I have been doing quite a bit of writing again. Here’s two previews, let me know what you think… suggestions are welcomed!
My life has been crazy this last year.
Last May, Greg Bell and I started a company called Orange Peel Media. It was an exciting time, because I have always been an entrepreneur at heart.
At that point in my life I made the decision, to let my music take a backseat to my career. At the time, Adrian Glynn and I had been doing a monthly gig at Backstage Lounge, where I enjoyed some of my favourite shows as a performer. I will always look back on those times as exciting. However, because of my career, I started to find that they were becoming a chore. I didn’t have the time to put into them like I used to. So, after two years of good times at Backstage, Adrian and I decided to give it a rest.
For a few months I put my guitar in a corner (the first time in about 8 years) and didn’t even think about it. I even really enjoyed the time away from it.
Anyway, in the last few months, I have picked it up again and have made a few passes at writing some new songs.
Nothing seems to be working though: I have one rhythm, and that’s all I seem to know how to play; I can’t come up with a half-assed lyric for the life of me; and I’m far too stuck to know what’s wrong.
In a way I feel like I’ve just sobered up and realized that I was never a very good songwriter… well, not really, but that’s what I tell myself to get depressed so that I can write.
When it comes down to it, like most songwriters, most of my best songs have come out of depression and melancholy moods. It has always worked for me because I’ve always been depressed in one way or another, but now things seem to have changed. It’s not because I’m blissfully happy… because I’m not. And it’s not because my life too good to be depressed about it… because it’s definitely not. But I am just too busy to be depressed, and I just can’t afford to be melancholy!
Now that I’m quite sure that I know what the problem is, I’m not sure I want to go there. It makes me wonder if a songwriter can really put out good music without the manic lows, and fleeting highs…
So the question is: where does music fit in my life now?
radiohead has a new album out. you can download it for free, or choose to pay by donation.
the website is shite, and way too confusing, but the album is amazing and worth the frustration (the spelling is horrid!). certain songs remind me a lot of Thom Yorke’s solo album. it’s probably because he wrote a lot of them.
i’ve been reading some radiohead fan blogs, and it’s funny how everyone is making such a big deal of them giving their album away for donation. i know plenty of artists that have been doing this for years (myself included). now that a band as big as radiohead does it, everyone takes notice. it only makes sense, i guess. i mean they have the means to promote it, and even if they didn’t, people would still find out.
another artist to check out, who gives his music away for free is brad sucks. he does it a bit differently; you can only download his album for free, but if you want to you can order a cd for 10 bucks. i kind of like his method, because his music is easily accessible (much easier to download than radiohead’s), but if you want something to hold, then you can – at a cost (because it costs him to make the cd’s).
i’ve been giving my music away for free, or at cost, for about four years now, but lately i’ve been thinking of different methods, and ways to get my music to as many people as possible at as low a cost as possible. the easiest way is just a free download obviously, but certain people still like to hold a cd in their hands. i think it’s important to have ways for all people to get a hold of my music, and for some people that format is still cd.
i’m not trying to knock cd’s, but i can’t help but wonder how long before cd’s are history. what will take their place? will it be mp3 and other file formats? that’s my guess, but maybe there’s something bigger and better coming down the pipes? i don’t know.
anyway, i think the most important thing is making your music as widely accessible as possible. radiohead is doing it, and i’m sure there will be more artists to follow. i’ve talked to quite a few people who downloaded the album, and i’d say around half of them payed anyway.
i didn’t pay :)