Introduction

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Introduction

I made a documentary film called D.I.Y. or DIE: How to Survive as an Independent Artist . In the "Extras" section of the DVD, there is an interview with musician Steve Albini in which he gives advice to young hopefuls, telling them, "If you can learn the same lesson by horribly disfiguring yourself in a fire or watching somebody else be horribly disfigured, if you can understand someone else's mistake and not make it, you're ahead of the game."

I had a good time in my run as a professional musician, but at times I made asinine mistakes that amounted to me sticking various body parts into many different fires.

I've suffered for my art. You don't have to.

I've played over 700 gigs in 43 states and 9 countries . I play music because I love it. Somehow I also made some money at it.

I will teach you how to do all of this.

I'll also teach you what not to do. This is possibly more important than what to do. While little mistakes are part of the process, big mistakes can kill the process.

Making music is a full-time job that most people do on top of their full-time job. So, you really don't have time to screw around or screw up.

This is the book I wish I had when I was starting out.

Michael W. Dean

Los Angeles

e-mail: [e-mail]

Book Web site: www.30DollarMusicSchool.com

Michael's Web site: www.kittyfeet.com

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