COLUMN: Jona Weinhofen (IKTPQ)

Killyourstereo.com presents another entry in our column series where we give musicians freedom to offer a unique, personal and individual voice.

Today, I Killed the Prom Queen guitarist Jona Weinhofen delivers the May entry in his monthly column.

The musician shares insights on chasing a dream in music.

Live The Dream

When you have a dream, I firmly believe that you should do whatever it takes to chase that dream. As a young person I realised my passion for playing music at around 8 years old when I received my first guitar as a gift from my parents. By the age of 14 I was quite a competent player and at around age 17 I had decided that a career in music was what I wanted to pursue.

Being passionate about following your dreams doesn't necessarily mean it will be an easy road, in fact it won't be an easy road, you will be working constantly around the clock. The difference between something being a passion or being work is that when you are passionate enough about that which you want to pursue, it will rarely ever feel like work and that is what gives you the ability to keep going.

As a young musician I did whatever it took to be able to get out there and do what I loved. I found likeminded friends and individuals who shared my passion and drive to play music and tour the world, we started a band and we made it happen for ourselves. There were a lot of sacrifices along the way, the biggest being having no money and spending a lot of time away from family. During my earlier touring years we would work shitty jobs, to save money to pay for petrol to be able to drive our parents cars interstate to play music. Some of us were on the dole here and there, to allow us to be able to eat whilst we toured the country attempting to make it in the music industry. Once our band was at a level where we were making quite good money in Australia, we would then save it all up and lose it all heading overseas trying to break the international markets.

Don't expect to be a success over night that rarely happens. Know that if you truly love what you do and you want it more than anything, then you have what it takes to succeed. I am now 31 years old and I would say that I have become successful in my field and for that I am thankful. I have toured the world, visiting places I never would have dreamed of seeing and being paid to be there playing music and making people happy. I have met some of my closest friends and shared so many memorable experiences. I am still not rich (in fact my band still loses money from time to time) but being rich does not equate to success. I am happy and content with the fact that I followed my dreams.

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