The title of this article is somewhat misleading: it’s more about the guitarist/producer Misha Mansoor making business changes to establish and maintain his happiness and quality of life. The one quote that stands out to me in this article is when Misha talks about being happier working as a salesperson at Radio Shack because he was “making music on someone else’s schedule.” He says what shifted his mindset was a shift in business practices, particularly a change in management, and his band Periphery is now considered pioneers of progressive metal.
My takeaways from this article: learn everything you can to make your music your way on your own terms. It takes as long as it takes. Just focus on the joy of the learning process, as you discover yourself while honing the tools you’ll need. Appreciate the things that you don’t understand, then embrace the skills that help you to understand them.
As a side note, I’ve been fascinated with hard rock since I was a kid, which led me to finding metal as a teenager. One of the most influential bands I heard was the Swedish math-metal band Meshuggah (mentioned in this article), who’ve been releasing music since the late 1900’s. From the very first listen, I was blown away by the balance of complexity and accessibility their music conveys, and I’ve followed their music ever since. I’ve heard others have the same initial reaction to Meshuggah’s music that Misha described in this article: confusion or contempt which usually evolves to respect and admiration, once the listener is better informed on the mathematics of the music.
