The White Light

The Scream

2011-07-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

I spend time on Facebook. Not by any stretch do I have a ton of friends, less than 800 at this point. What I do have is a ton of bands constantly screaming at me. I think I get at least 20 event invites to see bands every single week. I think it's great that you are sending them out. What I don't think is great is that most bands seem to only contact me or post anything unless they are asking me or other fans for something. What is the rub you ask? Jeff, you tell us to get out there and promote ourselves. I do want to know when you are playing and when you have new material that you are releasing. What you have to realize is that most people who are active on social media are probably following a ton of bands. What are you doing to not be one of those bands that is constantly asking people for something? What barriers are you trying to break down between you and your fans. Where is the heart? If I am a fan of the band I want more than that. I want to be included in your process. I want to be included in your thoughts. What other bands are you listening to? What other shows are you going to? How do I know if you really give a shit about anything except the number of people you have on your list to blast your events to? All of you know what I mean. For the bands you love the most, you look and yearn for meaningful substance beyond the music. Give me any reason you can to make me connect and really care about what you are doing. Do you listen to your fans? Do you reply to tweets? Actually connecting to a fan is the real goal in all of this. Sure, there are bands that I am really into that I have never had any dialogue with. Innerparty System is one of those bands for me. Kurt (my drummer and vibe guru) turned me on to them after he saw them play at SXSW in March. You have your own bands that love and don't pay attention to other than enjoying their music. What if you had those fans but could somehow engage them on a level where they would follow you off the cliff? Could you actually be provocative? Believe me, I don't engage fans merely for the sake of being provocative. I am curious. I actually want to listen. If someone has taken the time to find your band on Facebook or any place else for that matter, you have their attention. There is really no need to scream. Think of it this way...When you are simply screaming to get someone's attention, you really aren't communicating with them. You are yelling. You are jumping up and down. Have conversation with those who will have it with you. Those are the ones that might scream and yell your name to others. Don't be the band that your social media friends cringe when they see another invite or post asking them to give you something. Do you have those friends that only call you when they need something from you? Don't be that band. Make a call when you don't want to scream at them and you simply want to talk.

It's Better to Have Loved and Lost...

2011-07-12T19:53:00.000-07:00

I was just reading a Facebook message from a friend. We were lamenting over the demise of Q101 in Chicago and how it was affecting each of us. We were talking about the business and how so many we know have been chewed up and spit out by it. Last year I posted about why I was a musician. Many of you that read my blog responded with your own stories. Music touches you in a way that nothing else can. With all of this said I am writing to musicians tonight. I am writing to radio DJ's tonight. I am writing to the many that I know that are programmers, record label personnel, indie promoters, music writers, music attorneys, managers, agents, road crew, sound guys, light guys, tour managers and all of us, fans of music. We all started out by listening. Music spoke to us a bit more that the next person. For many including myself, music spoke to me and motivated me in ways that my parents and family could never understand. We were the black sheep. "Why can't you be more like (insert the name of your "responsible" sibling or academically prodigious friend here)." We became seduced. We all bought in. We chose the path less traveled. We chose a rockier road. At some point we decided to roll the dice and jump into the business that surrounded us with music. Maybe we never thought the end would come. We made our deal with the devil to forego a normal life and in most cases, have far less monetary gain to be with the one we loved, music.

In a time where the formal and traditional side of the music business is in constant upheaval and disruption, let's remember that at the end of the day that music is the most important part of the equation. It is the embryo of every reason we got into the business. It is the reason we picked up an instrument or made every effort to be involved in getting music to others. Music is a calling, not a vocation. Music is who we are. Could I have done something else with my life given the 20/20 vision of hindsight? NO FUCKING WAY! That is why I am currently making new Gravity Kills music.

To you musicians reading this, the business side of music can be seductive. Don't let opportunity ever steer you away from creating and know that what you do in the studio and on stage are really what count for you. Most of all, never take for granted that you will get to play another show or record another song.

For those friends of mine at Q101 and WXRP in New York City, I don't think you would have chosen a different path if you could go back in time. Maybe I am wrong and I do understand in a different way what you are going through tonight. Just remember that the song remains the same. I wish all of you the best.

Reconnection

2011-07-07T19:12:00.000-07:00

I titled this entry "Reconnection" for a couple of reasons. I really need to reconnect to what I started here a year ago. I have spent the last year trying to reconnect to who I am, what I am and where I want to go in life. I am reconnecting with my creativity and making music. The second reason, the reason I decided to write today, is my obsession with the disconnect to a larger human experience I feel is occurring with all of us. I have written before about the "digital space" we all create around us using social media and the internet as a whole. Maybe you think I am full of shit and are thinking "Shut up you fucking whiner, the internet rocks!" I don't disagree with you. I am a whiner and the internet does rock but put in context with the issues that we musicians struggle with in a 2.0 world, how do we expand our realm of existence back into the world of living, breathing human beings? How do we get people out to our shows? How do we create a physical community that transcends our virtual community that resides behind my computer monitor? This may sound ass backwards to you. You may be thinking that I have finally lost it. You are definitely thinking "how can he fucking type that on a blog? This makes no sense." You are correct. It does seem strange to think that as someone that is attempting to communicate in the virtual world with facebook, twitter, this blog and now my tumblr account that I am calling for bands to do everything they can to have real face time with their fans in any way they can. Can you do something as simple as have random mixers at a local coffee shop? Could you offer exclusive material to those who show up? I am not saying that this is going to set your career on a rocketship to the moon but you just might start thinking of creative ways to get yourself out from in front of the computer where you endlessly battle the time constraints of attempting to keep up with your internet marketing and social media and help build your fan base locally in a real face-to-face way. Any of you that have been to a Gravity Kills show in the last few years know I put my money where my mouth is. If you are one of those friends/fans that comes to those shows...Would you actually come if you weren't going to get the face time? I actually enjoy it more than you do but you get my drift. Don't be afraid to become a physical human being to those who might enjoy listening to your music or coming to your shows. Those people that you connect to outside of the matrix will become your most loyal and hardcore fans.

By Any Means Neccessary

2011-04-13T12:14:00.000-07:00

Like most of you that read this, I am not a full time musician. That wasn't always the case but for today, that is my reality. In the past, I have touched on the challenges you have when you are creating in a part time scenario. Finding the proper amount of "good" time and energy always seems to your holy grail. It seems that everything else in life is screaming for your attention and by the time you actually do have time to be creative, everything else has zapped you of your creative energy. This has lead me to really rethink the way that new Gravity Kills music will get finished. I have resigned myself finally to the fact that I will never have the time to work on music in a perfect scenario (is there ever really a perfect scenario?)

I believe that most artists are control freaks. I recently watched the Foo Fighters documentary and they touched on the second record when Dave decided to re-cut all the drums and inevitably disengaged him from the process and ultimately from the band. I am not eluding to any weirdness in Gravity Kills so don't go there. What I mean is that maybe it is okay to relinquish some control over what you create in order to serve a larger picture. Can you find others that are close to you in some way to help drive your goals? I had a long talk with Matt and Kurt from Gravity a couple of weeks ago. We have become frustrated with the pace by which we are moving things along. What we feel we need to do at this point is reach out to individuals outside of the band to produce. This isn't really an earth shattering event. Bands work with producers all the time but in this case, we might actually be working with a different person on each song. When we restarted this band, my initial thought was that this would be a great opportunity for the band to be completely self contained. Life, and everything else has decided at this point that being self contained is not the solution for Gravity Kills. This could change tomorrow but for now, that is the way it is. Now the flip side. This concept is very exciting for me. How cool to have other interpretations of what Gravity Kills is in a modern context. Others will have the ability to pull me out of the trees and give me a whole new forest to look at. Others won't worry about my or the band's perception of itself but think about what their perception is of the band. At the end of the day, it is not about the music I WANT to make, but about the music that Gravity Kills SHOULD make. Gravity Kills songs are Gravity Kills songs but why not attempt to raise the bar higher than I can imagine with outside production perspectives?

This leads to a larger question for you. What do you do in the context of your band that you can relinquish control of? What person or persons that are close to you and your band that would gladly lend a hand for the bigger picture and greater good? With so much going on for indie bands to deal with, is it time to find those that you can trust to help drive the machine? I preach this over and over but NO BAND CAN DO IT ALONE. You can't be the only good band in your market and have a thriving local music scene so why do you think you must go it alone with everything it takes to keep your band and your art moving in the right direction? I am not telling you to use a producer if you want, can and have the time to do it yourself but I am telling you to think about what you need to get done, what you actually get done and what could get done with the help of others. Maybe it is time?

And Where Were You?

2011-03-23T08:38:00.000-07:00

A couple weeks ago I was in Tulsa and went to a local music showcase at Cain's Ballroom that was sponsored by KMYZ The Edge. They featured 4 local bands one of which was getting some attention outside of Tulsa. The turnout was a bit less than I had hoped for but the room looked ok. I spent the evening in the VIP section up in the back balcony-like space at Cain's and had a really good view of what was happening on the floor. As the night wore on, I kept looking for people I knew in bands not playing the showcase in hopes of seeing some local unity, solidarity and support for the local scene. How many band members not playing the event do you think I recognized? Sadly, there was only one person that I saw in the crowd from a band not playing that night. I will mention him because he was the one guy that actually "gets it." Paul Cristiano, the bass player from the band Radio Radio, is the winner of the "I GET IT" award for the evening. Where is the sense of community? Where is the drive among the Tulsa band community to unite and help create a real scene? Once again, all you fucking wannabe's that bitch, piss and moan about the lack support for local music in Tulsa decided to sit this one out. Is it that you were pissed that you weren't selected for the show and your absence was a silent protest? Were you pissed that the radio station doesn't play your music? Were you pissed off at one of the other bands on the bill and thought that showing up would make them look better? Well, you fucking missed an opportunity to mingle with 300 people that support local music and the chance to gain a fan or two that obviously does support the local scene. In fact, they support it more than you do. They paid for the ticket, spent gas money to get downtown and at least showed up. Meanwhile, you were sitting on your couch, or on a bar stool, or at a movie, or hanging with your friends consciously or unconsciously excluding yourself from something that you should be a part of. Once again I will say that LOCAL MUSIC SCENES MUST START WITH THE BANDS! Maybe some of you will never understand this. You have been conditioned to be competitive. You have been conditioned to hate on and talk shit about the other band's in town. You have been conditioned by the old paradigm to exclude yourself from the fan experience as a band. If you really want what you say you want then you better own up to the fact that you cannot do this by yourself. You need the other bands in the market to be a part of what you want. They need you as well. If you are in a band and were at the event, I applaud you. If you weren't, you are part of the problem, not the solution. Hope the movie was good.

Resolve

2011-03-03T16:00:00.000-08:00

I remember back in the old days, the really old days before I was in Gravity Kills, it seems that the my bands were always trying to finish projects that seemingly always went unfinished. The other 3 guys in Gravity Kills had bands before Gravity that were in the same boat. Back then, if you wanted to create a recording that was worth a shit, you had to spend what seemed like a ton of money. Studio technology was not affordable at that time and if you recorded at home, it was on some piece of shit cassette four track (I guess I am dating myself now.) Gravity Kills owned our own studio but I actually did demos at home for Perversion on a 4 track mini disk player. In the old days, you would write a bunch of songs with your mates and save up some cash so you could reserve some studio time in hopes of banging out at least an EP in a few days. We all know how the studio goes in relationship with the "best laid plans" concept...It rarely goes perfect in the studio and the band would end up finishing 2 or three songs. At that point everyone would need to start saving again to get back in the studio as soon as possible. I personally have volumes of unfinished recordings from pre-gravity bands. Fast forward to 2011...

I really want to broaden this topic to other tasks that simply go along with having a band in 2011. The other day I went to a band's reverbnation account to check some availability for an upcoming small festival that I am booking. The band hadn't updated the calendar for almost a year and a half! Really!? This is a band that is currently playing shows and has upcoming dates to play but without calling the band personally, how the fuck would I know what they have available? I have talked about this before and you know where I am going...There is so much available to bands now to promote your music and shows but if you don't use it properly, it doesn't mean jack shit. It's great that you are take the time to set up your accounts and start uploading band pics and music. Is it like having a new girl friend that you are totally into it until you find out there is some maintenance involved in the relationship and you lose interests? How long does it really take to update this stuff? Newsflash...If you want to be in a band and get anywhere with it at all, dealing with your web presence on a daily basis is part of the gig. Maybe that's the difference between you and the band that you hate because they have a following and get the gigs you think you should be getting? Maybe they work harder? Maybe they finish projects? Maybe their fans actually know where they are going to play? Maybe they update their website and other accounts on-line frequently while you and your mates sit around and bitch about things not getting done and pointing fingers at everyone but yourself? I have said this before but I have learned that it is far better to have a bad plan and great execution than have a great plan with shitty execution. If you don't finish music and keep your on-line presence frequently updated, do you really think that the stars will magically align for you? You can tell that this frustrates me. Maybe it frustrates you too? I know that most of you reading this can't afford to be in a band full time without having a day job that takes up the better part of your time. Some of you have families that take up more time. In today's climate, there will be fewer and fewer of us that will be able to do it full time. Can you find an extra 30 minutes in your day? You make time to write, record and play shows. Suck it up and figure it out. With everything you don't finish, the chances of you gaining any traction at all diminishes. What would have happened if Gravity Kills would not have finished "Guilty" before the deadline? It would have never fucking happened. Glad I finally got in a band that had resolve.

The Path

2011-02-24T12:20:00.000-08:00

The ongoing theme for me lately in my discussions with musicians has been about what path, or paths if you will, to take in getting their music out there. Instead of wrapping this up at the end, let me simply go ahead and say it now. THERE IS NO SPECIFIC OR "ONE SIZE FITS ALL" PATH THAT WILL WORK FOR EVERYONE. The major labels, and maybe some of you musicians out there, seem to be looking for ways to take things back to the glory days when music as a product was finite. Major labels, before the mp3 genie was out of the bottle, had a stranglehold on what we heard, how we heard it, when we could hear it, where we could buy it and how much it cost. The rest of us are simply trying to figure out how to get anyone at all to listen. Maybe we should debate the virtues of using Band Camp over Topspin or vice versa? Maybe we should replicate how Amanda Palmer spends countless hours on social media? Do you give your music away for free? Do you let fans pay what they want ala Radiohead? Do you only release singles and forget about making full lengths or split the difference with EP's? Where do you upload your music to? Where do you upload your videos? Should you be on itunes or try keeping all the money by selling you music off of your own website? How do you engage fans and/or crowdsource without looking like everything is one huge bullshit way of getting them to buy something from you? How much time to you devote to social media? Are you just another band screaming for attention with social media or are you genuine and really have something to give or say? Do you dare attempt getting radio airplay and getting mainstream media and press outlets to pay attention? How often do you release new material? What new content are you giving your fans between releases? How often do you play shows? Do you try touring? If so, how large a geographic region do you try to cover? How often will you play markets outside of your hometown? Need I continue? You can see that there might be an infinite amount of questions to ask. The great thing is that there are also infinite answers. You must set your path in motion by asking questions. Ultimately, only you and your band can find what works best for you. Many of you have tried and are still trying several paths and by the way, that's fucking great. I will certainly have very strong opinions on all of the aforementioned questions but at the end of the day, no one can execute these things for you. If you are throwing darts, at least step up to the line and throw the fucking dart. You think the major labels have the answers to all of these questions? When's the last time you read or heard anyone talking about DRM (that's Digital Rights Management for some of you casually playing along)? It's been a while. The fact is that everyone is looking for where this mess will land. Resolve yourself to the fact that it will never land and the path to enlightenment will be forever changing. I know I said never and that may just bite me in the ass someday. It's not someday yet.

