500 followers!!!!
From the bottom of my heart a BIG THANK YOU, you have no idea how proud I am for achieving this milestone!
Since I joined the 28th ofDecember 2017, I never expected in a million years having any form of success as I have never been a social media guru, my Youtube Channel subscriber count is stuck at 27 since 2011, and It's the same for Facebook.
So if someone ask me what am I doing different this time around, I have sincerely no idea, I think it all comes down to @dsound support and yours too , and without it I would have kept on failing.So thank you @prc, you made all of this happened!!
Special thanks to you guys for your support:
@opaulo @roelandp @tontin @princepr @darqub @dmiton @jeffandhisguitar @kryptoe @lionmom @heaterville @cryptomatters @danieldyemusic @grant-vegra @arhaynez @extraterrestrial @warudo @onenecha @afrinsultana @darqub @heaterville
Unreal TV
10 years ago I was part of a Reality TV show on french television, and I had the chance to sing and meet a lot of"Musicians & Stars" it was a one of a life time opportunity , and it defined my career and life as this is one of the reason I am today in South Africa.
As you notice I don't talk very often about it , probably because I have mixed emotions on my experience even a whole lot of years later.
On one hand it propelled me to stardom, but on the other hand I lost connection with a lot of friends, and eventually hated the"Ransom of Success" , the price for glory.
I felt at the time that this celebrity was totally undeserved as i was just a candidate of a TV show who didn't prove anything yet, didn't even release a single.
I eventually went to South Africa to record my first album and never went back to France...As simple as that ...I wanted to be forgotten, and take my time to tell the story the way I wanted to tell it, and not being a gimmick, a shallow cliche.
I don't know if I will even tell the whole story from beginning to end, because it would take me months to compile these info, and because I don't want to use this past as a mean to success.
I know it sounds completely absurd, you do a show like this in the first place because you wanted to be seen/watched and noticed, for eventually have a chance to make it in the sea of other artists out there.
So why was I so against my own success?
Well it all come down to the 3 months of show in itself. You see, it's a mix between big brother and the voice, so you are basically being filmed 24/7 , with hidden cameras, a huge production team taking care of everyday maintenance, and countless hours of interviews, sometimes up until 2 or 3am, while living on a TV set, sleeping under projectors...
You are not allowed to see your family, your girlfriend, your friends, and you are completely cut from the outside world. You are just allowed to sing and perform, go to rehearsals, while all of this is being filmed.
People can purchase the 24/7 channel on demand and watch you brushing your teeth like in the True man show.
I remember the first few days inside the studio, we didn't take the whole "game" very seriously and still had some lucidity and force of conviction that you we will all eventually lose a month or two later.
Every one can be broken
It happened to me after a month of beein on the show, I started losing my shit for being filmed all the time, not seeing my girlfriend at the time, and really starting regretting being a part of an Orwellian TvV nightmare!
I remember starting crying for no reason and hide behind a piano to do so . They obviously found an angle to film the whole sequence, with subtitles of course...
Did I forgot to mention that you are not allowed to read?But Why?
I later on learnt that all these techniques are being used during interrogation process in camps. It just ways to break down a prisoner and "reshape" them to your taste.
Maybe the best for me is to explain to you one interview that I remember particularly:
You can never seen the Interviewer, there is always a big bright light right in your face, and the voice always changes. Sometimes you can recognize a familiar voice, but most of the time it's a very neutral voice asking questions.
You are supposed to repeat the question in your answers so they can edit you and get "The right answer"
And that's pretty much what it boils down to. It sounds pretty harmless doesn't it?
Well wait until it's 2am and your get woken up in the middle of the night by a voice in the speaker, then go through an extensive interview when the person will ask the same question OVER AND OVER AGAIN until they get what they want.
This is NLP 101
For those that are not familiar with this term, it's called Neuro-linguistic programming and even if considered dubious by a whole part of the science community, it is still being used everyday by your politicians, your journalists, yours lawyers, your advertisements agencies.
