Bill Mumy – HuffPost 6.20.11

Mike Ragogna: What advice do you have for new artists?

Bill Mumy: Advice? Just be true to your own creative voices. There’s no point in trying to be Justin Timberlake or trying to be Paul McCartney. They’re already doing that really well, so just be yourself. I think the most important lesson in all those years that I’ve been making music is don’t compromise. I don’t think compromising for commerciality or trying to come up with that hook, I don’t think that makes sense. Just make the kind of music that you’re inspired to make. We live in an era now where certainly other people can hear that without you having to sell your soul to the devil, to some evil, giant corporation that’s going to put you in the hole and you’re never going to recoup any of your investments and you’ll be workin’ for the boss every night and day–you don’t have to do that anymore. You can record your stuff in excellent quality with a very nominal investment these days in a home studio, and you can get it out there via the internet. Just be true to yourself. Hopefully, new artists want to gig and look ahead to the big picture of what a successful artist is. A life on the road is a very challenging thing…be careful what you wish for. I have a lot of good friends who’ve spent decades of their lives away from their homes being professional players out on the road, gone 200 some days a year, living from hotel room to hotel room, bus to bus, plane to plane and backstage to backstage. It’s a challenging gig.

MR: It’s now a very different business too.

BM: The whole world–in terms of financial realities and things like that–the world changes every few minutes. It’s a tough world to make money in these days, unfortunately.