Youtube

2011-02-16T08:58:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I saw a post by a DJ friend of mine about the new Foo Fighters. Did he post a track? No! He posted the video from youtube. I thought that was interesting given the source of dissemination. DJ's listen to music, right? Surely they don't sit around watching youtube videos for the source of their music. Some of you out there probably use Pandora, Slacker, Last FM or some other source for streaming music from the cloud. I use Slacker at home and in the studio when I want to be a passive listener. When I want to go truly on demand, I go straight to youtube. Not that any of this is new information but youtube seems to be hands down the best source of on demand music. A couple of weeks ago I was turning a friend on to a band and when he told me he would check it out he said, "Cool, I will check it out on youtube." I didn't tell him to go there, that was simply his response. I have spent countless hours there, watching and listening to just about anything I want to hear. Granted, you have some of the asshole major labels taking down "their content" but you can usually still find the track, even if it is not accompanied by the actual video. Once again, where the fuck am I going with this?

I believe in 2008, youtube leapfrogged Yahoo as the second largest search engine in the world. As reported in an article posted in 2010 on www.viralblog.com , youtube exceeds over two billion views a day, and the average person spends 15 minutes per day there. About 20 percent of all the content on youtube is music so do the math. With over 24 hours of video uploaded to youtube every minute of every day, that is about 3500 hours of music video uploaded every day. Staggering to think about. I know what some of you are thinking now. If there is so much music on youtube, why should I be there if I will simply be a needle in the stack of needles? Because all of your fans and your potential fans are already living there. Now, since I have thrown a few obligatory factoids out there, as Snoop would say, "Back to the lecture at hand."

Since I posted the Foo Fighter's video at the top of this blog, did you watch it? I am sure this video cost them next to nothing aside from the alleged meth and Jack Daniels for our beloved Lemme. Doing videos now is just part of the gig. Resign yourself to the fact that video has become king again. Include video in your release strategy even if it is simply a slideshow of band photos. Remember that on the internet, content is king. Shoot video of your band in the studio. Shoot video of your day on the road shopping for unicorn snow globes at the truck stop on your way to the gig. Fans want to be let into your world. Fans want to see what you are doing when you aren't jumping around on stage acting like a maniac. When Gravity Kills broke in the mid-nineties, we had the benefit of a video friendly MTV. Tons of people watched and tons of bands were discovered by music fans on 120 minutes, Alternative Nation as well as Head Banger's Ball. In turn what happened to MTV was they found out that their video programming did not keep their viewer's attention and their ratings went up when they played the reality shows like The Real World and Jersey Shore that have become our guilty pleasures. Why the fuck would I want to sit through a bunch of shit I don't want to see with the hope of catching a video from a band that I gave a shit about? The internet and youtube give me the option of watching what I want to watch, when I want to watch it. Now don't give me excuses that shooting video is expensive or a pain in the ass. HD cameras are cheap now and when you think about it, a video camera should be looked at as an essential piece of band gear or equipment necessary to complete a home studio. Make yourself get in the habit of shooting video and give your fans more to capture their attention and hopefully keep them paying attention.

Legacy

2011-02-04T09:15:00.000-08:00

If you had your choice, would you want to make a ton of money as a musician and be forgotten or thought of as a joke OR would you rather not make a ton of money and have your music live on and your band and music be remembered by those who listened as something that was, and may always be a part of their lives? I recently read an article on the subject of legacy versus money and here is my take.

I know that I have the luxury of hindsight that many of you don't regarding this subject. My band mates and I were far luckier than most.I will tell you that when I left Gravity Kills in 2002, I swore I would never step foot on stage with those guys again and in fact, it took me about 8 months before I picked up a guitar and played a chord. I had zero perspective. I had been in the fire for so long that the heat had taken it all out of me. With the lack of perspective also came the lack of understanding for what my band mates and I had actually accomplished. To be honest, my take on the experience was pathetic. Sure the band made some money, but not enough for me to retire to the islands on. I was in a state of mind that made me feel like somehow it was all a waste. WHAT THE FUCK WAS WRONG WITH ME? As I look back now, my view is far more romantic. What an incredible experience! Who would have thought that the toeheaded kid from a trailer park in a small midwestern town would have gotten to take the ride that I did. What does this have to do with your band and your legacy? Think about the work, the experience, the lives you touch and not about making money. Sure, you have to treat what you do like a business at the end of the day, but don't let money or the monetization of your craft affect how you approach your creativity. I believe there is something much larger at stake. Music touches people in ways that other art forms simply can't. For the listener, music has the power to evoke very powerful emotions. Music can mark specific time periods in the listeners lives as well as the lives of those that created it. That is the real currency here. At the risk of fueling my haters, I can remember exactly where I was when I heard NIN Down In It for the first time. I remember where I was when I heard Big Audio Dynamite for the first time. There are records that completely signify time periods in my life. With every Gravity Kills record that we made, powerful memories are attached that will forever be with me, and from some of the feedback I get from you, Gravity Kills somehow touched your life indelibly as well. Make what you do count. Think about the possible legacy that your music will have on you and those that choose to listen and connect to it. Nothing lasts forever...or does it?

Go Green

2011-02-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

I talk with musicians all the time. I work with them and I am friends with musicians of all talent and professional levels.. There are a couple in particular from St. Louis that individually climbed the ladder and made it to what most of us would think was a very respectable level of success. Sometimes I admit that what I type could be construed as not so optimistic. Some have gone as far to call my outlook on this business as bleak. I see that sometimes people take these words and think more about their perceived lack of success versus thinking about what they did accomplish and how special it really was. I know exactly how you feel. When people ask me how I perceived my own career with Gravity Kills, I tell them that "My band was in Rolling Stone Magazine but was never on the cover." I wanted to be on the fucking cover. We all want to be on the cover. We all want more than we have. That is human nature. But really what is the point? Where I'm going with this is... with all the anarchy happening in music now, I think we need to rethink the scale of how we attack the world with our music and the scale by which we measure success. Ultimately, I know we would all love to be making a living by only writing, recording and performing music. That is the goal and some of us may be lucky enough to do that at some points in our careers but why can't we seem to escape the pre-Napster paradigm model of how we measure the success of an artist? Do we really need to be on MTV Cribs to feel like we have accomplished something (is that show still on?) with our music and our message? I have said this before and will say it in many blog posts to follow this but, as I told one of the aforementioned artists yesterday, THINK GLOBALLY BUT ACT LOCALLY. The seduction of the internet is that you absolutely can have your music heard around the world. Some of you may actually have fans in far away lands and places that you may never ever ever have a chance to play a show. The seduction of mass media is that we are bombarded with celebrity culture and we think that red carpets and acne medication commercials are the real measure of your success. Of course I truly believe that you should make your digital strategy with the world in mind but a more tangible way to feel, touch, taste and smell your band gaining traction may be to also focus your efforts on becoming a real player in your local music scene. Many of you will disagree and talk about how you can't get any love in your home market simply because you are local, but could it be that you really need to be better at what you do? Go Green.

Back To the Future.

2011-02-02T16:12:00.000-08:00

I have received some interesting feedback over the last few posts here on The White Light. Some have called me angry and some have gone as far as to question my enthusiasm in the internet and all it's splendor. Let me set the record straight. THE INTERNET AND THE CONNECTION IT GIVES US IS MORE THAN WONDERFUL. When reading my blog posts, you have to remember that I am really writing this stuff for artists and bands that are trying to figure it all out. It does make me angry when bands don't treat what they do the same way they treat their own personal facebook or any other social media that they use. All the tools for the distribution of music exists out there for free or very little money. I know that the paradigm is in this no man's land at the moment. I realize that many of you feel like you are beating your head against the wall simply trying to get anyone to pay attention at all. So, maybe we should all focus on the things we can actually do to affect how many people you can reach with your music and stop focusing on the things we can't control or who we may never reach. I have written about this before but IT MUST START IN YOUR OWN HOMETOWN. In most places, you can find a few good bands that may or may not play the same genre of music. You can find a small number of people that support local music by regularly hanging out where these bands play. Since most pundits have established that being a world wide, ubiquitous rock star is out of reach for most of us, place your focus on the place where you can have the most affect. Again, this is at home. Entrench yourself, your band in the local music scene. If there isn't one (I can already hear the wining) then find some other bands that will help you create one. One band doesn't make a scene. One great band will not draw enough attention to what you are doing to help you sell out local shows. I think the downside of social media is that some of the time it creates more digital walls around it's users than knocks these walls down. Of course the upside is once you grab someone's attention and you become part of THEIR digital world, you just might have a fan. Locally you have the advantage of becoming a part of a fan's physical existence. They can hang out with you. They can see you hanging out at another band's show. You can physically hand them a CD that you burned with your website address and your email address on it. Hell, give someone a CD and beg them to hit you with feedback, good or bad. At least you might create some dialogue. I am intense when it comes to listening to music. There are others out there too. You are probably one of those that can't get enough. What will give you an edge is making the personal and local connection to those in your own communities that are in constant search for something to blow their hair back. How many of you out there are far more engaged in Gravity Kills because we have hung out and become friends? You cannot replace shared experience. I value it more than music sometimes with bands that I personally know. The music that speaks to you does so based on how it fits into your life, your lifestyle, your emotions, not the life of the band. How can you take your own passion for music and use it to the advantage of your fans and your band. I say get off the fucking couch, stop bitching at rehearsal and the studio and get out there and make physical touches. You can control that. If you start there, you might just find that some traction is in your near future

Did you hear?

2011-02-01T15:43:00.000-08:00

Did you hear that we live in a digital world? A world where music is not the king of the hill anymore? Where people are only interested in what is happening in their world? Where those people are far more interested in themselves than you, your music and your band? Where people actually take the time to tweet and facebook what they are eating, drinking, their political views, ailments, likes, dislikes and anything and everything that pops into their ADD heads? This begs the question, how the fuck does music take back some of the space in the worlds of those we need to listen?

I know we all think about this constantly but what do we do to compete? Is your head in the cloud, having masturbatory thoughts of stardom, fame and fortune, or is it in the real "cloud.?" The cloud where your fans live. Where your fans spend an inordinate amount of time. Where they listen to music or watch video on youtube. Where they spend time trading bytes with their friends. Where Snookie is a much bigger star than any of us will probably ever be. Where they want YOU to be a part of their lives and not the other way around. How do you make what you do a part of your fans daily existence?

I am not saying that fans can never move into the hardcore status and want to follow your every move. I am not saying that there are those out there that you can find that will listen. If you can, think of things this way, SOCIAL MEDIA HAS REPLACED MUSIC AS THE VOICE OF A GENERATION. I know this hurts your fragile ego. You can't believe that I actually said it. Am I wrong? Hell, Steve Jobs is a fucking rock star. When he holds press conferences, Apple junkies all listen. Above that, we believe! Barack Obama could possibly have less impact on our future that Mr. Jobs. Do you make music that people will believe in? Do you believe in your own music enough to think about more than writing it, recording it and playing it live? That just isn't enough anymore. Do you exist where your fans do? Get your head out of the clouds and put it in the cloud.

Preparing for Success

2011-01-27T17:08:00.000-08:00

I have some good friends in a band in Iowa that recently got some radio airplay on their local market alternative radio station. It came out of nowhere and they really didn't expect it. Maybe they should have. When I found out about it from a facebook post, after I congratulated them, my first question was "Did you shoot a video?" Their answer unfortunately was "No." What makes this frustrating is that there may be opportunity for this band to possibly take a step up the ladder and they have nothing to compliment what is going on. They are scrambling now to catch up with their new found momentum. How could this have been done differently? How often do you think things like this happen where the band has no plan and therefore cannot possibly have any execution? Do you think new businesses pop up without having an actual contingency plan for success? You all spend hours playing your instruments. You spend hours rehearsing. You spend hours writing, arranging, recording, producing, mixing....you get the fucking idea. Where is THE PLAN? Let me rephrase. GET A FUCKING PLAN! I asked about a video because I have countless friends that go straight to youtube when I turn them on to a new band. How can you achieve your vision of success if you never fucking plan for it? What happens if a door opens and you lack the preparation and the plan to walk through it? I want each and every one of you to look at the way you approach what you do from the standpoint of preparation and strategy. Pretend for one fucking minute that what you envision for your band might just actually happen. Look, I know that a couple of you guys from the band read this. I say all this with the utmost respect and hope nothing but success for you guys but...If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Sincerely,

The Sphinx

Is It Soup Yet?

2011-01-25T12:32:00.000-08:00

When recording and producing music in the studio, quite possibly the hardest decision to make is when to let go of a track and call it done. We, meaning Gravity Kills, were possibly the worst at this. Mr. Blood Studio was filled with all of the bells and whistles that you can possibly imagine when it came to producing the type of music that we were doing. I would spend countless hours playing with keyboards and listening to drum sounds or loops. You always felt like there was one more spice, bit of magic, crazy element or smidgen of rock and roll dust you could sprinkle on a mix to take it to the next place. We also had no clock ticking in our studio so we basically had all the time in the world to endlessly tweak the mix. When I talk to you guys, I know that I am not the only one in that seemingly lonely boat. I even saw a recent post on facebook by a very well known artist that talked of not knowing if something was done or not until the mix was pried from his hands and ended up on the retail store shelf. When I commented on his post I put "Art is never finished, only abandoned." A quote by Leonardo da Vinci that Doug started using very early on with Gravity Kills. You and I both know that this is beyond true, especially if you have your own home studio. I have sat for countless hours recently on tracks that for some reason I will not commit a direction to. I find myself working on a drum track and when I look at the clock, I have spent 2 hours dealing with a fucking snare drum. In 2004, Barry Schwartz released a book called "The Paradox of Choice. Why More Is Less." You can get the jest of his book by reading the Wikipedia article. In a nutshell, we become paralyzed by choice at times and since we have so many choices, we are quick to de-commit to a direction when that direction becomes slightly challenging. Maybe this is a fact of modern living. Choice envelopes us seemingly at every turn. Maybe the answer is to limit your choices in the studio? Pick 3 synths, 3 drum kits, 2 bass sounds and 2 guitars sounds. Clear your palette. Create the track from the basic and save your sonic experimentation when you have perspective and a clear direction for the track. It's hard to see the forest when you have too many fucking trees. Maybe I need to read my own fucking blog. I know what my soup is supposed to taste like. Let's make some fucking soup.

I Don't Want To Hear It!

2011-01-24T11:48:00.000-08:00

So, you tell me that you are serious. You tell me that you are committed. You tell me that being a musician is part of who you are and you would do it for free. You tell me that you are willing to make the personal and financial sacrifices necessary to make something happen for you. I really want to believe you. I really want to buy in to what you are telling me. I really want to think that you are different than everyone else. I really want to have confidence that you will be the one to push for what you want. Here is an example of why it makes it harder and harder for me to believe.

