Fear is stopping me

LegacyUser

I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this, but I need some advice/encouragement. I'm 27, and for as long as I've been upright I've wanted to sing. I've been in choirs, in cathedrals, for god's sake I sang as a Billy Barry kid! And then one day it stopped... I guess I just grew up and realised that people were looking, and worse... JUDGING.

So here I am, years later and working in an industry that grates on me. I've been very sucessful in said industry, but deep down I know it's not what I want.

So... last week, a mate of a mate volunteered to acommpany me on guitar at an open mic night. I took him up on the offer, and we 'jammed' a few days later. He's done quite a few, and has written over 100 songs, so sings his own stuff when he's up there alone. He's said that most people do, but that I should still do it and sing some covers.

So my problem is.... IM TERRIFIED. One: because I've never done this kinda thing before and Two: because I'm doing the 'loser' thing and singing covers. Don't get me wrong, I'm not the wallflower type. I am very confident when it comes to EVERYTHING else, which kills me. I'm currently convincing myself that I should wait till I've written something. I know that is me trying to cop out, but I have a really bad feeling that I'll succeed in winding myself up.

Is there anyone out there who has gone through this? And yeah, for some I know that it was just a matter of 'doing it', but this is tough for me, as Ive built up the fear for years. Any kind of advice/encouragement would be greatly appreciated, as I know I've got to do this and not talk myself out of it

Chucky the tree

Picture them naked maybe?

Why are covers "the loser thing" though? I would say 99% of the todays band/singers that are big started out doing covers. Are you worried the covers will be recognised by the audience? Maybe ask your friend if you could borrow one of his songs to sing, he wouldnt mind.

Maybe your using the cover thing as an excuse to try and avoid doing it?

How do you mean you have never done this kind of thing? You sang in choirs etc. Or have you never sang on your own?

GAAman

There was an open mic night in my uni's bar and people had been at me to put my name down so literally less then 24 hours before it was on i put the name down AND had an exam that day so i had a few hours to get my stuff together (stand up comedy)

Now like you i have some experience when i was very young of makin a tit of myself but that was a loooooooooooong time ago and havent ever done a thing like stand up comedy

I was cackin the jocks and worse still i found out when i got there that i would be FIRST despite bein told i was on last!:eek: so i had a choice either bottle it and get the hell out or get up and give it a lash.

I came second and not tryin to sound better but the guy who won has plenty of experience and a drama student too!

At the end of the day man you aint doin it for the audience you are doin it for you. Get up there and enjoy yourself and see the audience bein entertained as a good (but secondry) by-product of you gettin up there and the best of luck with it!!!

LegacyUser

do it. some people might give you a hard time about singing covers, but a lot of people wont. and as long and youre a likable person you should do really well.

and the thrill you'l get from performing live will be amazing, and probably addictive! so you might not have to worry about the courage thing the next time, you'll just be gagging to get on stage!

probably once you've sang some covers a few times it'll help you to write your own (if thats what you want to do), because you'll have a better idea of what works and what kind of thing oyu enjoy singing and how you feel when you're up there.

keep a sense of humour about it and good luck!

roberta c

a good cover is 10 times better than a bad song u wrote yoursellf! hell a bad cover is better than a half ased song u wrote yourself!

Asiaprod

My wife is a singer with 3 albums to here credit. The first 2 albums were all covers, only the last contained original songs. The whole point about singing covers is that not only do you like the song, but that you have created a different arangement that enables you to express YOUR emotion while singing. How many top artists can you name that have also included covers on their albums? I am sure you can name quite a few.

Re stage fright, let me assure that my wife has been singing for more than 15 years and she still gets stage fright every time she goes on. She won't eat, drink or even talk to me before a show. I just leave her to get on with her own mental preperation. After the first song, its all forgotten, and she is up there enjoying herself.

Writing your own material takes time. Not all artists can do it. The point about writing a song is really do you have something to say, or a message you really feel you want to get across. If you do, just write it as if you were saying it. Poetry is poetry, songs are a narration. The chorus is the hard bit since it needs to be the catchy. Good luck with it.

TempestSabre

I heard Ozzy say recently he still gets stage fright.

cliché I know but you should try to do at least one thing every day that scares you.
This is your thing.
While I'm on the subject,I've heard of many many famous performers who have in interviews said they were scared shítless before they went on stage-so you are not alone by any means.

Hagar

If you have the courage to admit publically that you were a "Billy Barry Bastard" then you have the courage to do anything.
Put other people's opinions of your performance aside, you are not performing for them you are doing it for you. Just enjoy it. Good luck.

LegacyUser

Guys, thanks so much. Really appreciate your kind and encouraging (funny - Hagar) words. They have actually helped a lot. You're so right; who am I doing this for, me or them?

I think the covers thing is what was bothering me, cause I wasn't really sure what people thought of them. But if everybody here would be ok with hearing covers at an open mic night, then it can't be all bad. I just gotta stop talking about it and just DO IT! Will let you know when i have, and hopefully sillybarry it will become my new addiction.

Cheers again everyone

LegacyUser

My sister was in the same circumstances. She too became big in the industry, until said industry screwed her over somewhat. Recently she has gotten back into singing with a friend of hers (basically in the same way as yourself), but the one thing that petrified her was the fact that they were actually listening to you.

My best advice is to go with it. As long as you have a good time, this will show in your singing/music. Have fun