Happy New Year of fantastic, meaningful music

Every new year's I think of resolutions. What do I want to achieve? How can I improve as a human? as a musician?

Musically speaking 2011 is basically mapped out for me, with the CD release my calendar is busy until the fall at least. With those plans behind me, I started thinking more about the current state of the music industry (and I hate that this art of ours is an industry...) and what the next year may look like for it.

I've been inspired by Arcade Fire, who pack Madison Square Garden without a record label, maintaining full control of all aspects of their art, and it shows in their music.
I resolved to go DIY (Do It Yourself). I've always written, arranged and performed my material, but I decided to be completely self sufficient with promotion, marketing and all logistics. It's hard for me, I'm a creative type and not so business savvy but I'm putting a lot of effort into this upcoming release in so many ways, good things are bound to come. They already have.

I am happy to have the opportunity to maintain full control of my vision and dedicate my time to making the best art that I can.

Finding out about those who put their art first, and reward them with our attention and support is what I hope our new year's resolution will be. DIY artist can't afford times square billboards and endless ads, and rely on buzz and word of mouth. They are found in blogs and indie mags and radio and their success depends on us being active about searching them out and passing them on.

Wouldn't it be amazing if next year was filled with a new "music first" generation? Isn't it time to find more quality, innovative music that has artistic integrity, and reward it over formulaic, tiresome and absurd gimmicks?

It's going to be a good year, I can feel it.

HAPPY 2011 !

surprising survey results, and a video!

first of all, thanks to all of you that took the time to answer a few questions on my "business-like" survey from the previous blog entry. It was actually very helpful and it'll take me a while to figure out a proper strategy, I found out a few interesting things. 

for example:

- hardly anyone buys music anymore! just torrent it from youtube. 

so, how do musicians still make money? i'm not quite sure. probably if you get a lot of hits on youtube you get some commercials placed?

- hardly anyone reads music mags, or listens to much radio. as a musician out with a new project, one of the first things you do is try to get some reviews in print. but it looks like it hardly influences anyone who might like my music. hmmm.... 

- hardly anyone can classify my genre! the responses where anywhere from reggae (?) to pop, indie, rock, blues, jazz, classical, singer/songwriter etc. 

As a writer I think it's fantastic, I've always strived to create a new sound and stray away from generic, but it's very tricky to market. hmmm....

- people who like my stuff are artsy and interesting. score!

more thoughts on marketing shmarketing will follow, but now - back to music.

here's a video from the keyboard overdub session and some sneak peaks at what's coming. stay tuned for the guitar session, shortly after new years.

and yeah, happy new year and various holidays!

marketing shmarketing

as a musician, I hate music business. there I said it...
as someone that works on music's creative side it's very hard to treat it as a product.

however I suppose it is a necessary evil, and I am set out to concur it. What is the point of putting so much effort and funds in an album, if it's not going to reach as many ears as it should?

so, as I start writing out a detailed game plan on what to do, I realized I had some difficulties in pinning down my genre and target audience. as an artist it's a great thing; I've crossed a barrier, I'm outside the box!
as a marketing strategy, that's not good news.

one idea a book gave me was to ask friends and fans to answer a short survey about who they are, what kind of music they like, and how my music relates to them. I'm hoping to get a better idea as to what kind of people might respond well to my music, and where to find them and how to make it known to more of them.

if you'd like to fill out the survey yourself, I'd like nothing more! it takes 5 minutes and it's anonymous, so go for it.

click here for the survey

it seems that "recording" introverse is the fun part, and I will have to address the business side on the blog more often, since it is such a huge part of making a new release.

