Well, the title of this post is kind of a joke at my own expense, because I'm sort of afraid of other people. I'm not good in social situations and when I meet new people I do not make the best first impression. Either I'm so shy I seem aloof or I bumble over my words so much I just seem retarded.
This is a very bad thing.
In local music (where most musicians start, fyi) networking is an extremely important tool. Having connections with other local artists can help you find new venues, new ideas, new inspirations, and of course, more connections. Maybe a friend of a friend is a radio executive or an A&R rep, maybe someone's dad does the booking for Red Rocks and they're looking for someone just like you, or maybe someone you meet used to play in a town not far from you and can give you info on venues there. The first few are pretty unlikely, obviously, but the last has happened to me, and it's great when it does!
There's of course all the obvious reasons to have connections with people. You know, like friendship, companionship, hanging out, having fun, that sort of thing, but those kind of go without saying. Establishing, growing, and maintaining a network of likeminded individuals is vitally important (as in any job), and incidentally, one area where I have the least success. Therefore I don't have the greatest tips on how to maintain relationships and friends, but I think I have a few suggestions that might help.
Make your contact info easy to find. If you're at a show, have a mailing list sign up sheet or something, put your website/myspace/e-mail/whatever on the cd, or on a business card inside the cd case maybe. When someone comes up at a show and introduces themself, don't just shake their hand and forget about them, get their name, give them your e-mail or website. People matter, always have and always will. Don't treat people like fans. Odds are if you're actually taking my advice then you don't have many real "fans". They're friends, who also happen to like your music. Treat them as such. Don't alienate people by being standoff-ish or thinking you're somehow better because you play music. That's just dumb.
I've talked before about being personal with people, reply to comments on youtube/myspace/whatever, take the time to really read e-mails and respond to them thoughtfully. Aside from the fact that it's just plain polite and you'll be a nice person if you do these things, you also never know what connections someone new might offer. Maybe they'll have new song ideas or want to collaborate with you on a project, maybe they'll offer you an opening spot or a shared bill at one of their concerts.
In short, people are your friends, don't be afraid...they usually don't bite.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you found this at least remotely helpful.
-loren
Friday, May 16, 2008
Monday, March 17, 2008
Radiohead Interview in Rolling Stone
hey everyone.
i just thought this was an interesting article, the different members of the band talk about every aspect of themselves from their home life to the writing process to the personal dynamics within the band, it's eight pages of musical geniuses proving that they're not that different from you and me and i really enjoyed it.
check it out here.
some of the stuff i really like is thom yorke floating the idea of no more albums, at least not as often or in the traditional sense. he says that with the success of the online distribution of their last album he's keen on the idea of releasing songs as they're completed as singles, or maybe in sets of two or three. that's really interesting to me, especially since that's the only way i "release" my songs at the moment.
anyway, hope you find something interesting in there, thanks for reading!
-loren
i just thought this was an interesting article, the different members of the band talk about every aspect of themselves from their home life to the writing process to the personal dynamics within the band, it's eight pages of musical geniuses proving that they're not that different from you and me and i really enjoyed it.
check it out here.
some of the stuff i really like is thom yorke floating the idea of no more albums, at least not as often or in the traditional sense. he says that with the success of the online distribution of their last album he's keen on the idea of releasing songs as they're completed as singles, or maybe in sets of two or three. that's really interesting to me, especially since that's the only way i "release" my songs at the moment.
anyway, hope you find something interesting in there, thanks for reading!
