Life Happens …If You Let It

23 03 2012

I’m blowing the dust off this bitch. For a long time I felt like I didn’t have anything important to say, and honestly I didn’t. Instead of half-assing my way through crippled excuses at worthwhile thinking, I buried therealkfish. That isn’t to say that exciting shit wasn’t popping off left and right. There was just something about all of it that seemed really self-serving, and somehow less than blogworthy as a result. Truthfully, it was completely self-serving. I had to do something to reassert my independence. To allow myself the complete freedom to do, think, and act, exactly how I wanted to without the stifling social laws of the workplace, of living with roommates, or even seeing other human beings. However, this liberating little adventure hasn’t been completely devoid of moments worth documentation. Sometimes it takes a random act of emancipation to open up possibilities that couldn’t have existed beforehand.

Three months ago I quit my job and moved to a cabin in the gold country. Bam. Fuck you world, time for me to jet. I felt stifled, bored, and most of all entirely unfulfilled suffering through every week to do my best to enjoy two days of freedom. It wasn’t working for me, so I removed myself from the situation. I finally had the freedom to get back to the things I love: making music, reading, writing, drawing, hiking, riding my bike, most of all being free to do whatever the fuck I want whenever I feel like doing it. One of the things I yearned for most was the feeling of playing music for people. There’s something truly special about creating art for people to enjoy at the exact moment it’s being created. At the time I hadn’t played a live show in 5 years. Less than a week from moving up to the cabin I received this email:

Hey Ninja, wanna go on tour?

My boy Banah is in need of a guitarist & bassist and told him I know just the people.
Let me know what you’re pondering Koi Fish

-Lindonesia

Though a little cryptic in its colloquialisms, one need only really digest the first line. After more than 5 years not playing live music, the opportunity landed in my inbox. Christian (“Lindonesia”) and I auditioned and got the spots. Keep in mind, at no other point in the last few years would it have been at all possible for me to do this. I wouldn’t have even been able to seriously entertain the idea. But, after just leaving my job, I could, and did, say yes. Doors opened when I allowed them to. We toured California for a week and are looking forward to a full west coast run for the month of May. Granted, I have been up here not working for 3 months, and I have no idea how I am going to swing rent and pay my bills and still have enough left over to front a month on tour. It hasn’t been easy, and at this point I’m quickly running out of money and starting to look at the realities of what this decision has cost me. But you know what? All of the costs have been monetary. I can always make more money. When I was working money wasn’t enough to satiate my rabid desire that life be a fucking adventure, and this solitary jaunt to the middle of nowhere has been exactly that.

One of my favorite quotes right now is from Hellen Keller: “Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing.” We’ve all tasted the lack of fulfillment of waiting for paychecks and the two weeks granted to you each year for the freedom to do what you actually want with your time.

Fuck that, live an adventure.


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Art v. Commerce

8 08 2011

Art thrives on risk. Taking an abstract idea, filtering it through a unique vision and creating something new, is in itself a risky activity. Truly great art exposes ideas in a new way, forcing those witnessing from their comfortable universe to view through the intended lens of the artist.

Commerce thrives on stability. Making calculated decisions, measuring analytics, and responding accordingly is necessary for growing and maintaining wealth. Commerce requires measurable results that can be repeated with predictable outcomes. Risk is an inherent enemy of this type of operation.

The worlds of art and commerce may have never collided so catastrophically as they have in today’s independent music industry. Not only are artists expected to produce captivating content, but they are also charged with simultaneously fronting a business enterprise. DIY musicians must be constantly cognizant of the commercial aspects of their art, and balancing these conflicting ideologies has proven difficult to orchestrate. Creation and logistics require different types of thinking, even different sides of the brain, to work out the intricacies of the particular problems associated with each.

