Sly & The Family Stone’s Cynthia Robinson – HuffPost 8.5.13

Mike Ragogna: Do you have any advice for new artists?

Cynthia Robinson: Well, you have to love it, first of all. If you love, it then you can withstand all of the opposition that you’re going to face. There are some people who are going to have not-so-kind things to say about the industry, maybe due to their observations or things that have happened or showed up in the papers and stuff. Seriously though, I’ve applied for jobs and I’ve only punched a clock twice in my life, so when they want to know what I’ve done in the last five or ten years and I put all these gigs and stuff, they look at it and they say, “This isn’t a job!” Well, for sure, it is, because we’re in a lot of long rehearsals to make this turn out right. You have to love what you’re doing in order to get past all of the things that people are going to tell you that aren’t very positive. But if you really like it then keep on doing it and try to be the best you can at it. That means sometimes you may not be able to go out and play with everybody when they’re out playing and having fun and partying because you might need to practice for something or other. Go ahead and practice because you’re not going to miss anything that’s for you.