When
No One’s
Watching
The first book of its kind to chronicle high performers and leadership in the music industry, When No One’s Watching pulls back the curtain on the real life behind the legacy of celebrated music artists and entertainment executives, giving readers an exclusive all-access pass inside their lesser-known story: the mindsets, routines and habits these visionaries rely upon to ditch their inner critic & rock their highest level of success – even when no one’s watching.
With exclusive interviews from Grammy-nominated artist, Sharon Van Etten, and more.
How do you show up and do the work, even when no one sees your effort? How can you celebrate your wins, even when there’s no audience to cheer you on?
When we think about the world of ‘high performance’, we tend to think of professional athletes, or corporate billionaires. But a high performance lifestyle exists far beyond the boardroom, or the basketball court. High performers exist onstage, in the studio – and in the creative space.
Renowned for his athletic prowess onstage, RHCP’s Anthony Kiedis recruited the world’s top endurance coach (and fellow musician), Phil Maffetone, to keep him in tip-top shape on tour, swapping a hard-partying lifestyle in favor of his own wellness bus.
Gorillaz & Blur frontman Damon Albarn is famous for being one of rock’s most innovative and experimental collaborators. Lesser known about Albarn is his everyday, punching-the-clock grit, showing up to his studio M-F, 9-5 (because “that’s my job!” he notes.*)
The world’s best, most prolific, and longstanding artists show up for themselves consistently – even when their new album gets panned. Even when a pandemic shuts down their tour. Even when they’re under enormous pressure to perform. They show up – even when no one’s watching.
Whether you’re an artist or an executive, in a creative or a corporate role, long-tenured or just starting your career, this book is for any music junkie looking to up their game in their own daily performance. Packed with candid artist stories and interviews of successes, failed attempts, and action-oriented insights, it parallels these profiles with the proven High Performance Habits and offers a six-week plan to hone your creativity – and celebrate yourself – even when no one’s watching.
GENRES: personal growth // leadership // high performance // human behavior change // music studies // next generation impact // positive psychology // creative leadership // habit formation
*New York Times interview, 27 April 2014
Why this book
matters.
The pressures are universal: relentless schedules, relationships that blur every boundary, the slow erosion of identity under the weight of other people's expectations. People-pleasing. Perfectionism. The performance of being fine. These aren't niche problems. They're the cost of doing business in almost any demanding life or career.
But they're especially visible — and especially high-stakes — in the music industry. Artists experience these pressures at full volume. The successful ones know how to navigate these pressures and make this lifestyle work for them. Which is exactly why they make such honest teachers.
The music industry is remarkably good at developing artists' careers. It's far less equipped to help them navigate the human experience that comes with those careers.
Artists are expected to handle relentless schedules, public scrutiny, creative pressure, rejection, uncertainty, social media, touring, financial swings, and the challenge of building a life while building an audience.
Yet few are ever taught how.
Most learn the hard way.
This book exists to close that gap.
To demonstrate what’s possible when you thrive – and the tools that help you get (and stay) there.
Through conversations with long-standing recording artists, producers, managers, executives, and other high performers, it explores the habits, mindsets, boundaries, and practices that help people thrive—not just professionally, but personally.
Because success without self-awareness can be expensive.
Because talent alone doesn't protect against burnout.
And because creative people deserve better tools than "just push through it."
The next generation of artists and creatives shouldn't have to spend twenty years learning lessons that could be shared today.
My intention is simple: that someone picks up this book and finds guidance they wish they'd had much earlier.
“This isn’t self-help with a soundtrack. It’s a practitioner’s guide for people who’ve always found personal growth more accessible through the lens of creative culture — and who’ve spent long enough rolling their eyes at the rest of it.”