I Listened to Nothing but Marc Rebillet for a Week and Now My Frontal Cortex Is Throbbing
Never have I ever been captivated, inspired, entertained, and shocked all at the same time. A friend on Facebook shared a video of Marc Rebillet’s video, Vaccinated Attitude, and I couldn’t look away since.
The creativity that pours out of this man’s soul is something to behold. He makes up songs on the spot on his keyboard and looping set up and he transverses the entire musical spectrum from soul, to funk, to talking about buttholes. He is the embodiment of not giving a fuck and just starting and seeing where it goes.
I’ve watched several of his live streams from 2018 when he was playing live in a restaurant and the energy and the beats are infectious. The lyrics are all over the place in most hilariously and sometimes uncomfortable way. It’s fascinating to watch how the audience reacts. People walk into the restaurant not knowing what kind of madness is about to ensue. Marc never apologizes and why would he, he is creating whatever the hell he wants in the audience gets sucked in.
I challenge you not to start bobbing your head to this song about “working your ass.” WARNING: You might get pregnant by listening to some of these jams.
He’s been playing piano since he was 5 and it’s clear that he is so comfortable with the ol’ ivories. His timing is impeccable too, there are so many things that he executes flawlessly on the fly in his robe and underwear. Confidence level 1000.
I struggle with just starting on an idea sometimes and watching him just start and make a masterpiece is inspiring. This song about another idea explains it perfectly about how you should just start.
The Practice
I’m reading The Practice by Seth Godin and if you find that you’re questioning your work or your art, Seth has a lot of words for you. I’ve never highlighted so many lines from a book before.
““It’s hard to get blocked when you’re moving. Even if you’re not moving in the direction that you had in mind that morning.””
Marc is a physical manifestation of what Seth discusses in his book. The overall theme I’ve gotten from The Practice is that if you do work that you care about, others will care about it too. It’s clear that Marc loves what he does and he publishes it to the world and brings people along for the ride. It’s working for him, big time. He’s doing a North American tour and he’s already selling out shows. He has the best name for it too, Third Dose.
Everything is a Funnel
Last year, I stubbled across a video from Jack Conte (CEO of Patreon and creative AF) that just blew my mind.
There is a concept, usually for marketing purposes, called the funnel. It’s basically like the old adage of throwing spaghetti against the wall to see what sticks. The key is having lots of spaghetti to throw and hoping that there is at least one noodle that sticks for a long time.
Jack details how everything is funnel. Everything you do in life can go through the funnel from finding a doctor’s appointment to creating a successful piece of art. This is what I’m attempting to do with writing a weekly Medium article and what Marc Rebillet masterfully does by creating song after song after song.
I’ll Leave You with This
Another line from The Practice I wrote down in my journal which I will never forget.
“If we failed, would it be worth the journey? Do you trust yourself enough to commit to engaging with a project regardless of the chances of success?”
Yes, yes I do Seth. There are many things that I’ve “failed” at, but they were worth the lesson every time. Skills compound. It takes time. “Overnight successes” are only viewed from the bottle of the funnel. Put in the work and never stop. Marc Rebillet hasn’t stopped and I don’t think he will for a very long time. I’m still not sure how he can move so fast and play the keyboard flawlessly, he’s been doing it so long, his hands are moving independent of the rest of his body. Never stop, Marc.