How I beat stage fright | Joe Kowan

Translator: Samra Cebiric Reviewer: Adisa Ejubovic

Joe Kowan: I have stage fright.

Joe Kowan: Imam tremu.

I've always had stage fright,

Uvijek sam imao tremu,

and not just a little bit,

ne samo malkice,

it's a big bit.

već puno.

And it didn't even matter until I was 27.

Sve do 27 godine to nije bilo važno.

That's when I started writing songs, and even then

Tada sam počeo pisati pjesme. Čak i tada

I only played them for myself.

svirao sam ih samo za sebe.

Just knowing my roommates were in the same house made me uncomfortable.

Činjenica da su moji cimeri u istoj kući činila me je nervoznim.

But after a couple of years, just writing songs wasn't enough.

Ali nakon 2 godine, samo pisanje pjesama nije bilo dovoljno.

I had all these stories and ideas, and I wanted to share them with people,

Imao sam priče i ideje koje sam želio podijeliti,

but physiologically, I couldn't do it.

ali nisam mogao psihološki.

I had this irrational fear.

Imao sam iracionalni strah.

But the more I wrote, and the more I practiced,

Ali što sam više pisao i vježbao

to sam više želio da nastupam.

the more I wanted to perform.

So on the week of my 30th birthday,

U sedmici na moj 30-ti rođendan,

I decided I was going to go to this local open mic,

odlučio sam da odem na lokalni otvoreni mikrofon,

and put this fear behind me.

i da ostavim ovaj strah iza sebe.

Well, when I got there, it was packed.

Kada sam došao, bilo je krcato.

There were like 20 people there.

Bilo je oko 20 ljudi.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

And they all looked angry.

I svi su izgledali ljuti.

But I took a deep breath, and I signed up to play,

Ali duboko sam udahnuo, i prijavio se,

and I felt pretty good.

i dobro sam se osjećao.

Pretty good, until about 10 minutes before my turn,

Sve do nekih 10 minuta prije mog nastupa,

when my whole body rebelled, and this wave of anxiety just washed over me.

kada se moje cijelo tijelo pobunilo i kada me je zapljusnuo val nervoze.

Now, when you experience fear, your sympathetic nervous system kicks in.

Kada iskusite strah, vaš simpatički nervni sistem se aktivira.

So you have a rush of adrenaline, your heart rate increases,

Adrenalin navali, srce ubrzano kuca,

your breathing gets faster.

disanje postane ubrazno.

Next your non-essential systems start to shut down, like digestion. (Laughter)

Zatim vaši nevažni sistemi počinju da se gase, kao probava.

So your mouth gets dry, and blood is routed away from your extremities,

Usta postanu suha, krv zaobilazi vaše udove,

so your fingers don't work anymore.

tako da vaši prsti više ne rade.

Your pupils dilate, your muscles contract, your Spidey sense tingles,

Vaše zjenice se rašire, mišići se grče, osjećate da nešto nije u redu,

basically your whole body is trigger-happy. (Laughter)

u suštini, vaše cijelo tijelo je spremno da puca. (Smijeh)

That condition is not conducive to performing folk music.

Takvo stanje nije pogodno za izvođenje folk muzike.

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I mean, your nervous system is an idiot.

Vaš nervni sistem je idiot.

Really? Two hundred thousand years of human evolution, and it still can't tell the difference

Stvarno? 2000 godina ljudske evolucije i ono i dalje ne može da razlikuje

between a saber tooth tiger and 20 folksingers

sabljozubog tigra od 20 folk pjevača

on a Tuesday night open mic?

na otvorenom mikrofonu utorkom navečer?

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

I have never been more terrified -- until now.

Nikad nisam bio više prestravljen nego sada.

(Laughter and cheers)

(Smijeh i pljesak)

So then it was my turn,

Došao je red na mene,

and somehow, I get myself onto the stage, I start my song,

i nekako sam se popeo na binu i počeo svoju pjesmu,

I open my mouth to sing the first line,

otvorio sam usta da otpjevam prvi stih,

and this completely horrible vibrato --

i potpuno užasan vibrato --

ono kada vam glas počinje treperiti -- počinje izlaziti.

you know, when your voice wavers -- comes streaming out.