As many of you know, I book bands. I talk to them everyday. I hear all the stories of why and what makes them different from everyone else. So, I walk into my office this morning and another agent had a cancellation. Let me preface this by saying that cancellations are fairly common occurrences for mostly legitimate reasons. Let me also tell you that if you are going to cancel a gig, you better come up with a better reason than the nondescript "food poisoning" or "I have a stomach thing." Things are tough out there right now as many of you know. The economy, in recent history, has not been kind to touring or live music in general. I will go on to make the statement, I NEVER CANCELED A GRAVITY KILLS SHOW DUE TO ANY OF THIS BULLSHIT! We did cancel a few shows when a band member had some legal issues that had to be taken care of and there were also some cancellations when Matt broke some ribs and Doug broke his hand. There were nights I literally rolled out of my bunk or out of the hotel room as sick as I could ever remember and played the show. It wasn't about the money for me. I realized that there were more people than I that had a stake in the show i.e. the fans, my band mates, my crew, the promoter, my manager, my agent, my accountant and so on. I certainly knew of "those bands" that had a reputation for canceling the gig. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO COMMIT TO THE GIG AND ACTUALLY DO IT THEN DON'T COMMIT. If you want the type of job that has sick days then don't join a band. If you want to talk a good game and not back it up then don't join a band. Now you are going to make the excuse and say something like "But Jeff, there was far more at stake for you and Gravity Kills." Maybe there was and maybe not. In each respective fishbowl, is there not as much at stake for you? I hate breaking it down this way but are you thinking about your brand? Do you think your band is so good that the club or venue will let it slide? Do you think that a small club that has advertised and has most of the risk on the gig has less to lose? I call bullshit. The sad thing is that when you fuck a club over, it makes it even harder for the rest of us. Are you part of the problem or part of the solution? Are you part of the reason a venue want's to book live music or part of the reason why they have hesitations about it? Do you only want to play the gig and keep your commitment if the stars align for you? Do you actually give a shit about the bigger picture in play regarding you, your band, your brand and live music as a profit center for clubs and venues as a whole? Do you give a shit that those around you may question your real motivation, or lack thereof, behind your membership in a band? The next time you think about canceling, think about the bigger picture and what is at stake. If you still want to cancel for some bullshit reason, then maybe you should rethink your aspirations. Oh, and by the way, Get well soon.

Traction and Momentum

2011-01-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

Trac-tion

1a. The act of drawing or pulling, especially the drawing of a vehicle or load over a surface by motor power.

b. The condition of being drawn or pulled.

2. Pulling power, as of a draft animal or engine.

3. Adhesive friction, as of a wheel on a track or a tire on a road.

4. Medicine A sustained pull applied mechanically especially to the arm, leg, or neck so as to correct fractured or dislocated bones, overcome muscle spasms, or relieve pressure.

Mo-men-tum

1. capacity for progressive development: the power to increase or develop at an ever-growing pace

"The project was in danger of losing momentum."

2. forward movement: the speed or force of forward movement of an object

"the momentum gained on the downhill stretches of the course"

3. physics measure of movement: a quantity that expresses the motion of a body and its resistance to slowing down. It is equal to the product of the body's mass and velocity. Symbol p

4. philosophy basic element: an essential part of a whole

I have been talking about these concepts for months. I even use the term "traction" in my description of this blog. Within the scope of attaining your goals as an artist, musician, band, applying these two terms may be the best way to understand if you are truly getting anywhere.

Gaining traction is the precursor to momentum. Without traction you are in essence simply spinning your wheels and will go nowhere. I recently drove about 200 miles to have a meeting with a band regarding some consulting and then went to one of their gigs. They gave me a CD to listen to about a week before the meeting and I listened to it all the way through about 5 or 6 times so I would at least have an opinion to give them. What struck me about the CD is that the music seemed to be 2 completely different bands. Some of the songs had a 90's guitar alternative feel to it and some of the songs had a rock/blues vibe. When we sat down for dinner, my first question to the song writer in the band was, "If you could pick a style on the record, which one would it be?" It seemed that this guy had actually been waiting for someone to ask him that. You can't gain any traction if you don't have a creative direction. I understand that we all have various influences from multiple musical genres that inspire our creativity but if you don't have a small understanding as who you are as an artist and songwriter, you will never find a direction that will give you the ability to gain traction in your writing, recording and performing. You must also create a foundation for traction within the scope of the internet and social media. Do you have a website? Have you set up camp in every conceivable social media and band internet platform. Do you have your youtube channel? Have you set up twitter? Do you still update your myspace? (people are still there you know.) Are you getting my drift? You limit your amount of possible traction and thus gaining any momentum in the cloud if you aren't in every possible place that your music can live on the internet.

Momentum. Traction's tricky pal. Before I leap into momentum I must preface it with a statement. If have said this before and if it offends you, too fucking bad. MUSICIANS ARE INHERENTLY LAZY. I mention this to set you up for my next statement. CREATING MOMENTUM FOR YOUR BAND MEANS YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY WORK AT IT. How often are you actually writing new music. This needs to be constant. I remember Gravity Kills battling this because it was difficult for us to wear the writing hat while we were touring. In the old paradigm, you could get away with long album cycles. Gravity Kills shortest cycle was 2 years and three months. Back then, labels controlled what you heard and when you heard it. In the modern business paradigm this wouldn't fly. You will be forgotten. Now I can listen to just about anything I want at anytime that I want to. Your fans are bombarded by new information, including music every second of everyday. How much new content are you uploading to your website, facebook, myspace, twitter, etc. Are you blogging? Are you constantly searching for new and creative ways to engage your fans on a constant basis. There is a band out of LA that I met at a music conference about two and a half years ago that just hit me with some new music for me to check out and help them pick a single. Just this second I went to their website. IT IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE FIRST TIME I SAW THE SITE AND HASN'T BEEN FUCKING UPDATED SINCE 2008! If they had any momentum to speak of, it is certainly gone now. Again, do you get my drift? Your fans can feel momentum just as the members of your band can. This band from LA will be starting all over again.If your fans can't see, read or hear something new, they will stop going to your website all together and move on to something new while leaving your band for dead. It is up to you not only to gain traction but to create and maintain momentum. Here is another example. When thinking about touring and playing shows, apply traction and momentum to your approach. I talk to bands constantly that want to tour. Something about the open road that lures musicians like sirens to the rock. Only play markets that you know that you can make it back to at least 3 or 4 times a year. Why would you play in Portland Oregon if you know that you won't get back there for a very long time if possibly ever? Are you still getting my drift? Momentum is far easier to create than sustain. Believe me, I know this first hand.

Traction and Momentum. Say it with me, "Traction and Momentum." I think you might be getting my drift.

Accessibility

2011-01-20T10:14:00.000-08:00

I had an hour long discussion with a guy while driving out of town on Friday night. His band has a couple of markets where the band really means something. When I say they mean something, the band is worth over 700 tickets in 2 markets. The largest market with a population of less than 700,000 and the other, their home market, has a metro population of about 400,000. This band is extremely smart about the way they handle each town by only playing about 4 shows a year in each because they want to create events and not simply be the band you can see next weekend if you miss this show. During the conversation, I tell this guy, "You know that you have not completely climbed to the top of the mountain yet in these markets." I know the band is doing well, but how could they up the ante and create even more anticipation for their shows? If they are selling a venue out one night, what could the band do to sell the venue out 2 nights in a row? In my humble opinion, they band should think of clever ways to create a demand for not just seeing the band perform, but giving a number of fans access to the band at sound check, dinner, lunch, etc. Could the band have a contest where the winners get to eat a free lunch with them at McDonald's? I found out that one of the venues they play sells bar food. Could the band have a contest where the winners get to go to sound check and have dinner at the venue with the band? Maybe this sounds stupid, or does it? When Gravity Kills played the Thanksgiving shows for a couple of years, we did a VIP ticket that included Turkey dinner with the band. These were the first tickets sold for both shows. Our fans want access. Ask some Gravity Kills fans how difficult it is to come to a sound check. Let's see, the last show we did in June, there were about 10 fans that just walked in the venue and hung out. Most of these people were from out of town but that is part of the reason they come. Yeah, they like seeing the band perform but, they would not spend $1000.00 for flights, hotels, meals, cabs, rental cars, etc. if their was no access. Give your fans time so they can invest their time in you. I hear the phrase "Attention Economy" thrown around constantly. If someone will invest their time in you, more than likely they will invest their money in you as well. Unless you can release a new track and or a new video every week or so, how do you expect to keep someone's attention without taking the next step through becoming accessible? Your fans want it. Let them eat cake. Let them eat cake with you.

The Rest of The Story

2011-01-19T09:26:00.000-08:00

We left off as Tom Sarig was sitting in his car at 1am listening to Guilty on the radio and telling the band that he was going to send us a contract the following week. A few days pass and TVT sends a first draft contract to the guys in St. Louis. Kurt, being clever and industrious, goes to the local library to get on this thing called "The Internet" and searches for an entertainment attorney. His search leads him to call an office in Los Angeles. I won't name him but the lawyer had a roster of some very marquee names. Kurt makes the phone call and leaves a message for the guy telling the receptionist that we had been sent a contract. The lawyer calls back the same day and Kurt fills him in on what is taking place. So now it is mid-February of 1995 and we now have a lawyer. As some of you know, lawyers and managers were and still are instrumental in getting bands record deals. This particular lawyer has connections at a few other labels and now the real fun begins.

In the meantime, our new friends at KPNT suggest that we release Guilty as a single while the single is riding the top of their playlist. Kurt, Matt and Doug decide that is a great idea so Kurt creates some artwork and they proceed to get 500 copies made. "Inside" was the B-Side of the cassette for you trivia freaks out there. Doug takes them around town to the local St. Louis record stores (remember those?) to sell the cassette singles on consignment. The first 500 sells out in 3 days so we get another 500 copies that sell out in one more week. The punch line is that we never got paid from the record stores. I suppose piracy existed then as well.

Cut to...As Tom Sarig was getting ready to come visit the band in St. Louis for the aforementioned meeting, a manager by the name of Gloria Butler was in the TVT office in New York doing some business there for another band that she was managing that was signed to the label. She and Tom were finishing up some business and moved their conversation into the usual "what are you doing this weekend?" thing. Tom mentions that he is going to St. Louis to talk to a band called Gravity Kills. As Gloria tells it, she would not have given it a second thought if Tom would of said he was going to Cleveland, Chicago, Atlanta or anywhere else for that matter but at the time she had a home in St. Louis so now she was curious about what was going on with the band. Ah, Mrs. Butler...

Gloria Butler is bold to say the least. We met her for the first time in March of 1995 having lunch with her at a trendy Mexican place in Clayton, Missouri. We knew that she was the wife of Black Sabbath's Geezer Butler but other than that I knew nothing. I must say that she and I did not really hit it off at our first meeting. I will admit that I was more than hesitant to get involved with her and in hindsight it stems from what at that time was a general mistrust of record business types. Maybe it was because I felt that we had gotten to where we had gotten in a very short time and I thought she was being opportunistic. Gloria had won Doug over very quickly and he was really campaigning for us to take her on as our manager. I remember the band having very heated debates over this and for the first time, there was division amongst the members of the band. Matt actually took a meeting with a very big LA management company while on a business trip associated with his day job at the time. When he came back with his report, he did not get a warm and fuzzy feeling so we felt they were not an option. After that, the entire band took a meeting in St. Louis with another guy from LA. We liked him alright and he said all the right things. His brother was managing a national band that we really liked as well and this guy wanted to use us to get his own imprint through Capitol Records but...At the meeting with him, we excused ourselves and walked into a hallway in a building that was in front of Doug's house where the meeting was being held. This is when and where that we decided to hire Gloria Butler as Gravity Kills' manager. I think what finally swayed us to hire her was that she lived in St. Louis and also, SHE WAS TO THE POINT AND WAS DIRECT. At our first meeting, mind you that she is courting the band, she actually told me that I would look much younger if I would fucking shave my face. You gotta love the honesty.

Meanwhile....The lawyer in Los Angeles, now armed with a radio and retail story as well as music, starts hitting his buddies at the labels he has relationships with. He had never worked with TVT before so the lawyer was infinitely more keen on hooking us up with any major label where he had existing allies. At this point I am flying up to St. Louis about every other week to work on music with the guys. Now, instead of me just flying up to write and record, our lawyer starts scheduling meetings with record company guys in St. Louis to coincide with the recording sessions. We have visits from 3 other labels. The usual dinner and talking stuff out thing. There was one guy that the band went to see The Bottlerockets with. He was heading up a new imprint through Atlantic Records. Interestingly he ended up signing them and not us. It was getting into April by now and 2 labels had dropped out of the race for Gravity Kills and it had come down to TVT and one other label under the Warner umbrella. We are still with the LA lawyer but are getting a bit jumpy about the situation because with every offer TVT makes, we are getting a counter offer from the other label and we know that our lawyer wants us with the "Warner" label. To muddy the water even more for us, our lawyer tells us that Gloria Butler has gotten herself involved in negotiations without the consent of the band which of course freaks us out. With all of this going on, we finally meet Mrs. Butler. I know the timeline of this article is all fucked up but there was so much happening at the same time. Please excuse the chronological mess and try to keep up.

We are getting into April now. Tom and TVT decide to fly the band to New York City in order to get us in their offices and make us love the label. This is my first time ever to New York City. We flew in on a Sunday and I remember being overwhelmed by the size and intensity of it all. Their office was at the Corner of Lafayette and 4th street and they put us up in a Holiday Inn that was reasonably close to them. I remember walking into their office for the first time. TVT's offices were everything that I had hoped it was. The decor was very urban industrial and there was no corporate vibe about it at all. Tom takes us around and introduces us to the various departments and then we go to have a meeting with Steve Gottlieb. I remember sitting there basically shitting my pants. Kurt seemed to be the only one of us that was remotely capable of having a conversation and answering his questions. That part of the trip was extremely blurry for me. I do remember Gloria and Tom telling me later that Steve questioned my charisma and potential to be a front man for the band. I think I proved otherwise but that's beside the point. That evening, the band meets Tom for drinks at a bar in Alphabet City. The place had that neighborhood bar feel to it and we all sat around the table on picnic benches. I drank Bass and drank a lot of it. We had a great time and Tom was getting exactly what he wanted out of our trip. We were bonding. At the end of the evening, Tom hales a cab for us. As we jump in, we all turn to say our final goodbyes and Tom has completely vanished into the night. All four of us looked frantically in every direction but he was not to be seen. We swore he was a vampire and the episode fed our excitement about Tom and TVT. We were fucking hooked and even though none of us articulated this at the time, all of us new that TVT would be our label. After we all got back home, Tom individually sent us all a pre-release of the KMFDM CD "Nihil" with a personal note attached that simply said, "Jeff, Do the right thing. Tommy." Tom, you had me at hello. Meanwhile, while we are in the city, Gloria sets up a meeting with a New York based entertainment attorney by the name of Michael Guido. Gloria knows we have have lost faith in the lawyer that we had been working with in LA and probably realizes an opportunity to have us set up camp with someone she has worked with before. He had negotiated with TVT in the past and when we have lunch with him, talks to us as a music guy and not a lawyer. Our most interesting conversation at the meeting was debating the virtues of smoking pot over the 3 martini power lunch. We empower him a week later to start negotiating on the band's behalf.

