I REMEMBER YOU WHEN
Feb 1, 2007 12:00 PM, Kylee Swenson Remix Editor
There's a potent truth to the saying that you never get a second chance to make a first impression — but it sure is annoying. Why don't we learn this in kindergarten when we're just starting school, especially those of us who grew up in small towns with lockers next to the same people for 13 years straight? There should be a class — right after finger painting — devoted to preparing us for making first impressions in life.
You may start out as one thing and morph into something else. But people will often stick with their first impression of what you were when they first met you. In the case of Remix, it started out as “a DJ magazine.” Over time, the DJ community expanded beyond simply spinning records, and producing, remixing and DJing became inextricably linked. In addition, Remix used to primarily cover electronic music, but the magazine transformed as hip-hop, electronic and rock music cross-pollinated. Then, it was clear that there was more to producing and performing, and Remix had to look at the business side of things to ensure that we could afford our musical habits. Nowadays, our readers have grown to include mixing engineers, DJs, music fans, music-industry execs, rock bands, hip-hop producers and more. But seven years on, people still ask us, “How's the DJ magazine?”
I use this example to illustrate a point: People who knew you back in the day will always remember you as the shy seventh grader with braces and zits; your parents will think of you as a thin-skinned kid who can't take a joke; and your freshman-dorm friends will recall the time you made the sludgelike turkey gravy and still believe you are, to this day, the worst cook on the planet.
Maybe that's why companies have mission statements — creating a plan and the right first impression, and staying on track so they'll “grow the business.” Successful companies don't fumble their way through from concept to execution.
But like getting a D in your first quarter of college and trying to dig your grade-point average out of the trash, it might be an uphill battle to overcome a negative first impression. Still, it's a worthwhile fight.
Say you played your first show with your band or DJ'd your first set in front of an audience, and you were not very good. Or say your first EP sounded like crap, and you couldn't even sell 500 copies. Or say you started out as an industrial-music producer, and then you changed tack and went the dance-rock route…. You might have given your audience one impression, but as long as you work hard and stay the new course, never veering too wildly (thus shaking off your foundation fanbase), you can overcome the first impression.
The artists featured in the issue may be burning brightly very quickly (Bloc Party) or may have been toiling away diligently for 20 years (Maurice Joshua), but the great thing about music is that, as new generations discover music, there are always people who haven't heard about you yet. You may still encounter the tactless jerk who says things like, “I saw you play in '98 and wanted to stick my finger in my eye.” But as audiences morph and regenerate, you can re-emerge as something new and still make your mark.
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