And this is not the good kind of vibrato, like an opera singer has,

Ovo nije dobra vrsta vibrata, kao kod operskih pjevača,

this is my whole body just convulsing with fear.

ovo je moje cijelo tijelo koje se grči od straha.

I mean, it's a nightmare.

To je noćna mora.

I'm embarrassed, the audience is clearly uncomfortable,

Stid me je, a publici je očito neugodno,

they're focused on my discomfort.

fokusirali su se na moju nelagodu.

It was so bad.

To je bilo tako loše.

But that was my first real experience as a solo singer-songwriter.

To je bilo moje prvo pravo iskustvo kao samostalni pjevač i kantautor.

And something good did happen -- I had the tiniest little glimpse

Ali nešto dobro se ipak desilo -- vidio sam tračak

of that audience connection that I was hoping for.

povezanosti sa publikom kojem sam se nadao.

And I wanted more. But I knew I had to get past this nervousness.

Želio sam više. Ali znao sam da moram prevazići ovu nervozu.

That night I promised myself: I would go back every week

Te noći obećao sam sebi: Vraćat ću se svake sedmice

until I wasn't nervous anymore.

dok više ne budem nervozan.

And I did. I went back every single week,

I tako sam uradio. Vraćao sam se svake sedmice,

and sure enough, week after week,

i zaista, sedmicu za sedmicu,

it didn't get any better. The same thing happened every week. (Laughter)

ništa nije bilo bolje. Svake sedmice dešavalo se isto. (Smijeh)

I couldn't shake it.

Nisam se mogao boriti protiv toga.

And that's when I had an epiphany.

I tu tom trenutku imao sam otkrovenje.

And I remember it really well, because I don't have a lot of epiphanies. (Laughter)

Sjećam se dobro jer nemam puno takvih iskustava. (Smijeh)

All I had to do was write a song that exploits my nervousness.

Sve što sam trebao uraditi jeste napisati pjesmu o svojoj nervozi.

To se čini vjerodostojno samo kada imam tremu,

That only seems authentic when I have stage fright,

and the more nervous I was,

i što sam nervozniji,

the better the song would be. Easy.

to će pjesma biti bolja. Jednostavno.

So I started writing a song about having stage fright.

Tako sam počeo pisati pjesmu o tremi.

First, fessing up to the problem,

Prvo, priznati problem,

fizička ispoljavanja, kako bi se osjećao,

the physical manifestations, how I would feel,

how the listener might feel.

kako bi se slušalac osjećao.

And then accounting for things like my shaky voice,

Zatim objasniti stvari kako što je drhtajući glas,

and I knew I would be singing about a half-octave higher than normal,

i znao sam da ću pjevati za pola oktave više nego obično,

because I was nervous.

zato što sam nervozan.

By having a song that explained what was happening to me,

Pjevajući pjesmu koja objašnjava šta mi se dešava

u tom trenutku,

while it was happening,

that gave the audience permission to think about it.

dalo je publici priliku da razmisli o tome.

They didn't have to feel bad for me because I was nervous,

Nisu morali me sažaljevati zbog nervoze.

Oni su to mogli iskusiti zajedno sa mnom,

they could experience that with me,

and we were all one big happy, nervous, uncomfortable family. (Laughter)

i svi smo bili jedna velika sretna, nervozna porodica. (Smijeh)

By thinking about my audience, by embracing and exploiting my problem,

Razmišljajući o svojoj publici, suočavajući i iskorištavajući moj problem,

I was able to take something that was blocking my progress,

ja sam mogao uzeti nešto što sprečava moj napredak

and turn it into something that was essential for my success.

i pretovoriti ga u nešto što je neophodno za moj uspjeh.

And having the stage fright song let me get past that biggest issue

Zbog pjesme o tremi na bini prevazišao sam najveći problem

right in the beginning of a performance.

odmah na početku izvedbe.

And then I could move on, and play the rest of my songs

Mogao sam nastaviti svirati ostatak svojih pjesama

with just a little bit more ease.

sa malo većom lakoćom.

And eventually, over time, I didn't have to play the stage fright song at all.

Vremenom više nisam morao svirati tu pjesmu.