-loren
Thursday, March 13, 2008
Indie Recording and Mixing : Hometracked.com
hey, i just thought i'd make one more quick little post to let you know about a great website called www.hometracked.com. this guy (des mckinney) is a professional sound engineer and his page is all about little tips and big articles on how to be a better recorder/mixer/sound engineer.
from the "about" page... "Hometracked is a home recording weblog, filtering the mess of information for good stuff with a focus on the techniques and tips you need to make and market great music. Even if you record in a bedroom."
there's a list of the most popular pages on the right hand side of the page which is a great place to start looking, but the site is full of helpful information. anything from little tips about vocal eq to huge articles about plugins and equipment, as well as general tips for the indie artist (hmm....kinda like this site...maybe i should quit...) and i've gained a lot of helpful knowledge from it.
i highly recommend checking it out if you've got some spare time and you record your own music (which i'm betting you do, since indie artists generally don't have thousands of dollars to blow on a professional studio and producer).
that's about it, thanks for reading!
-loren
from the "about" page... "Hometracked is a home recording weblog, filtering the mess of information for good stuff with a focus on the techniques and tips you need to make and market great music. Even if you record in a bedroom."
there's a list of the most popular pages on the right hand side of the page which is a great place to start looking, but the site is full of helpful information. anything from little tips about vocal eq to huge articles about plugins and equipment, as well as general tips for the indie artist (hmm....kinda like this site...maybe i should quit...) and i've gained a lot of helpful knowledge from it.
i highly recommend checking it out if you've got some spare time and you record your own music (which i'm betting you do, since indie artists generally don't have thousands of dollars to blow on a professional studio and producer).
that's about it, thanks for reading!
-loren
Things You Should Do: Youtube
well i'm gonna go ahead and bet there's not a single person reading this who doesn't know what youtube is. a lot of you probably already have accounts too, it's just something people do. well, good. a youtube account with videos of your music is somewhere between a decent and an incredible way to get exposure.
if you don't have one, start one now. they're free and even if you never use it, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right?
my music account on youtube is available here (www.youtube.com/deadplant155). if you don't feel like checking that out, i have around 30,000 video views total, with three or four in the thousands. that's not that high by youtube standards, but it's a heck of a lot more people who've heard my songs than would have if i didn't have the account.
anywho. once you've got an account, what do you upload? well, video of your songs obviously. i upload both videos taken at shows and videos recorded in "the studio" (i.e. my garage). in the studio videos if you take the time you can get much better sound quality, but there's a quality the live videos have that i much prefer. you don't really wanna be one of the faceless multitude who upload videos of them in their bedrooms playing their favorite cover songs out of tune.
not that there's anything wrong with uploading cover songs, songs that people recognize are much more likely to get noticed on the tube and they can serve as a gateway to original content. there's also nothing wrong with recording in your room or your garage, just take a second to think about the camera angle, the lighting, the sound quality. try closing windows and doors to cut down on outside sound, get an external mic if you're using your computer to record, and turn on some lights. on digital video darkness doesn't look moody, it just looks grainy and distorted.
now this next tip is one i found out the hard way. don't upload a batch of twenty videos all at once. if you've got a dozen or so vids from a recent show, do maybe one a day for a few weeks. it's more likely that videos will get lost in the shuffle if you're uploading them in chunks. the other reason to spread it out is that while it's all well and good to upload fifty videos in a week, if you don't have any new content to offer after that for months on end, people will lose interest. a steady stream of content is much more important than just dropping a ton of videos all at once. it will bring in new views more consistently and it will keep your subscribers and repeat visitors happy as there's always something new to see.
this is actually a good overall tip, any online presence you maintain should be updated as regularly as possible. now i'm not saying you have to make a news post on your website or blog twice a day, but two or three times a month might be a good guideline to shoot for. if people check your website every day for a week and there's never anything new then they might not come back and you've just lost a potential fan.
one last thing about youtube. i don't actually know if this is helpful at all, but it's something i try to do to be polite. whenever i receive a comment on a video i reply to it personally. most of the time it's just a simple "thanks for taking the time to comment, i'm glad you like my video!" but if they ask me a question i'll do my best to answer it. i don't know if this gains me any views or if people maybe dont' even like it, but i feel like if they can take the time to let me know they like a video, then i can take the time to properly thank them. now, when you become infinitely more famous than me and start getting ten thousand views a day it'll become impossible to read let alone reply to every comment. i think it's an important part of indie music, however, to interact with your fan base and to be aware and appreciate of the fact that they're what's going to decide if you make it as a musician. respect your audience, it can't do anything but help you in the long run.
and that's about all i've got on youtube, hope that's a helpful post, thanks for reading, and good luck!
