Recording Artist Advocate: More Background Noise

I hope I’m not repeating myself too much, but some things need to be driven home.

What sets you apart from all the other bands in your category?

I always ask that and some people bristle and say, “We’re not in a category.” But that’s not true. People who know can categorize you in a minute. So, what makes you different?

Here’s what I see: a lot of people looking the same, dressing the same, playing the same music while declaring how unique they are. They will criticize anyone different and demand conformity while declaring their individuality.

We’re told the 50’s were the era of conformity. Look around today.

When someone is successful at anything, you get a bunch if imitators. It’s not just that everyone is the same. The folks coming in late don’t know what motivated the originals. They imitate the style and clothes but fail at the substance. Eventually the field gets crowded with hollow copy-cats and the audience gets bored.

That’s when they’re willing to try something new.

Things have been the same for quite a while. Get out there and show em’ what you’ve got. They need something new. They need you. You may be the next big thing.

You’ll never know if you don’t try.  

Recording Artist Advocate: Boring on purpose

I came across an interesting old word: An-o-dyne

adjective - Not likely to provoke Dissent or offense; inoffensive, often deliberately so.

noun – pain killing drug or medicine.  

The example in the definition was, “anodyne modern music.”

This is right on the heels of a conversation I had with Ben Napier, a friend and fellow studio owner/music producer. He watched a documentary about the big radio chains. You would think with all the research they do it would be to find the songs people like the most. Instead, they focus on what songs are the least offensive… to keep people passively listening longer. It’s not just the radio chains. Movies and TV do the same.  

This has been going on for some time and the result is music and entertainment that’s boring on purpose.

This is not new. Big business can’t afford mistakes. To produce a show or movie or music act at the highest levels is expensive. You won’t see real creativity from them. They just won’t take the risk.

Smaller companies and start-up bands will be the innovators to bring back interesting entertainment.

We’re small enough to fall flat on our faces and keep trying. So what if you play a show and everyone hates it. It’s just one show. Or what if you put out a song that doesn’t go anywhere? You can just do another one.

But here is the best part of all this: What if you try something new and everyone likes it, or you put a song up and everyone wants it. What if they tell everyone they know and you can’t even keep up with the demand to do shows!!!

Take advantage of not being famous. Try new things. Play for new audiences. Don’t set out to offend anyone, but if you have something important to say, don’t let anything stand in your way. It could be your break-out song.

When you reach that higher level of success, don’t start playing it safe and become anodyne.

Recording Artist Advocate: Our Journey…

Here at Rough Wood Recording Studio we’re always trying to make it easier to get the right sound and the right mix… and even the right mastered sound for our clients. It’s easy to get discouraged or think that someone somewhere else has the magic room or piece of gear.

I’ve been talking to studio designers and realized that the best ones have the same things in common: They know their stuff when it comes to acoustics, and they know how to work with what you’ve got.

A good example of working with what you’ve got is Electric Lady Studios in New York City. It’s an old working studio from an era when the engineers made do with what they had and the control rooms reflect that. The rooms are wider than deep, and with New York real-estate at such a premium, not as big as you’d expect.  But they’ve pulled out every trick to make them work.  And they do sound good!

Our room is good, but I’m on a quest to really tamp down the low end below 125Hz.

Over the next few weeks or months we’ll be addressing those low frequencies. At each step we’ll be testing to see how we’ve done and what is still left to do. I don’t expect this to be easy.

You have to do the same thing with your song writing, playing, even band presentation and how you sell merchandise. The way you get bookings or how you present yourself in an interview are always up to be improved on.

When the room sounds just right we’ll move on to something else to make your experience here at Rough Wood Recording Studio even better.

You keep improving too. One day you’ll look back and realize you’re the success you wanted to be.

Recording Artist Advocate: Who knows you best?

I read this in the Monday Morning Memo from Wizard Academy:

"Whether you read a newspaper, watch TV or follow the news online, only 14 percent of the stories you hear were developed by journalists defining an issue and pursuing it.

A staggering 86 percent of the stories were fed to broadcasters by official sources and press releases.

In 1960 there were only three-fourths as many PR people as there were journalists.

Today the ratio is 5 to 1."

- The Death and Life of American Journalism, by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney

So, PR folks greatly outnumber journalists and most of what you think is news… isn’t.  

I may sound cynical, but if you’ve ever been interviewed, you know how often they get things wrong.

I completely understand why companies and high profile individuals have PR departments or publicists.

It’s just self-defense. Why trust your image to someone else… someone with their own vested interest, or even prejudices?

Writing interesting stories is easy for people who write interesting songs. It’s easier than writing songs actually.

Make your press releases easy to copy-and-paste so that the person “writing” the peace has plenty of good material. In time they may start asking for more material. Or they may offer you a column.   

Mike Nesmith figured this out years ago. He predicted 24 hour news channels and MTV. He was in the band “The Monkeys” and was doing what MTV does back in the 70’s. He said content would be the critical factor in the success of these news outlets and they would source from wherever they could.

Start writing your own press releases. Who knows you better than you?

Recording Artist Advocate: Yes make a plan, Butt…

Todays ramble was inspired by a statistic I came across. It turns out that people who succeed take great pains to make a plan, but those plans always have to change. Well over 98% of a business plan will have to change in the first year.

Military folks say the mission plan goes out the door with the first shot fired. All the Business planning changes as soon as the doors open. Successful business change with the circumstances that come up. Doggedly clinging to your beloved business plan is a sure way to fail.

Things just don’t go the way you think they will. And that’s OK.

Keep your eyes open to the opportunities that are always presenting themselves. Watch for trends and talk to people. When you talk to people, actually listen to what they say. People like to talk and you can learn a lot.

You can beat your head against a wall trying to play in one area just to find that there is another place that will embrace you. Texas country plays great in some areas, but blues-rock plays better in others. College crowds are different from… well they are their own animal. Get in good with them and you'll own your own bank. 

Merch for women always sells better than regular T’s, but don’t buy too much too soon. The customers will let you know what they like. Even then you’ll notice trends based on venues and such.

You’ve also got to be open to different ways to make money with your music and notoriety. Again, things will present themselves if you’re paying attention. Good ideas come from the strangest places.

Try to run your career like a business. Plan for success. You will use some of that plan, but don’t be surprised when the road to your success twists and turns in directions you never thought about.

Oh, and live off half your money when things start going well. Save or invest the rest and you'll be able to survive in those inevitable down times. 

One thing that hasn’t changed is that the audience is hungry for good material. If you turn out good work on a regular basis they’ll eat it up.

However you plan to deliver it; CD’s, downloads, thumb drives, web content, mind melding…

When you’re ready to record, call me.