Some words can trigger certain emotions, so they basically try to manipulate your thought process until they get what they want.
You will know when they are pleased, because the voice just stops asking the same damn question...
I remember one day losing my temper , It was the day after crying behind the piano, and my glare was just blank, like a MK ultra patient.
I just said to them " Tell me what you want me to say, I will repeat it word for word"
And the voice was surprised at first but decided it was maybe best for this time to just tell that poor kid "what to say"
As you can imagine I didn't win the show. I left after 3 months of it , we were 6 candidates left out of 21, and I was so happy to finally regain my freedom than nothing else really mattered for a while.
I was completely changed... Not because I learnt some special skill, or because I have grown. But the very opposite...
Here is a list of the "people" I remember meeting while being on the show: Rihanna, Tom Jones, Keziah Jones, Al Jarreau, Chris Brown, Madcon, Seal, Shaggy , jason Mraz, Craig David, Leona Lewis, Katie Perry, Akon, Lenny Kravitz, Britney Spears, Scorpions, and I am forgetting half of the others.
You see all these superstars came on the show to sing with one of the candidates, it was a nice way for them to promote their latest song and cash in. (Salary for Britney was 1 million USD for 1 song)
I realized that most (I say most because there are exceptions) of these so called celebrities just happened to be where they are today by complete accident, and with very little talent involved.
I will keep a fond memory of Al Jarreau, Keziah Jones, Tom Jones and Akon , as they behaved really respectfully and professionally.
But for all the rest, I realized that the so called "show business" was probably not for me, at least not in this form, and that most of today's celebrities are just are just empty shells that are being told were to sit, what to say, what to eat or what to think.
It broke the mirror for me, and I decided that I will have to take a different route if I ever want to be happy in living with my music.
Endemol and universal offered me a contract for an EP when I finally got out , with an advance, but I turned it down as they wanted to write and compose the album for me, in french.
I didn't want to sing in french , I wanted to sing soul music in English and compose my own music.
I found a production company that believed in me and I decided to go as far away as I could from France, to record my album.
And it was set on South Africa, I am not really sure why . probably because you literally can't go further south.
The production company didn't enjoy the album and fired me, but it doesn't matter for the sake of our story.
Each and everyone one of your actions have consequences.I wouldn't have met my wife today if I didn't go to South Africa, and we wouldn't have two beautiful children, I wouldn't have become the person that i am today without her, that's for sure.For this I am being very grateful that my younger self decided to be a part of a TV show.
So today, this Mr Lonely by Akon feat. Ed Privat, it was recorded in 2008 on french TV.
I was through a month in the competition and was just about to get eliminated. Somehow they only gave me weird songs to sing, so I was happy to sing "Mr Lonely" with Akon , as it was quite a soulful song.
We had a day of rehearsal the day before the prime time, and he was very respectful , and quite the humble type.
He shook my hand amicably before we started the first rehearsal on stage. While they're setting us up on a big elevator, i asked him what he was working on at the time, and told me that he was writing an album for Michael Jackson and he was delighted about it .
The night of the show was one of my worst performance, I think I made mistake with the teleprompter at the beginning of the song and it threw me off guards in front of an audience of 10 millions people. Nice one Ed!
Later on in a interview, the french newspaper asked Akon if he enjoyed being on the show and he said yes and the "students were awesome" , and when the newspaper asked him if he remembered the name of the student , he admitted that he didn't.
He added that he doesn't like Paris because it's cold
I don't know why it was sooo important for that newspaper to mention the fact that he doesn't remember me, just a wink to remind me that I will stay forgotten even after the show. French newspapers love failure, and won't miss a chance to quote anyone ready to say something terrible about reality tv candidates.
I don't blame Akon for not remembering me , he was a busy dude at the peak of his career and I was a minnow trying to figure out who I was.
As it is a singing competition, we never got paid for the 3 months of the show but I had some fun and other embarrassing moments, as it's been 10 years now it's time to let go!
