Recording Artist Advocate: An album a year…

Are you a prolific writer? More specifically, are you a prolific writer of good material?

The writers I know who consistently put out good material work at it every day. It’s funny how often someone will be recording and they’ll leave a note book behind. Page after page is filled with songs, stories, song ideas, or interesting thoughts. All these pieces come together as songs for sure… but also as a disciplined writer that turns out a lot of good material.

Pick one thing and do it enough and you’ll eventually get good at it.

So write every day. The goal is to write good songs, but you’ll get to that. Just Write! Stories become fleshed out till the characters become real. It’s easier to write a song when you know the characters. Poems do the same thing with the added benefit of clever rimes and the twists and turns that writing discipline requires.

When you don’t have a pad, use your phone. Take pictures of the quirky things that inspire ideas, and the notepad for longer form ramblings. You can even make voice-notes… if you’ll review them and act on the idea starters.

That’s how you can generate an album worth of good material every year.

Your fans will appreciate the steady flow of new material.

A good song every month or so? You can do that.    

Recording Artist Advocate: Let’s go to jail! Mmmm. Let’s not.

You might be surprised how often a recording project has to be postponed or at least parts have to wait because a band member is in jail. Another player gets his “big break” filling in and the guy may not have a band to come back to. It’s especially true if they are touring or just playing out a lot.

It’s usually for the stupidest things too. And attitude always plays a part.

Chris Rock has a great video about this:   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koAyLPUftHo#t=35

Dave Chappelle has done great bits about how to act when interacting with the police too. I’ll bet a lot of comedians have. The best ones are pretty smart.

It really comes down to common sense. I know a lot of police officers and each one will tell you that people fall all over themselves trying to get arrested. Belligerent, drunk, high, and stupid don’t play well in a cop’s face. Eye contact and a nod is better than any hand gesture.

If you have a band member that is likely to be arrested, keep a lot of subs in your phone. You’ll need em”.

Recording Artist Advocate: Talk to non-musicians.

Definitely talk to musicians, but talk to other people too. Definitely read musician magazines, but read other magazines also.

I was at a show and got to talking to a guy who owns a lot of rental properties. He told me things that make sense in my recording studio business and I told him things about my business that helped him. We talked about a guy with a mobile DJ business that helped us both.

I got a lot out of that 15 or 20 minutes that will make me money immediately. I had to write about it. We decided that you may have to look outside your industry for the innovative thinking that can improve your industry.

It’s fun to hang with fellow musicians, but it can get you in a rut. Seek out successful people in every field and see what you can learn from them to make yourself more successful.

Then you can use some of that money to come record at Rough Wood.

Recording Artist Advocate: Why you exist…

Who is I and why is I here? (Actually I wrote “Who am I and why am I here?” but my spellcheck kept changing it. I thought it was funny.)

What is most important to you? There are people who have such an overriding desire that drives them, they will continually work to get to that goal. For a Mother Theresa it’s obvious. For you and me it might be harder to pin down.

Whatever it is, you need to find it and make it your mission statement.

When things get tough you will need to lean on it. When success comes and you find yourself getting complacent, you’ll need it even more.

I know of people who wake up early and work late into the night to change the world in some way. I’ve known people who quit their jobs and go to work for a political campaign because they feel so strongly about what the candidate stands for… or what they think the candidate stands for.

In every group there are the leaders, the followers, and the people who just get swept up with whatever the rest are doing. Most artists I’ve met are leaders. It takes guts to stand up in front of a crowd and most people will never allow themselves to even try.

So, you are already among a pretty elite group. Now you have to even rise farther by planting your flag and attracting an audience. Dig deep if you haven’t already and find out “who you is.”

Once you know that, are you willing to work every day to change the world?

When you are ready to record your music, book, or whatever… call me. I like working with people who know who they is and why they is here. That’s why I built Rough Wood Recording Studio.  I want to change things too.

Recording Artist Advocate: Looking back…

When someone comes to see the studio they always want to hear stuff we’ve recorded. I have several go-to files I can pull up that show how good recording at Rough Wood Studio can sound. It’s always funny when I remember those sessions and how much work went into some, and how easy others went.

The best part for me are the success stories. Some artists just want to have a CD to sell at shows. Other’s just want to have a CD to send out to help them get hired. Then there are the people who won’t quit till they can support themselves entirely from their music.

The funny thing is that people tend to get as far as they see themselves going.

It’s been said that Michael Jordon saw himself making his shots, but regardless of how he did, he kept on trying. He actually missed a lot of shots but he never let that slow him down. When you have a goal in mind and keep working to get there, you are more likely to. In fact, without a goal in mind and the willingness to keep working towards it, you never can get there.

So maybe I’ve just known a lot of motivated artists, or maybe that’s just how things work and I’ve been lucky enough to have those people come through my studio.  Whichever it is, I encourage everyone who comes through here to keep trying to find your voice and your audience. They are linked like Siamese twins.

Know who you are. Know why you need to write and perform. And know who you want to perform for. Then keep doing it. Even when things aren’t going well, you can always do something to get you closer to your goal... even if it’s just writing more songs and getting better at playing your instrument.

In this business you don’t get to quit or even coast. Besides you know which direction you go when you’re coasting.

It is a heavy hammer to swing and not everyone is up to it. If you are, I’d like to meet you and schedule some recording time. Yours could be the next success story.