'til next time, happy season!

pianos, organs and wurlys! a day of keyboard overdubs

After a grueling editing period (which I can compare to basically photoshopping...) all the basic tracks are sounding solid, and it's time to start putting on the frills.

and today was a very fun day at Rotary Records - the keyboard overdub day!

it's one of those days where I do all the work, playing on 6 of the album's tracks.

we started with acoustic piano, playing some of the pretty ballads and my signature song "a bus to sunshine".
Then we moved on the my highlight of the day - the B3 organ! it sounds ridiculously good, and can't even be compared with a sample! the touch of the keys takes a while to get used to, and I haven't played a real B3 in a few years, but was very happy to have those sounds be part of my record. So much so I'm pretty sure it elevated "Maps" to be my most anticipated song - ooh just wait until that guitar solo!

Then we moved to the soft Wurlitzer, for the sweet sounding "you (wedding song)".

Got a lot done! my favorite thing is seeing the project slowly getting built and adding weight, it's a fantastic feeling, especially when things are going right.

click here for photos from today's session

a video from this session will be coming next week, (once I get all the music files) so make sure to subscribe.

what's next?

we're resuming shortly after new years with a session I'm really looking forward to - Guitar!

until then, happy various holidays!

the hard work behind the fun

"can't wait to sit and edit through everything" ?

what was I thinking?

I must have forgotten what a grueling and tedious process editing really is, and I'm definitely feeling the burn.

what is "editing"?

- listening through all the takes to find the right one
- nudging the drums here and there on a late or early hit
- nudging the bass to microscopically match the drums
- nudging the rest of the rhythm section to be more in sync
- getting rid of random noises
- replacing bad notes

why? are you not good enough?

we are good enough, for humans.
however recording standards have reached a point where being human sounds sub - par, and the best musicians have to go through editing (as I've done for many, many people). I think it started with the digital age of programming and sequencing and the possibility of editing everything to perfection, so much so that it became the norm. don't believe me? just listen to the radio and tell me they don't sound like perfect synced machines. and that's why bands sound worse live these days...
i didn't even mention auto-tune. and don't get me started.

plus, editing makes a much better and clearer mix, so this work will pay off when it's mixing time!

my challenge with this recording is to keep the soul and energy of a live performance and musicians who play their heart out, while still reaching the bar that has been set by the rest of the music world.

so what's next?

unfortunately our NY recording had to be postponed for December, in the meantime I am finishing the editing, and setting dates for keyboard/guitar overdubs and a string quartet!

no video this time, nothing interesting or glorious about hours of editing...

stay warm y'all!

part one - rhythm section

aah, the first recording day. so exciting. a fine day to wake up sick...
nontheless I pulled through (only to crash afterwards) and had a great time! it's been a long time since I was on the recording end of the studio, and it's been a long time since I played a nice sounding grand...

the studio and Warren were terrific and the AndreZ all did a fantastic job as we banged out 6 songs in 4 hours, we're so pro...

can't wait to sit through and edit through everything.

what's next? off to NY next weekend to record the sensational bandoneonist JP Jofre on "a bus to sunshine" and a group sing on "the forgotten one".

should be a blast.

until then I leave you with a short video:

welcome!

first post on the "introverse" blog!

this blog is meant to give you a look at the recording process of my new album.

step 1, the title!

i originally called the album "spaces" but decided to change it to "introverse" because i thought it was catchier and wittier, it's an "intro" and "verse", it's introverted and an "inner universe".
it's great.

step 2, the funds!

after a successful kickstarter campaign adding up to my savings, I have a minimal amount to make this happen. this will be a lesson of how to turn out a kick ass record on a very small budget.

step 3, the studio!

I'm fortunate to record in the newly opened rotary records in W. Springfield, it's an amazing, huge really affordable space.

step 4, the band!

our first recording step is the rhythm section, besides me on piano I am psyched to be working with these 3 incredible musicians, all have a similar name mind you: Andres Wilson on guitar, Andreas Brade on drums and Louis Andre Ochoa on bass.
yep, Andres, Andreas and (Louis) Andre.

step 5, November 14!

our first recording day, following which you'll get a big fat post and a video on how it all went down.

until then,

peace