Since leaving the teaching profession I have had time to shift into a much more divine state of being. I have had to break routines and reprogram my mind in order to simply cope with the human condition. After experiencing an intense reset, I have managed to realign my focus towards creating healthy habits and practice routines that are very much starting to enhance my ability to be a professional live performer. Working as a teacher in several Australian classrooms in both private and public schools provided me with an opportunity to learn how to be comfortable standing up in front of a group of people. I have now harnessed the confidence I need to be comfortable live on stage singing and playing my guitar. I now live my life completely dedicated to being the best musician I can be. I have developed a religious approach to my music practice and have been heavily focused on rhythm control. My new refined approach to playing music has enabled me to feel the essence of perfection and increase my overall self esteem.
I’ve been living in Bargara for 3 years now and finally I am getting some regular gigs around the Bundaberg region. I have been running regularly, eating healthy and engaging in breath work. All of which have been paramount to my mental recovery. I went through a phase where I couldn’t connect with anyone and I fell out of touch with everyone, thankfully my Mum was there to care and listen like no one else can. My sincere apologies to anyone who may have felt I personally pushed them away, I didn’t. My perception of reality became extremely dark. Taking everything as if it was a personal attack and then severely overreacting escalated me to the point of needing serious help. I've always been a person people can tell their problems to and I've always enjoyed helping others in this way. But now it was really me who needed someone but I had absolutely no patience for anyone else. I then deleted all of my social media, disconnected my phone and retreated into a very frugal life style. After spending a year building a garden at my Mum's house and finding remedy in plant medicine, I finally felt some urge to play music. I managed to get a gig somewhere and this motivated me to get the old songbooks out and play some tunes again. Another year went by and I had started playing the odd gig around but still not really connecting with anyone. Mum bought me a Loop Station and after many hours working with this sophisticated technology I have managed to utilize it. Then on the turn of my 33rd year things began to blossom, It felt as through the dark of night had passed and a brand new dawn was rising. I decided to spend the little money I had left on an absolute weapon of a guitar, a Cole Clark acoustic with an in-built humbucker. I am getting familiar with this new hybrid style guitar and have strengthened my singing voice to handle a 4 hour gig. I have also learned a shit load more songs that people love around here and guess what, I’m getting gigs!
I’m jamming with a drummer and we are going to do a duo that will make a lot of noise. I can use my Cole Clark as an acoustic, electric and bass guitar. I then layer up loops with different guitar tones and have found some very cool songs I can build into my live set list. In essence, we will sound bigger than a 4 piece band with just the 2 of us. I’m thinking we should be able to get plenty of work and have some fun playing to bigger audiences and potentially play my original songs on festival stages. Let’s see where we are at in another year's time.
Finally, I've starting to fall in love with some Country songs and I haven’t felt inspiration like this since I can remember. These songs make me feel something very real. I’m indulging in learning yet another load of songs that people have been requesting at my gigs. It is very humbling when you can for fill a song request, It really does make someone happy. I am now completely motivated to continue my journey on this frequency while working my way towards singing on bigger stages and to more and more people.
I have written many new songs and intend to get around to producing them when the opportunity presents itself. Lately, getting my live performance in check has been my main focus.
Be well, take care and maybe leave a comment? I would love to hear from anyone who read this.
Thank you, Lachlan.