Dear friend, I don’t know about other artists, but for me working on the final stages of my upcoming album “9 to 3” had recently turned into an emotionally chaotic and painful process. Honestly in the past few weeks, I’ve gone though hell with so many ups and downs, doubts and moments of sheer desperation about my songs. Surprisingly, these are the very same songs that I got inspired to compose not too long ago. I recorded them with joy and gusto and felt so many moments of absolute bliss when music sounded like magic on my tracks. I had my Mojo and I loved it. “What’s going wrong?” I asked myself last Sunday morning while sipping a blissful mug of Cardamom Chai. “Where’s my Mojo, now that I need it most in the final phase of 9 to 3? What changed?” – Then I remembered having people in the studio, visitors and guests while I was working on some unfinished song mixes. I guess I got lots of feedback, critic and advice from these people that day. Most of it was quite contrary to my own perception and gut-feeling about my music – but it took over all my emotional space. I completely bypassed my own feelings and started focusing on their critic and advice. I realized that THAT was a huge mistake and that I was “the man in the arena”. I remembered the famous quote by Theodore Roosevelt that I’d like to share with you. It really helped me get past my abyss of doubt and regain trust my own instincts. “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” This is to all creative people, independent musicians and artists out there – trust your gut-brain, it’s your best adviser – go out and do it! You guys rock! I have my Mojo back and “9 to 3” is coming along like a charm! The release is due in September this year. I’ll be posting some music here along the way. Thank you so much for your support and for your emails. You know, I love to hear from you and how you see the world and everything that goes around you. These are the stories that my songs are made of – 9 to 3 - your stories. I always reply. Remember to write to me. I look forward to hearing from you! Rise and shine! Ajay My page! www.ajaymathur.com