Ulrich Ellison Chasin' The Dream - The Life Of A Musician Episode 1: Too Cool For School |
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I still remember it like it was yesterday: some guys in my junior high wanted to meet up to try forming a band. When I heard that I knew I had to be there somehow. I had been studying classical piano for 4 years and pretty much thought it sucked. The only reason I didn’t quit was my mom. At the time I owned two cassette tape recorders so I offered to come along and record their attempts. On the day of the first meeting, I set up all my gear with some cheap Radio Shack microphones (the whole story actually took place in my native Austria) and we recorded the whole afternoon. It was an indescribable feeling, and I had never been that excited before! The guys from that afternoon ended up being my bandmates for the next 3 years. I got a guitar from my aunt and I did a week of interior painting for my first guitar amp. I was determined to do this. With the help of my piano skills I was able to play pretty much every Metallica song I could think of after woodshedding a whole summer, to the surprise of my bandmates.
Fast forward a few years: time to graduate high school was just around the corner. Time to think what I wanted to do with my life. Our band had been playing some school parties, church basements, and even some real show bills. My girlfriend dug what I was doing, I had long hair and a lot of friends – I was pretty happy altogether. But what now? It soon crystallized that all the other band members had other plans. What made me so foolish to think I could just carry on with this thing? These days I think that I knew something about me the others didn’t but back then I was pretty clueless. Without anybody in my family serving as a role model of what I wanted to do I had to settle for a compromise – an audio-engineering degree with heavy musical focus. I would have to move to the Capitol Vienna for that which was a very welcoming thought. The preparations began, and my former piano teacher helped me big time getting my piano skills, ear training skills and musical theory knowledge together. And voila! – a few months later I passed the exam, and there I felt it again: that tickling sensation I had at my first band rehearsal.
In my musical life I met many great musicians that never went to music school. I secretly envied them for just being able to do what they wanted to do, especially the ones born into musical families. But the funny thing was that often they would also envy me for having a music degree and formal education. So what’s the best answer? Probably only you can know that. In my case it was very clear: Not having the environment around me to just BE a musician, studying sound engineering/music production was my BEST POSSIBLE option. And on the way I learned a lot of usefull skills that help me produce my own records and pay the bills if needed. The most important thing was that I was able to keep putting in the hours practicing and learning that it took to move to the next level. At age 23 I ended up being sideman for some of the biggest names on the Austrian pop scene. And actually paused school for a whole year. Seriously I was pretty close to quit studying. At age 26 I got into the Fulbright scholarship program and ended up moving to Austin TX where a lot of wonderful things started to happen. But that’s another story. Without completing my audio degree the Fulbright opportunity wouldn’t have existed. Another good moment when I was listening to my mom……
THREE HARD-KNOCK WISDOM RULES:
- Listen to your mom.
- When you have a strong gut feeling, don’t listen to your mom.
- When you follow your passion it’s ok to take a detour. As long as you keep following your passion.
Ulrich Ellison is an Austin-based guitarist/songwriter/recording artist. He has released 5 albums under his own name and can be found touring the US and EU regularly with his “Tribe”. Check out www.ulrichellison.com and check out his music and story.
Fast forward a few years: time to graduate high school was just around the corner. Time to think what I wanted to do with my life. Our band had been playing some school parties, church basements, and even some real show bills. My girlfriend dug what I was doing, I had long hair and a lot of friends – I was pretty happy altogether. But what now? It soon crystallized that all the other band members had other plans. What made me so foolish to think I could just carry on with this thing? These days I think that I knew something about me the others didn’t but back then I was pretty clueless. Without anybody in my family serving as a role model of what I wanted to do I had to settle for a compromise – an audio-engineering degree with heavy musical focus. I would have to move to the Capitol Vienna for that which was a very welcoming thought. The preparations began, and my former piano teacher helped me big time getting my piano skills, ear training skills and musical theory knowledge together. And voila! – a few months later I passed the exam, and there I felt it again: that tickling sensation I had at my first band rehearsal.
In my musical life I met many great musicians that never went to music school. I secretly envied them for just being able to do what they wanted to do, especially the ones born into musical families. But the funny thing was that often they would also envy me for having a music degree and formal education. So what’s the best answer? Probably only you can know that. In my case it was very clear: Not having the environment around me to just BE a musician, studying sound engineering/music production was my BEST POSSIBLE option. And on the way I learned a lot of usefull skills that help me produce my own records and pay the bills if needed. The most important thing was that I was able to keep putting in the hours practicing and learning that it took to move to the next level. At age 23 I ended up being sideman for some of the biggest names on the Austrian pop scene. And actually paused school for a whole year. Seriously I was pretty close to quit studying. At age 26 I got into the Fulbright scholarship program and ended up moving to Austin TX where a lot of wonderful things started to happen. But that’s another story. Without completing my audio degree the Fulbright opportunity wouldn’t have existed. Another good moment when I was listening to my mom……
THREE HARD-KNOCK WISDOM RULES:
- Listen to your mom.
- When you have a strong gut feeling, don’t listen to your mom.
- When you follow your passion it’s ok to take a detour. As long as you keep following your passion.
Ulrich Ellison is an Austin-based guitarist/songwriter/recording artist. He has released 5 albums under his own name and can be found touring the US and EU regularly with his “Tribe”. Check out www.ulrichellison.com and check out his music and story.