I have only recently started writing and recording songs, and needed help to get started, especially with recording and distribution. When you look for this help you are never sure what will happen and you are quite vulnerable. It did not take long to discover that the help could cost money, and you had to be very lucky to find people who genuinely believed in what you are doing and could give you the constructive support you needed. I was lucky to find that, and leave behind the narcissistic, useless and money-grabbing exploiters out there who would promise the earth and not deliver. Or the people who would offer their help, but didn’t have the time or the knowledge and then blamed you for not doing things properly.
The song is partly my story, but also the story of everyone who wants to do something new and needs support – not just with music, but with everything else that offers a solution. It is called “The problem was you” because so often you feel that you yourself were the problem, that what you were doing was not good enough and that they were to blame. But as time goes by you begin to realise that you are not the problem, but they are – perhaps they are only interested in earning money from you, or they don’t have the skills, or the time. What is even more frustrating is that once you release a song you can get really nice and positive feedback from some “fans” who turn out to be promoters who offer to get you thousands more plays - for money of course. Hence the line in the song: “It’s delusional to think that if you pay, people want to hear you play”.
Such challenging experiences make you stronger and tougher in the end, and I suppose the message is - don’t give up! Follow your dream. Not everyone will find, like or follow you. But does that matter? You have put your creativity out there. And, again, if you are lucky enough, you will find people with expertise who believe in you and will give you the support you need – as has happened with me.
Original mix - /track/4226940/the-problem-was-you
Alternate - /track/4226941/the-problem-was-you-rumble-mix