Be a Rock Star

No incredibly significant progress on this goal. Mike and I have been recording some of his new songs, and we’ve played various acoustic shows here and there. We have attended a few industry events, and made some great connections. Ever since I’ve moved out of the Bay Area I feel like this goal has gotten a bit stale.

I’d like to find some new folks to work with here in the Imperial Valley. My wife tells me that the Rock en Espanol scene is really thriving in Mexicali (just 20 miles away), but I have yet to go over. There is a Mexicali radio station, La Zona FM, that plays some great classic rock and often advertises for live music clubs in Mexicali. I’m in the process of renewing my passport, so hopefully having it will be an incentive to make it across and check out the scene.

I read this book by Jacob Slichter of Semisonic fame in three sittings. Very cool stuff. I think it’s a testament to how difficult it is to find success in the pop/rock business….even with international exposure, a record deal, and even good marketable music.

I wonder what Jacob’s thoughts would be on the state of the music business today. Radio does not have the importance that it had even 5 years ago. We were able to make an appointment with a program director’s office and get a warm reception at one of the big stations Jacob mentions in the book… Digital downloads have had a serve impact on album sales, and A&R folks are hunting for new acts on MySpace. Most artist are starting their own labels, and hoping to get bought out. American Idol has created a resurgence in the market for licensing of songs for use by other artists.

Interestingly enough, Dan Wilson (main songwriter & singer for Semisonic) went on to co-write this years Grammy winning song of the year (The Dixie Chick’s “Not Ready to Play Nice”). I unfortunately was introduced to this book after Jacob’s book signing in LA last month… but I would have loved to have chatted with him.

After reading the book, it left me with the feeling that if your music doesn’t appeal to teenagers, and you don’t have a young, desirable look… you might as well forget about big stardom.

My little brother has been attending Full Sail Recording Arts College for nearly 2 years, and I can’t believe he’s graduating in June. We talked for a good half hour over the holidays, and I am incredibly impressed with how much he’s matured and how much he’s learned. We talked about ProTools vs. other DAWs…the importance of good mastering, analog vs. digital…. all stuff I speak with professionals about…and here is my 20 year old hip hop brat brother completely understanding everything I’ve worked on for the past fifteen years.

I invited him out to California to meet some of my other production/technology & music industry friends in July…. as well as maybe assist Mike and I do some recording and mixing.

I’ve never seen my brother so driven about anything. He’s also become much more open minded to different music and other facets of the business. He’s going to continue on to get his bachelors’ in Music Business.

You never know, this could turn into a family business!

Mike finally came to visit the new house and studio! We put down a few scratch tracks for new material…and even recorded a short children’s song with my son. My son thinks of Mike as family. They have an incredible rapport.

We stayed up until 1am (late for us working stiffs) and watched a marathon of VH1’s classic albums (how some of the top albums in rock history were written/produced) and the HBO Bono/Edge interview…off the TIVO, of course. We came away inspired and full of new ideas for the next record.

The new material has a bit more of a country slant to it (think Kieth Urban or Kenny Chesney)....I think once the material gets arranged for the full band, it will get a more rockin’ edge. Mike is going to be more committed to music than ever in 2007, and I’m hoping that it will be a break out year for us.

Mike and I talked for a long time about the past and future…some interesting details emerged about a certain 43things listener (you know who you are!). I couldn’t believe how close you and Mike were…You’ll be happy to know that your inspiration lives on in more than a few of Mike’s songs!

Mike and the boys came down to San Diego for a gig at my company’s annual user group meeting. After about 5 songs on their own, I was introduced and finished the rest of the 2 hour set with them. It was very well recieved, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up playing at more of my company’s events.

The band has a new drummer and a bunch of re-arrangements/new material, and we’re getting some radio and artist management attention again. It looks like I will have some work activity in the Bay Area regularly over the next few months, so that will give me an opportunity to sit in some more. Mike is playing a long weekend trip down here in December so we can record some new scratch tracks for a new record. Also, a couple of other artist have some interest in working with me on their productions.

Suddenly there is a bunch of new activity in my music side-career!

The new version of Sonar has arrived, and I absolutely love the improvements Cakewalk has made. Sonar is the Computer based recording studio softwared that I have used for the past 4 years.

What I’ve always loved about Sonar is the user interface (particularily compared to ProTools), but with this release they have made it even better by letting you very easily use control surfaces to manipulate Sonar. I strayed away from that it in the past because it seemed inefficient, but now, it’s incredibly useful. They’ve also done things to the mix view to make it even more useful.