May of 1995 rolls in. I am starting to get very nervous because we are still bouncing between label offers and I start feeling as if everyone will start getting cold feet and pull the deals away from us. We were finishing material but it seemed that we had lost momentum. Gloria put's me at ease telling me, "It's not a matter of if but a matter of when." About the third week of May, I am at home and the phone rings.I hear "Jeff, this is Gloria. We have come to terms with TVT on a deal! We are happening!" I remember throwing my fist up in the air and scraping it on a door jam. There is still a scar on my middle finger of my left hand from where my hand hit the wood frame. Gravity Kills will officially be on TVT Records.

The band continues to work on new material and in June of 1995, TVT approaches John Fryer to engineer the record as we are being scheduled to finish everything up at The Battery Studios in New York starting in August. The crazy thing is that at the time, John is living in Dallas as well so I meet him for dinner at Cafe` Brazil in Deep Ellum. John had a very dry wit about him and in my mind was extremely British. The situation was intimidating for me since he had worked on records like Depeche Mode "Speak and Spell and of course, Nine Inch Nails "Pretty Hate Machine." He wore the smile of contempt on his face the entire meeting. In my mind he must have been thinking, "What a bloody wanker" or something to that effect because he seemed to be laughing at me the entire meeting. I had the BLT. Funny sometimes the things you remember. The meeting went horribly. I didn't really like John and I am sure that he didn't like me. I didn't really give a flying fuck about liking him so we get the label to commit to his services.

Meanwhile, I still have my day job. At that job one day I get a call from Steve at TVT. It's not everyday that the head of a record label and the media proclaimed arch nemesis of Trent Reznor calls you at the office. He tells me about this soundtrack project that the label had picked up from Columbia Records for the movie Mortal Kombat. He and the label were scrambling for songs to put on the soundtrack album and he thought it would be a great idea for us to be on it. My immediate thought that I verbalized to Steve was, "Won't that be a fucking Kiddie movie?" Steve replied with, "No, not really and it will really give your publishing a boost." Steve Gottlieb was a very likable person. There was always something about him that made you sympathetic to him. Maybe it was the pony tail or the fact that he never seemed to wear socks (about a year later he brings some wraps for us to eat to a photo shoot and we all intentionally drove him mad with comments like "Wow Steve, these burritos are awesome.") Moving on, he persuades us to approve a track being on the Mortal Kombat soundtrack album. In hindsight I am certainly happy about that. Who knew at the time that it would sell over a million copies, be the number one movie upon it's release and the way many of you heard Gravity Kills for the first time. Good call Steve.

I want you all to remember at this point that the band has yet to play a live show. We have not officially signed with either TVT Records or Gloria Butler in a management deal. But with that said, we are still chugging along.

Now we get into early August of 1995. TVT thinks it would be a great idea for John Fryer to fly into St. Louis for us to finish as much up with the record as we can before we take everything to New York to re-cut some things and mix the record. John gets in and Doug and he hit it off pretty well. On the Thursday of that week, TVT makes another phone call to us regarding a movie. This time, New Line Cinema is putting the finishing touches on a David Fincher film called Seven. They were using a remix of "Closer" by NIN in the opening credit sequence but were afraid Trent would not give permission to use it since TVT was going to be releasing the soundtrack CD. They told us they would overnight the opening credit sequence for us to score another piece of music to go on top of it. We receive a video version of it on Thursday and they need us to send something back to them on Monday. Doug and John start working on the score but then get the idea that we should build a song from the elements that they are using. We literally work around the clock on Friday and Saturday so we can have both the score and the full track done for mixing on Sunday. The track we end up with was called "Hold" which is the last song on the first Gravity Kills CD and the score over the opening credit sequence became "Forward" on the first CD that many of you that have heard on the record and have heard as the intro to our live show. Kurt or Doug, maybe both, have a VHS copy of the opening credit sequence to the film using our score. If we can ever dig a copy up, I will post it on youtube. Well, after all of this we get the material back to New Line and basically they come back with a "Thanks, but Trent has ok'd us using the "Closer" remix." You can imagine our disappointment but they did go on to ask us if we had another track for them to use in the film. We submit "Guilty" and it is excepted by New Line to be used in the movie as well as it being placed on the soundtrack album. The actual mix of "Guilty" on the Seven soundtrack is actually different from the original KPNT Pointessential version and the version that most of you know from our debut. I love the fact that our band will forever be associated with such a great film (Matt and Kurt actually go to the movie premier in New York by drawing the short straws- another story entirely.)

Cut to late September of 1995. It is about one year after we originally wrote and recorded "Guilty." We have a lawyer, a manager that we have not officially signed with and a record label that has paid for us to finish a record, and have songs going on 2 major motion picture soundtracks but still have not played our first live show. We are still in New York and we have 9 songs plus the forward to the CD done. Time is running out at the studio and we only have 4 days left before we are scheduled to have the CD mastered. Tom, our A&R guy at TVT, tells us that we need one more song because "TVT is not going to release a CD with 9 songs and an intro." We are challenged to yet another episode of round the clock writing and recording. Doug is working with John on mixing so Kurt comes up with a progression for the final song. Matt and Kurt play it for me on bass and guitar and send me into another room to come up with a melody and lyrics. In the next three days, we write, record, produce and mix the final track for the CD which is "Here." "Here I am for all to see, everything torn out of me. Too late to drown in all my doubt. Much too late to sort things out." I hit the nail on the head for exactly what I and all the guys were going through at the time. We made the mastering deadline. I can remember sitting in Dean and DeLuca at The Paramount Hotel on 46th Street after Doug and John got back from the mastering session. We all just kinda stared at the copy of the mastered version they brought to Matt, Kurt and I. In one year from starting out as a band together we had done all of this shit and managed to complete a full length CD that was to be released on TVT records (who we had yet to officially ink a deal with.)

The band goes on to play it's first live show to a sold out room at The Other World in St. Louis on November 2, 1995 and I sign our record deal unceremoniously sitting at Doug's kitchen table the Thursday before Thanksgiving in 1995 while basically sitting in my underwear (seems that was foreshadowing since I ended up performing in my underwear or less many times over the course of my career.)

I know you must be thinking, "Jeff is fucking crazy and made all of this shit up." I couldn't make this shit up. It's too crazy not to be real. I look back at it and become exhausted simply thinking about the series of circumstances and happenstances that created this unbelievable story. After posting the first part on January 12, many or you reached out to me and told me your story of connection to the band. Those are the real stories. Those are the stories that really matter in the grand scheme of the universe. My story, Gravity Kills story, really started when your connection and your story about the band began. Hopefully, there will be another "behind the music" tale to tell in the next chapter of the Gravity Kills.

DIY?

2011-01-14T13:11:00.000-08:00

You see the term DIY ("Do It Yourself" for those of you that have not been playing along) being thrown around in music blogs and websites all the time. At this point you are saying to yourself, "I certainly don't need to waste my time reading yet another pundit bestowing the virtues of DIY." Well read on because I might surprise you.

I have had my brain on this for a couple days, thinking about how I wanted to present this topic. We can all make the argument that it is essential for artists, musicians and bands to take as much control of their careers as possible. I have written here before that within the context of the new music business paradigm, you must be DIY and that of course includes an endless amount of hats to wear. Technology has made it possible to record music on your own. The internet has eliminated barriers to distribution. So Jeff, what could you possibly say that is different? I BELIEVE THERE IS NO SUCH THING IN THIS BUSINESS THAT IS TRULY DIY.

Seems like a fairly bold statement to make, especially since I have been telling you to be as self sufficient as possible for months. If you are making music and or playing shows, you can't do it all yourself. I am not talking making music, getting it on the internet, getting a website, facebook, myspace, twitter, flickr, youtube channel, getting merchandise manufactured to sell at shows, rehearsing your ass off to have a great live show and on and on and on. I recently had a fan from my home town reach out to me on facebook. Just so happens that he designs websites. As all of you know, there has not been a gravitykills.com for quite some time so this infinitely cool person asked me if he could create a new site for the band. Yes, I could create a wordpress website for Gravity Kills and if needed I would certainly move forward with that but it would not represent the band in a way that Kurt, Doug, Matt or myself would be happy with. The point is that if you take the time to create real relationships with fans, they might actually help you. Fans want to help. They want to be part of the process. They want to take ownership in what you are doing. They want to get on the carnival ride with you. Martin Atkins preaches of this all the time. If you are touring, you might actually find fans that will let you crash at their house. I am not saying to take advantage of people. The second you do is the second that you have lost a fan and lost the other possible fans that they might evangelize to. We don't live in test tubes and don't exist in vacuums. Continue to be as DIY as you can possibly be while knowing that it takes fan relationships to start building the tribe and to really take your business model to the next place. Outsource to your fans. Make them part of your daily band business and you won't feel so fucking crippled by the amount of work that you have to accomplish in the new 2.0 world.

The Story

2011-01-12T08:28:00.000-08:00

What the old paradigm was hungry for was a band with a story. It was something that record labels felt they needed to get the press (radio, TV, MTV, magazines, fanzines, etc.) interested in helping them push the band to the next level. Indulge me for a minute and I will tell the tale of Gravity Kills.

In the summer of 1994, KPNT 105.7 The Point in St. Louis was advertising to all the bands in the area to submit a song for what they were calling Pointessential Volume One. This was to be a collection of local St. Louis bands that employees of the KPNT would select and release on a CD compilation with any profits going to charity. Kurt, Doug and Matt were all living in St. Louis at the time and had decided they would submit something even though at the time, were not currently working together in a band. As musicians do from time to time, procrastination set in and they were down to the Monday before the Friday at 5pm deadline to submit. By Wednesday of that week, they had built a track of music but at this point had no melody, lyrics or a singer for that matter to complete the song. They spent the better part of Wednesday trying to hunt someone down to sing on the track but everyone they called was busy or simply did not want to make time to come to the studio. They even attempted to find a singer they had previously worked with but none of them had the guy's phone number and his last name was Smith so even looking through the St. Louis phone book seemed futile. At some point Matt turns to Kurt and says "We should have just called your cousin Jeff." Cut to...

I am sitting at home in Dallas, Tx and at about 9pm the phone rings. I answer the phone and it is Kurt on the line. He tells me the backstory that lead him to call me. The guys are obviously excited about the track and Kurt holds up the phone so I can hear some of it. Of course I really can't make out what I am listening to so Kurt goes on and tells me he would like to fly me up on Thursday to sing on the track. I tell him that I need to call my boss from my day job and see if it's possible. After sorting out my work situation I call back Kurt to tell him it is on and the guys in St. Louis make the flight arrangements. The next day comes...

I have to work in the morning and my boss actually takes me to DFW for a flight out on a puddle jumper (it was the cheapest flight the guys in St. Louis could find) that takes off at about 1pm on Thursday afternoon. Normally a flight from Dallas/Ft. Worth to St. Louis takes about an hour and a half but this flight had 3 stops to get to my final destination. To give you an idea of what I was dealing with, one of the stops was in Mountain Home Arkansas. I don't get into St. Louis until about 7pm. Kurt picks me up at the airport and had agreed to make dinner part of the deal so we go to downtown St. Louis and eat at a Spaghetti Warehouse kind of place. You know, one of those touristy places that has the 3 course meal (including ice cream) for $9.99. After dinner we head to the studio. By now it is after 9pm. When we get to the studio, Doug and Matt are waiting and actually playing some basketball in a video soundstage attached to the facility. When I walk through the door, someone passes me the ball and I throw up a shot from about 20 feet out. NOTHING BUT NET! At the same time, all four of us yell THAT'S ENOUGH! We knew the clock was ticking and we saw it as a positive omen to carry us through the night.

We get into the control room and I hear the track for the first time at around 9:30 pm. Remember, we only have tonight because I have a return flight to Dallas in the morning and the track is due at KPNT by 5pm the next day. In the meantime, as we are talking amongst ourselves the guys tell me that the name of this project is called Gravity Kills (the story behind that is another blog entirely.) I thought Gravity Kills was a great band name and in fact, probably the best name for a band that I had ever been part of. So, continuing on, I get set up in front of a mic and start scatting some melodies and generic vowel sounds over the track. At about 10:30pm I start locking into some things that start sounding like words. Matt pipes up and says, "It sounds like you are saying filthy. What about Guilty?"

Now armed with a melody and one word to build the lyrics around, I spend the next 90 minutes locking the melody in and writing actual words to this song. At 12:30am we start cutting vocals for the track and at about 3am we finally wrap it up. Gravity Kills has finished tracking it's first song. The name of the track is called "Guilty." At one point during the evening, Doug spins around from his chair at the mixing console and says, "If we can't get a record deal from this, we'll never get a deal." Mind you, by this time I had been in bands for years and been sniffed on a couple of times by major labels. I simply dismissed what Doug had just said and chalked it up to sleep deprivation. Kurt and I then leave to get some sleep while Matt and Doug stay at the studio to start mixing.

Now it is Friday. With the song due at 5pm, I fly home to Texas and the guys stay at the studio all day to finish the mix. With little or no time to spare, Doug delivers a DAT copy of the track to the radio station just minutes before the deadline. I can remember people in Texas asking me about what I had just flown to St. Louis to record and I did tell someone that the it was a good track but I thought I had done better work. I suspect I was dead wrong.

I don't hear anything for a couple of weeks by now. We were all waiting for the radio station to have it's meeting to determine which tracks would make the compilation. From insiders at the station that I am still friends with, they tell the story of great dissension amongst those in the meeting at KPNT because some absolutely loved the track and others absolutely hated it. I finally get the call. Kurt tells me that we had made it. At this point I started feeling like the 4 of us had the real start of something special. Now remember that we are a completely unknown band going on a 19 song CD with St. Louis staples such as The Finns, The Urge, MU330 and Wilco. Doug suggest that since we made a slot on the CD, we should continue writing and recording more material because it would be stupid for us not to at least make the best effort we could at becoming more than a studio project with one song. We all agree and schedule my next flight up for the weekend that KPNT will have the CD release party which is the first weekend in December.

I fly up for the CD release party and am fairly excited. The guys had worked on a couple more tracks for me to write vocals and lyrics for so the weekend will be extremely busy. By weekend's end, we had attended the party and had worked on 2 more tracks. The first called "Goodbye" (this demo is the track on the Mortal Kombat motion picture soundtrack) and a track called "Inside." All four of us can feel that this is getting really good. That we have found a way to work together that is really really working. Again, After the weekend is over, I fly back home to Texas.

By now we get into January of 1995. The radio station had already featured 2 tracks off of the CD and had sold all 2500 copies that they had pressed of it. The story could be over at this point but then a miracle happened. Jim McGuinn and Alex Luke, the programmers at the radio station decided to add "Guilty" to their active playlist. They really had no reason to add it since all the copies of the compilation had been sold but for some reason decided to add the track anyway. I get yet another phone call from Kurt telling me of the add. Of course I am very excited but it all seems so far away since I am living 600 miles from the epicenter of what is about to explode. Each week Kurt calls me with news. "This week the track is at #22!" "This week the track is at #14!" "This week the track is at #8!" "This week the track is at #2!" Again, since I am 600 miles away, I have a tough time believing what is happening let alone wrap my head around it. Meanwhile cut to...

