TEDx Talks - Terrace to World Stage: How Embracing Mistakes Creates Masterpieces | Badhri Seshadri | TEDxPSGTech
The speaker shares their journey from engineering to pursuing a passion in music and sound engineering. They highlight the importance of embracing mistakes as part of career progression. Initially, they faced challenges in transitioning from a traditional career path to a creative one, but they learned to view mistakes as opportunities for growth. The speaker organized open terrace jamming sessions, which evolved into larger events, demonstrating the power of consistency and community engagement. They emphasize the need to adapt ideas to different contexts, such as moving from informal gatherings to structured auditorium events. The speaker also discusses the importance of understanding legal and business aspects when turning art into a business, highlighting the need for trial and error, knowing the rules, and being open to letting ideas grow beyond oneself. They stress the significance of maintaining a consistent team and learning from each experience to improve and expand their reach internationally.
Key Points:
- Embrace mistakes as part of career growth; they lead to progression.
- Consistency in creative endeavors builds community and engagement.
- Adapt ideas to fit different contexts and audiences, such as moving from informal to formal settings.
- Understand legal and business aspects when turning art into a business.
- Maintain a consistent team and learn from each experience to improve.
Details:
1. 🎨 Embracing Mistakes as Stepping Stones
- The speaker's career journey is marked by multiple transitions, beginning with civil engineering and evolving through a passion for sound that led to a diploma in audio engineering.
- A significant decision was made to forego job placements after engineering, which underscores a commitment to following personal interests in audio engineering.
- The speaker accumulated diverse experience in roles such as mix engineer, master engineer, dubbing engineer, and sound designer, demonstrating a willingness to explore and learn through various positions.
- The speaker highlights that making more mistakes is directly linked to greater career progression, emphasizing that errors are integral to learning and growth.
- Personal anecdotes illustrate how embracing mistakes has facilitated both personal and professional growth, showcasing the speaker's belief in mistakes as catalysts for advancement.
- Specific examples of mistakes, such as initial failures in sound design projects, were used as learning experiences to refine skills and achieve better outcomes.
2. 🎸 From Engineering to Musical Passion
- The speaker argues that passion-driven career choices, particularly in creative fields, are often underrated compared to scientific disciplines such as physics and chemistry.
- Music and creative arts are not prioritized in education, suggesting that structured music education could increase the number of professional musicians.
- The speaker emphasizes that musical talent is developed through practice, similar to skills in scientific fields, challenging the notion of 'god-given' talent.
- Originally from an engineering background, the speaker began exploring music in 2012, influenced by consistently listening to Raja's music, which sparked an interest in learning music despite the lack of formal education.
- By 2017, the speaker initiated community music sessions, utilizing social media to organize open terrace jamming events, encouraging participation and collaboration among musicians and enthusiasts.
3. 🎤 Creating a Musical Community: From Terraces to Stages
- The initiative aimed to dismantle traditional barriers between performers and audiences by encouraging active participation, viewing art as a product consumed by the audience, akin to a business product.
- The initial event faced challenges, with no attendees besides the organizers' parents, underscoring the difficulty of launching a new community initiative. However, consistent efforts led to gradual audience growth.
- Monthly growth was observed, with an increase of 10 attendees per session, culminating in a terrace event that drew 1,400 participants, far exceeding the expected 600, showcasing the potential for grassroots community expansion.
- Despite police intervention due to the large, unauthorized gathering, the event's success indicated strong community interest and engagement, prompting a shift to formal venues like auditoriums.
- The move to auditoriums aimed to further engage the audience by treating non-musicians as integral to the performance, rather than passive spectators.
- Initially a passion project, the initiative's success highlighted its business potential, emphasizing the need for strategic management and responsibility in orchestrating community events.
4. 💼 The Business of Art: Trials and Triumphs
- Responsibility is paramount when managing people's money in art; accountability is key.
- The journey began with a trial and error method due to the absence of mentors or precedents in the art business.
- The initial ticketed show encountered issues from inadequate planning and adapting to a new auditorium setting.
- Early performances were unstructured, lacking a set playlist or defined timeframe, prompting necessary changes for ticketed events.
- Subsequent shows improved by restricting the number of performers and having a structured playlist, enhancing audience satisfaction.
- Expanding to new cities (Chennai, Katur, Bangalore, Madur) posed logistical challenges, offering lessons in travel and budget management.
- Understanding legal necessities, like performance licenses, proved crucial to avoid complications.
- Concerns about plagiarism and competition were mitigated by prioritizing audience experience.
- Success hinges on allowing ideas to evolve beyond their original creator.
5. 🌍 Growing Beyond Borders: A Journey of Expansion
- The speaker emphasizes the importance of not restricting ideas geographically, using examples of potential limitations if they had stopped at various locations such as Chennai or South India.
- The journey of expansion has led to performances in countries such as the UK, Europe, Singapore, Malaysia, and an upcoming tour in the US, indicating significant international growth.
- The band is approaching its 200th show, highlighting consistency and loyalty as the same team and vendors have been maintained throughout all performances.
- There is a choice in perception regarding sticking with the same team and vendors: it could be seen as fear of venturing into new territory or as a testament to loyalty.
- The speaker advises against focusing solely on creating a masterpiece, instead suggesting a focus on learning, unlearning, and making decisions confidently while remaining open to new lessons.
- Building a strong team and surrounding oneself with good people are crucial elements for success.
- The speaker notes that the vulnerable version of oneself is often the best, implying the value of humility and continuous growth.