The trend I have noticed amongst independent music artists in the last few years is that they seem to be spending lots of time focusing on the business side of their craft, while neglecting the art that is the basis of the enterprise itself. Let me be clear: artists make art. Anything else is a distraction from the primary objective. Now in no way am I advocating the days of the label model, where artists gave up the control of their business (music) to a record label, who, under the guise of the artist’s best interest, made the business decisions, took the profits, and after recouping, hopefully paid the artists some small percentage of the proceeds. I think it’s great that artists now have the opportunity to steer their own ship as far as their business is concerned. My issue is that I see literally hundreds of mediocre artists spending their days hustling the back alleys of social media trying to boost their follower numbers in hopes that they’ll find some type of success, while altogether ignoring that it’s their art, not their notoriety, that is holding them back. People have things backwards. What’s the point of having 20,000 Twitter followers when the content you’re creating isn’t enthralling enough to keep them interested? Content is king, and always will be. If you aren’t creating content so good that it cannot be ignored then you need to reevaluate your focus.

Artists please stop spending all day grinding out new ways to play your music for people. Spend all day in the studio. Realize that truly great content will ALWAYS sell itself. Perfect your art, the rest will happen organically.


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Things I Despise

1 08 2011

There are very few things that I can say that I truly hate. In fact, off the top of my head I can think of only two, and these two may even be able to be condensed down into one umbrella hatred. For the purposes of this post, however, I’ll give them each their own independent existence. I hate:

-Laziness

-Lack of Initiative

I write this now because I am guilty of both. There’s no Casey Anthony justice system failure in this one, no hung jury, nothing. I am indefensibly guilty on both counts.

In the last 103 days I have written a grand total of one blog post. That’s one quarter of a year with a single post to my name. The worst part is that this post was an excuse, a stay tuned message utterly devoid of captivating content, lacking entirely any modicum of critical thought or artistry. “Hey world, I’m still alive.” It should have said something along the lines of “Hello world, I have been incredibly lazy and will use this as an excuse to forget entirely the things that really matter to me while I get caught up in bullshit activities that don’t mean much.” That would have been a much fairer assessment of how I have been spending my time. And not only have I allowed this neglect to reach its infertile fingers into the microcosm of this blog, but (more importantly) it has halted my music production like a truckload of cocaine at the border. Why? Well here is where I start explaining that I have been working and going to school and interning and that August is the first time since January that all I have on my plate is working full time. But for what? That’s all true, but it’s all bullshit. People make time for the things they love, and let me assure you, I am in love with words and music. So what is it then? Honest answer:

Laziness and lack of initiative.

I have used the excuse of being busy with other things (my “life” getting in the way) as a means to shirk the responsibilities I have to do what I love. Yes, responsibilities. Writing, both music and prose, is something I not only enjoy, but am skilled in. I hold myself completely accountable for pushing myself and continually pursuing greatness in the things I am passionate about. Lately, I have hardly even given myself the respect of sitting down to do them. This is completely unacceptable. What could possibly be more important than doing the things that set my soul on fire? Going to school? Working? Interning?

Fuck that.

I have not finished anything that I’ve started in 2011. Not one thing. I’ve been floating amidst the fuzzy, comfortable waves of the status quo, perpetuating my own laziness with excuses and creating nothing of value. The two things I can say I truly hate have replaced the burning furnace of creativity that I pride myself on.

But they won’t anymore.

 

 


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Words of Wisdom

11 04 2011

“There are only two people who matter in the music business, the artist and the fan. The rest of us in the middle need to either add value or get the hell out of the way.”

– Al Teller


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Categories : Music

Reconsidering the Album

28 03 2011

The album is not dead. The decline of the CD, and shrinking market share of the LP format does not necessitate the extinction of the album, it only marks the album’s exit as the dominant format through which music is consumed.

