what are people doing with all their masterpieces? Ambition?

[vurt]

please tell me your missus wasnt in boltthrower

[clueless]

I had a couple nibbles in the late '80s/early '90s for an indie rock band I was in,but the band imploded.I became disillusioned with the whole music thing and quit for close to ten years.
I started putting my electronic stuff online for family and friends to get a chuckle over,and I was shocked to find that others actually liked it
As cloudspine said,there's no reason that you can't distribute yourself nowdays.I'll also echo his shameless plug .
PS-I still own the master tapes from the old band,and I'm working on them.Someday I'd like to see them get their time in the sun;there's some good material there
ew

Shit! I could have written that almost word for word!

[Sicklecell666]

please tell me your missus wasnt in boltthrower

No, she wasn't in BoltThrower, she was in a couple of bands in Virginia Beach.

I was REALLY into the death metal scene for a few years. I used to jam with Maleveolent Creation, Obituary, Monstrosity, Deicide & a few others I can't recall. I tattooed the guys from Cancer like 14 years ago when they were touring the US I knew like every death metal/grindcore band in Florida; that was a cool time, long dead now

The euro death metal bands beat americans into the dirt, but we owned the hardcore scene

[vurt]

i used to drink with carcass in pubs in liverpool

[Sicklecell666]

i used to drink with carcass in pubs in liverpool

I interviewed them for a buddy's fanzine like a million years ago! Bill Steel was my fav guitarist back then; Symphonies of Sickness was a f**king masterpiece

[vurt]

steer
yeah i play it to my son occassionally when were going skating
ah halcyon daze

[blueqube]

Interesting thread indeed! I have been playing/producing music for 12 years now...starting off when I was 16 with crappy little bands playing Hendrix and Stones covers, then I joined a Led Zeppelin tribute band and a Doors tribute band. Both did pretty well but with the Doors tribute I was lucky enough to end up doing a few small tours around the UK and western Europe. Some of the things we got up to on those tours were...well...let's just say "memorable"!!! lol

Then I got involved in "dance" music. It had always been something I liked listening to (to the surprise and bemusement of those in the bands I was in - all "hippy" types! lol) but I first got started with an old Atari ST and Steinberg Pro 24...ahh...those were the days...

Then I just carried on doing what I was doing and, VERY fortunately, I just happened to meet with the right people at the right time. Since then I have had tracks released on EMI/Positiva, Ministry of Sound and various other UK labels. I have had a track in the Top 20 in the UK and have even done Top of the Pops - not sure whether that is something to brag about or not! lol So, to be honest, I have had a lot of my ambition satisfied already. But I do have to agree with some of the opinions here and say that, for me at least, the day that I have no ambition is the day that I will "retire". And I don't necessarily mean ambition in the sense of "success". It could just as easily be a desire to make a better track, to get just 10 people to buy your song, whatever your OWN personal ambition is. For me, having tasted "success", I am driven very much by getting my music out to large audiences...and before you start throwing rotten fruit and telling me I am a "sell-out" or some such thing (just kidding folks! ), that is what works for me...I am not, IN ANY WAY, saying that if you don't have those motivations then you are "wrong" in some way...that is why I do it. Oh, and the ceaseless desire to write the "perfect" song which will have people break down in to floods of unstoppable floods of tears of joy when they hear it...of course!

I would say that piracy is certainly having a MAJOR effect on the dance industry. Many labels are now ULTRA cautious about how they spend their money. Indeed, one guy that I know who is A&R for Positiva said that they are ONLY signing major "name" acts at the moment (this was a few months ago so it could ALL have changed by now!). However the flip side of this is that it IS becoming possible now to make a "name" for yourself by doing all the hard work yourself and getting your stuff on to Internet Radio and "pay" download sites. Eventually, if the music is right, people WILL listen and they WILL enjoy. Market forces should never be underestimated and while it is easy to "piss and moan" about the state of the industry (hell, it is not a proper day for me unless I have at least one rant about it!), it is a fluid and dynamic market that CAN change...and WILL change. People will only ever buy your music if they KNOW ABOUT IT! And, frankly, it is down to us to make people know about it! There are ways...but you have to take the initiative yourself...