The new AudioSnap feature is going to allow me to go back and quickly edit timing issues on audio tracks or sync loops and midi to the “feel” of audio tracks. Given that we spent literally days going back and forth with this kind of stuff in the past, this is going to save a huge amount of time.

The Vintage Channel plug-in sounds sweet, and works like a real tube mic pre/compressor…but there are really authentic sounding presets. There are other new updates and plug-ins…the pitch correction plug-in seems more stable as well.

Session Drummer 2 is something I’ve openned up by not really utilized too much. I’d like to figure out how to take existing audio loops and convert them to MIDI to use the patterns and do replacements on drum sounds & minor edits. There isn’t enough included MIDI grooves, but I’m sure I can find some more. The patterns & drum samples that are included are excellent…perhaps even better than actual recordings of drummers.

I’m going back and re-working some of Mike’s material with these new features, and I am really impressed with the results so far.

I spent a few hours with Mike this week. We actually saw Train at a private event that I attended. Great band, excellent show, intimate setting.

Mike and I discussed plans for the next project, which will involve much more web activity and getting the music exposed in every way possible. We are both making serious commitments to take the band and the music to the next level. This includes releasing much more music for various purposes (publishing, film/tv, other artists, etc) and doing things like podcasting and youtube videos.

I’m excited for the new version of Sonar that I will be receiving Monday. It’s new features will make it easier for me to go back and revisit a bunch of the tracks we never released and put a better polish on them. I am officially taking on the role of “Producer”, but when possible, I will sit in with the band for a set (and perhaps helping out with the live sound stuff).

Mike and the boys have been busy rehearsing. The new drummer, Hudson, is working out wonderfully. I might head up to the Bay Area in the coming weeks to go through the material with them so when I do get a chance to sit in with the band, we won’t be completely lost. This is a strong possibility we might do some gigs here in Southern California in the coming months.

It’s been nearly a month since I moved to my new house, and interestingly enough, nearly a month since I spoke with Mike about music. We did manage to have a long phone conversation a couple of nights ago, and there has been progress and setbacks on the music front.

Mike has been doing quite a few acoustic gigs on his own up in the Bay Area, and they have been well received. So much so, that if I go up to visit, we can play at a number of venues with very little notice. He’s gotten the attention of some radio people as well.

On the downside, the band was rehearsing with an excellent drummer, and because of personal reasons, he has had to give up on this project. So it’s back to square one on the drummer front.

Some of the other band members have expressed concern about me flying in to do gigs and not having enough rehearsal with me. I think that they have some valid points, and hopefully I can address them once we do get up to speed and start gigging again. My take is that all of the things I’m doing musically can be planned for and taken care of without need for a bunch of rehearsals or major changes to how the rest of the band performs. Long term though, I really have to decide what I want to do about this given that I am far away, and I don’t want to limit the band’s potential. Apparently Mike is holding up playing rhythm guitar because he is doing so many acoustic gigs, but there is definitely a dynamic that is lost by not having him simply in front of the mic.

I have met some other musicians that are closer to me (albeit a 2 hour drive), and they have expressed interest in working with me. I haven’t really had time to look into the local scene. There is an acoustic cafe in the next town over that I have yet to venture to, and I’ve heard some interesting local music on the college station.

I am taking a break from this goal while I get settled in my new house and work out a schedule for playing with the band and working with Mike on new material.

We had an incredible gig last Sunday at Thee Parkside. Musically, it was our best gig yet….with an enthusiastic crowd and a great 2 hour set (including a rockin’ version of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and some sing-along moments to Mike’s songs & choice covers). It was our drummer Todd’s last gig with us. A steady stream of folks approached us after the gig and told us how incredible the set was.

The good news is that Mike and the rest of the band has been auditioning drummers, and we have some excellent candidates. I left my Bose PS/1 up with Mike so he could do some acoustic gigs over the next few weeks. We played a set of acoustic songs before our set at Thee Parkside, and it was really well received.

I’ve got a busy work schedule, including a week in Brazil, so I will probably not play with the band until late August. That will give Mike and the boys time to get the new drummer up to speed.

Our gig at Brainwash was pretty well recieved even through we decided at the last minute to do it without drums, simply because they would have overpowered the venue. All in all, it was a good time, and it was neat to try the sans drums configuration with electric instruments. Mike sounded particularily good doing a few solo acoustic songs.

We had some myspace fans come to the gig! I’m so glad the effort we have put into the internet is starting to pay off. Next week I move, and my participation in the band will be changing, but on the other hand, new projects are on the horizon once my studio is full operational in the new house (do I sound like Darth Vader yet?).