Sex, drugs and rock n roll!

That’s a classic isn’t it? But is it really like that? Are professional musicians partying 24/7? I don’t think so. If you are Rockstar reading this and you do party 24/7, please share the recipe…

A musician’s life is complicated; being a professional musician requires a lot of hard work, many sacrifices and of course it requires you to always keep our feet on the ground.

When we are kids we always think that Rockstars just party all the time, wake up late the next day and do nothing, but that is not 100% true. Of course, there are some Rockstars who can handle that, not for long though… might keep the “sex, drugs and rock n roll” for a few years but then they realize they just can’t anymore and the best part, “Rock n roll” is not even there – fail!

Why are we musicians? Because we love music and we would love to play music forever, 7 days a week! To be able to do that you really have to take care of yourself and I am not talking about your playing or your technique or your speed, I am talking about your health.

This advice goes to everyone – kids, teenagers, uncles, grandpas – whoever is enjoying the amazing joy of playing music, either if you play live once a month or twice per week… You need to start paying attention to your body, inside and outside so you can have Rock’n’Roll forever!

I don’t want to sound like a doctor or your a mom, but here is what I think you should start doing, and if you already are and you agree with me, you should really share your regime or thoughts about this matter – music is a business and involves a lot of things, good health is an important one.

So, let’s start with the foundations:

Exercise. I am not talking about finger exercising… I mean getting into an exercise routine as soon as you can; in my personal opinion, exercise is everything! It clears your mind, you can think a lot while exercising and of course, you will be really healthy and yes, looking handsome, pretty and awesome to the world.

I am not suggesting you should get into the GYM and pump 100 KGs everyday. Running or swimming are probably two of the best exercises I can think of. What to do depends on what you like the most.

Let’s be honest, exercise is not a friendly thing for most of us, so you really have to make what you like the most or what you hate the least… What do I do? I enjoy bike riding, I don’t have a car so I ride my bike almost everyday – for getting to band practice, doing grocery shopping, going to almost every place I need to go… I also like to go for a run at least twice a week and believe me, it feels great, specially when playing two or three shows in a row.

You know that playing a show involves a huge amount of effort, not only mental but also physical, so being fit is a big plus! My suggestion: think about what you like to do? Maybe going for a walk everyday – load your iPod with your favorite tracks and enjoy the walk!

Diet. The other part for a healthy body, a diet! No more McDonalds or Pizza Hut; eat well, eat good food and of course in reasonable portions. Don’t finish your family’s pantry in one night.

A really important part for having a healthy body:

Rest. Did you play last night for 2 hours? Have a good sleep after that! Let your body rest. Playing a show is a party, enjoy it but don’t over enjoy it… I know how it works, you finish playing around 2 a.m. and you end up staying at the bar until 4 or 5 a.m. That is cool, I like it and I do it too sometimes but I really push to have a good rest instead, especially if you are touring or have two or more shows per week. You need to let your body rest before the next show. If you don’t, at some point in your performance you’re gonna run out of puff. Let me remind you that we are here to play music and to perform at a 100%. There is no way you can perform at a 100% after a night out partying! It is as simple as that.

My suggestion: If you have 2 or 3 shows in a row, leave the party for your last show, when you know there is nothing to do the next morning so you can rest well and chill.

The not so important one but that also counts…

Appearance. Which starts by having a good health. If you are healthy, you look physically good. And then it comes the material or superficial aspect, nice clothes, nice haircut, etc. I am not too keen on these types of things but unfortunately that is how the music business works too. People judge us on our looks at some point so the better we look, the safer our play would be – it is not hard to get our nicest clothes when we go to meet someone for a gig or when we do a show, keep it in mind.

Anything else?
I think these four things are the most important ones. Do you have a suggestion? Comment it out.

Remember, eat well, rest, exercise – be healthy!

Learn more about Luis Tovar on his Google profile.