In an office in at TVT Records in New York City, an A&R guy by the name of Tom Sarig is looking at a now extinct magazine called R&R (Radio and Records) and happens upon the playlist that KPNT has published for the week. At the top of the playlist he sees GUILTY, GRAVITY KILLS, UNSIGNED. Tom proceeds to get on the phone with Jim at KPNT and asks what the story is behind the band and gets our digits to give us a call. Yes, seems the domino's are all falling in the right direction.... We are now in February and I receive a call from Kurt. "This guy from TVT records wants to fly in and meet with the band!" he screams. We set up the meeting and I fly up to St. Louis (flying first class for the first time in my life on TVT Records) to meet with Tom. We do what I perceive as the usual with an A&R guy. He takes the band to dinner and then we go back to the studio to listen down some more tracks. At this time we only have 3 songs finished and the guys had been working on a couple more songs. As we all leave the studio, we are saying our goodbyes to Tom as he gets into his rental car. After he starts the car we hear something very familiar playing on his car radio. You guessed it. "GUILTY" IS FUCKING PLAYING ON HIS RADIO! He looks forward and pauses, then turns to the four of us and says "I'll send you paper on Tuesday."

I could go on and will finish the story if any of you want me to but here is my point. This story, as crazy and almost unbelievable as it sounds, HAS NOTHING TO FUCKING DO WITH WHY ANY OF YOU CONNECTED TO GRAVITY KILLS. First it was about the music. Maybe some of you met a band member at a show. Maybe some of you connect the music to a good or bad time in your life. My point is that the story of your band is different with every person that connects to you. Maybe you will think twice about phoning in and tanking a show on a lightly attended night. Maybe you will think twice about not taking the time to talk to someone at a show that wants a bit of your time and attention. Maybe you will think twice about how you talk to a club owner, promoter, radio person etc. THEY ALL WILL MAKE UP THEIR OWN STORY ABOUT YOUR BAND and that will be how you are perceived to them. At the end of the day, your story only matters if others have their story to tell about you.

The Hype

2011-01-09T12:34:00.000-08:00

We are constantly bombarded by the new, the improved, the better and the unbelievable. Traditional media and social media are places that throw more at us on a daily basis than we can possibly process. Like many of you, I have grown to be desensitized from the constant hype that is pushed in my face like the close talker at a party that you can't seem to shake. With that said, I am still a believer in the fact that I will find new things that excite me, push my buttons, turn me on or challenge me. I still fall prey to the internal hype that I create in my head of higher expectations of the things that are close to me. What the fuck does this have to do with your band you ask? Well, as I see it, if you shut yourself down to believing there is something better for you to create, a better song for you write or a better performance you can pull off at a gig or in the studio, then why create anything in the first place? Why push yourself to become more proficient at your instrument if you don't believe that you will actually get better at communicating with it? Maybe there is something out there that is actually as good if not better than all the hype that surrounds it. Maybe you can actually build up something in your own head and not be disappointed when you get to the point of execution. Do you get the connection? I am not saying that we should believe everything we hear and see to the point of naivete` but what I am saying is that I see a connection between shutting yourself down to the exterior world and that possibly having the same effect in the way you see your own experiences and creativity. Is there a way that we can re-sensitize ourselves to our surroundings that will make us better artists? Maybe you can actually build something up in your head and it exceeds your expectations. I know this can happen. I just lived it.

Help!

2010-12-29T10:27:00.000-08:00

I got a message today from a guy on Linkedin. He was introducing a band that he was managing to me. That in itself is cool and all but in the same message he said "let me know if there is anyway I can help you." In a way that kind of pisses me off. Why you ask? To me it implies that he is asking me for some help indirectly. I know I may be way off base and the guy really wants to help me out in someway but I don't feel good about it. I really don't know this guy and I know he may simply be trying to create a business relationship of some sort but I don't kiss on the first date (unless she is hot.) Where am I going with this?

In the music business, or any other business for that matter, relationships should be mutually beneficial. You do something for me, I do something for you and everyone wins. I really like helping people. I really like talking to bands but don't ever assume that by sending a simple message will engage me in what you are doing. Like you, I am a music fan. I listen to as much music as I can all the time. Dude, send me the stuff and try to create some dialogue like "take a listen if you have time and tell me what you think" or tell me you are excited about this band and see where the chips fall with me. Not that my opinion means jack shit but I would appreciate that you are excited, stoked, inspired, etc. by what you are pitching. Let's take baby steps here and see if I hear what you hear. I usually tell people the truth and even if it isn't my cup of tea, I will at least tell you what I think.

Maybe I am reading this all wrong but for you band people out there, think about how you approach prospective fans. Don't EVER assume that anyone will ever be as excited about your music as you are. Get into your relationships with fans and business people (club owners, booking agents, etc.) without hitting them over the top of the head and turning them off. Engage them first, give them something to believe in and then up the stakes. Don't make people feel like they owe you something because in this business, especially as an artist, you will never be able to do as much for your fans as they do for you. Remember that.

Communication

2010-12-23T15:47:00.000-08:00

I remember when Gravity Kills started and it really seemed that it was the band against the world. The only fans of the band that existed where Matt, Doug, Kurt, myself and the few family and friends that had heard Guilty before it was released on Pointessential Volume One. I had no idea what the road ahead looked like. I had no idea that I was going to be so lucky as to emotionally touch people that I had never met with music that I helped create. Sure, I thought I knew. I had dreamed my whole life about hearing a song of mine on the radio or playing to a packed house somewhere but that was all kind of bullshit. The essence of my experience can be encapsulated by the experiences I shared with others and the people that made themselves part of my experience. Yes, I did say MY experience. I know this sounds selfish. Let me explain. My experience in the music business has been infinitely enhanced by the people that made an effort to reach out to me, not the other way around. People who make a decision to become your fans are beyond special. That is the reason you do it. You really only have communication when someone responds to you. If you are speaking, whispering, screaming, etc. and nobody talks back, have you really communicated? Don't get caught up in the number of people that talk back to you and let you know they are listening. You can sort of figure out that the sample of people that will really open up to you personally and communicate how your song made them feel is small compared to everyone that has actually heard your music if you are really getting your message out there and across. It is amazing to me that I am constantly in touch with fans that have been around for years and that we all consider ourselves real friends. I actually had a friend that started out as a fan send me a holiday package this week. Really cool if you think about it.

My whole point to this is to create dialogue with your audience. Be open to hearing what people who were touched by what you do want to say back to you. Take down the barrier that stands between you and your audience. You just might get way more back than you ever gave out in the first place.

Welcome Back

2010-12-22T12:48:00.000-08:00

So, some if not all of you have been wondering where the hell I have been. I must say that my head has not been in the game with you guys for several months. Life and all of it's splendor has been kicking me in the ass for a while and now is the time for me to get off my aforementioned ass and get back in the game. Over the time I have been out of the game, it's not like I haven't wanted to write and talk about the things that are important to me and more importantly, anyone reading my ramblings, it's that I found an excuse everyday to not stay on the horse. I hate making excuses. It seems that when you get in the habit of making them, they become part of your operating system. It's time for all of us to stop that. I simply need to get over my shit and get on with it. We all do. Let's not make excuses when it comes to our passions. Everyone in the world has told you that you can't accomplish what you set out to do. Why the fuck do we buy in to everyone else's bullshit. BECAUSE IT'S EASY! Creating music is not easy and at times not fun or fulfilling. Working in the studio and playing the same guitar part until your hands bleed so you can get the right take is not always fun. Being in a band is not always fun. Loading in at the venue is not always fun. Loading out at 3 in the morning in the cold, rain, snow, etc. is not fun. Do you make excuses not to make love to your inherent passion? Do you listen to those in your life that tell you that you CAN'T simply because deep down they want you to fail? Please don't buy what they are trying to sell you. I am not saying that you will ever see success at the level that you aspire to but don't make excuses not to work at your craft. You and I both know that if it flows through your veins, you really have 2 choices: Work fucking hard or make excuses and be miserable. I have been miserable for a while. The excuses end today. Welcome back.

Embrace The Horror

2010-08-25T20:58:00.000-07:00

If I talk to or read about one more musician bitching about how the internet has made their job so much harder I am going to fucking scream. What is the primary job of a band or musical artist? I am pretty sure it is to make music. The internet and social media have nothing to do with it unless you can't get your bass player to the studio because he is addicted to internet porn. Once you have some music recorded you can do several things. Maybe you don't give a damn if anyone ever hears your work. I am completely fine with that (and those people usually are doing us all a huge favor) but most bands that endure songwriting and recording do it for others to hear. The internet has actually made your next job easier. What is that you ask? I think it is to deliver it to as many people as possible for them to hear.

The complaints I usually get are in regards to the amount of time it takes dealing with social media. Well boo-fucking-hoo. What a horrible world we live in where you can create music and have limitless boundaries and avenues of distribution. What a horrible world we live in where you can communicate with your fans daily and make your band a part of their daily life. What a horrible world we live in where your fans can turn others on to your band. What a horrible world we live in where if you create something special and work your ass off, you at least have the chance that someone you will never ever meet in the flesh might get turned on by what you do. Hard work and creativity might in some cases create luck and opportunity. Feel lucky if anyone is paying attention to you at all. The days when all musicians did was make music, play shows and talk about themselves in interviews are long over so get fucking over it and get to work.

Full Length Recording Cycles

2010-08-12T17:51:00.000-07:00

In a recent article on Noise Creep, Rob Zombie was quoted saying "I like the thought of the band writing, say, one song a month and putting it up there," Zombie said. "Say we've been on tour for six or eight months and we don't have time to stop and make a whole album. It would be cool to put out two or three songs we've written and then keep going just to keep it energized. And truthfully, when you make a new album ... you go, 'OK here's 11 new songs, five of which we'll never play live. And here's the two or three singles that will always be in the set.' So it could just be a different way to do business that's really sort of like the old way of doing things. Back in the '50s and '60s people weren't making albums, they were pressing singles and then an album was basically a collection of all the singles."

This is not a new concept. I have been having discussions with friends for years regarding this topic and have touched on this concept before on The White Light. Aside from having a full length CD available to sell at your shows or as special editions or to get your music on Pandora (another topic altogether,) is the full length CD cycle nearing extincton? My take is this...

In my humble opinion, releasing songs as you get them done is what bands should be doing. With all the shit being thrown at us (much by our own design) digitally and otherwise on a daily, weekly, monthly and yearly basis, we have the attention spans of toddlers. I still buy full download albums but will tell you, even when I bought CD's, I spend about 2 or 3 weeks with a new album before I am off to the next thing. Now factor in that there may only be half of that album that I think is worth a shit. In the best case of course I will continually listen down the entire collection but sooner than later, I am on to the next thing. Because of aforementioned shit being thrown at me (again, much of it by my own design,) the next band, song or video is just a mouse click away.

Close your eyes. Check that. You can't read with your eyes closed. Now, think of your favorite band. Would you visit the band's website/facebook/myspace/youtube/twitter etc. far more often if the band was releasing material in monthly or bi-monthly cycles? Now think of how your fans would react to this. Music is the core content on the web for your band (unless you are OK GO but that is another topic altogether.) Do you think you would see a larger retention of your fan's attention and see them visit you far more often if this was a strategy that you used to fight the shit?

Local Award Contests

2010-08-11T15:52:00.000-07:00

Last week I hosted the ABOT awards put on by Garage Media and Tulsa's weekly entertainment newspaper The Urban Tulsa. I can tell you that these type of local band award things has really never been my cup of tea. Back in the old days, Gravity Kills only won one award in a similar contest given out by the Riverfront Times. This was in 1996 and we won the award for "Best Sounding Record." Flattering, but funny to think that maybe people didn't like the songs but sure liked the way it sounded. Usually these type of contests will nominate bands in various categories and then it is up to the band to get their friends, family and fans motivated to vote for them. I am not the only person that really doesn't like this but you know as well as I do that people will complain any way. As the award ceremony was happening, I had some time to talk to someone that works for the Urban Tulsa and he mentioned to me that they had received tons of messages "hating" on the event.

I get why a band would do that on several levels. Maybe they think they are sooo indie and above such nonsense. Maybe they were pissed off that they were not nominated at all. There could be a million reasons.
I get all of that but to those bands once again, YOU ARE MISSING THE FUCKING POINT!

In previous posts I have talked about what I feel is the biggest reason that local scenes don't happen. BECAUSE THE BANDS WON'T SUPPORT EACH OTHER. In the case of this award show, at least someone is trying to gain attention for local music. You may not like the format, the way bands are nominated or the way they win but don't throw the baby out with the bath water.

Compulsory License

2010-08-04T09:07:00.000-07:00

There are many of you out there that have busted out a cover tune from time to time in your live set. There are also many of you that have recorded a cover as well. In the last week, I had a band out of Iowa (the home of the pissed and aggressive) ask me for permission to perform "Guilty" at a benefit they are playing in a couple of weeks. My answer was, you don't have to have the band's permission to cover a song live. Then there is the question, do I have to have permission to record and release another band's composition? The answer to that is also no. What you have to do if you're going to record and release another band's song is send a letter of Compulsory License to the publisher(s) of the song.

Considering today's technology, it is funny to think why Congress first enacted compulsory license into our copyright laws. Does anyone remember player pianos? As I understand, Congress first enacted compulsory license to protect copyright holders of musical compositions when bars and restaurants (and probably brothels) started using player pianos to entertain their guests way way back in the day. At that point, the song arrangement scrolls could be sold for player pianos and the rights holders could get paid. From there, Congress has updated the law a couple times to include the changes to recording and distribution technologies.

Why do I do this and what does it cover? In essence, Congress has given you the right to record and release any song you want but you have to tell the rights holder(s) that you are doing it so if you sell some copies they can get paid. It covers you remaking a song and stylizing the song to fit your band but it does not cover you using or sampling parts of the original recording and going all P. Diddy with it. In other words, compulsory license does not give you the right to use the original sound recording in your cover. That is part of the mechanical use and in most cases that performance is owned by a record company. To use that stuff you must get permission from the rights holder(s) of the actual recording and compulsory license does not apply. Are you with me?

How do you find the rights holder of the composition you ask? Most music in the U.S. is affiliated with performing rights organizations such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. Each website has a searchable database where you can find publishing rights holder(s). Here is an example from ASCAP:


1.	GUILTY	Work ID: 370272474
		ISWC: T0700694718
	Writers: DUDENHOEFFER MATTHEW C FIRLEY DOUGLAS ARTHUR KERNS KURT R SCHEEL JEFFREY SCOTT	Performers: GRAVITY KILLS TVT RECORDS
	Variations: GUILTY // SEVEN M 300183	Publishers/Administrators: ARLOVOL MUSIC C/O THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY 449 S BEVERLY DR STE 300 BEVERLY HILLS, CA, 90212 Tel. (310) 286-6600 Email: ROGER@BICYCLEMUSIC.COM

So in this case, if you were going to cover "Guilty," you would send your letter of compulsory license to the publisher/administrator. Since I am not a entertainment attorney and want you to be as informed as possible, please check out http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ73.pdf before you embark on "your own, personal Jesus."

