‘Ok so I am in my fifties and well passed my midlife crisis. In fact I had about three of those from the age of 35 to 45. It was a fair ride for me and those around me. These days I totally accept my age but stare down the limitations it might seem to bring.
‘The music thing has been really important. Fifty something man starts a regime of recording original songs and publishing them; one song per month. Writing is ‘that thing’ for me. That thing that gives me a sense of doing something I can do better than I could 25 years ago. It’s better because I have more life experience, technology and money. I spend around $1k per month per song. A lot of people spend that a year on golf club memberships – well that’s what I tell my wife.
‘I recently got diagnosed with a minor form of manageable cancer. It certainly doesn’t define me and, in fact, I do everything I can to stare it down. Eat better and exercise with a fairly disciplined regime of weights and intervals (Still do a bit of red wine in moderation, but that’s one of life’s good things). You have to be prepared to stare this cancer shit down.
‘I don’t want to be a pop star but I want to put my stuff out there. I want to see if I can find an audience for my creative energies. I’m slowly building up social media followings on IG,FB and YouTube and publishing that one song a month usually using a professional singer. I have a cool dude technical producer, Mat Creedon who does the cream on the top such as final mixes and mastering. He also has encouraged me to sing on my next release.
‘I was inspired by this really great South Korean producer/performer Yoon Jong Shin. He releases one song per month; has been doing so for years. I came across him when I stumbled on this Korean singer on iTunes. Park Ji Yoon is this talented artist who sings adult contemporary music these days, but she evolved from being a K-Pop star. Check out Tree of Life. The really inspiring aspect of Yoon is his commitment to releasing that monthly song. From both a personal and marketing perspective his regime is highly successful.
‘The most important thing in overcoming the age and health thing is being prepared to accept the fact of where you are, but stare down the limits it may seem to bring. Creating your own regimes that take you to places that allow you to rekindle or find your potential best. One song a month is now my regime. Once you stop staring down the limitations it beats you up. Don’t let it.
The Steve Bell Projectss cos C 