A fine line

INTRODUCTION:

Like the immortal words of Denzel in the film Philadelphia: 
"Explain this to me like I'm a two-year-old, cause there's an element of this I can't get through my thick head."

When is a hobby a hobby and when does it become a business? 

When does a close friend become just an acquaintance from the past?

THE BLOG:
My music was always my dream and yes a hobby, because I had a full-time job as a painter, with a reasonable income. Now times have changed, I no longer have a full-time job and actually, I have no income at the moment, thus I have had to rethink my plans.

So now I see ZEEKtheFREAK no longer as a past-time but as a product/ my livelihood and like other companies/ bars/ restaurant/ musicians or whatever I am trying to sell as much of my product, to try and get some income. 

Thus I use the social media, Facebook, Twitter etc to promote my songs and try to get as much attention as I can, to the fact I am selling my music. 

I encouraged friends to help out, as word of mouth advertisement works the best, but since I knew no-one would dare do that, due to the 'do not encourage him' threat...yes, this is honestly real, not something thought up, I knew I would have to do the publicity myself.

I know I cannot force my music on people,no that is not in my character, but I asked family and friends to help out.....buying the songs would, of course, be the best solution for me, but since again I knew it was too much to ask, I asked them just to share my posts and that could maybe lead to others who have never heard of ZEEKtheFREAK finding my music and thus maybe letting their friends hear it and thus creating a chain reaction that could lead to other things, but, this was met with silence or 'oh, I never saw the post', I was even accused of putting too many ZEEKtheFREAK posts on MY page and I know people actually stopped following me, yes it is far easier to stick your head in the sand than witness another advertisement and virtual plea's asking for their help.

Another example, after Halloween, when the 'Blow a Fuse' CD's were STOLEN, no not borrowed or lost, they were stolen from a well-known bar in Alkmaar. I again asked family and friends in Alkmaar to re-post my post to get as much publicity, but again...not one friend or family member re-posted it and on the Well-known bar's Facebook page, a small post saying the CD's were borrowed. 

The profits from the sale of the CD were to be used to finance 'the Gullible's Travels' CD, now I have to find another way to raise the cash.

Yet, a friend's bike was stolen, another person's house had something stolen and I see nothing but shared posts on Facebook and people crying outrage, while I get accused of being a bastard, because I was negative about the well-known bar and their lack of empathy...

I must stress there are friends who help me out without me even asking. I am proud to know them, not because they helped me but because they did it without being asked and that is the kind of person I like to be and yes this post all sounds like a bit like me having a whinge, but, I genuinely don't get it. People say they are your friend and I actually helped a lot of them in the past, only because I think that is the right thing to do, so that is why I ask ...

"Explain this to me like I'm a two-year-old, cause there's an element of this I can't get through my thick head."....when someone starts a new company, they need all the support they can get, but I received the silent treatment from family and friends and even told to grow up or it's just a hobby, you'll never be famous etc.....even when I explained I had no money and every penny would help. 

So what can I do? What can I say? Like every company, I need the support of close friends, family etc., to even have a chance of surviving in the dog eat dog arts world.

I know for a fact without the help and support of my misses, I might have called it a day on following my dreams. 

I genuinely hope everyone who reads this is happy and I wish everyone nothing but good fortune. I will continue to make my music, as I will continue to try and sell my product, that is ZEEKtheFREAK, but the 'Alkmaar' chapter of my life is coming to a close. I will no longer ask or rely on these friends for their help, neither will I mention it again, this book is closed, with just one more sentence.........and Denzel's I borrow the idea behind your quote, but change it to my Freaky style....
"What the fuck do I have to do to get your help?"

ZEEKtheFREAK Cabannes 11/02/2017