-loren
p.s. don't do any of that stupid youtube stuff like steal someone else's content or spam people or lie in your video's tags to try and increase your ranking in search results. that just pisses people off. seriously. don't do it.
if you don't have one, start one now. they're free and even if you never use it, it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, right?
my music account on youtube is available here (www.youtube.com/deadplant155). if you don't feel like checking that out, i have around 30,000 video views total, with three or four in the thousands. that's not that high by youtube standards, but it's a heck of a lot more people who've heard my songs than would have if i didn't have the account.
anywho. once you've got an account, what do you upload? well, video of your songs obviously. i upload both videos taken at shows and videos recorded in "the studio" (i.e. my garage). in the studio videos if you take the time you can get much better sound quality, but there's a quality the live videos have that i much prefer. you don't really wanna be one of the faceless multitude who upload videos of them in their bedrooms playing their favorite cover songs out of tune.
not that there's anything wrong with uploading cover songs, songs that people recognize are much more likely to get noticed on the tube and they can serve as a gateway to original content. there's also nothing wrong with recording in your room or your garage, just take a second to think about the camera angle, the lighting, the sound quality. try closing windows and doors to cut down on outside sound, get an external mic if you're using your computer to record, and turn on some lights. on digital video darkness doesn't look moody, it just looks grainy and distorted.
now this next tip is one i found out the hard way. don't upload a batch of twenty videos all at once. if you've got a dozen or so vids from a recent show, do maybe one a day for a few weeks. it's more likely that videos will get lost in the shuffle if you're uploading them in chunks. the other reason to spread it out is that while it's all well and good to upload fifty videos in a week, if you don't have any new content to offer after that for months on end, people will lose interest. a steady stream of content is much more important than just dropping a ton of videos all at once. it will bring in new views more consistently and it will keep your subscribers and repeat visitors happy as there's always something new to see.
this is actually a good overall tip, any online presence you maintain should be updated as regularly as possible. now i'm not saying you have to make a news post on your website or blog twice a day, but two or three times a month might be a good guideline to shoot for. if people check your website every day for a week and there's never anything new then they might not come back and you've just lost a potential fan.
one last thing about youtube. i don't actually know if this is helpful at all, but it's something i try to do to be polite. whenever i receive a comment on a video i reply to it personally. most of the time it's just a simple "thanks for taking the time to comment, i'm glad you like my video!" but if they ask me a question i'll do my best to answer it. i don't know if this gains me any views or if people maybe dont' even like it, but i feel like if they can take the time to let me know they like a video, then i can take the time to properly thank them. now, when you become infinitely more famous than me and start getting ten thousand views a day it'll become impossible to read let alone reply to every comment. i think it's an important part of indie music, however, to interact with your fan base and to be aware and appreciate of the fact that they're what's going to decide if you make it as a musician. respect your audience, it can't do anything but help you in the long run.
and that's about all i've got on youtube, hope that's a helpful post, thanks for reading, and good luck!
-loren
p.s. don't do any of that stupid youtube stuff like steal someone else's content or spam people or lie in your video's tags to try and increase your ranking in search results. that just pisses people off. seriously. don't do it.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Grey Room : Chords
hello!
one of my covers that i get fewer requests on the tablature for (but i do still get some) is grey room, by damien rice. i'm gonna go ahead and put those below for you.
here's video of my cover, for reference. enjoy!
C
well i've been here before, sat on the floor
_____F
in a gray...gray room
C
where i stay in all day, i don't eat but i play
__________F
with this gray...gray food
C_______________________________________F
desolate, if someone is praying then i might
F
break out...
