As a musician, you may not realize how important storytelling is. Through telling your story, you’re able to actively engage with your audience. You build a connection with your listeners that grows stronger and stronger each time you share it.
What is Storytelling?
Storytelling in music is the art of conveying a message. It draws from your personal experiences, beliefs, and convictions and is a powerful tool for encouraging audiences to get in touch with their own.
Stories are found in lyrics, band merchandise, interviews, and even the name of your group. It’s what you stand for and what you sell and not just in merchandise. When brands (and bands) identities are created, it’s bringing the story behind it into existence that gives it personality and makes it come alive.
Storytelling ignites the imagination. It stirs up interaction between you and your listeners and inspires your audience to get in touch with their own stories. By creatively conveying the essence of who you are and what you stand for, bonds are formed and relationships are made.
The Importance of Storytelling
The first story on record is a fictional story about fatherly wisdom called the “Epic of Gilagmesh”. The ancient tale is mythic poem that dates back to the third millennium B.C. Verbal story telling has most likely been around as long as humans have been though.
Neuroscientists have discovered that the brain responds much more rapidly to remembering facts in story form than mere facts. When your story’s message is in the form of a song, the chances of you reaching the heart and head of your listener is exceedingly great. It’s likely to play over and over again…like a broken record. What more could a musician want?
What’s YOUR Story?
To deliver your story through your brand and your music, you must first discover what it is. What makes you unique? What does your band stand for? What turns you on…and off? Perhaps you have a political or social view you want to sell. Maybe you came from a dark place and have a heart to share the light you’ve found. Your passions, your experiences and decisions, and the people, places, and things you’ve encountered along the way all make up the story of you.
Whatever your story is, sharing it with your listeners makes your music personal and relatable. When you have that bond with your audience, you have arrived.
If you’re unsure what your story is, here are some helpful ways to discover it:
- Ask close friends what they see in you and/or your band.
- Pay attention to your likes, dislikes, how you spend your time and what you talk about.
- What inspired you to write music, play the drums, or to sing?
- Who were your biggest influencers early on?
- What challenges have you overcome in your life?
- If you had one message to spread to your fans, what would it be?
Authenticity and Storytelling
It’s better to not speak at all than it is to lie. Be sure to be transparent and truthful when telling your story. In some ways, your life as a musician is an open book only but that doesn’t mean you have to divulge everything. You can retain a certain amount of privacy even though you are sharing your heart and soul. Being honest will bring about trust and respect but it will be gone in an instant if you aren’t straightforward. Your listeners will take it very personally if you attempt to pull the wool over their eyes so keep it real but don’t tell more than you are comfortable sharing.
Be Consistent in Your Story
When your songs are about love and peace, but what you do in private says otherwise, don’t expect your audience to view you as legit. Integrity is when your beliefs and your actions like up. You don’t have to be perfect. You do want to be consistent, however. Think of it as building character by showing and not just telling. Get in touch with your story. Spread your message through your music, your personal blogs, and any other way you can. To the best of your ability, live your life in a way that consistently represents the story you’ve sold your audience and you’ll gain respect and devoted fans too.
Synergy and Substance
Your story is the substance you are made of. If you’re part of a band, it’s where you all meet in the middle. Not everyone will have the same beliefs and goals. What do you have in common besides music? Good bands have good energy between the members. What’s the story behind that energy? That’s what your fans want to know.
Synergy and substance sell. Audiences are attracted to music and musicians they can relate to. That doesn’t mean they have to agree with everything you do and all that you are about, but there’s a common ground somewhere that builds a connection and links you together.
Consider your own favorite musicians. What caused you to like them initially? Did they give you something to believe in or reiterate a conviction or view you already had? Maybe their music reflected something you were going through or gave a solution to a problem you had.
Sometimes your story doesn’t have to be laid out in detail. A lot can be left out when the song is laid out and even interviews can be evasive if the message is still strong. If you came from a “dark place”, the particular meaning can be vague, but the point is still there. Whether it was a drug or alcohol addition, a bad breakup, or deep depression, the fact is that you know what it’s like to not be ok. Others that have been or currently are in the same boat can relate, regardless of the specifics.
Pouring Yourself into Your Music and Your Audience
Being a musician can be intimidating. Pouring all you are into your tunes and your audience makes you emotionally vulnerable. If you’re up for the challenge, connecting through storytelling is taking a chance by putting yourself out there in hopes of building not just a band brand, but true relationships too.