Ok... let's do this...Cringe time
LISTEN TO MR LONELY BY AKON FEAT. ED PRIVAT ON DSOUND
Man, this was such an interesting read! While I don’t have a lot of experience with labels or TV shows, except a couple minor ones, I totally hear ya!
The only big TV show I was on was a nationally broadcasted talent show in Slovakia in 2001. It was fun, and only a 2 day production but when I realized I was going to sing and play on playback (playing a keyboard not plugged into electricity felt the most ridiculous), I just couldn’t take it seriously. I came 2nd in the end and won a mountain bike :))) but that was it... I just felt that it was such a fake world.
Later on I read “Confessions of a Record Producer” by Moses Avalon which had really opened my eyes about the music business and the sorts of abuse that goes on in it and somehow, subconsciously or otherwise, since that point I never even tried to get signed to a label or a publisher. I know, I didn’t base my decision on my own experience but on a book but something always told me it wasn’t my path.
And so years later, after taking a few tips from Tony Robins (speaking of NLP ;) ), I built my vision of success around values that matter to me. And that is inner peace and balance, health, sustainability, love, musical creativity and personal growth and development/sharing knowledge with others. I know I don’t want to tour all the time so I had to come up with an alternative...
And based on that I now see myself living in and owning with my partner a creative retreat center. It’s a creatively built eco building made of sustainable materials, it has a recording studio and a space for workshops/performances, where we organize musical workshops, yoga and meditation, and perhaps one day even ceremonies with sacred plants...
Now, this is as far as I am with my vision today - I own a small home recording studio, write and perform music, I give songwriting workshops and consultations, and I practice yoga and meditation. The partner and the house have yet to come and I trust that at least the man is out there... we can build the house together :) So darling if you’re reading this, know that I am here with open arms and ❤️ - be welcome to join me on this journey if you’re feeling called to do so! (this is better than a Tinder profile, huh ;)
And now with the support of @dsound and steemit, I’m beginning to see how I can build a regular income supporting my music, in combo with giving workshops and performing live (the last one has yet to pay me)...
The reason I’m writing such a lengthy reply is because I feel that building a vision around the values that matter to you is what will keep you going when the going gets tough. The true calling comes from your deepest desire to follow your bliss, and not chasing fame and money (not that that’s what you were doing...). That wears off very quickly.
So I’m glad you’re in a happy place now, Ed! Love your music and now your name is not only remembered but even pronounced correctly - at least by me ;)
So let’s keep this crypto music community going and growing so we all can follow our bliss and become the best versions of ourselves - as artists and people.
Love and music to all
Petra
Oh my my, Petra, every time you impress me a little bit more with your knowledge and your vision, we need more people like you on Steemit, and I can tell you that you will keep on inspiring those around you.
It's very interesting that you mention "Visualization" of your dreams, manifesting into reality by calling upon it, and this is exactly how I discovered @dsound and steemit, I was actually looking for a way to achieve that goal of being an independent musician while being a part of the world and most importantly do good.
"The reason I’m writing such a lengthy reply is because I feel that building a vision around the values that matter to you is what will keep you going when the going gets tough"
Please keep on writing lengthy comments because everytime you do so, you are sharing a little bit of yourself and that's what we all want on this platform.
The time for openness and truthfulness is now, we are all tired of the old EPK method that didn't lead us anywhere. People want to drink, eat and watch raw!
very well said, Love and Music to All my friend :)
Oh Ed, thank you for saying that!
You've got a point - that this space is so much more open for lengthy posts. I would even say that the pace of Steemit is slower because the monetary rewards make people think twice what they say/write so it actually incentivizes us (ar at least most of us) to put out the best we got. And that takes time...
Speaking of inspiration, when you mentioned visualization, you inspired me to do the next episode of My Artistic Journey on that very topic - The importance of having a vision for your art. And since it sounds like you have an experience with the amazing world of quantum weirdness (am I right?), I'd like to ask if you'd be willing to do an interview about your story and the experience with manifesting your dreams? I think many artists could find it inspiring and learn a lot if they don't know about these tools yet.