C___________________________________F
desolate, even if i scream i can't scream
F
that loud...
Em_____________F
and i'm all alone again
Em____________F
crawlin back home again
Em_____________F
stuck by the phone again
C
well i've been here before, sat on the floor
_____F
in a gray...gray mood
C
where i stay up all night, and all that i write
__________F
is a gray...gray tune
C_______________________________________F
so pray for me child...just for a while that i might
F
break out...
C___________________________________F
pray for me child...even a smile would do
F
for now...
Em_____________F
and i'm all alone again
Em____________F
crawlin back home again
Em_____________F
stuck by the phone again
F________________G_____________________F
have i still got you....to...be...my...
F
open door?
F__________________G___________________F
have i still got you....to...be...my...
F
sandy shore?
F________________G________________________F
have i still got you...to....cross...my bridge...
F
in this storm?
F________________G_______________________F
have i still got you...to....keep...me warm...
F________________C_______________________F
if i squeeze my grape...and i drink my wine yeah
F_________________C_____________________F
if i sqeeze my grape...and i drink my wine....yeah
F________C_______________________
oh cuz nothing is lost, it's just frozen in frost
C___________F_________
and it's opening time, there's no one line but
F_______________G________________F
i've still got me....to...be...your...
F
open door.
F_______________G________________F
and i've still got me....to...be...your....
F
sandy shore.
F___________________G_____________________F
and i've still got me...to...cross...your bridge...
F
in this storm.
F_________________G________________________F
and i've still got me....to....keep...you warm....
F___________C
warmer than warm yeah.
C____________F
warmer than warm yeah.
F____________C
warmer than warm yeah.
C____________F
warmer than warm yeah.
thanks for readin' everyone, i hope that helps!
-loren
one of my covers that i get fewer requests on the tablature for (but i do still get some) is grey room, by damien rice. i'm gonna go ahead and put those below for you.
here's video of my cover, for reference. enjoy!
C
well i've been here before, sat on the floor
_____F
in a gray...gray room
C
where i stay in all day, i don't eat but i play
__________F
with this gray...gray food
C_______________________________________F
desolate, if someone is praying then i might
F
break out...
C___________________________________F
desolate, even if i scream i can't scream
F
that loud...
Em_____________F
and i'm all alone again
Em____________F
crawlin back home again
Em_____________F
stuck by the phone again
C
well i've been here before, sat on the floor
_____F
in a gray...gray mood
C
where i stay up all night, and all that i write
__________F
is a gray...gray tune
C_______________________________________F
so pray for me child...just for a while that i might
F
break out...
C___________________________________F
pray for me child...even a smile would do
F
for now...
Em_____________F
and i'm all alone again
Em____________F
crawlin back home again
Em_____________F
stuck by the phone again
F________________G_____________________F
have i still got you....to...be...my...
F
open door?
F__________________G___________________F
have i still got you....to...be...my...
F
sandy shore?
F________________G________________________F
have i still got you...to....cross...my bridge...
F
in this storm?
F________________G_______________________F
have i still got you...to....keep...me warm...
F________________C_______________________F
if i squeeze my grape...and i drink my wine yeah
F_________________C_____________________F
if i sqeeze my grape...and i drink my wine....yeah
F________C_______________________
oh cuz nothing is lost, it's just frozen in frost
C___________F_________
and it's opening time, there's no one line but
F_______________G________________F
i've still got me....to...be...your...
F
open door.
F_______________G________________F
and i've still got me....to...be...your....
F
sandy shore.
F___________________G_____________________F
and i've still got me...to...cross...your bridge...
F
in this storm.
F_________________G________________________F
and i've still got me....to....keep...you warm....
F___________C
warmer than warm yeah.
C____________F
warmer than warm yeah.
F____________C
warmer than warm yeah.
