10 Years Ago I Nearly Gave up Making Music

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Gareth Emery

10 years ago, I nearly gave up making music.

In 2006, I was broke, making less than minimum wage, no girlfriend, still lived with my parents—whilst my friends all had proper jobs with career prospects, good salaries, houses, etc.

My life was very fucking far from where I wanted it to be.

I remember going three months without a single show—not because I wanted studio or vacation time—there just wasn’t a single club or festival IN THE WORLD that wanted to book me.

I was told, “You’ve tried your best, but it’s time to give up” by my closest friends, some members of my family, other DJs, even my agent.

Giving up would have been easy, but instead I accepted some hard truths.

My career sucked because I was lazy. I was never in the studio, and I was bitter about those who were doing better than me, rather than looking at myself.

So I turned shit around.

I used the time off gigs to create my podcast. It did 300 episodes and eventually became Electric for Life, which just promoted my biggest solo show in my life.

Of course, things didn’t happen overnight.

But it was a start, and 10 years on—after continuing to work damn hard every single day since then—I’ve got an incredible family, amazing career, and everything I ever wanted.

Was it easy? Fuck, no.

But was it worth it? Fuck, yes.

I’m not saying I’ve “made it” now, because there are still many things I want to achieve, and I firmly believe you guys haven’t even heard the best music I’ve made yet (just wait until you hear the new album). But I wanted to write this message for those of you who might be where I was 10 years ago.

You might see all the cool shit I have now and think it was an easy journey, or I got lucky, because Instagram tends to show the product of success but not the struggle to get there.

However fucking dark things may seem now, and however much you might want to give up on your dreams, DO NOT GIVE UP.

So, happy 2016. Go out and fucking crush it, and finish the year a step closer to your dreams, whatever they may be.

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The above piece by Gareth originally appeard via his Facebook page and republished with permission.