We can do it via FB live like last time with Pedro (and now I know how to do it, so no more tech issues :) and if you're in SA, we're even in the same time zone! It's every Tuesday at 2pm. So you could choose when it suits you...
Wow I am flattered! Are you kidding me? Yes of course, we can chat on discord ,but I am ok with Tuesday and you tell me that we are on the same time zone? That 's not a coincidence!
Talking about quantum weirdness, we can talk about "The Mandela Effect" (have your heard of it?) too if you are interested, and I could give my take on it, as I have literally spent a lot of time Nelson Mandela and his family prior to his departure, as I was working with his grand son Ndaba.
If you don't know what I am talking about just forget about the last sentence :)
Anyway yes! I am all for a good chat and I was so impressed by your interviewer skills during the FB live I hope
Oh I wanna hear about all of those things! :) I’ll hit u up on discord and we can figure out the details there! Thanks for being willing to jump on the show! We’ll have loads of fun! How do I find you on discord? I’m terrible with that app yet...
Oh wow you've been through a lot. Life is a journey, what matters is not the destination but how we got there.
Thanks @arhaynez and thanks so much for you support through and through!
Congrats my friend! Steemit really is something revolutionary for us musicians!
Follow Jon Magnusson on all platforms
Jeez that some proper banner Jon ! Did you make it ?
I wish I could take the honour for it but it's actually mr Roel from @spawnband who deserves the credit. It's really easy just follow his guide https://steemit.com/howto/@spawnband/customizable-steemit-social-media-footer-for-bands-and-artists
That's so nice of you to share, thanks buddy I am gonna read this right away
"Well wait until it's 2am and your get woken up in the middle of the night by a voice in the speaker, then go through an extensive interview when the person will ask the same question OVER AND OVER AGAIN until they get what they want."
Sounds so f@king creepy. You did really good job in this feat
Thanks bro , I was damn petrified you don't get used to it, and my voice was starting fading after a month of shows, which resulted in nodes that can't be removed without surgery on the vocal chords. I kid you not they were injecting me cortisone in the butt to get me going :) and for my voice not to completely exctinct
Uhh Sh@t. So what about people who play 300 concerts per year? These interviews you talk about got me thinking deeply about television, being famous. It must be hard, you really have to watch on every word you say couse they will cut it and do everything they want with it.
Yep, that's why the closest I could think is the book "1984" by George, you are right about being constantly watched but eventually you start forgetting about it and that's when you start making mistakes !
Wow.. I am one of the 500 and i am happy for you.m
More will come followers may come your way.
More followers, more success.
Bless up
Bless up to you brother ! A long way to go !
what a story you have here. this could make a movie script you know? life is all about struggling to get to the apex. i'm happy for all you've achieved so far. greater achievements are still coming
Thank you so much brother :) I wish you all the best in your endeavors too
Congratulations on leaving France, it's what I did too 25 years ago. No regrets!
Yeah it's been 10 years for me and I am not coming back! I really love your blog, well done ! Do you live in Thailand now and if yes how do you enjoy life there? Merci ;)
Thank you very much @edprivat. I have been in Thailand, yes, for the last 25 years and it's my home. I love the freedom we have here and each new day is an adventure.
Oh wow that's wonderful , my wife keeps on telling me we should move there next ) I have noticed a lot of like minded people living in Thailand, like all the awesome people are attracted to there haha
The best is to come a couple of month and see if you like it because it's nice, but it can be challenging as a family to expatriate here because of visa issues.
That was a great post! Quite frankly I wouldn't mind at all reading more about your story. There's hint of a lot of episodes that must have been overwhelming and transforming. As well as it has been ten years ago and it seems you reached a point of closure, or beginning closure. Your experiences are raw and can be inspiring for others who are yet to try themselves in the real world, or are just in the midst of getting a grip on it. If you ever get by writing a part of your biography I'd be pleased to read it.
And furthermore good luck to you and your family!
