Music – Page 7 – HELLO, I'M SETH WERKHEISER

NOT EVERY “OPPORTUNITY” IS FOR YOU

This post started here, but then I sent a new version (below) via Substack. Enjoy.

Lindsey Jordan (Snail Mail) talks to Monster Children about social media in the music world:

“I think that anybody who is encouraging you to make a TikTok hit is probably brain dead. Don’t listen to them. Usually, those tactics don’t work. I’ve never done an actual ‘tactic’ and had it work.”

Experts say not being on TikTok is a missed opportunity, but we miss opportunities every day because we are singular creative beings and must do the dishes or cover a shift at work.

There are people you didn’t reach yesterday because you didn’t display your art in a small gallery in Denver, CO, or play a set in a nightclub in Paris last night.

Sure, “everyone” is on TikTok right now, but “everyone” is also at an art gallery.

Where are you?

Why aren’t you in the same room as the creative people you love? Start a Zoom call if you can’t meet up locally. Imagine the opportunities that could develop from that energy and support!

Why don’t you have a call with that local curator / booking agent / producer this week? You’re probably just two conversations with the right people to get that set up. Opportunity!

Oh, you haven’t talked with anyone about a potential collaboration in the last year?

Here’s a recent example: a client I work with remotely invited me to an album release get-together in Brooklyn, NY, later this month.

I could stay home and create content for LinkedIn… or I could book a hotel room, make travel arrangements, and be around people I already have connections with.

I believe there are opportunities in my already-existing universe, and I don’t need to continuously throw pebbles in the ocean of “social media possibility” to get more.

How many opportunities exist right now in your creative universe? In your own inboxes? In the contacts in your phones? People you bump into at the coffee shop? On Discord?

We’ve all missed opportunities, but maybe it’s time that we intentionally invest our efforts in the opportunities that better align with our own magical journeys.

P.S. thanks Dino Corvino for that Monster Children tip

NOT EVERYONE IS BUILT TO BE A STAR IRL

“The music industry from an A+R and strategic marketing standpoint has been super lazy. They fell into a trap of using “data” to found who to sign without deeply considering that any person can make a song that pops off on TikTok but not everyone is built to be a star IRL, perform, build a real fan base and be an actual working artist.”
Zeena Koda

As Ari Herstand says below (embedded below at the six minute mark), there are artists out there with “gazillions” of Spotify streams but can’t sell 50 tickets to their hometown show.

Theo Katzman doesn’t have the streaming numbers, but he routinely sells out 1000-3000 cap rooms.

Theo is a star.

ONE TAKE

In this clip Theo Katzman explains his producing style – one take. One shot. One crack at it.

He stresses the performance in recording.

Yes, with technology, you can “comp” (sort of like splicing together multiple takes), but what if we got really good at doing it all the way through? In one take?

I’m pretty sure that’s how Vulfpeck makes their amazing performance videos and probably why they’re so captivating.

Theo mentions how playing in a room together means Jack Stratton (in the video below) has to play the drums just right, or else his performance will bleed into those vocal mix and ruin the take.

Like – how many degrees “better” is vocalist Monica Martin from doing this? Her skill, competency, and confidence in her abilities, from doing it live and in the moment?

And seriously, watch that video. It is pure magic. I watch it every now and again and tear up; it’s so beautiful.

I write almost everything in one take. These posts, most of my Social Media Escape Plan work, too. Get an idea down, make some cuts, and schedule it… onto the next.I’ve been writing publicly online since 2001, and this works for me. Are there mistakes? Sure, but this ain’t a book, and it’s not precious. There’s a time and a place for that, but I feel like all these years of writing are my “one-take performances” that allow me to speak with confidence and candor when I get in a room with people to discuss these sorts of things.

One take. One shot. Make it.

YOUR CIRCLE MATTERS

I’ve followed Gary Vee from waaay back. He can be a bit much, but hey, that’s all of us.

I don’t know anybody on this episode – and I love how he mentions that some people in the chat (he live streams all day now, I guess) were like, OMG, “I can’t believe you’re in the room with them,” while some people were like “who the heck are they?”

That’s ALL OF US, and being around other people from other worlds is a GOOD THING.

I met someone in 2019 on a Zoom call during a cohort class, and we’ve literally been talking every week since, and they work in a MUCH DIFFERENT world than me. Like, they’re in rooms with pro sport CEOs and shit. That ain’t my world at all, but I’m better for it.

