Demo-itis : the swelling of the demo.
- Musician records a demonstration (demo) of a new song
- Musician falls in love with this draft recording
- No ensuing recording will stack up
Demoitis is a mental block. It doesn’t apply when the demo is actually the best version. If that happens, great!
Demoitis is holding a musician back from getting the next level recording. It happens a lot. It costs musicians lots of studio time.
I’ve never recorded an album, but I can relate. I can easily get trapped by my first draft of something, or an attachment to an old idea.
We can cure demoitis by accepting that we may be victims of it. For me, the two best ways to dump these unrequited loves are to…
- Get an outside opinion
- Re-evaluate what my goals were in the first place
I think we’re all scared of the creative process, no matter how experienced we are. It’s scary to jump back in after we already got the reward of making something good. The familiar is safer. It’s also scary to let go of some work. It’s also scary to make something good. At this Halloween time of the year, let’s get scared and enjoy it!