For decades the record industry was able to sell albums, in the form of LP records, cassette tapes, and CDs. This system worked because the consumer had no ability to pick and choose individual tracks that they wanted off a certain release—their only option was to buy the entire album. There was no method for à la carte track availability, and unless the consumer wanted only the single (if there was even a single offered) they would have to purchase the full LP to acquire the tracks they desired. Selling albums with three to four gems and nine tracks of filler was a success to the point that it was taken for granted that the model of making a majority of consumers pay for more than they actually wanted was not sustainable. Eventually the album was bound to be displaced by a system that was more able to meet the demands of the consumer, by allowing them the freedom to purchase what they want, and not pay for things that they didn’t. As the Mp3 increased in popularity and digital files ate away at the dominance of physical product, this barrier to individual track access disappeared and heralded the decline of the album as a format. The prevailing model is no longer a physical container filled with songs, but the digital single, downloaded or streamed for low cost (or free) and easily accessed. The album cannot possibly compete as the dominant format against the ability to easily choose tracks à la carte.

But, again, the album is not dead; its decline will not be its demise. The album still has a place among music fans, not as the dominant consumption format, but as a niche product. Like the relatively thriving demand for vinyl in certain music scenes, there is still a place for the album format within specific areas of the music industry. There are those who enjoy listening to an entire LP of interrelated tracks, or a group of songs built around an overarching concept. They are not the majority, but they can represent enough of an artist’s fan base that musicians should not dispose of the idea of the album entirely. It’s true, in certain genres like pop and hip hop, where single songs are the primary drivers of purchasing traffic, the album may no longer make sense as the most effective means to package music. However, in a jazz or indie rock context the album format may still be viable, and should be utilized accordingly. Regardless of differences in genre, the album should be thought of as a specialty item, and should fulfill a particular purpose, with a particular demographic in mind, not merely be employed because it is how music has been packaged for the last few decades. The days of selling hundreds of thousands of physical albums are waning, and there is no point in holding on to that era’s outmoded methodologies. It’s time to reconsider the role of the album, and use it as a distinctive tool at the artist’s disposal, instead of as the go to format for releasing music.

Originally posted at Fame House.

www.famehouse.net


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Categories : Music

As It Stands: Digital Marketing in the Music Industry

11 03 2011

The current state of digital marketing in the music industry is one of hyper-fragmentation. Picking and choosing marketing tactics for the extensive number of platforms and media outlets through which fans consume content is a representation of just one of the extremely daunting tasks that marketers have in today’s music business.  The digitization of the social sphere has helped, by amassing communities of like-minded fans interacting, sharing, and participating on unparalleled levels, but there remains a problem of accessing these fans as they sit amongst the hundreds of millions of other (“non-fan”) users. For these, and a myriad of other reasons, digital marketing in the music industry is a very promising field. Fans are out there, and they are consuming and sharing content like never before, it is merely a matter of finding ways to reach them. There are infinite opportunities for new strategies, new methods of analysis, and new ways to target a fan base—success depends only upon ones ability to be creative. Though there are no surefire systems for attaining marketing success, there are some proven methods for maximizing effectiveness in the current digital landscape.

The first is accessing social networks and integrating the artist into the conversation. Keep in mind that these networks are communities, and must be treated as such. Marketing within these communities is problematic because input seen as inauthentic (i.e. a sales pitch) is immediately recognizable and risks exclusion. Therefore, marketing within the social media context must be performed very carefully. Traditional push marketing techniques are not appropriate, as members of the community are interested in the communal aspect of discovery and sharing, not a commercial agenda. Marketing strategies need to take this into account, and should first seek to join the conversation, before pursuing any attempt at monetizing the social sphere. This is not to say that marketing isn’t permitted via social media, only that it must be done tastefully, with careful attention paid to the attitudes and interests of the community. The artist’s interactions facilitate the formation of relationships directly with fans, but it is up to the marketing team to devise an appropriate means of turning these relationships into revenue.