Creative Commons

2010-07-30T11:58:00.000-07:00

There has been a stink made recently by ASCAP regarding Creative Commons licensing. I have to tell you that I am an ASCAP member. I get my 6 statements a year from them (4 domestic and 2 foreign distribution checks,) look at the all the numbers, shares and percentages, my eyes roll back in my head and then I move on. Whatever the amount is on the check I must simply accept it for what it is. There is absolutely no way of knowing if the check is the correct amount or not. I do understand that ASCAP takes 12.5% of what they collect for you but really you just get the check and put it in the bank.

What ASCAP said is this: “At this moment, we are facing our biggest challenge ever. Many forces including Creative Commons, Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation and technology companies with deep pockets are mobilizing to promote “Copyleft” in order to undermine our “Copyright.” They say they are advocates of consumer rights, but the truth in these groups simply do not want to pay for the use of our music. Their mission is to spread the word that our music should be free.”

Again, I am an ASCAP member but let's face facts here. Did ASCAP not get the memo that tons of music has already been "free" on the internet for well over a decade? I am not advocating piracy so jump off that train but what I do advocate is an artist having the right to release music in anyway they see fit. Let's look at what Creative Commons really is.

Traditionally, copyrights are "All Rights Reserved." Under a Creative Commons license you simply have "Some Rights Reserved." Creative Commons has created six different copyright cocktails if you will with 4 basic ingredients. The "core right" in all works under a Creative Commons license is the right of redistribution for non-commercial purposes. What does that mean to you? If you have music that you want to give away for free but you want to retain commercial rights, your fans can download and share your music without looking over their shoulder for the RIAA. You still retain commercial rights for radio, streaming, film and TV etc..Creative Commons has various levels and degrees of "Some Rights Reserved" including giving your fans the ability to remix your songs and create derivatives of your work as long as you get credit for the original work and the remixes and derivatives then must carry the same type license. Very cool stuff for your fans.

I can't and won't tell you how to approach this but will give my opinion that it is something you should look into. Only you have the right to dictate how your work is consumed. That is as long as your rights are not fractured with a record company or a publisher.Now that is a different blog.

Check out the Creative Commons website here. http://creativecommons.org/

The Vortex

2010-07-29T11:54:00.000-07:00

A vortex is defined as:

1. A spiral motion of fluid within a limited area, especially a whirling mass of water or air that sucks everything near it toward its center.

This is how I look at what we bands need to become in the current music business paradigm. With this said, the most important part of what you do, the center if you will, is your music. You can have the greatest looking website, make the most clever videos, be active in social media, have everything in place and do all the right things but why will anyone want to pay attention if they get to your center and you are just not that good. With that established over and over again let's look at this through web presence.

The Center: Your Website. This is the place you have the most control of what you do and how you present it to the world. This is where all web content and social media roads must lead back to. This is where you want to build and centralize your fan community. I have been in conversations with fan/friends and heard them tell me how they miss the old Gravity Kills message board. It was a place where fans talked about the band and possibly more importantly, became real friends with others that went there. I have 2 fans that became friends to me that actually met on our message board and got married. They are still married and have a family together. Do you think that this couple will ever discount what my band meant to them in the grand scope of their life? I think not. What does this have to do with music? Gravity Kills will forever be part of this couple's life. The community gave these two people a place to start building a relationship with each other simply based on liking the music of the same band. People want to have things in common. You see this daily on your facebook. Create it with your website.

We can list the other places you know your band has to be i.e. Myspace (yes, you still need to be there,) Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr , Flickr, Youtube, Reverbnation, Band Camp, etc., etc., etc. (in my Yul Brynner, The King and I voice.) These places are respectively the limited space of water or air surrounding your vortex. For social media, 6 years ago Myspace was THE place to be. Then came Facebook. You upload video to Youtube, upload photos to Flickr and on and on. THESE SITES WILL COME AND GO. What will happen to Facebook when the all mighty Google finally figures out how to create a social media platform that blows up Facebook? If that is where all of your social media cards are, your direct line of communication to your fans will die with it. You need to find creative ways to get all of your social media fans back to the center of your vortex as much as possible.

Here is another way of looking at this topic.

Your hometown shows should be the center of your live vortex. This is the place where you can make the most touches with fans and prospective fans. In this case, think of your vortex breathing in fans as well as exhaling your band to other markets. Make your vortex grow one market at a time. The markets should be a reasonable drive from one another. Make it where fans from one market to the next can actually come see you in multiple markets. If you live in the Northwest part of the U.S. you are somewhat fucked. If you live in Providence, Rhode Island well then, you have it made regarding this. You want to create a situation in which the ripple of the initial splash you make in your home market will carry you out. The further you get away from the splash or the center of your vortex, the harder it will be for you to gain attention. If you can make a splash in one market, the ripple can carry you to a second market where that splash can carry you to the next and so on and so on.

Everything you do regarding your music and live shows should always suck people back into your vortex. If you suck enough people in, you might have a shot at really making a long lasting ripple.

That's Just Life

2010-07-28T20:29:00.000-07:00

I think the hardest thing for the indie musician is simply enduring. As a full time musician with Gravity Kills, I had personal times that were tough but as the band got bigger, it was my job to be at the studio and to be creative. People have asked me what I miss the most about my personal experience in Gravity Kills and I tell them that I miss having the opportunity to be creative and think about music 24 hours a day. Even when times were tough, since it was my job to be creative, I could find solace at the studio and focus. Focusing on music became an escape for me because I had the energy and more than that, the time to focus. As many of you out there, I have to deal with life differently now. I get up in the morning and go to my office and put my agent hat on. I do love what I do but it is not my end all be all passion. You can relate I am sure. I work all day, come home, deal with other things and then attempt to sit down and focus on creating new Gravity material. Some nights are good and some are not so good. The difference for me now is that I need to be extremely focused in shorter amounts of time. Life is not great for me at the moment and that magnifies both my need for music as well as eating an enormous amount of emotional energy that consumes even more of my time. I have had brief moment of brilliance lately but simply want more time. Like anything else that you do, the more you can expose yourself to being creative in a place where you can be constructively creative, the better your results will be. I will endure, just give me time.

Our Digital Space

2010-07-26T11:06:00.000-07:00

I was having dinner with some people from the Oklahoma Film and Music office last week. We got to talking about the comparisons and contrasts between what the internet has done to both the film industry and the music industry. When talking about the internet, it seems one must acknowledge the distinction between the social media phenomenon and the internet as a whole. The person I was talking to made the comment that social media has created what she called her "digital space." She went on to say that as the internet makes it easier to connect and to get information more easily and virtually instantaneously, social media has actually created an insulation for her to all of the things that she does not want to pay attention to. Elaborating more she stated that on facebook she has many friends that she has reconnected to, but only in a way to see a long lost friend's picture of a child or a one time message of "What are you doing these days?" This conversation made it clear to me that the work cut out for a new and virtually unknown band is more daunting than ever. When thinking about facebook in particular, it seems that it is set up entirely to create an insulated personal digital space. Bands can have pages but can't message their fans directly from the profile. Myspace has it set up where a person can block bands from sending friend requests. I get that both are trying to eliminate spam but it certainly makes it much more difficult for a band to go find new fans.

In the old days (all of 15 years ago) you had to be more engaged with mass culture. Part of this was because we had no choice. We found new music on MTV, radio, by reading magazines such as Alternative Press, Paste, even Rolling Stone and Spin. Through music we had common threads between people of all socio-economic backgrounds. Music and Film united us with those we may never ever have anything else in common with. Personal digital space has somewhat eliminated all of that with the exception of celebrity culture. Is all of this happening because with all the information on the internet, we actually now have less time for discovery? Less time to read or listen to something new? Less time to search out new music? Is our personal digital space nothing more than a backlash to the information revolution?

This is why I keep spouting off about creating musical communities with bands. YOU CAN'T DO THIS ALONE. As prospective fans are shrinking into their own digital space, the more bands you have in a community to wake people up with, the more chance you have to pull them into your digital space.

DFEST

2010-07-22T13:42:00.000-07:00

The current economy has really hit the concert and festival business. Not that this is big news to anyone but it is especially weird today considering that tonight I would normally be going to the DFEST VIP party to kick off two days of conferences and live music. Due to the down economy, DFEST founders Tom and Angie Green had to pull the plug on arguably the best thing that had happened to the Oklahoma music scene ever. In the last couple of years the event had come into it's own as a premier music event. Interestingly Tom and Angie took enormous heat publicly for canceling the event.What these haters didn't know was that the Green's had never made any money from putting on the event and on several occasions had been in near personal financial ruin from hosting it. DFEST was (and hopefully will be in the future) a physical manifestation of what I preach on this blog about the creation of community. They created an epicenter, a place where musicians and industry professionals could come together with common goals and focus on the indie musician and how it pertained to a sustained success. I can only hope a year from now that I am writing about getting ready to go to the event and not about how I will miss it.

http://www.dfest.com/site/dfest/section/29

http://www.dfest.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diversafest

The Fishbowl

2010-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

I talk to so many bands and artist that seem to think that if they move to New York City, Los Angeles, or Nashville that they will suddenly find the success that was lacking in their home market. I have said this in a previous post but, why the hell does anyone think they are going to set the world on fire in another market when people don't care in their home market? All you are doing is putting yourself in a larger fishbowl where there are fewer gigs because of competition and lesser chance of you gaining traction simply because of the increased numbers of bands that are trying to do the same thing that you are doing. There was a country band that I was booking in in the region (I am in Oklahoma now so that makes some sense) who's singer was really something special. I really mean special. She possessed all the ingredients that it took to really make a go of it and make a career out of it. At their regional gigs, label folks and management types started flying in for shows. You could really feel that an extraordinary situation was brewing. Then one day I get a call and the girl had decided to move to Nashville. I didn't try to talk her out of it because I knew she felt that this was the best move for her and who am I to throw water on the situation. One of the management types had leaned on her to give it all up for a chance at the big time. This girl was not a songwriter but when she got to Nashville she was hooked up with songwriters and advised not to perform live sparingly. The irony here is that the stage was home for her. It was the place that she made a difference and turned heads. The stage was her place of connection to her art and to those who followed her. I will admit that she gave it hell why she was there and did everything she could to make it happen. Unfortunately, nothing ever did. This girl is still living in Nashville but is thinking about moving back to Wichita to join another band.

The thing about Nashville that the Nashville country music industry elite don't want you to know is that yes, it is the country music capital of the world BUT, it is not the country music capital considering the amount of actual country music fans that live there. One interesting statistic I use to back this claim up is...Can you guess what format the number one radio station in Nashville is? NOPE, it is not a country music station. Can you guess what format the number two radio station in Nashville is? NOPE, it is not a country music station. Can you guess what format the number three radio station in Nashville is? NOPE, it is not a country music station. Now, can you guess what format the number four station in Nashville is? NOPE, still not a country music station. According to Arbitron, the top rated country music radio station in Nashville is the fifth highest rated station in the market. Most people who don't live in Nashville have the misconception that the entire city is engulfed by the country music culture and the entire population of the city are all walking around with Taylor Swift and Keith Urban t-shirts on.

I bet you are now wondering "Jeff, since this girl was trying to build a country music fan base in Wichita, what format is the number one radio station in Wichita?" Again, according to Arbitron, I bet you can guess what the number one station is. You are correct, IT IS A COUNTRY MUSIC STATION. In a city that is one third the size of Nashville, there is proportionally a much larger number of people that would be into what she was doing where she was living BEFORE she moved to Music City (cough, cough.)

So in essence what this girl did is not move to a larger fishbowl, she moved to a fishbowl that was slightly larger with way more fucking fish in it.

Gig Photos

2010-07-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Band after band puts up performance photos and videos on myspace, facebook, youtube etc.. This is great for those who did not make it to the gig. What about taking photos or video of the band with the people that came to the gig? These are the things that will most engage your fans. Your fans want to see themselves in photos as much as you do plus when you post these type of photos you will be assured that your fans will go to your pages and check them out. They will probably link to them or comment on them where others can find it and in the end drive more people to your media pages. This will show your fans that you actually care that they were at the gig and you know what might happen then? Your fans will really start caring about you and your success.

An Easy Way To Get Your Website Up

2010-07-18T18:39:00.000-07:00

Many of you out there don't have a website to centralize your digital efforts from. I know that Myspace and Facebook are free but hopefully from our discussions here, you are starting to understand the importance of having your own website. Take a look at the following video and you might be able to do this without any help. Let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViDoAS1R-xI

A Story of What Not To Do

2010-07-15T16:03:00.000-07:00

I was talking to a club owner today and he was in the middle of canceling a some dates of a band that had been doing very well for him. I asked him why and he told me that the band had told their fans not to drink as much when they come out and see them. I understand wanting your fans to party responsibly but WHY THE FUCK WOULD YOU DO THAT? I am not being an asshole here but when broken down to the lowest common denominator, live music is a vehicle for clubs to drive revenue. Do you really think that clubs can make enough money on 15 to 20% of what they make off the door to be profitable and keep the doors open? I will tell you what I tell every band out there. IF THE CLUB OR BUYER LOSES MONEY ON A SHOW, EVERYONE LOSES! What I mean by this is that every night a club loses money on a show, it erodes the confidence that the club has in live music. It shrinks the chance of a club taking a chance on a new act that the club may want to book but is afraid of booking because they might lose money. I am not telling you bands out there not to get as much money for a show as you can. I am telling you to look at your relationship with a club as one of a partnership. Another thing I tell bands is, with all things being equal, the band with the lower money deal will always get the gig. Exercise fiduciary responsibility with your clubs and you will have gigs. Bleed them and not have the big picture in mind and nobody will get the gig...except for the local DJ.

Digital Strategy Part Deux

2010-07-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Thinking about digital strategy makes most musicians want to go to the nearest corner of the room and curl up in the fetal position. We can really break this down into 3 parts which are gaining attention, connecting and monetization.

Part 1: Gaining attention.

First and foremost, as a band you must be good. I am not talking about how your buddies that come to rehearsal and tell you how much you rock and drink your beer. I am talking about doing something that can cut through the clutter. Let's face it. As we have talked about before. The supply side of music has been flooded with more shit that you can possibly sift through. Music is everywhere and is cheap or in most cases, free. Your music is the foundation for everything. With that said, the first place to start in marketing your band in the internet world is your website. I know everyone is saying, "Jeff, Gravity Kills doesn't even have a website so you are full of shit." At the moment we don't but those of you who have been with the band for a long time know that our website was the hub and piazza for our fans. Some bands simply put up their Myspace page and call it a day. Well, we know what happened here, fans moved away from Myspace. Some fans will still follow you there. Some fans will follow you on Facebook. Some will follow on Twitter. Others will check the band out on Youtube and check your photos out on Flickr. My point here is that you must create a presence everywhere but centralize your community. When you are on facebook, myspace, twitter, your blog, etc., make an effort to send people back to your site. DON'T FUCKING ASK THEM TO BUY STUFF AND COME TO YOUR SHOWS. That leads us to the second part...

