“I’ve got some kind of superpower where I can suppress these things when I read them”: How Herman Li deals with critics
Unfortunately, the life of a rockstar isn’t just about hilltop houses and 15 cars. For all the headline sets and private jets, there’s an equal amount of criticism that comes with being in the public eye.
DragonForce’s Herman Li knows this all too well. Speaking to Brocarde, the power metal guitarist has opened up about the critique he has dealt with over the years. He notes that negativity started flooding in as soon as the band started gaining popularity.
READ MORE: Herman Li: “Guitar Hero was very important for metal – and for all guitar-driven music”
“I think we got much more negative comments when we first started to get known, as a new band that came in,” he explains [via Blabbermouth]. “When we had our big break, a lot of people [were confused by] the music, they couldn’t accept it.”
It took a while for the band to gain the respect they have today, but Li admits he deals with far less negativity nowadays. “These days it’s been really, really positive generally,” he explains. “I really don’t get that many nasty messages… For the nasty people that wanna send them, I’m not trying to say, ‘wake up, do it again!’, but we’ve had a long career now and a lot of those people moved on in their life.”
However, he’s aware that’s not the case with every artist. When you’re in the limelight, everyone becomes a critic. People often forget that musicians are humans too.
“For a lot of artists, it seems like the fans [don’t] look at them as normal humans,” the guitarist asserts. “They wouldn’t say these things [to your] face, because that would just be crazy… And most of these people cannot understand that we’re just normal people!”
When you scribble on social media about a shoddy guitar solo or a crappy deep cut, it’s very possible an artist will see it. “Things do affect the artist’s life, what [they see] on the internet,” Li says. “Luckily, I was told I’ve got some kind of superpower that I can suppress these things when I read them; it doesn’t bother me.”
Not many people are able to block out people’s opinions like Li. And it’s only becoming more intense; as fan culture becomes more rabid, some are struggling to deal with both the lovers and the haters.
As the world becomes more digitised, it will get more difficult for artists to cope with the feedback. “It’s a double-edged sword, because now people can listen to the music out there by pressing a button,” Li continues. Everyone is able to have their own opinion and then share it online.
With this in mind, Li has some strong advice for anyone daring to dip their toe into the music industry. “I think to be an artist, you’ve gotta block out what’s out there,” he says. “Just concentrate on what you do and express. There’s always been an opinion about ‘artists’… you’ve gotta satisfy yourself, be who you are.”
“Too bad there’s not like a rock and roll rock star education course where they teach you about stuff like accounting, legal stuff, all the way to mental health, how you can keep that going when you become famous,” he continues. “The last thing you wanna be is to be famous first and then poor. Then you don’t even have a way to protect yourself against that.”
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Source: www.guitar-bass.net