The internet is a big place. Build your circle with intention!

“If not Pitchfork, with more daily visitors than Vogue or Vanity Fair or the New Yorker – or GQ – then who in music journalism can possibly thrive in this economic environment. And if no one can… then all we’ll have left are streaming platforms, their algorithms, and the atomized consumer behavior they push on us. A self-checkout counter for music, with a scanner going beep – beep – beep –”
Damon Krukowski

BLACK METAL IS FOR EVERYONE

So glad to see this happening.

From the press release:

Black metal is extreme music: fast tempos, heavy guitar, screeching vocals – it’s not usually thought of as everyday, easy listening, that’s for sure. Black metal came to global prominence with its “second wave” in 1990s Scandinavia, and was associated with church burnings, Satanism, and acts of extreme violence. But those days are now largely (though not completely) over, and black metal musicians are increasingly singing in favor of environmental causes, social justice, and anti-racism, in the United States and across the world. Black metal is still noisy and aggressive and sometimes it is also pretty bleak. But black metal might just be for you. So come see what all the noise is about. Everyone (except the fascists) is welcome!

Black Metal Is For Everyone – Symposium and Concert, Feb 28-29, 2024 at Indiana University in Bloomington, IN

Participants:

Amory Abbott, Emily Carr University

Larissa Glasser, author and musician

Joan Jocson-Singh, Lucas Museum

Rose Johnson, Falmouth University

Margaret Killjoy, author and activist

Daniel Lukes, co-editor of Black Metal Rainbows

Stanimir Panayotov, co-editor of Black Metal Rainbows

With:

Michael S. Dodson, IU History

Shane Greene, IU Anthropology

Olga Rodriguez-Ulloa, IU American Studies.

Rebekah Sheldon, IU English / Cultural Studies

Additional support provided by the Office of the Vice President for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the College Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; the College Arts and Humanities Institute; and the Media School. For more info, please contact Michael S. Dodson

More info here.

“We’ll survive however we have to. We’ll continue writing about art. What I know now, that I didn’t then, is that fun and games are the entire point — the way we weather a world that’s largely indifferent to our joy.”
Linnie Greene in ‘The Official Pitchfork Obituary‘ at Byline

PRODUCING AND UPLOADING

“That article reads as a kind of elegy to SoundCloud’s heyday, before multiple pivots through chaotic monetization and promotion. At least Bandcamp still works – for now. It’s a simultaneous reminder that we need to build something new, maybe this time not for the investors, but for the eu-IVs – for each other. For a reason to keep producing and uploading, and a place to do it. And, importantly, for listening.”
Peter Kirn at Create Digital Media

I love this so much: “a simultaneous reminder that we need to build something new, maybe this time not for the investors, but for the eu-IVs – for each other.”

WordPress can have a steep learning curve, but get a few friends together, figure it out, and we’ve got a new “media outlet.”

I’ve seen some music newsletters on Substack, but I fear shit like that can implode at any point, too. Sure, I’m sure as heck using it, but making sure this blog is updated, secure, and the domain name ain’t gonna lapse.

Like… we need need to stop waiting for the next MUSIC PUBLICATION to figure their shit out, and just make it ourselves, like we used to back in the day.

Our bands couldn’t play the big venues, so we rented VFWs and firehalls and made it happen.

Like, Spotify and Apple Music will not magically start paying artists more.

The big outlets aren’t going to feature you, and even if they do, it probably won’t amount to much because the big outlets have devolved into showcasing death and drama, turning their readership into gossip-hungry zombies.

I’m jaded as fuck at this ‘cuz I’ve seen it devolve for the past 20 years. The fix ain’t waiting for tech-bros to develop new platforms – the power is with the people on the streets and the bedrooms to make it happen.

DNA LOOP

Haven’t made any of these in a few years, but I’ve got a new laptop now, and some headspace for creative output, so here’s a little boop.

I make the music in Abelton Live. This is a fresh install, so it’s factory setting sounds and effects, but I’m happy with it. I need to bring over my plugins and such from my external HD.

When I went to look for videos on Pexels to use I was surprised to see Google DeepMind on there. They’ve got a bunch of videos and still images, so it looks like I’ve got a bunch of material to work with for future clips.