The second, and quite possibly the most important aspect in creating effective digital marketing, is the aggregation and evaluation of analytics. The proliferation of software tools for information collection has made it possible to acquire data from almost any online interaction—data that is invaluable for reviewing the efficacy of marketing strategies. Not only can marketers assemble information about how many people opened an email, but they can see who clicked which links, bought items, or any number of other important statistics. An artist and their marketing team should garner all the information they can get from their fans, so that they may find ways to more efficiently and more effectively market to them in the future.

Digital marketing in the music business is a hustle. Social media etiquette and a scientific attention to analytics will help, but there is no blueprint for an effective digital marketing plan. One has to keep in mind that marketing is about each individual user experience. Fans want authenticity, relevance, and personalization, and providing these is the only way to create a successful digital marketing campaign.

Originally posted at Fame House.

www.famehouse.net


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A Letter to Rick Rubin

10 03 2011

Dear Rick-

I received my copy of Adele’s new album “21” a few days ago. I bought the CD, wanting higher sound quality than the usual Mp3, to allow me to better hear all the nuances of Adele’s majestic voice  in a relatively pristine audio format. After putting the CD in my computer and firing up my studio speakers I relaxed and prepared to spend an hour doing nothing but listening. I took in the first few tracks but track four stuck out. “Don’t You Remember,” as it’s called, seemed to have audible distortion laced throughout the song. I played it again just to make sure I wasn’t mistaken. No, it was there, clear as day. My mind immediately raced through the potential causes, but upon hearing a crescendo I knew the answer. Overcompression. Damn, some jackass hammered down on the compression ratio and steamrolled the dynamics to the point of fuzz. I was dismayed, certainly, but willing to accept someone’s mixing error. I settled back into listening, but by the time “He Won’t Go” hit my ears there was definitely a slight distortion lacing the more instrument heavy portions of the track. At this point I started to get flustered. Why would someone use such an aggressive mixing style on what are essentially pop ballads? I couldn’t think of any sensible reason behind it, but I wasn’t happy. Pissed off, but not letting the obnoxious grit distract from my listening experience, I continued letting Adele sign her sorrows at high volume. Three tracks later, more distortion. ‘What the fuck,’ I thought to myself, ‘this has to be some kind of mistake.’ Annoyed enough at this point, I pulled out the liner notes for the CD—I had to know what was going on. When I found the line for production credit on “Don’t You Remember” I realized that the overcompression on these tracks wasn’t an accident, it was your signature.

Look Rick, you are responsible for discovering and producing some of the best music ever made. Your track record speaks for itself. However, Adele is not Jay-Z, nor The Red Hot Chili Peppers. Those artists and styles lend themselves well to your steamroller compression tactics, but I find it hard to justify using the same production methods on “21.” In my opinion, you shit on greatness.

You left your sonic fingerprints all over this record, and honestly, I find it inappropriate. The role of a producer is to guide the music toward the pinnacle of whatever it is that the song is written to express. This includes help writing and arranging, but also employing recording and mixing techniques that complement the musical direction. When you mix tracks (or supervise the mixing of tracks) the expression of the song should reign as creative director, not you. Your job is merely to interpret the vision and make it real. You took mellow pop songs and applied your signature aggressive mix to all of them, effectively tagging each with the graffiti of your style.

Luckily for you, most people won’t notice what you’ve done to these tracks. Those of us who love audio, have. We aren’t happy, Rick.

Respectfully,

Kyle Fisher


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Adele

3 02 2011

If you consider yourself a music fan you should pay attention. For those unfamiliar, let me present Adele. Adele gives me hope that great music is still being made. Watch this woman perform and you’ll immediately understand what I’m talking about. Adele’s voice makes you want to cry, gives you goosebumps, and produces the feeling that the whole world is hanging on her next note, all within the confines of a single song. She has one of the most powerful and moving voices I have ever heard, and this performance only validates her virtuosity. It is a testament to what music should sound like. This is not sung in a recording studio, mind you, this is performed on a TV sound stage in a warehouse, and the woman sounds absolutely brilliant.

