First- learn to stop spending your money on things that you can learn to not need.  Remember you will need to produce what you think is the most awesome music ever!  Rely on your taste, only if it shares common aspects with the massculture or if it is so unique that it serves as mesmorising to people.  Listen and believe peoples reactions, not what they say, and remember what you would think of yourself if you were watching.

     Second- Learn to endure, lift weights alot, get yourself ready for professional musical work, im not talkin' roadies just yet, I'm talkin bout gettin out there.  And most important, learn to write songs both on your own and with others.  Then make sure you memorize a full set plus others, covers are always optional.  Keep cool when you're on stage, remember, the coolest bands, appear to feel cool, though keep in mind cool is a state of mind you must deserve, and you are the one who will notify you when you are 'cool'.  More on my discussion about the dangerous word 'cool' in later writings.  Remember to REMEMBER, begin this practice now; always stop yourself... FREEZE, now look around, feel your pockets, and one by one see if you remember where everything is, and if you have everything.  This may seem simple and it is, but now lets say you're 21 and you played a radical show, and are now the tipsy man or woman from oceanville, drunk and forgetful, this is the test, this is when you have to be able to do the practice! also, when you're so excited and in a hurry, these things will DESTROY YOU. they will be the cause of that 1960 floyd rose deluxe beauty your parents got you getting stolen forever and ever and ever, and your guilt will pummel through your chest nerves like yesterdays spicy enchiladas.  Don't forget little things like strings or pics! they make you look like the worlds biggest dummy.  Trying to rely on people having things when you get there will have serious reprocutions. Like you may not get to play, and that feels bad.

    See, you have to be intellegent about it, suave if you will, like Johnny Depp, you have to read your books and read your audience, and read your fellow musicians and people more than the woman you choose to marry. and when you write words, write what you really want to say, it doesn't have to rhyme, you and only you have the power to change the rhythm, the words, the length, the style everything, its like painting, the back color is the drum beat the clouds are the drums, the trees are the keys and guitars the hills are the melody and the life forms are the notes.  Remember to find the beauty in yourself, everyone is beautiful and if you can't see it, I swear to you someone else can, and they say why? why don't they see their beauty and embrace it?  Some of us have a hard time accepting our true beauty because of societies dellusions, and influences we love but cannot escape making us feel like were not as beautiful as them, my answer to you is get out, get out of your home, live with the wind find what you desperately want and think of a way to make it happen, in a real way, a way that the wind could take you, or that natural flow could really make happen, people everywhere will see your mission taking place, and little do we reallize how much people do want to help people.  I know I would help every person on the earth had I ever get the chance, and perhaps I get to by sharing my pain, or sadness or even better my joys, any feeling seems to get away with something cool when creating music.

     Third- Use work and money to innitiate your needs, you will need to learn to travel alone or with a few people.  Traveling is wonderful, you see other people who travel and see amazing sites, keep in mind you'll need to plan everything so account for the time of year and where you are on the globe. Financial planning is key to an enjoyable tour.  Trust me, a bad tour will turn entreprenuers back in a week! especially when you're starting out and you think you know everything about it all.  One major topic on touring is 'how to identify what kind of people you're talking to.  Are they trying to get me in on their scam? are they pulling me off course without intention? are they totally psychotic?  many good people are these things, you and I are two of them.  We all think for ourselves naturally, but when doing something like investing money, time and energy into a lengthy excursion, it's good to know you and your friends are comfortable with the plans and everyone understands why and how its working as a band.  Being solo comes in handy because its all up to one, but even better is once established a little there's more chance for a backup band, so never fear it alone, I didn't!

     Forth- Get exposed, try to get captured in film, try to audition for agents and for movies, find moving circuits of bands of a complimenting type by going to byofl or musicians assistant and looking up venues all over, then email inquiries about booking, follow what these places say to the tee, then contact bookers and find out how to contact promoters that have gone through, then get ahold of those promoters sites and go see a show and check out the bands, approach them, introduce yourself, and say hi Im gary oldman, and I'd like to open for you, then they'll tell you who to give your music to or audition for and there you go, so remember this... if there's anything to really need to remember, you can get into the chain of things right now if you're ready,  its out there for us, are we ready? album written and memorized? performable? right now? get it done! now! lots o steps but its better to be ready, perform your act over and over keep adding to it like a database, don't overload, practice half the set one night,the other half, the next.  I went to music class all through elementary, middle school, and highschool, all I ever did was rehearse, rehearse, rehearse,rehearse, and then rehearse... and all I do now, in order to go where Im going, I have to rehearse, words most of all, I skipped that practice for too many years, around 23 years old I totally lost my singing voice, I've been practicing words and more musical singing, and its always new, cause I can always tweak it on every run through.  This will save you money when you record.  One take is all you should get, but the average is probably around 60 takes per track.  Don't spend thousands! spend a couple hundred, cause you still have to duplicate and print albums, buy a bar code and register your production with the copyright office.  (Hint)  You can take all your songs and music and register them as a collection of songs, it should cost $30.   To listen to free sample music or to purchase my new album-peace visit  ebay and search for Paul Martinez.   Thanks for listening. Good Luck out there!