We’ve all worked with “one of those.”

You know who I mean.

That person with the Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde persona. Off-stage, they are a pleasant, even congenial sort of chap. You wouldn’t mind going over to their place for barbecue. Or tofu, if you’re into that.

Then, they get on stage, and everything changes. They become an emotionally unstable ego-monster, prone to getting angry. They become “serious,” as in “everything is a serious problem.” In certain situations, you would swear that this person’s very soul was riding on everything being flawless – but everything CAN’T be flawless, and they are annoyed at it. The entire show revolves around them, and if you fail to recognize that for a nanosecond, you’re an idiot at best.

Some folks call this “The Rockstar Attitude.” Some folks even assume that it’s the right thing to do.

After all, you should take your show seriously, right? Hey, I’ve even encouraged people to take their shows seriously, with my contention that taking your show seriously is what actually makes you a rockstar. When I said that, I meant it.

What I didn’t really go into at the time was that taking your show seriously means being so ready, so comfortable, and so absolutely prepared that you’re no longer required to ACT in a serious way anymore.

Let me give you an object example.

The Earliness Is Tremendous! I Believe It Is Prep Related.

Last Saturday, I worked on an especially important show for the band Suspect, and the production was a textbook case of seriousness that brought both technical success AND actual fun to the table.

It all started when Ren, the bassist, walked into the venue at a decidedly early hour. He wanted to talk about some of the details involved in recording the show that night, and he also wanted to get his newly added keyboard rig sussed out. By allowing himself (and me) lots of time to get settled in, Ren was being very serious about the show.

This particular kind of seriousness was also present in the other musicians. They weren’t far behind Ren, which meant that getting the whole gig set up and tested was a low-stress, experimentation enabling, and frankly enjoyable time. I would also mention that I’m sure the band’s “take it seriously” approach to setup and soundcheck had a profoundly positive effect on the show’s sound. Because we could take our time, it was possible to get each instrument exactly where it needed to be – which was especially important for the songs where Ren traded bass parts with Debbie. If we had done a “grab ‘n go” there, the change from one bass sound to another would have been uncomfortably jarring. With all the prep time we had, though, the difference in bass rigs just lent a nice change in flavor for those songs.

…and here’s the upshot.

By taking setup so seriously, by being so willing to take time and look at everything in detail, nobody had to actually “put on the act” of being serious. Everybody involved could enjoy the process, joke around, be thoroughly relaxed, and just – you know – enjoy the unbridled awesomeness involved in being a rock band.

I think we ended up with at least an hour to spare before downbeat, and the band got to fill that hour by hanging out with their friends in the front row, taking pictures, telling jokes, and requesting both rockin’ and funny songs for walk-in.

The show was taken so seriously that nobody was compelled to be serious anymore.

Serious About Tone

On another front, let me tell you about Dave, and how seriously he takes his guitar sound. He takes his tone so seriously that – in keeping with the whole theme – he doesn’t have to be “serious about HIS tone.”

That is to say, the complete character of the sound he gets is built on working with the rest of the band, while having the correct volume and tonal qualities for the rest of the room. Dave is so professional about getting good tone that, when I commented on how the high-mids might have been a little too hot, he reached back to the amp-head and pulled them back.

No fuss. No worries. No stress. No ego trip. No “it doesn’t sound like TUBES DUDE!” No inward worrying that losing that little bit of presence might somehow wreck someone’s night. Just a nice, satisfying rock ‘n roll crunch that blended nicely and didn’t kill anyone.

In the same way, Ren dialed back his bass rig when things started out a little too hot. Glenn, the drummer, gets very satisfying drum sounds without having to pummel the kit like a maniac.

The takeaway?

The group is so concerned with sounding good as an ensemble, and being enjoyable in the room, that there’s simply no need for anybody to sweat bullets over every tiny aspect of their individual sounds. Sure, the individual instruments are in good shape and tuned properly, but it’s not done with the kind of narcissistic, snarling obsession that marks some “serious” players. Again, this creates a scenario with vastly lower stress – both for the band, and for the tech.

Also, it creates lower volume – which is great, because it means that getting monitor world put together is stupidly easy. As I recall, the downstage mics needed no gain adjustments at all. The band just stepped up to ’em and sang. No “everything louder than everything else” fights from mix to mix, no mysterious feedback monsters, nothing. It all just seemed to work. (There was a little squeak from one of the mics at first, but a little work with the EQ killed the problem.)

As an added bonus, the levelheadedness regarding overall volume let us actually use the PA for fun things (like fattening up the toms, adding some nice bottom to the bass guitars, and just filling in a touch of midrange on the guitar). We got to do this because weren’t already running so hot that adding something would be overwhelmingly loud.

Comfort Is Happiness

The point of all this is to point out that truly taking things seriously makes shows fun. True seriousness means that panic and stress aren’t required, because everybody involved in the production is just flat-out comfortable with making the magic happen. Indeed, the whole process can start to look like magic to an outsider, because of how easy it seems to be. When you’ve covered all your bases, sorted out your priorities, and simply aren’t required to be under stress…you get to just go up and have fun.

Think about it. Do the people that get bent into all kinds of strange shapes over tiny aspects of the show seem like they’re having fun? Do the folks who have to bark orders at everyone else seem like they’re having fun? No?

There’s a good chance that those folks are only just being serious enough to LOOK serious.

The REALLY serious people, though? They get to smile and have a blast.