Adele is not Lady Gaga in a meat dress, nor any other media frenzy entrepreneur, she is raw talent personified. There is no gimmick here. There doesn’t have to be, she is just that good. Adele only misses one note in the entire performance (2:12), just enough to remind us that she is, in fact, human. The most frightening thing about her is that she is only 22 years old.


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My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

25 01 2011

This is a biased review, straight up. To think otherwise would be foolish. The fact is, I really like Kanye West. Personal dickheadedness aside (though if you heard Taylor Swift attempt that duet with the great Stevie Nicks you would have stood up and applauded his award show outburst), Ye writes amazing music. People, probably the same hating on Tiger Woods for things completely unrelated to the reason they loved him in the first place, front about how Kanye is whack and rocks polos and samples other people’s music and you are more than welcome to argue the merits and drawbacks to his personal choices but one fact remains: Kanye makes jams.

Irrespective of personal feelings on the subject, as alluded to above, this is in fact a review. To call an album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” is making a statement. To do so and drop an album that is exactly that, a trip into the mind of a maven, exploring what exactly makes Kanye tick, is a match to the powder keg of popular music. Some will scoff that this album represents another egotistical expedition through the contents of Kanye’s mind, but honestly, what else could you possibly want from a man so obviously invested in his own mental world?  The guy is an expert at being himself, what better than letting him run around the scarier parts of his mind for an hour and nine minutes? Let the experts do what they’re good at. In Mr. West’s case that means being Ye at all costs.

At first listen the album represents a sonic departure from his previous efforts. I know there are some of you who immediately recall the sparce and somewhat psychedelic autotuned atmosphere of 808’s and Heartbreaks, but let me assure you, this record is nothing like 808’s. MBDTF is a Zeppelin meets Queen meets pure Kanye hip hop epic. This album is made to sound as huge as possible, and not huge in the overhyped bass and lower midrange that most hip hop albums rely on to sound big—this album is operatic. Large scale orchestrations, stacked vocal harmonies, and emotional fire create what feels like a fist in the teeth of the Hot 100. In MBDTF he explores the contents of the darker parts of his psyche in such an organic and fluid manner that people may fail to realize the gravity of his memes. Mining material from his much publicized personal life, analysis of his self-image, and the usual fascination with fat booties, Kanye merges the three seamlessly, hopping between lines with a deftness hinted at on his previous releases, but perfected on MBDTF.

Sonically, the album is a lot dirtier than anything Kanye has put out. I’m not talking about x-rated lyricism (though there is no shortage, “Have you ever had sex with a Pharaoh? I’ll put the pussy in a sarcophagus.”) but instead, Ye’s use of distortion. Though his former albums all possessed the typical scratches and pops of sampled vinyl, this album is laced with harmonic overtones as a vast majority of the tracks are saturated in buttery distortion. In stark contrast to the relatively clean production of 808’s, MBDTF sounds like a classic rock record. The distortion provides a cohesion reminiscent of the days of records recorded entirely on 2″ tape, allowing tracks an amount of bleed and sonic overlap that only adds to the album’s epic feel. It sounds like the album was recorded with all the instruments in one room, with little attention paid to sound isolation, giving it a classic and almost live feel that is literally unheard in hip hop.

The best part about MBDTF, though, is the fact that Kanye shows no signs of resting on his laurels. He could have easily taken the criticism he received for 808’s and churned out another Graduation album, but thankfully he isn’t that kind of artist. Instead, he pushed things even further, exploring new territory for himself as well as hip hop as a genre. There has never been an album that sounds quite like MBDTF, and there won’t be again, because Kanye will take things in another direction, driving his music and himself toward the creation of a new sound. As Ye himself said, “I’m not saying I’m the best, I’m just saying it’s a goal of mine, and anybody who tries to knock my goals can eat shit.” The guy isn’t going to stop pushing, and even if you can’t appreciate the music on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, you can’t knock the hustle.


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