(And yes; as a struggling musician I've been through an armada of egomaniacs, wanna be stars and people who grow sick and die of their disappointment (literally die of sickness). It came to a point where I had to decide what I wanted out of music. Nowadays I enjoy giving others the opportunity to find a safe space where they can explore and enjoy being creative. No ambitions for fame and riches, just pure joy and experimentation in creating good music. They may be beginners, or just enthusiasts. But the way they light up and get excited about the creations is authentically fun to experience. So with the help of those musicians I can come back to the place I was when I started music in the first place. Being excited about every new riff, every new idea, every great sound. And seeing music as the universal language and bridge to something higher than ourselves, instead of just the vehicle to becoming insanely rich and famous …)
This is such an inspiring comment ! You are very right when you talk about closure, this is the reason why I decided to write it down in the first place, and I can tell you that it was not easy and felt like vomiting while publishing it .
"No ambitions for fame and riches, just pure joy and experimentation in creating good music"
This is exactly how I behaved in the last 5 years, I took time to just work on my craft, a bit like a monk, and I was lucky that my wife got the patience to let me do so, now all I want is to give her back the freedom she gave me by letting me write, sing and become a better musician while it didn't make much sense at the time at least from a financial standpoint.
Another thing, I think music prevent people from going crazy and save lives, I know I would have ended in a much darker place without it, so the best way to give back to the universe is to teach and enjoy these little priceless moment that you are mentioning :)
Wow man I had no idea you’ve been through so much. You really seem like one heck of a guy, and deserving of all the credit in the world. I’m glad Steemit could bring you something success without the constant overhanging torment that goes along with it. You are one of the first people I clicked with here on Steemit , and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity. You have my support 150 percent. Peace Bro.
It's funny because YOU are the first people I clicked on Steemit too ! Things don't happen by accident ! I look forward to your amazing content , I am blown away ! I know I've resteemed you already but if someone is scrolling down the comment section CHECK THIS VIDEO
You’re absolutely right man- things do happen for a reason. Thanks again for being so damn kind and encouraging...
I’m beyond flattered..
Please don't be, I was truly amazed and in admiration with the video, I hope I didn't sound like I was moaning " boohoo I didn't get a good wedding", because my point is that soon I will have it, and you are just setting up the blueprint for others out there!
I didn’t see it that way at all- I think I understood you clearly. I was lucky enough to have my wife’s family to help out with the cost. They actually paid for most of it.
I posted the video so others could be inspired- I just hope I will reach those who are in need of the inspiration.
It reached you though- which is good enough for me.
Ok cool I just wanted to make sure :) , yes it worked I am all psyched now and I just want to work twice as hard hahaha
Thank you kindly for the mention @edprivat and congrats on your latest achievement of 500 followers! Also thanks for sharing a bit more about the experiences that like life's spices- have seasoned your music throughout the years:0)
HAhaha what a cool metaphor you got here! Thanks for the resteem :) and the support of course!
Really interesting post,keep being you
Thanks @solomonpeter !
awesome post, thanks for share.
It's was a pure pleasure friend!
Brother loved reading it
Thanks for coming back man :P
This is a great post/back story @edprivat. I'm glad you're out of that mess, and in control, doing what you want to do.
Thank you @danieldyemusic, hopefully more will follow us and join steemit to take control of their lives !
Thank you VERY much for sharing! A HUGE WELL DESERVED CONGRATULATIONS! You are EXTREMELY talented my Friend! All the VERY best! Positive Energy! Great Karma! Your Friend @extraterrestrial :)
Hey @extraterrestrial Thank you very much for the supp.... Whaaaaaaat??? 1500 followers !!!!! Wow this is 3 times what I have and I think we joined almost at the same time ? Thanks for you good vibe let me add you to the thank you list :)
how could i miss this post? shame on me...
You are the most talented artist i´ve worked with and I´m so proud to be a part of your journey! keep grinding bro.
Lol no worry bruh, it's no biggy!
Thank you for the kind compliment my dear , friend may we have thousands of collaboration together. By the way I am reworking on the verse of touch the sky its not a rap anymore but more singing
sounds amazing :) looking forward