C____________F
warmer than warm yeah.
thanks for readin' everyone, i hope that helps!
-loren
Songwriting Lesson with Elliott Smith
hey everybody. today i thought i'd post a video i came across a few weeks ago of elliott smith talking about his songwriting process. of course the single most important aspect of being a musician is actually creating music! it's easy to get lost in the promotion and in finding gigs and making merch and managing websites, all the side stuff. every now and then i find i need a little something to jumpstart my writing, something to inspire me. sometimes it's just a good day or an event, and sometimes it's a magazine article or a video like the one below.
for those of you who don't know, elliott smith was an excellent and influential songwriter in the nineties and early 2000s. he died in '03 but his music is still being released posthumously to this day. he's been one of the biggest influences on my music (and countless others) and if you haven't heard him yet you've been missing out. this video doesn't go into too much detail but like i said, it's inspiring to me, i hope it is to you too.
thanks for reading!
-loren
for those of you who don't know, elliott smith was an excellent and influential songwriter in the nineties and early 2000s. he died in '03 but his music is still being released posthumously to this day. he's been one of the biggest influences on my music (and countless others) and if you haven't heard him yet you've been missing out. this video doesn't go into too much detail but like i said, it's inspiring to me, i hope it is to you too.
thanks for reading!
-loren
Thursday, March 6, 2008
All You Need Is Love : Chords
well, the other song i get the most requests for tablature on is my cover of the beatles song "all you need is love". so here it is :)
oh yeah, almost forgot, here's the video of my cover for your reference.
the chords i use are...
G - 3st fret E string, 2nd fret (or muted) A string, open D string, open G string, 3rd fret B string, third fret E string.
G/F# is used transitionally and it means a G chord with your finger on the second fret of the low E string, you know, like a walkdown from G to Eminor
Em - open E string, 2nd fret A string, 2nd fret D string, open D string, open G string, open B string, 3rd fret (or open) E string.
C - muted E string, 3rd fret A string, 2nd fret D string, open G string, 1st fret B string, open E string
C/B same as a C but with the 2nd fret on the A string instead of 3rd fret. use this one to walk down to Am
Am - muted E string, open A string, 2nd fret D string, 2nd fret G string, 1st fret B string, open E string.
Am/G - same as Am except with 3rd fret on the low E string instead of muted. optionally the G string can be left open.
D - muted E string, muted A string, open D string, 2nd fret G string, 3rd fret B string, 2nd fret E string.
D/C - same as D except with 3rd fret on the A string. optionally the high E string can be left open.
B7 - muted E string, 2nd fret A string, 1st fret D string, 2nd fret G string, open B string, 2nd fret E string.
INTRO
The timing on the intro is a little weird, with the signature repeatedly changing back and forth from 4/4 to 3/4. I'll put the beats above the chords to kind of give you an idea.
1____2____3___4_____1____2___________3
G________G/F#_______Em____(walk back up to the G : E F# G)
Love______Love______Love
1____2____3___4_____1____2___________3
G________G/F#_______Em____(walk back up to the G : E F# G)
Love______Love______Love
1__2___3__4__1__2__3__4
C___C/B____Am______Am/G
Love__Love__Love
1__2__3__4___________________________1___2____3
D____D/C____ (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
VERSE 1
G__________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin' you can do that can't be done
G__________________G/F#____________Em
there's nothin' you can sing that can't be sung
C___________________C/B___________Am
There's nothing you can say but you can learn how to play
____Am/G
the game,
___D D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
VERSE 2
G___________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin' you can make that can't be made
G___________________G/F#____________Em
there's no one you can save who can't be saved
C____________________C/B____________Am
There's nothing you can do but you can learn how to be
_____Am/G
you in time,
_____D____D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
CHORUS
G______Am_____D
All you need is love
G______Am_____D
All you need is love
G______B7____Em___D
All you need is love, love
C_______D
Love is all you need.
