Category: Music

The local university has a radio station, and I finally looked it up and of course found HEAVIER in their Mixcloud archive.

Letting a radio show just play can be hard, as DSPs and social media has made me so impatient. But I let it play, and to my pure delight Kublai Khan TX came on, which is one of my client’s bands, and a band I saw a bit ago on tour.

Over the past few years I’ve danced with the magic of the radio, mixes, and DJ sets, watching chemists mix together tracks like potions. I’ve watched hours of ambient drone made in real time using equipment I’ve never heard of.

All this stuff is harder to find, harder to “consume” while on a bus or whatever. But I grew up in a home with a music room.

There was a stereo, shelves of records, and that’s where you listened to music. I have memories of mom dancing to the Rolling Stones, Abba, Kris Kristofferson, and Dire Straits.

Some nights I just never want to go to bed. Hopping from one YouTube video to the next, looking up something on Wikipedia, then digging for a track on Bandcamp. On Spotify. Whatever.

A whole world of music is out there, still waiting to be discovered, and it’s so fun to just dig through so much of when you discover it from other people.

I got into heavy music because a good friend hauled my ass to a sketchy venue in NJ back in 1994 or so. Into Another, Life of Agony, Biohazard.

If our parents knew where we were at, they’d be furious. That was an experience. A life changing event when I was just 17 years old or so.

And 30 years later I just went to a show with that same friend.

So yes, we’re making videos and writing newsletters and putting out vinyl and tapes, and that’s all well and good.

But there’s only so far that online marketing can take you.

Those social media posts are stacked up against long drives, truck stops, and scary venues as a teenager.

It’s not about the product, it’s the experience.

Last week’s Spotify garbage announcements led to a lot of artists and bands and musicians speaking out in anger.

I get it, I really do, but also 90% of those same artists have multiple links to Spotify in their bio, on their feeds, on their websites (if they have a website)…

“Weird. I only link to Spotify on all my social media platforms and website posts, and yet no one buys any of the music from my Bandcamp because I never link to it or mention it, shhh it’s a secret I guess. So frustrating!”

Yes, I get it… making a $1 on Spotify is hard. But… I make music that sounds like a running dishwasher mixed with a 10 year old AC unit, and…

Like, I am not a full time musician by any means. Most of my friends don’t give a crap about the music I make. But like… my music isn’t available on any streaming service, and I made $30 last month, which is good for some groceries.

Yes, it’d be great if Spotify would pay more, and it’d also be great if people bought CDs like they did in 1998. But that’s NEVER coming back.

Some people value music, and will pay you for it. A lot of people won’t.

Don’t fall for the, “well, everyone just streams music.”

You’re not making music for everyone. None of us are.

So at the bare minimum let your fans know that they can support you by purchasing your music.

Bandcamp Friday is magical if you allow yourself to believe in magic.

“#BandcampFriday is a day of being overwhelmed by the power of creativity! Wow, there’s just so much choice out there!! Where do we begin?”

Penelope Trappes

Do I get a lot of emails? Sure.
Do I see a lot of Tweet threads from 100 people about music to check out? Yes.

Somehow this is a bad thing.

Without social media (at the moment), there is no source or curation for this. Music sites don’t do much around this probably (definitely) because a post about some band farting out a Nirvana cover gets more clicks.

So yeah… lots of people are throwing lots of links around to a lot of music, and it’s absolutely impossible to keep up with it all.

The best way to handle all of it?

Shut your mouth, click a link, and just buy something. The end.

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