IN my years of teaching creative and performing arts courses, I’ve found that only the study of theatre and dance addresses the demanding physical aspects of being a performer in both fields.

I was intrigued with the discipline required in theatre, notably the warm-up routines involved at the start of both rehearsals and performances.

I later realised how this important routine was missing in the habits of musicians, when I found myself injured or suffering some kind of back pain (thanks to some wild onstage acts when I played with my punk and noise rock bands).

Here I’d like to offer three nuggets of wisdom from my own school of hard knocks as a performer:

1. The greats make it look easy

This saying is often used when describing sports legends or GOATs (greatest of all time).

The sheer hard work and discipline needed to be at the top of the game is often unseen. Nobody saunters onto a pitch or court immediately brilliant – this is a fact. Those who actually play the sport know first-hand what this means.

It is the same in the performing arts. The only words that tend to be bandied around are “practice” and “rehearsal”, both of which can seem casual to a non-performer person on the street.

While I did enjoy my time in theatre collaborations, I found the demands of almost-daily rehearsals, discussions, critique and such too tiring, and I developed greater respect towards theatre (and dance) as a field.

I felt like a slacker, as someone who enjoys improvisation – although improvisation, too, requires hours of just “messing around”, which does also count as practice.

The “10,000-hour rule” in which the key to achieving true expertise in any skill is simply a matter of practising in the correct way for at least 10000 hours – popularised by author Malcolm Gladwell who in his bestseller “Outliers” – remains true to me even though many have debunked this. As a performer and artist, I know first-hand how true practice really makes perfect.

2. The ‘lifestyle’ myth

To be honest, one of the earliest reasons why I was drawn to becoming a musician – aside from liking songs, which frankly a lot people do – was that playing music seemed really cool. I was especially enamoured with rock ‘n’ roll musicians.

One thing I’ve learnt from touring and performing a lot is that rock musicians – I can only speak on my bands’ behalf – look and pose a certain way because, well, they are hungover, under the influence or tired.

The latter is true for sure because performing onstage is like playing sports – you are physically exerting yourself by standing up, moving, lugging your musical equipment, communicating with each other, jumping around, swinging, screaming your lungs out and whatnot.

Oh, it is also very hot onstage because of the spotlights and sometimes poor ventilation but you still need to put on a smile.

Not all rock musicians subscribe to the so-called “rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle” of sex, drugs and alcohol although these are indeed ever-present occupational hazards that are readily available around you and some do succumb to them.

You can only blame one thing – the media – because a healthy rockstar doesn’t make the news as much as a dead or troubled rock star.

Heck, even the legendary Keith Richards once told a young musician, “Don’t kill yourself for rock ‘n’ roll”.

3. Aging is real

Mick Jagger and Bob Dylan are both in their ’80s and are still touring and performing while most people are already in the twilight of their physical years.

Yes, having a lot of money helps but keeping active also needs a lot of discipline.

Offstage, Bob Dylan is a shrewd businessman who invests in his health while Mick Jagger is a known health nut. And both are very well aware of their mortality, hence, they take care of themselves.

The most important lesson is to accept your own aging body and mortality, and work your way into building your health and physical resilience. And watch your diet! – October 20, 2023.

* Azmyl Yunor is a touring underground recording artiste, and an academic in media and cultural studies. He has published articles on pop culture, subcultures and Malaysian cultural politics. He adheres to the three-chords-and-the-truth school of songwriting, and Woody Guthrie’s maxim “All you can write is what you see”. He is @azmyl on Twitter.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.