(REPEAT INTRO HERE)
VERSE 3
G__________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin you can know that isn't known
G__________________G/F#____________Em
nothin you can see that isn't shown
C___________________C/B____________Am
there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're
___Am/G
meant to be,
____D__D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
CHORUS
G_____Am_____D
All you need is love
G_____Am_____D
All you need is love
G_____B7___Em___D
All you need is love, love
C_______D
Love is all you need.
(REPEAT THE CHORUS AT LEAST TWICE, THEN THE LAST TIME JUST HOLD THE G CHORD)
G
Love is all you need.
G
Love is all you need.
G
Love is all you need.
and that's the end! hope that helps folks, until next time!
-loren
oh yeah, almost forgot, here's the video of my cover for your reference.
the chords i use are...
G - 3st fret E string, 2nd fret (or muted) A string, open D string, open G string, 3rd fret B string, third fret E string.
G/F# is used transitionally and it means a G chord with your finger on the second fret of the low E string, you know, like a walkdown from G to Eminor
Em - open E string, 2nd fret A string, 2nd fret D string, open D string, open G string, open B string, 3rd fret (or open) E string.
C - muted E string, 3rd fret A string, 2nd fret D string, open G string, 1st fret B string, open E string
C/B same as a C but with the 2nd fret on the A string instead of 3rd fret. use this one to walk down to Am
Am - muted E string, open A string, 2nd fret D string, 2nd fret G string, 1st fret B string, open E string.
Am/G - same as Am except with 3rd fret on the low E string instead of muted. optionally the G string can be left open.
D - muted E string, muted A string, open D string, 2nd fret G string, 3rd fret B string, 2nd fret E string.
D/C - same as D except with 3rd fret on the A string. optionally the high E string can be left open.
B7 - muted E string, 2nd fret A string, 1st fret D string, 2nd fret G string, open B string, 2nd fret E string.
INTRO
The timing on the intro is a little weird, with the signature repeatedly changing back and forth from 4/4 to 3/4. I'll put the beats above the chords to kind of give you an idea.
1____2____3___4_____1____2___________3
G________G/F#_______Em____(walk back up to the G : E F# G)
Love______Love______Love
1____2____3___4_____1____2___________3
G________G/F#_______Em____(walk back up to the G : E F# G)
Love______Love______Love
1__2___3__4__1__2__3__4
C___C/B____Am______Am/G
Love__Love__Love
1__2__3__4___________________________1___2____3
D____D/C____ (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
VERSE 1
G__________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin' you can do that can't be done
G__________________G/F#____________Em
there's nothin' you can sing that can't be sung
C___________________C/B___________Am
There's nothing you can say but you can learn how to play
____Am/G
the game,
___D D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
VERSE 2
G___________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin' you can make that can't be made
G___________________G/F#____________Em
there's no one you can save who can't be saved
C____________________C/B____________Am
There's nothing you can do but you can learn how to be
_____Am/G
you in time,
_____D____D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
CHORUS
G______Am_____D
All you need is love
G______Am_____D
All you need is love
G______B7____Em___D
All you need is love, love
C_______D
Love is all you need.
(REPEAT INTRO HERE)
VERSE 3
G__________________G/F#____________Em
There's nothin you can know that isn't known
G__________________G/F#____________Em
nothin you can see that isn't shown
C___________________C/B____________Am
there's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're
___Am/G
meant to be,
____D__D/C (then just these notes, B C D D E G)
it's easy
CHORUS
G_____Am_____D
All you need is love
G_____Am_____D
All you need is love
G_____B7___Em___D
All you need is love, love
C_______D
Love is all you need.
(REPEAT THE CHORUS AT LEAST TWICE, THEN THE LAST TIME JUST HOLD THE G CHORD)
G
Love is all you need.
G
Love is all you need.
G
Love is all you need.
and that's the end! hope that helps folks, until next time!
-loren
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