The Respected Performer's Sacrifice
Updated: Aug 22
Not every performer is respected in this industry.
You get a sense of the differences when you walk into the room. How energy shifts in the audition room, at live castings, and on set. You begin to feel it when you're on stage.
I've been making music on stage and acting in plays since childhood.
Some people feel a sense of heaviness on stage, the eyes of the audience creates pressure.
Others savor this chance to share a deep message with the audience, through their art.
When I was on stage, a few weeks before the release of Shadows in Paradise. I chose three songs to perform, two of these songs, had a unique story to tell about respected performers.
If you haven't heard them yet, the question you might be asking yourself now is...
What does it take to become a respected performer?
Self Control & Nightlife Danger
It's a question people ask themselves all over the world.
Every year people come to Toronto hoping to start their creative quest here.
They know this country has given birth to stars. They know Hollywood sends its films and their performers to our festival every fall. But what they might not know until they get here...
Is how diverse and decentralized Toronto's nightlife truly is.
King Street clubs have a vibe you can't find in Ossington. However, in every borough, there are women who go to the club, and every weekend, there are women the club remembers.
The way certain women walk past the line, strutting straight to the front, styled dangerously.
If you're lucky, you've seen one skip to the front of the line, and within mere moments, being welcomed into the nightclub with alacrity, probably accompanied by yours truly, Baccino.
Some clubs enforce a dress-code, people get turned away if they don't come correct.
But as you've already guessed, a femme fatale doesn't need to follow the dress-code. Such women are trendsetters in Toronto, and commanding respect internationally, is a challenge that several creatives spend their time, money, and emotional resources, trying to overcome that hurdle and figure out what they need to do. That pattern of thinking is exactly the problem.
Most people who think they want the Respected Performer identity are still measuring themselves using someone else's hierarchy. They're still following rules imposed on them.
Instead of expressing themselves with unique style...
They submit themselves to protocols that were set up to repress creativity.
They surrender their time to schedules made to trap them inside forgettable roles.
They ask for permission to occasionally follow their follow their dreams... and wonder why audiences don't really respect the influencer content they post. Or pictures of the vacation they begged their boss for permission to have. If your life decisions aren't yours to make, then self-control is a fantasy you have not yet experienced. People will sense it when they listen to your music. Do you want them to feel the absence of freedom when they look into your eyes on IG?
The eyes are the window to the soul.
What do people feel when they look into your eyes? When you go out each weekend, is it the equivalent of modern paradise? There are opportunities for euphoric and memorable experiences on certain nights. Especially in a multi-cultural city like Toronto, where a cultural mosaic of beauty from every race can be seen on Queen Street, and in Kensington Market.
However, many people live lives of quiet desperation during the week... and cherish the brief indulgence of the weekend nightlife experience. For a respected performer, the masses who look to nightlife as a momentary escape are the same people who might consume your art.
Some of them can't afford to go out every weekend like a respected performer.
But they decide whether to listen to your song again. Or give your film trailer and magazine editorial another look. Digital screens have made the emotional experiences of artists more accessible than ever. But before they decide to buy tickets to see you perform, how will you earn their respect if you're disrespected your talents and gifts, by aligning with them mediocre corporations? There are trillions of dollars flowing every day... and attention is their magnet.
Freedom is a power so elemental it's understood on an instinctive level.
People eagerly give up their hard-earned money for a taste of freedom.
They'll pay hundreds more for a bottle of booze they could buy for $40 at LCBO, to feel like a celebrity for a brief moment. As a few pretty women smiling arrive to celebrate their purchase.
The same people who've surrendered hours of their time at a 9-to-5 for that money, will gladly spend large chunks of it in one wild night of indulgence... hoping to experience a fraction of the kind of special attention... that a respected performer receives in nightclubs. To be treated with similar levels of care and enthusiasm that femme fatales get just for existing in the club.
Nightlife venues sell this fantasy every weekend, successfully.
But nightlife is dangerous because of how it exposes the real effects of each person's aura.
Anyone can record a video of themselves, singing a song with a smartphone.
Any woman can ask a friend, to film her strutting down King Street like a runway model.
Any person can film a comedic nightlife skit on the streets and then share it online tomorrow.
Only certain artists get paid for these performances.
Talented Imitator or Real Performer?
Ever noticed that when a new comedian has a viral joke, in many cases, it's because they did a spot-on celebrity impression? They reminded you of a performer who is already famous.
Impressions are part of the craft of comedy... it's a technical skill you can train to get more people to watch you, if that's what you want. But a viral moment, showing your talent for imitating someone famous doesn't mean you've earned the respect of a real performer yet.
That comedian who got some attention with impersonation, will have to come up with original punchlines, storytelling ability, and refine their crowd-work instincts, to immerse an audience in their artistry. You can't just get by on imitation if you want to build a devoted audience.
When a new dance goes viral, a performer has found a series of movements that express the rhythms of the music in a genuinely inspiring way, they might not be famous yet, but they've already inspired an audience to start imitating them. This makes the originator of the viral dance a real performer, which is why artists like Addison Rae, were able to find their way from viral Tik Tok dancing into a recording contract with Columbia Records, as she tackles the modern question of pop stardom. The devotion experienced by a member of your audience trying to imitate your dance moves is much deeper than a person watching you imitate fame.
Think of the careful attention given by magazine editors when they decide to publish a model.
Songwriting demands a message, if it resonates, one night you'll hear people singing it back to you. Think of the focus. The fascination it takes for them to memorize lyrics. It's deep, isn't it?
There's something magnetic about a real performer.
It's deeper than just how you look... magnetism comes from within. The energy behind a pair of eyes that fills you with anticipation... you wonder what comes next. It's that je ne sais quoi, which changes walking, into a catwalk performance. The expression of such artistic depth inspires devotion from audiences because not every person has the freedom to dig that deep.
When respected performers are interviewed, you often hear marvelous stories about what they sacrificed to get to where they are today. Even nepo-babies feel pressured to experience something intense they can share with their audience, in an effort to earn a spot in the pages of history. But many creatives won't get that far, because they've surrendered the possibility of a full-time career as an artist for the security of a civilian job, while delegating their few hours of freedom each week to make content. They post it on Instagram, Twitter, and then they hope.
Some performers want to be seen.
Others have a different desire, to become unforgettable.
The difference usually appears, in what each person is willing to organize...
Or re-organize their life around.
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