Except for when I was really nervous, like now. (Laughter)

Osim kada sam stvarno nervozan, kao sada. (Smijeh)

Would it be okay if I played the stage fright song for you?

Je li uredu da odsviram pjesmu o tremi za vas?

(Applause)

(Aplauz)

Can I have a sip of water?

Mogu li dobiti vode?

(Music)

(Muzika)

Thank you.

Hvala.

♫ I'm not joking, you know, ♫

♫ Ne šalim se, znate, ♫

♫ this stage fright is real. ♫

♫ ova trema je stvarna. ♫

♫ And if I'm up here trembling and singing, ♫

♫ Ako se ovdje tresem i pjevam, ♫

♫ well, you'll know how I feel. ♫

♫ znate kako se osjećam. ♫

♫ And the mistake I'd be making, ♫

♫ Greške koje pravim, ♫

♫ the tremolo caused by my whole body shaking. ♫

♫ treperav zvuk zbog mog cijelog tijela što se trese. ♫

♫ As you sit there feeling embarrassed for me, ♫

♫ Dok vi sjedite tu i stidite se zbog mene, ♫

♫ well, you don't have to be. ♫

♫ pa, ne morate. ♫

♫ Well, maybe just a little bit. ♫

♫ Dobro, možda samo malo. ♫

(Laughter)

(Smijeh)

♫ And maybe I'll try to imagine you all without clothes. ♫

♫ Možda ću vas zamisliti bez odjeće. ♫

♫ But singing in front of all naked strangers scares me more than anyone knows. ♫

♫ Ali pjevanje ispred nagih stranaca plaši me više. ♫

♫ Not to discuss this at length, ♫

♫ Da ne pričam nadugo, ♫

♫ but my body image was never my strength. ♫

♫ ali moje tijelo nikada nije bila moja jača strana. ♫

♫ So frankly, I wish that you all would get dressed, ♫

♫ Iskreno, volio bih da se svi obučete, ♫

♫ I mean, you're not even really naked. ♫

♫ mislim, niste zapravo nagi. ♫

♫ And I'm the one with the problem. ♫

♫ Ja sam onaj koji ima problem. ♫

♫ And you tell me, don't worry so much, you'll be great. ♫

♫ Recite mi, ne brini puno, bićeš odličan. ♫

♫ But I'm the one living with me ♫

♫ Ali ja sam taj koji živi sa sobom ♫

♫ and I know how I get. ♫

♫ znam kakav budem. ♫

♫ Your advice is gentle but late. ♫

♫ Vaš savjet je velikodušan, ali je zakasnio. ♫

♫ If not just a bit patronizing. ♫

♫ Ako ne malo snishodljiv. ♫

♫ And that sarcastic tone doesn't help me when I sing. ♫

♫ A taj sarkastični ton mi ne pomaže kada pjevam. ♫

♫ But we shouldn't talk about these things right now, ♫

♫ Ali nećemo o tome sada, ♫

♫ really, I'm up on stage, and you're in the crowd. Hi. ♫

♫ stvarno, ja sam na bini, a vi ste u publici. Zdravo. ♫

♫ And I'm not making fun of unnurtured, irrational fear, ♫

♫ Ne ismijavam njegovan, racionalan strah, ♫

♫ and if I wasn't ready to face this, ♫

♫ da nisam spreman da se suočim s ovim, ♫

♫ I sure as hell wouldn't be here. ♫

♫ ne bih bio ovdje. ♫

♫ But if I belt one note out clearly, ♫

♫ Ali ako jasno zapjevam jednu notu, ♫

♫ you'll know I'm recovering slowly but surely. ♫

♫ znajte da se lagano ali sigurno oporavljam. ♫

♫ And maybe next week, I'll set my guitar ringin' ♫

♫ Sljedeće sedmice moja gitara će možda početi svirati, ♫

♫ my voice clear as water, and everyone singin'. ♫

♫ moj glas će biti jasan, a svi će pjevati. ♫

♫ But probably I'll just get up and start groovin', ♫

♫ Vjerovatno ću ustati i početi plesati, ♫

♫ my vocal cords movin', ♫

♫ a moje glasnice će biti, ♫

♫ at speeds slightly faster than sound. ♫

♫ malo brže od zvuka. ♫

(Applause)

(Aplauz)