Part 2: Connecting:

Here is where the time and the real investment from the artist or the band takes place. I pity the bands that only send me bulletins, emails or post on facebook and twitter about where to get their music or begging me to come to a show. There are so many levels of engagement but since we are talking about this in the context of a digital environment, I will keep it there. Because there are a million bands out there simply screaming at people and asking them for money, you can't be one of these bands. If you are in a bar and meet a hot girl, you don't want to ask her to come home and sleep with you right then if you want to have something more than a one night stand with her (not that one night stands with hot girls are bad but you get my point.) The same applies to fans. They want to know you. They want to see that you are willing to invest your time, your soul, your emotions in building a relationship with them.You need to let them into your process. You need to give them a look behind the curtain. If you are creating music that is real and that is honest, you won't need mystique.People want to connect to what they believe in and they respond to honesty. People say on the internet you can be whoever you want to be. Well, this does not apply to bands or artists. Take the time to show them what is behind the music. The more you give a person to connect to, the more likely they are to connect. With social media please remember that is essential you use it to bring people to where? That's right, your website. Now, what happens when you start really connecting to fans?

Part 3 Monetization: (I am imagining the voiceover from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life)

Imagine a place where fans actually come to you and ask when they can buy the next download, CD, when you are playing next etc.? Fans will give you their money if they believe in you. Price is usually not an objection that hardcore fans ever have for purchasing music of a band they love. They will talk about you with others and be your evangelist for their world. Can you imagine that place? Are you good enough and honest enough as an artist for this to happen to you?

I am looking at the broad picture here. We can break all the social media sites down if you all would like?

Formulating a Digital Strategy

2010-07-06T08:31:00.000-07:00

In previous post I have talked about having a plan. Make your plan with one thing in mind, YOUR PLAN WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO CHANGE. As technology advances at a more than rapid pace, we all need to be students of what is happened to the business and ponder the possibilities of where it is going. The compact disk as a format has had a pretty good run (nearly 30 years) when compared to the 8 track tape and the cassette. The mp3 has had a run of over 12 years and now many of you don't even own music at all. Services like Pandora, Slacker and other streaming services now satisfy the appetite of millions of music consumers. Where does this leave all of us as far as marketing our music in a way that will actually put any money in the artists pockets? I hear and read complaints from musicians and artists about how keeping up with all of this and maintaining a social media presence eats an enormous amount of time and energy that many feel would be best spent writing and recording music or perfecting their chops on their instruments of choice or honing their production chops. My answer to that is of course, STOP YOUR WHINING! You can't have your cake and eat it too. What I mean is that the internet has eliminated the barriers of entry into the digital music market and gatekeepers such as record labels and terrestrial radio are losing market share daily to indie types like yourselves. If you make great music and can deliver your music in as many places as possible, you don't need the gatekeepers anymore. I am not saying that a record deal is never the answer and that radio can't help you, simply that there are so many outlets for your music now and great music can be heard by millions of people without all of that. The point here is that you really must define what your goals are and question why you are doing what you are doing. If you are on twitter simply to yell at people about your shows or to buy your music, that strategy will fail. Be honest about expectations. Centralize your efforts. Create continuity. The digital world for a band is more about community than marketing. Use every means necessary to not only get your music out but to listen to your fans about what makes them listen, buy music or come to your show. To sum this up, think about where you need to be, why you are there and what your goal and expectations are. Sounds simple. Is it?

Trust

2010-07-05T09:37:00.000-07:00

That is what has happened to this business. That is why people have stopped buying music in large numbers and why the concert business has gone down the tubes. People have lost trust in artists, record companies, terrestrial radio, magazines and the concert business. Major artists have been caught scalping their own tickets. Record companies are suing their customers over file sharing and attempting to shove music we perceive as being formulated down our throats. Terrestrial radio has become homogenized, predictable and in many cases, is being programmed from a city that you are not in and does not understand you. Music magazine outlets (both print and on-line) have either played it safe or bash good artist for the attempt at credibility. The concert business is over run with huge on-line fees, overpriced tickets, and has conditioned the public to either stay home or purchase late with 2 for 1 or reduced ticket fee shows. There are many of you out there that cry out for something to believe in. That thirst for music that is honest and speaks to you. If you are an artist, songwriter, etc., it is time for you to start listening to what your fans want. Do you listen to your fans? Do you have an honest relationship with your fans? How will you build trust with your fans? The old way doesn't work anymore. Hiding behind the curtain doesn't work anymore. Expose yourself emotionally to those who will listen. Intimacy is a need that needs to be incorporated between you and your audience at every level. If you want to make music for yourself that is fine. If you don't want to expose yourself emotionally to others, well that is completely up to you. If you want others to listen and ultimately support what you do monetarily, then you must give yourself to others. Just like in other parts of your life, trust has to be earned. How bad do you want to earn it is completely up to you.

Why I Do This

2010-06-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

In a previous post, I asked all of you why you are a musician. Here is my story. I come from a family where music was always around in some shape or form. Both of my parents played trumpet when they were in High School but neither was what you would consider prodigious. My Mother was into Motown so when I was very young I was listening to Smokey Robinson, The Marvelettes, Stevie Wonder, and the list goes on. I could feel the music. The beat and the melody spoke to me. At age nine, my parents bought me a guitar for Christmas. I started lessons immediately but I didn't really like what they were teaching me. My teacher had me learning to read sheet music and playing songs like Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and other songs I thought were "stupid" for me to learn. I quickly became frustrated and quit taking the lessons. I wanted to learn cords. Soon after I continued to play and started making sound on sound recordings with 2 small cassette tape decks that we had in the house. I wrote songs that fit the experience of a child and spent hours on end in my room going as far as producing radio shows that incorporated my own songs. At age 12, my parents bout me my first drums and at 14 had my first full drum kit. I played in bands all through High School and College. I simply knew it was "what I did." If you have spent time with any Gravity Kills music, the lyrics are dark. The music is aggressive. Well....I am complicated. A tortured artist if you will. Places like sorrow, despair, loneliness and sadness are places that are home to me. I don't know if I would ever be capable of writing a happy love song or a feel good summer party song. That is not who I am. I am not saying that I don't attempt to have balance in my life and those of you that know me, know me as someone more rounded and three dimensional than the voice on a Gravity Kills record. Those of you that have seen a show see there is more than that. I simply draw my most powerful inspiration from the dark places in my life. I feel compelled to work on music for many reasons but will tell you that making music at times is worse than being a drug addict. I compare it to that because at times in my life, music has cost me personal relationships, my marriage, money, stability and at times the ability to relate to others. When Gravity Kills broke up in 2003, I didn't pick up a guitar for close to a year. I had a guitar on a stand in my living room really for decoration. I would pass it daily and for the longest time could pass by the guitar without really thinking about it. Then the guitar started whispering to me. As time passed the guitar's voice gradually became louder and louder. One day, I finally picked it up. Not really to play it or to write a song but simply to hold it. Maybe in the same way you hug an old friend that you had lost touch with and had not connected to in a long time. Then I started playing again. Not writing music but simply enjoying the feel of the guitar in my hand and the sound of the cords I was playing. I never thought I would entertain the thought of even performing in public let alone write music again. Really, music gives me the medium to talk about things and say things I feel I need to say. Today things are the same yet different. I feel like I still have something to say but I have reasons beyond me. A few years ago, Tom Green who started DFEST in Tulsa told me that if I still have something to say then I owed it to those who loved the band and all the guys that never got a shot to be heard. I really didn't know how to take that. Did anyone give a shit at this point? Could what I have to say be at all relevant? I suppose that remains to be seen but in the end, I do have something to say and Gravity Kills has decided to move forward. Why? Because it is what I do and who I am. Thanks for reading this. Life is beyond interesting at this point and I hope to make it more interesting.

Your Live Show Is Not About You

2010-06-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

A live show is to a band what a wedding reception is to a bride. The show is for your fans who are your family. Gravity is playing tonight and we are already getting requests ranging from fans who want to get into soundcheck from those who want to have dinner. We will get them into soundcheck and I am pretty sure that having sushi with a few close fans for dinner will be awesome. For you bands out there. Show day is not about you and the band. Not a time to get extra security and hang backstage. You spend all this fucking time trying to contact people via social media and when the show day comes you are untouchable? The show day is about giving back to those that support you. We have fans that spend hundreds of dollars to come see us EVERY single time we play. Do you think any of those people would continue to be into the band if they had no access? I have already preached to you about the importance of your fan relationship. Show days are the time to put up or shut up. Gravity Kills fans are my family. Today, I will do my best to treat them like that. Uncle John, pass the wasabi please!

Nostalgia and The Future

2010-06-24T23:43:00.000-07:00

I got into St. Louis today for our show tomorrow. Driving into St. Louis always floods me with so many different emotions. With Gravity, it was the best time and the worst time of my life. Personally as well as with the band, I made so many mistakes along the way as well as having the time of my life with 3 other guys that are beyond family. Where am I going with this you ask? Doug and I sat on the roof of his studio facility http://www.shockcitystudios.com/ and talked about a lot of things. In the old days of Gravity Kills, Doug and I had a very love/hate relationship. We shared some times that were both creatively and personally amazing as well as battling over things in the band. On the roof as we talked, I got more and more charged up with the fact that Gravity is compelled to be creative together again. You just know when something works. The fucked up thing about bands is that they all usually forget what brought them together in the first place. The magic that you felt in the studio working on the first recordings or playing the first live show as a band. Why must we all seemingly lose touch with the foundation of collaboration and shared experience the longer we work with someone? When Gravity plays live, Doug and I are the last two on stage. Doug and I will tell each other "let's achieve consciousness" right before we walk on stage. We do this to remind ourselves that every opportunity to walk on stage or work on music together is something special and we need to savor it. I tell you all this...If you feel your band or your project is special, embrace the process, the work, the rigor. Remember that a band is the sum of ALL of it's parts. I am more excited than ever to have new Gravity Kills material released into the world. I have been reminded today how special I feel about what we do. And, if I feel that way, maybe we can convince someone else to feel that way about new music. Rediscovering the past today has made me very excited about the future.

Heading to St. Louis

2010-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

I am hitting the open road to meet up with the Gravity guys for our show Friday in St. Louis. I will see what inspires me as I drive. I may be blogging about corn nuts tomorrow. Who knows.

Tell me what you think about this?

2010-06-22T13:16:00.000-07:00

I won't say a word but when you have a moment, check out the article and read the responses. I would love to get your opinions. http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2010/06/when-vevo-ad-supported-music-go-too-far.html

Do What You Do

2010-06-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

I played in a bunch of bands before Gravity Kills. Strangely I played in bands ranging from metal to techno pop. If you throw the influences together I guess you get what I ended up doing with Gravity. That was the band that I found my creative home with. What is it that you do? The reason I ask is that I come across so many bands that seem to chase influential rainbows. They think they see a trend and attempt to jump on the bandwagon and cash in. When Gravity Kills was getting courted by record labels, ALL OF THEM told us that we would never get played on the radio and MTV would never touch a band doing industrial music unless you had a guy named Trent Reznor in the band. You know as well as I do that MTV doesn't really play videos anymore but the point is that with Gravity, we did what we did and let the chips fall. I was in a discussion panel at a music conference a few years ago and an A&R person from a record label actually told the bands to watch music and fashion trends and then move in that direction. I went fucking berserk! In today's music climate, there are litterally hundreds of popular music genres. Any of you out there working on the next Lady Gaga soundalike? I told the bands that you had to do what you do regardless of the current hoi polloi. Trends today happen in months and not years. If you don't believe in what you are doing, how in the world do you expect anyone else to believe. People can smell dishonest art, music or anything else now a mile away. What would you consider to be relevant musical genres to you? Every person reading this will give me a different answer I am betting. Be honest in what you write and how you perform it. If it is actually REALLY good, you might have a chance to penetrate the hearts and minds of others. Chase rainbows and well...get your track shoes on. You could be chasing it forever.

Community

2010-06-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

I was asked to write further about pay for play and it made me think of something that I truly believe in and is really the reason that I started writing here to begin with. As a local act you feel alone and on an island with just you and your band mates. Movements, either social, musical, artistic or philosophical were created by more than one activist, band, artist or philosopher. There is strength in numbers. If you are the only great band in your city you can't do it alone. It takes mass quantity to create a scene. Have you heard of the British Invasion? Do you remember or have you heard of the punk movement from the late 70's and early 80's? Do you remember the techno pop movement in the early 80's? I could keep going but I think I have made my point. Everyone that writes about this business talks about having the ultimate relationship with your fans. Well, what about also seeking out the best bands in your area and having a relationship with them? To make this happen you have to stop talking shit about ANY good band that other bands are simply just jealous of. You can't think of other really good bands as your competition. They could be your ally. Do any of you that read this ONLY listen to one band? If you only listen to Gravity Kills I really thank you (really, I do) but there are so many amazing bands in various genre's out there. Are you getting this point? Don't think because you are a metal band that you can't network with a band that is less hard than you. If you are both really good at what you do then fans that like both styles could actually like both of your bands. What I am leading to here is talking about creating a band community. Just as we are collaborating together here, your band should be collaborating with other bands to create a movement. Don't feel as if you have to change the world here but in essence, that is what you will be doing. If multiple bands connect their islands, you now have a small nation of bands with the same common goal for the common good of the local scene.

How does that have anything to do with pay for play you ask? Think about this...If your band connects with 5 other really great bands, can you all pitch in on a pay for play in the right club? Now instead of you feeling as if you have to fill the room on your own, you have a couple of other bands in the boat with you. What if you could create a situation where the collective of good bands were putting on their own shows in alternate locations? At DFEST last year, a band talked about a situation in which they had gotten together with several other bands, rented a warehouse and put on their own show. It cost them money for sound and lights and they had to promote the show themselves but they described the event as a success. We have just scratched the surface here as well but hopefully we can keep putting our heads together.

Pay For Play

2010-06-17T19:18:00.000-07:00

I received the following comment on a previous post and thought I would answer this the best I can for everyone.

Matt said...

"Hey Jeff,
I've got some friends in a band in LA (Prohibition Rose) that has really taken off of late. They had a long rough start, but they're gaining traction and a good local following. My question is - what's your opinion of the "Pay to Play" format. They told me when they first got there that most of the clubs where people went to see bands were doing this, and I don't mean the club gets a cut of the door, I mean the band litterally pays to play there. Is this the norm in cities like LA, and if not - in your opinin - should bands persue these opportunities or go the longer, more tried and true route of getting in on word of mouth alone ?"

Pay for play is prevalent in many places, not just LA. There are various forms of pay for play. The type I have encountered the most is a situation in which the band must purchase a specified number of tickets at a "discounted" price from the club or the person "promoting" that night in the club and then sell them directly to fans, friends and family, hopefully to make a profit.

Another I have encountered is where the band pays a flat fee for the room (that includes house sound, house lighting, security etc.) and then essentially plays for the door.

If I am understanding Matt correctly, he is describing a situation in which the band pays a fee directly just to play in the club with no back end recoup opportunity. If this situation is actually the case, I doesn't make much sense to me even if the room is the hot place to play. Why you ask? The purpose of "play to pay" is for the club owner to create a co-promote situation with the bands that play there. To actually make the band promote and work hard to get people in the room for their show. What incentive does a band have to really work and get people in the room if there is is no reward for their hard work? Or might there be a hidden upside? If this club is THE place to play and you have the opportunity to play there then I say, play the room. If the band has the opportunity to gain fans that are into live music and they hang out there, you want those people to see you. You want those people to follow your band. Word of mouth is where it's at but you also need to play the right rooms to build your tribe. If this club can help you build, and you don't have to sell your car to play there, then once again I say do it. Especially if you can keep all of your merch and CD sales from the gig.

