The Secrets of Rockstar Performance Revealed
Mark Schulman is a monster drummer who’s toured the world with some of the greatest rock and pop performers. He’s played before crowds as big as 225,000 and with artists like P!NK, Billy Idol, Cher, Stevie Nicks, Foreigner, Simple Minds, and others over his 32-year touring career.
Mark is also amazing on another stage – as a speaker, where he delivers a rock show disguised as a keynote. “I’ve learned about the importance of attitude as part of the touring family with these great performers,” Mark says as he unpacks the secrets of rockstar performance. His presentations translate lessons learned during a remarkable career into valuable tips for organizations, teams, leaders, and those who want to be their absolute best.
Mark Schulman is a brilliant storyteller and performer who inspires audiences to engage and unleash their inner rockstar. Mark's first book, Conquering Life’s Stage Fright, shows people how to harness doubt, fear, and anxiety to perform at their best when it matters most. His next book, The Attitude Equation, is slated for late 2023 release. Mark is also a judge and coach on the first-of-its-kind original music competition television show called BANDED on AXS TV.
Here Mark Schulman opens up about what we can all learn from the greatest music artists in the world.
WHAT ELEVATES PERFORMERS TO ROCKSTAR STATUS?
“The one thing that really stands out with rockstar performers is consistency. How great performers do anything is how they do everything. There is no on-off switch where some things matter and others get a pass. With greatest rockstar performers, there are no small moments. Every detail is critical.
Billy Idol really drove that point home to me when we were working on some music in my studio years ago. He was talking about his early performance experiences and said something that completely shifted the way that I look at performance forever. He looked at me and said, “You know, mate, I used to get on stage and sing every single note like it was the last note I’d ever sing.” And I’m thinking THAT’S a serious level of commitment. Then he repeated it, “I would sing every single note like my life depended on it - like it really mattered.”
I’d never thought about my performance that way but then what if I did? That’s what made me realize that for the rockstar performers, it truly is not about what we play but it’s about how we play. That’s the rockstar ATTITUDE!
I made a commitment right then and there that every single time I sit behind that drum set, that every single note I play matters. And suppose you take that as a metaphor. What happens if you treat every note, every word, every action, every thought, like it matters? You’re attaching a sense of purpose to every single note, word, thought, and action. And the moment you attach a sense of purpose, then you become more passionate. And the passion feeds the purpose and the purpose feeds the passion. A lot of people talk about the importance of passion, but passion is fleeting. Purpose is the expansion of passion. So, what you want is to have purpose feed the passion and have the passion feed the purpose - back and forth. That is how you look at your life. That is how your life literally becomes a performance.”
FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME
“When I was on the road with Foreigner, I probably played Feels Like the First Time a hundred times – talk about irony. One night I got on the stage and I was about to start playing and I just froze and looked at the audience. It dawned on me that for the audience, it really was their first time, so how dare I have a substandard attitude performance. All I gotta do is shift my attitude and I will have just as much fun as everybody else and everybody wins. It’s like when I give a speech. I’ve given over 2000 speeches but every time I give a speech – every word matters, every inflection matters, every bit of body language matters, every pause matters. It’s all about attitude.”
WE’RE ALL PERFORMERS
“But I'm also going to throw a little curve ball because this is a true story. My daughter's 13 when she was seven years old, she actually said this to me, "Daddy, we're all performers, but it's so much more fun even if nobody's watching." And I stopped and I thought, oh my God, what an acute kid.
It made me realize that if we just take a moment when we’re about to engage in some sort of event – a pitch to a client, a conversation with one of your employees, a job interview – just stop and think, “I'm going to treat this like a performance,” well, guess what? Just intuitively and innately, you have more fun with the experience.”
LIFE CHANGES – OUTCOMES CHANGE WHEN YOU’RE HAVING FUN
“And that is what musicians have learned. Look, we all got under this business to have fun. If you could have a little bit more fun with so many events in your life, just think about the endorphin rush. Just think about the oxytocin boost. Just think of the health benefits. Just think of the emotional benefits.
If you can just at some point just stop and have that awareness that what you are doing is actually a performance, you will literally change your life. And I got so much information from watching all of these great performers, but I got the greatest nugget from my daughter who on her own accord offered that amazing insight. And that just reminded me, when I get up and speaker or when I talk to a client, I'm performing. When I get up to walk the dog, it could be a performance. If I see somebody on the street, it could be a performance. It just depends on how you position it. Because the truth is these really are all actions. And any action can be construed or pronounced and defined as a performance.”
PERFORMANCE IS WHAT ENGAGES
“There's so much talk about engagement – employee engagement, customer engagement – and this component of looking at life as a performance fits in perfectly. If you look at what you are doing as a performance, it begets more engagement. You literally become more engaged and you have more fun. And others becomes more engaged with you. So use this performance metaphor as an opportunity to really create greater and more powerful engagement.”
LEAVING THE TOURING LIFE FOR SPEAKING
“I spent 32 years playing with some of the greatest artists to some of the greatest audiences all over the world. I've had this profound experience, 32 years’ worth.
I began cultivating this speaking career while I've been on the road. I've written two books, my second book's coming out this year, and speaking kind of started with doing music clinics. I did about a thousand drum clinics, and at a point I realized why should I limit this experience to just drummers when people were resonating more with the success coaching and the storytelling?
I started expanding into doing events for all kinds of audiences. Soon it became part of me and took on a life of its own. It also provided a greater sense of purpose to me. And although I've loved touring and I'm the most grateful man on the planet for having had all these experiences with these wonderful artists, I came to realize that speaking has become a bigger part of my life – a deeper part of my life – a more purposeful part of my life – a chance to perform in a different way because I still use my drums. They're still up there. I'm fundamentally a drummer, and I realize now I don't need to tour anymore.
I finally decided, okay, I'm going to take away that safety net. We're going to go for it and open up all possibilities. And there are very few people that actually just speak. I mean, I play at my All-Star band The Rockers Collective. I still write, do some sessions, but essentially, I'm speaking full-time. That was quite a commitment and something that makes me feel so fulfilled every morning I wake up. I don't have an ounce of regret. Life is great.”
To learn more about Mark Schulman, visit here: https://premierespeakers.com/mark_schulman