It’s been two years since I graduated from University. Two years since I moved back to Germany and decided to start my music career fresh here, in Hamburg. Two years since leaving all my music industry contacts behind. Two years.

You might be thinking: What happened in those two years? Well, so am I.

I joined multiple band projects, most of which fell apart quickly after joining them. I took a job waitressing at a Rock Bar with live music, hoping it would help me meet some people, but also because my dad said I needed a job (he was right). I put in a lot of time, effort and money into projects that inevitably went nowhere. I quit my waitressing job to do city tours. I went to Brasil. I had some nice gigs and some uplifting words were spoken.

But I also had parents who were packing up their whole house to go sail around the world, who needed my help. I got an apartment and spent a lot of time and love renovating that apartment. I built furniture. I re-homed my cats into my apartment. I helped friends go through rough patches.

In short. Life happened.

There is a saying, that everything in life happens at once, and always at the most inopportune time. Well, I can say that a lot of ‘life’ happened to me in recent months. But, at the high risk of (definitely) sounding cheesy, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

About a month ago, I vowed to start new, to really focus on my music and my music career. There is no reason I shouldn’t be able to build a career in music. So what’s stopping me? Missed opportunities? Meeting the wrong people? Or maybe just laziness?

Probably a bit of everything, a lot of misplaced faith as well. Although I do not think I was lazy, specifically, just not as tenacious as I should have been. Maybe that’s wishful thinking.

So I put together my money and bought a ticket to the Reeperbahn Festival Conference, one of the biggest networking events for Musicians in Germany. I snuck myself into closed networking events, attended some panels, and met some really amazing people. I regained momentum. And I am not about to let that momentum go.

So what am I planning on doing differently?

I never felt confident enough to do solo gigs, as I cannot accompany myself well enough. And although I am definitely working on my piano skills, I thought the easiest momentary solution would be to work with playbacks. So many people use playbacks, it is a very viable option. Somehow they were always taboo to me. Well, I now consider that taboo lifted.

Putting oneself out there by going to jam sessions is where you meet people. I don’t know what stopped me from doing this properly before, but I will now. Ideally, I would want to become a regular at one of those events. Someone who knows everybody. Should be easy enough… ^^

Time. It is essential when trying to achieve something. Everything takes time. So I need to take that time, wether it is needed to write some new songs, or to improve my vocal skills. I need to give myself that time.

Putting up vocal snippets of myself. This should be a no-brainer. But I have often found that these things are quickly outdated, or you need to upload a wide variety of genres so that people do not box you into one category. These thoughts have stopped me from putting anything online for a while now. But, in retrospect, not the best idea I’ve had in my lifetime. I can start with putting up songs I love. And then move on from there. There is always going to be that person who does not like the way my voice sounds, but that is life. It’s not about them. It’s about me.

And finally, I am going to check in on myself every couple of months. See where my journey has taken me. Have my efforts brought me closer or further away from my goal, or have I maybe not moved at all.

This will give me motivation. To keep going. To not give up.

I know a lot of you who will read this are rooting for me to succeed. I know that when the time comes, you will all show up to support me. So thank you for being there. Thank you for your love and support.

I am starting new, and I couldn’t do it without you.