No Time Like the Present: Clifton Williams Asks Nomad for Music Career Advice in Your Twenties (Episode 33)

You learned how to make music. Nobody taught you how to make a living making music.

Clifton Williams is a beast on the piano. Originally from DC, he grew up in the church with all the gospel chops, studied jazz, is classically trained, and went to Berklee College of Music. Nomad calls him a secret weapon: give him a solo and he burns the stage down. He is also Nomad's bandmate in the Babyface band.

In Episode 33 of The Career Musician, the tables turn. Chilling on a gig, Clifton put a question to Nomad: I'm 26, a professional musician, with a baby on the way. If I want to be a successful musician in ten years, what is the number one thing I need to be doing right now? Here is Nomad's music career advice for your twenties.

Brand yourself, for real

Nomad's first answer: branding. He learned it the hard way. There are a million guys named Mike who play guitar in LA, and back when album credits were a big deal, he kept seeing his family name misspelled in them. That drove him nuts. He wishes he had learned the value of a brand at 26.

He was clear that he is not telling anyone to change their name. Clifton Williams is clean and unique. But think of Prince, Madonna, Santana, Sting. Even Stevie Wonder branded that name. Branding is not a new buzzword, and it is not something an agent can do for you.

"It has to be organic. It has to be genuine and sincere. It can't be contrived."

Nomad, 4:10

Contrived works for candy pop, he said, and candy pop acts are here today and gone tomorrow. You are building a legacy.

Nobody is coming to manage you

Second: musicians are one of the only groups in entertainment that typically don't have representation. Actors, pop stars, writers and directors have agents and managers. Most sidemen don't, at least not until much later.

So you need a plan. Either find a team member you trust with your soul, or manage yourself. Nomad works closely with his wife, and he called it delicate, because the lines between personal and business blur. If you can't find that person, start managing yourself, and that starts with taking control of your day.

Put together a schedule. Build a morning routine, because the most successful people have one and it primes your day. Write down your core values, then your short, mid and long-term goals, so specific you know the what, when and why. Nomad keeps a whiteboard in his kitchen with this month's projects and an "up next" list for the following month.

Then keep an idea bin. Creative people get ideas constantly. You don't have time to build every one, so type it up and file it. On a 13 hour flight to Japan, you open the bin and start planning. That is Make Music Your Business, one organized folder at a time.

Money now, money soon, money that grows

Third: figure out how you will make money right now, how you will make it soon, and how it keeps growing. Right now usually means gigs. If nobody is calling, Nomad said, you're probably not interacting with people. He pointed at Clifton as someone who works his network and his phone so well that he can get the gigs he wants. Work begets work.

Fourth: decide what you really want. Artist or sideman? If it's drums for the best artists in the world, do it so well the legends want to take you to lunch. If you want to be an artist, start planning now.

"There is no time like the present, dude. You got to do it now. Don't wait."

Nomad, 12:16

And he said it knowing how it sounds from the music director to the keyboard player he hired. He has no interest in holding anyone back, and neither does Babyface. Just the opposite.

Why choose now?

Clifton pushed back, and it was a fair point. In your twenties you want everything now. Why choose one lane when there is so much in your head and in your hands?

Nomad clarified. He is not saying lock yourself in. If being an artist is in your deck of cards, start planning for it the way you would for retirement. He told Clifton to start thinking about his financial future now, too. Stash your ideas the way you stash money: collect them, organize them, read through them every week. Only you can turn them into something real.

Clifton landed on his own answer.

"The greatest thing that I realized from moving to LA and being in the industry this long is that you have to be okay with the process."

Clifton Williams, 16:55

Consistency beats the swipe

That word, process, hit Nomad's keyword: consistency. He was about to turn 46 and told Clifton that 20 years of consistency would pay off beyond his wildest dreams. The trap is instant gratification. It used to be the microwave mindset. Now it's the swipe mindset.

He had been studying Darren Hardy's idea of the compound effect. Small things done daily add up. Nomad took basketball lessons with his daughter, and the coach had them dribble with the weak hand twice as much as the strong one. You don't need a court. You can do it on your back porch. Same with sight-reading or a language: 17 minutes a day, checked off. Take that anxiety and put it into action.

Nomad also shared how Clifton got the gig. When Nomad was recruiting for the Babyface band, Clifton hit him back within days, came to audition, and got it. All those years of preparation met the moment. Luck = preparation + opportunity.

The takeaway

Build a real brand. Manage yourself until someone you trust can help. Know how you will make money now and later, and start planning for the career you want today. Then be consistent and okay with the process. If your next step is an audition, prepare with the free Audition Secrets guide, and follow Clifton on Instagram.

Get the gig. Keep the gig. Build the career.

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