Musing No. 10 – The Beast Can Make Or Break You.

So on goes my quest to help out all the little guys out there who want to make great music but don’t have the promotional bucks of Nickelback. (Speaking of Nickelback – is it just me, or do all their songs sound oddly the same? Maybe I don’t get it….yeah they have great words and all in their new songs, but do you think they could spring for a few different chords? Sorry – back to the topic).

But Damn, They look cool with their guitars.

I would like to emphasize the power of loyalty. This is very similar to what we in the business world refer to as the power of the local market. It’s very simple – if the audience feels a connection to you because of your sharing of the same location, then they will be loyal to you to the end. For instance, we here in Grand Rapids, love our ‘Red Hot Chili Peppers’ – being as they are a native Grand Rapid band. Red Hot Chili Peppers returns that loyalty by letting it be known that Grand Rapids is where their roots are, and then they throw us a bone with ‘Especially In Michigan’ a track that get’s frequent play in these parts. It’s a very basic concept, but one you had best learn – your home base will always be your strongest.

What? You mean people outside of Grand Rapids don't wear helmets all the time?

Now when you are smaller band – the rivalry will be between cities. When I lived in New York, the Capital Region (Albany) bands got much more love than the (sometimes better) bands from Poughkeepsie or Syracuse. Why - because they were from your scene. And they let it be known where they were from every show. Their crowds would follow them to all over the state to hear them play the same damn songs, lol, because they were one of them.

The Beast Looks Hungry....

Just remember wherever you go – keep your home base in mind. Create a street team, where they can help you out with promotions, and you can give them free shit. Give away freebies at the home shows - letting the crowd know that you don’t do this for anyone else. That makes it even more powerful – because it combines the power of loyalty with the power of free stuff – two marketing dynamos, especially when it comes to the music industry.

Now in contradiction – if you don’t acknowledge your home base any differently than you do any other crowd – if you don’t remember ‘the little guy’ when you go big….or bigger anyways – then they will make you bleed. They will tear you apart.

Remember this from Oz? This is you if you forget your home base....Not cool.

Always remember where you came from as a musician, always remember the hometown – because they are ultimately your foundation, and will almost always be your biggest fans and biggest promoters.

End of Musing No. 10

Musing No. 9 - Musician Magic

So I will deviate from my usual amusing posts to discuss a musician matter....just this once, lol (who am I kidding, I always deviate from the norm, lol):

You don't need the big processing units or big editing units to create beautiful musical art. As a matter of fact, the big musicians envy you. Yes that's right, they envy you.

"Why is that" you may say? Well the reason is, because you still have the 'Wow Factor.' With your little First Act guitar and crappy peavy amp, you have the ability to amaze people with your ingenuitive creative ability. True art is created with little and made into big. You see that little amp and crappy guitar you have by your side? That is all you need by way of tools to create the music the world needs to hear.

When you are small, you need to 'Wow' the world with your creative genius. Art is not something that is created with millions of dollars - art is something that is taking something and making it nothing. And you can do that. You can take that small Line 6, Peavey, or Marshall amp - you can take that small Dillion, Epiphone or First Act guitar create something that the world has never seen. You have to stop waiting for the world to hand you the big weapons that the music industry has at it's ever-waiting disposal, and know that the 'Wow Factor' is in the ability to make something amazing from your small stack/amp/crappy PC abilities.

The true artists can take a crappy doormat and make a picaso piece. The true artists can take a Target purchased guitar and make a form of music that the world has never seen. Sure, you will get picked up by a Major industrial label when you make that music, but the point is that you can MAKE IT when you have nothing. YOU can make musical art with nothing but your raw creative talent at your disposal.

I believe the industry has gotten into a funk. A funk that means the same old' same old. That is where you come in. You - the creative musical genius, who has nothing but his hopes his dreams and creativity, and his desire to make the world better.
The point that I would really like to Pound home is that you don't need the big fancy tools of the music industry to make the best music anyone has ever heard. All you need is a guitar and a microphone. Or heck, all you need is a tape recorder. Something to record you creating the best art the world has ever seen.

You need to be brave. You need to be daring. You need to dare to be ridiculed. Look back through history - the greatest creators of all time were ridiculed, they were torn down - all because their creations were different. But you know what? Different is the best. Different is the blood that the industry lives by. Different is what takes you on a multi-million dollar tour of America, Germany, and Ireland. DIfferent is what makes you the artist to define our generation.

I would advise you - over everything - to be different than the rest. As a musical artist, I can definitely tell you that different will get you somewhere in this world. Different will take you where you want to go. Different will make you the defining artist of our time. And I will personally sign you, on my label - Mannstein Records. (Shameless Plug, I'm sorry, I'm a marketer as well as a musician) I encourage all inspiring musicians and musical geniuses to follow your path of different. Because different will get your noticed. It may not make you the next Nickelback....but let's face it...there are loftier goals, lol. Every label is looking for the next big thing - and you might be just that.

Don't be afraid to be different. You might be the next big thing.

End of Musing No 9
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