.

Well, there will be no more of that. Helping others is fine as long as it doesn’t get in the way of my own stuff.

I mean for starters I am my own web development, online marketing and music business consulting client and will work with myself as such. I’ll take on my own advice and will walk the walk that results from talking the talk (and some of you out there know how much I love to talk about the music business).

If I have time spare to work with anyone else in the same capacity I’ll do so and I’m always open to those opportunities but, at the same time, if I don’t, I won’t, simple as that.

I hope you’ll understand that if you’re the one doing the asking.

My live shows (mainly my covers gigs) and the Open Mic Network sustain me financially and give me the freedom to work on my other stuff during the day and that includes working on my health as well.

It’s my hope that I can achieve some sort of balance in my life so I can be the best person I can be for myself and for everyone else around me.

I’ve had my break and now it’s time for me to get back into it but this time I’ll be working smarter, not necessarily harder.

Peace,

Corey :)

Related articles
Enhanced by Zemanta