Believe me when I tell you that even at the national level, tour buy-ons happen all the time. When KISS had their first reunion tour in 1996, I had heard that many of the bands that opened on that tour bought on. Gravity Kills actually got paid when we did The Sex Pistols reunion tour the same year (I can actually say that I have seen The Sex Pistols over 20 time and I fucking hate KISS (imagine me saying KISS like Gene Simmons does in the Dr. Pepper commercials. KIIIIIIIS)

Bands signed to majors go out all the time running a huge deficit against their recoup accounts and many bands that you hear on the radio are barely breaking even if not losing money on the road. In essence, even national acts are paying to play.

We are really only scratching the surface on this topic. Do you want to continue?

Why do you want to do this?

2010-06-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

The eternal question seems to be "why are we here?" If you are a musician, you need to ask yourself why? If it is to be a rock star or if there is any celebrity attached to the answer, well then, you need to re-examine things. Fred Durst became a celebrity. Did that create a long lasting career for Limp Bizkit? Did celebrity help the band sell tickets to it's reunion tour? If you pay attention to the news, well then you know the answer to the last question. I am not saying that the band's huge success in the late 90's was not astounding, but what I am saying is that as the world discovers you as someone privileged, as someone above them, you will lose your hard core real fans. In today's musical climate, fans want to be part of something they believe in and feel connected to. Fans are not interested in the feeling of exclusion and disconnect in life experience from the bands they love. Paris Hilton did a record, so did Heidi Montag. Heidi's record sold under 1000 copies the first week and a whopping 658 digital downloads. She promoted her record anywhere and everywhere but at the end of the day, nobody gave a shit. I know you are saying that what you do is better than Heidi, and I believe most of you when you tell me that but... As extreme as the point may be in this case, I am trying to paint a picture for you. Be real. Be honest. When you have the night off from playing, connect with your fans by hanging out with them in the club you play in your home market or interact with them on-line. Get in the trenches with those who already believe and the ones you want to make believe in your band. How many of you reading this blog lose interest in a band when you start seeing them appear on red carpets or the real kiss of death, try their hand at acting. How do you treat every person that you come in contact with? Remember this...Bands don't own fans, fans own their bands. Get the picture?

Do You Have a Plan?

2010-06-14T11:41:00.000-07:00

In talking with most newer bands out there, it seems that most of them really don't have any plan to follow in an attempt to become successful. I have been in these bands before. Look at it this way, you don't get in the car normally without having a destination for your trip in mind and without having any idea how you are going to get there. I am not saying that you may run into road blocks and your plan won't need to change, but you need to have an idea of what you are doing and how you want to get there. Here is a list of a few things that you need to think about.

1. If you are writing songs with others, how will you split any income if lightning strikes? When publishing a song, the music is one half of the composition and the lyrics are the other half. Some bands split songwriting between all the members of the band equally (Gravity Kills did it this way.) The advantage to this is if there are multiple song writers in the band, you can eliminate ego and competition for people in the band trying to push their song to get recorded and released. Also, if you have a band lineup that you think is stellar and you want to make sure that everyone feels like they are a part of the reward of the band's labor. On the flip side of this, there are band's out there that have one or two primary song writers that don't split publishing with non-writers in the band. It is really up to each individual band to figure this out but I recommend having this discussion with your band as soon as possible. This will not be an easy conversation to have but everyone in the band needs to have this sorted out.

1a. Aside from publishing splits, your band needs to figure out how all the revenue in the band will be split. This includes merchandise, CD and download sales, live revenue etc.. Most bands split the profit from these revenue streams equally between all the members. There are some that split differently depending on who in the band is spending money on sound, buying the merchandise or CD's etc. out of their own pockets.

2. Are you and your music compositions (as a writer and publisher) affiliated with a performing rights organization such as ASCAP, BMI or SESAC? You need to do this if you ever want to get paid for having a song on the radio, TV or film. For streaming music you need to register the songs with Sound Exchange.

3.. How will you record music? Will you pay someone else for studio time or will you invest in gear where you can record at home/rehearsal studio/garage etc.. I am not saying the paying for studio time in a proper studio at times is not worth it but I would strongly urge a band to get into recording their own material. There are so many great DAW programs (Pro Tools, Logic, Cubase and even Garage Band) out now that if you really want to invest in your career and not someone else's studio, learn how to use a DAW program. I am not saying that you will be making pro sounding recordings the first go around, but think of the possibilities your band or you would have without the meter ticking in someone else's studio.

4. Do you have a Website/Social media strategy? Most bands these days simply put up a facebook and myspace page and move down the road. Do you have a youtube page? Did you know that youtube is the second largest search engine in the world? Here are the places you should be quickly (remember that your content needs to be updates as much as humanly possible.)
a. Your own website (this needs to be the hub in which all your social media directs back to.)
b. Facebook
c. Myspace (yes, you still need to be here. The last article I read said that they are still getting about 24% of
all social media traffic.)
d. Twitter
e. Flickr
g. Tumblr
All of these places need to link back to your own website. Your website is where you will create a community of your own. I still think you need a message board on your own site.

5. Once your have recorded music to release, where and how are you going to release it? If you are a live act, you need to have a CD for sale at your shows but with that said...Consider releasing new material as you finish it. I would also strongly recommend that you GIVE your music away before it is released. Think of it this way. If you are playing shows and it is before you have a CD ready for sale, how will anyone know the material. If you are between CD's and playing shows, having new material that people will know will give them a reason to come out and see you again (this particular subject is a very deep and lengthy topic that we will examine more in depth later down the road.) For digital releases you should always offer your music for free and for sale from your website. There are also many digital aggregators like Tune Core and CD Baby that will get your music on itunes etc.. CD baby is also necessary if you want to get your music streaming on places like Pandora. Music streaming is not going to make you rich but it could certainly get your music heard by a much larger audience.

There are a multitude of questions a band needs to ask itself but these will give you a place to start in formulating your plan for success.

Getting The Gig

2010-06-11T14:10:00.000-07:00

Think in simplicity. How do I get the attention of a club I want to play? I have dropped off promo, emailed the link on the website and made unreturned phone calls to the person that books the room. Do you hang out in the room? Do you network with bands that play the room? Do you talk to patrons that go see bands in the rooms and give them your music to listen to? Are there outside agents that book the room? Have you made them take a meeting with you? Are you good? Are you persistent? Do you make excuses for your lack of opportunity? Do you talk shit about the bands that do get the gig to others?

You have to immerse yourself into the culture of a room. You must make yourself and your band part of the positive collective that makes up the fabric of the room. If your band is REALLY good, you will get your shot.

Wonder Lust

2010-06-10T18:04:00.000-07:00

Why is it that most local bands I talk to want to take their show on the road from the very beginning? Bands dream of foreign ports and exotic cites where fans they don't know will line up to see them play. What makes you think that 200 people will show up in Kansas City when you are not worth 50 people paid in your home market? I am not saying that your band will never be worth 200 tickets in another market but lets look at facts. Your home market is where the first line of fans you will have are family and friends. Sadly, bands mistake early surges of success with the simple fact that your friends and family will all come to the first couple shows. Your friends will tell you how great you are and how much you rock. Your family will come because your Sister, Brother, Mother, Father, Stepbrother etc. had to put up with all the noise and havoc you created in the house for years. Don't get me wrong, you have to start somewhere and if you are really good, your friends will turn others on to your band and insist that others pay attention to you. Where effort comes in is developing your second and REAL line of fans. The ones who just happened into the club you were playing on happenstance. The ones that feel like they discovered you. At that point you must attempt to create personal relationships with those fans. Invest time in those people so they become invested in you enough to be your evangelist and spread your gospel. Be patient. Be calculated. Invest the time to build your following in your home market and your perceived value will grow to clubs and bars in other markets. If you can draw 200 in your home market, now you have the leverage to trade shows with a band tearing it up in another city. Until that day comes, focus on creating your launching pad at home.

Familiarity

2010-06-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

I talk to band after band that complains about how they can't make money doing original music because nobody comes to their gigs and good cover bands bank. Let me break this down as simply as possible. When most people go to see live music, they want to hear what they know, what is familiar to them. Have you ever been to a Foo Fighters or Green Day show? You know every song they play. You stay engaged because you know the material. So the question is, if you are doing original music on the local level, how do I make my music familiar to people? First (and you have heard this over and over,) give your music away. As Martin Atkins says, "Free is the new black." Not just from your myspace, facebook, website (you better have your own but that is another topic,) etc., but burn a few copies at home and give them out at other band's shows. I am not talking about indiscriminately handing anyone and everyone a CD but, giving your music to someone you actually have a conversation with that will tell you "yes" when you ASK them if they would want to take a listen to your music. Make sure and write your contact info on the CD including your website (you better have your own but that is another topic,) myspace, facebook, etc. When attending music conferences, there are tons of bands just walking around and spraying their CD's into the hands of anyone that will put their hand out without actually talking to anyone. THAT IS A WASTE OF TIME AND YOUR CD'S.

If you are recording full length CD's, give tracks away before you release it. Then, when you have a CD release show, the audience might actually know the material which will engage the audience. Don't worry, if they dig you, they will still buy your CD at the show (and probably your t-shirt too!)

I am not saying that this alone will get you to the point of selling out 500 head rooms and actually making money, but you have to get your music heard to build your tribe.

Changing Behavior and Engaging Fans

2010-06-07T09:24:00.000-07:00

I was sent a video of an experiment about making it fun or interesting to use the stairs versus taking the escalator. Watching the video made of think about the need for interesting engagement that bands need to have with their fans. Why should a person listen to your all? Is it even good? If so, what makes it stand apart from the others? What about your music will compel others to share it with their friends or compel them to simply mention your band to others? What about you as an artist makes you stand apart if not above others? Music to many is now nothing more than disposable and inherently worthless so how do you bring value to your music and your band? The music you make is the gateway if your music speaks and connects with people. Engage your fans constantly and they will listen. I know what you are saying right now. Gravity Kills has not always been accessible to fans and has not always had the best relationship with their fans. Well, ask those who have been to shows recently how that has changed. Technology for the music business has torn the barriers down but that has created a flood on the supply side. Music is everywhere, cheap and in most cases for free. What will you do to change the behavior of people and get their attention?

Change

2010-06-05T10:01:00.000-07:00

I had a conversation with a very wise person this morning. We were discussing how life is in a constant cycle of change. Not that this concept was a revelation to me but it made me think about context and how as people, musicians, artists and all music professionals we sometimes long for a time when everything seemed to make sense. This wise person told me that without change, we would be complacent and not challenge ourselves to move to the next place, open the next chapter, walk through the next door, take risks or evolve as a person, a songwriter, a performer etc. In all the reading I do regarding the music business, it seems everyone is looking for where the business paradigm will finally land. My answer to this infinite question is that it will never land. Just when it all might seem to make sense again, change will rear it's beautiful head.

The First Saturday of the Blog

2010-06-05T06:13:00.000-07:00

I have a million topics to write about but this is the first Saturday of the Blog so I though I would keep it short today. Many people have asked me through the years about what it was like touring and being on the road. Despite the feeling beat up, the chronic laryngitis, the truck stop showers, the bad food and so on and so on, my answer to that question is... Everyday was Saturday.

Preying on Musicians

2010-06-04T09:17:00.000-07:00

After my post yesterday I read a tweet with the following link http://www.chartfixer.com/. In a nutshell this is a service that buys your music off of itunes in bulk so your song will show up on the itunes chart. At the moment, the service is only available in Australia. Curiously I checked out the site and for them to buy 1000 downloads, it will cost you the low low price of $6000.00. So if we do the math, if you go through Tunecore as an aggregator, the band would receive $700.00 from the itunes store after Apple takes their 30 cents per track so in reality we have a real bargain now. The cost would only be $5300.00. The site addresses why you should use the service and mainly their reason is so you can get radio airplay, a record deal, a better record deal and so more people will hear your band. I understand that all of that sounds really appealing to a struggling band. I have been there. You feel you will do whatever it takes to get your piece of the pie. THIS WILL NOT DO IT. Lighting can and does still strike occasionally but your band has to realize that there aren't really any shortcuts. People have heard the story of how Gravity Kills had a record deal and were on two major motion picture soundtracks in the first 12 months from the time the band stepped into the same room together and called themselves Gravity Kills. What people don't talk about is the fact that I had been playing professionally for 12 years prior to joining the band.

I fucking detest other "services" like The Billboard Songwriting Contest and www.wearelistening.org. These services simply prey on the hopes and dreams of musicians and take blood money from artists. The guy that founded we are listening .org actually stated in a panel that I did with him at dfest in Tulsa last year that the reason he started the service was because he found that musicians were still predominately doing google searches for "How to get a record deal." He was an expert on analytics and data mining. I can't slight the guy for taking money from the fools that decided to give it to him but WAKE UP PEOPLE, Don't be the next fool and don't rely on anything other than creating outstanding music and performing outstanding live shows. The next snake oil salesman is standing backstage.

2010-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I need to get this off my chest. If you have a band that buys myspace plays, friends and profile views YOU ARE MISSING THE FUCKING POINT. Though happenstance I ended up on a myspace profile for a band out of Oklahoma City called Siva Addiction. As band people do, I looked at their plays (1,266,101,) their profile views (1,547,736,) and their friends (55,618.) Pretty impressive numbers for a regional act. Here is where it unravels for this band. We all have known for years that you can purchase plays etc. for quite some time and so this is the easy way to call "bullshit." Let's check out the band's facebook and ilike numbers since to my knowledge, you can't manipulate these numbers (please let me know if I am wrong on this.) The band's facebook fan base consist of 476 people, ilike fans 171 and last fm shows them with 29 listeners. Look, I understand why bands think they want to artificially inflate myspace numbers. We hear these stories of how bands got signed to record deals and how promoters looked at the numbers. The band wants to impress or tell others of their big myspace stats. EVERYONE IN THE FUCKING WORLD KNOWS THAT YOU ARE BUYING THESE NUMBERS.

Now, here is why they are missing the point. Social media for bands should be used as a tool to connect with fans... real fans. How do you know who your real fans are if you are buying them for your myspace? How do you know who to contact when you have a show, a contest, new music, etc.? Do you think that someone that is really a fan of the band cares that your myspace plays are over 1,000,000? Your real fan only cares about their personal connection with you. If your fan base is small, make it more personal. You can pay attention to your fans individually. Embrace the opportunity to personally connect to your fans. Your fans will be the ones that are your biggest marketing tool if you actually know who they are and you aren't a fucking liar.

The First Blog. What My Goal Is.

2010-06-02T12:01:00.000-07:00

There are a million people who blog about the music business. There is yet another million that give lectures and presentations regarding how to "make it" in the music business. It seems that I hear the same things over and over... and I have come to the conclusion that most of the relevant information for bands overlooks everything that it takes to gain traction in your home market. I feel that everything a band can do to become successful will translate when that band decides to take the show on the road. My goal with this blog is to create open dialogue for anyone that cares about local music (regardless of geography) and to talk about topics that are germane to the topic.

The other goal I have for this blog is to aggregate information from other sources that I see as relevant to the local musician and the music business in a "post Napster" paradigm. These topics could include technology, legislation, or simply comments and responses to other published information that I simply feel the need to comment on. Let's see where this goes.