Month: February 2023

THE RICH RUIN EVERYTHING

The corporations bought up the blog thing and fucked it up (I was there when AOL was filling up the search engines, churning out websites, buying HuffPost, Seed).

The corporations bought up podcasts, and things ain’t working out, so now we’re gonna hear how “Podcasts lose their edge.”

No. Cheap podcasts that are profitable and also reach 1,000,000 per episode, and make lots of money for dude bros in suits are dead. RIP.

Now Spotify has a new AI DJ. Fuck off.

We had a thriving internet community with message boards, and email lists, and music blogs and websites, but then we relented. We all fell for the shiny objects called Facebook and Twitter and streaming music.

“That’s where everyone is,” is the biggest lie the devil ever told.

Not everyone is on Twitter.
Not everyone streams.

If you’re looking for the Superbowl Audience, sure, you better play your cards right and make the music that millions wanna hear.

But there are still record stores. Go shop at ’em.
Local music stores exist. Go buy some strings.
Bandcamp exists. Go buy a digital album, or a shirt.

Yes, the biggest players make the biggest noise, but the dam is breaking.

Layoffs, mismanagement. The consolidation of power isn’t natural.

Start your website, your email list, own your music, and talk to people and build your communities.

GROWING YOUR BUSINESS WITHOUT SOCIAL MEDIA

I’ve been on a tear against social media for like, a decade or so, so it was refreshing to hear Amelia Hruby frame my distaste in such a new way.

(Also available on Apple Podcasts)

She really breaks down this whole thing about running a service business (coaching, editing, copywriting, etc) without using social media, and using actual, for-real selling techniques like emailing people, and talking to people!

Going that route instead of just throwing things up on the social media, and when the algorithms throttle your reach you can say, “well, I tried,” and blame the social media platforms for your lack of new clients.

And also – if you’re offering a service, you don’t want to scale. There’s only so many clients you can take on. Only so many hours in the day!

Like I posted on socials a few days ago:

Buy a domain name.
Set up a website.
All the stuff you shovel onto social media every day?
Put that on your website.

And here I am, a few days later putting that social media post on my website.

ALWAYS BE BLOOMING

Oh boy, James Victore never disappoints.

The quote below is in response to someone asking how to move forward creatively even though they’re older now:

Yes, “to do” is the answer. Action!

Action, action, action! Create, create, create

Shut up, stop waiting, and just make the thing. Take one step closer to the doing the thing.

Maybe you can’t direct a play tomorrow, but you can start writing the story. Sketch up the logo. Talk to someone who might want to do the same thing.

Action.

LOVE JON MAKES BEATS

I have zero idea how he does anything with that Octatrack MKII, but it sure looks cool, and Jon’s delivery is my viiiiibe, man. Give me laid back and chill over all the glitzy, in your face, over the top music stuff any day. A true wizard at work.

I love how he talks about using presets, which goes nicely along with this video of Andrew Scheps talking about using less things instead of more. Just because you have 1500 snare sounds doesn’t mean you should take a month searching for the right one, when you can just focus on writing a great song instead.

Jon Makes Beats: YouTube / Patreon / Twitch

BANDCAMP ROULETTE FOR VALENTINES DAY

Tired of everyone crying about Rihanna playing the Super Bowl? Or “overpriced” merch from Gojira? Then just go to Bandcamp, click on three random items that just sold on Bandcamp, and see if you can’t find a new favorite artist.

Glitchy, speedy electronic music. It’s tagged “psytrance” and it’s from Norway. Whatever, this is fun.

Selenoplexia present six songs of “Blackened Death in Chicago.” Good stuff!

Released today on Valentines Day, K, Le Maestro put out this remix, I think. Pretty groovy.

NIGHT TIME PHOTOS

Since getting my new camera I’ve been intrigued by diving into more of what I can do with the manual settings. I mean, I’ve been using cameras for decades, but mostly in the auto-mode, shooting from the hip, and taking what I can get.

Now though it’s interesting to dig through PDFs, watch some YouTube videos, and figure out how to make some nice photos. I have literally no idea what I’m doing, as you can tell by how grainy and well, not great this photo is, but… but this is what I want to get to, taking good night time, spooky back street photos.

ARTISTS ARE ALWAYS WORKING

From ‘The life and the work are equally important‘

“Let’s face it—artists are always working, though they may not seem as if they are. They are like plants growing in winter. You can’t see the fruit, but it is taking root below the earth.”

André Gregory

My goodness, I believe this to be true.

I feel like my creative life has had so many stops and starts, as if it must be one continuous flow to be valid, but this quote above reassures me I’m wrong.

(via Austin Kleon)

GOODNIGHT, METAL FRIEND HAS A WEBSITE NOW

I finally got around to setting up a website for my Goodnight, Metal Friend mix series, something I’ve been working on since 2020, when the pandemic started. I can’t believe I’ve been doing these for that long!

The site is still rough around the edges, and I needed to fill in some areas of course, but I’m happy with it. The mixes will still be uploaded to Mixcloud, but this gives a “home base” for this series, and lets me add more context, photos, and stories.

FILM ADVENTURES CONTINUE

The camera on the top is the camera I used back when I was a teenager going to shows a few times a week. I’d then drop off the film for 1-hour processing while I worked next door at the grocery store. After my shift was up, I’d stop over at pick up my film.

Both are loaded with black and white film, and they’re ready to rock.