I don't know what it is like in the "band" scene at the moment but I am presuming that there is some similarity. So, people, whatever it is that drives you...be it self-expression, making a bit of cash, making your girlfriend happy coz she has her songs on CD, or becoming the next big thing...DON'T give up...it is the people who MAKE the music who ultimately control the industry...not the record companies!

And to end todays sermon we shall all stand and sing hymn number 42..."Oh come all ye musos..."

[peteralston]

nothing much to add, except another great post above, as they all have been, so ... cheers, and it sounds like people are fairly happy with whatever they are doing, striving towards something, and nobody seems that disillusioned ... which is nice

Peter

[paul minot]

I had a couple nibbles in the late '80s/early '90s for an indie rock band I was in,but the band imploded.I became disillusioned with the whole music thing and quit for close to ten years.
I started putting my electronic stuff online for family and friends to get a chuckle over,and I was shocked to find that others actually liked it
As cloudspine said,there's no reason that you can't distribute yourself nowdays.I'll also echo his shameless plug .
PS-I still own the master tapes from the old band,and I'm working on them.Someday I'd like to see them get their time in the sun;there's some good material there
ew

Shit! I could have written that almost word for word!

Ditto--except I haven't been releasing my tracks yet. Still would like to put a band together sometime for fun--but no time, and good drummers are hard to find (or tolerate personally ).

[Dave Spiers]

A really interesting thread and I have to say that’s what I like about KvR - there’s both excellent writers/musicians here, plus a lot of people that are just hungry to learn and improve. The common thread is that they love what they do

It’s getting harder to ‘make it’ as an ‘artist’ nowadays and there’s no question that piracy has taken its toll with regards labels taking risks. I’ve been trying to get one KvRian signed for about six months now and even with 15+ years of connections it’s proving bloody difficult. However, as opposed to the old days, where if you were unsigned you had little choice than to quit in despondency, now there are still ways of getting your music out there providing you balance your art and commerce. That’s a huge step forward and I’m sure things will change for the better because of this.

I met with a really interesting guy recently who’s been well known, hip and respected since the early 70’s and he said that when he was first around the technology wasn’t able to translate ideas because it was too primitive and unreliable. “It’s taken 40 years for technology to catch up and as a result the 60’s should really start now.”

In some ways I can see it’s already happening.

Labels too may eventually catch up with what’s happening and one example of this was brought home today when I met an old friend who’s working with The Darkness. Their rags to riches story is quite amazing and whether you like their music or not, it’s encouraging to know that things like this could happen in almost all areas of music. As someone once told me “The only difference between you and the person who’s done it is.....he’s done it”

It might sound trite but it makes absolute sense the more you think about it.

Mind you someone else also said “It’s not a gift - more like a curse” And occasionally that makes perfect sense too.




Dave

[TVD]

well, in repsonse to another fine Donkey Tugger recording, and also listening to Garret's latest masterpiece, I posted the following :-

another good song, BUT, what are you doing with all these songs? (I know about your website and cd on there)

And this sort of goes out to everybody - is anybody sending their stuff off to record companies etc? And has anyone been signed and is that what they want?

Soooooooooo .... what are people doing with all their gems, and what are sort of ambition is there? I suppose I'm mainly interested in whether people from the UK have had any feedback from record companies, publishing companies etc, but would also love to hear if others from faraway lands have had any 'professional' feedback etc

Cos surely everyone would love to get paid for their music, and also thinks that what they do can't be as bad as most of the 'commercial' stuff they hear ... or maybe not.

Peter

1) I want to move to Florida within 2 years from today.

2) I want to set up shop (my production company) somewhere in Florida (Orlando???).

3) I want to help make Hip-Hop & Electronic fun again.

4) As an artist/producer, I want to be the Steely Dan of Hip-Hop. In other words, I'll have my own albums, but I'll never perform live gigs (studiobound for life).

5) I want synths to own the 21st century like the guitars once own the 20th century.

Everything else, I'll keep to myself until the first five goals are completed.

[Dan Island]

We would like to put 10 or 12 tracks onto a CD and get it mastered by someone and try and sell it on our website but it is a slow process and already I am beginning to dislike some of our earlier stuff before we have even finished our later stuff.

[vurt]

. However, as opposed to the old days, where if you were unsigned you had little choice than to quit in despondency,

Dave

this is a good point dave,its due to the web that people like us know we have an audience,even me for gods sake,but as an artist and im sure most of you will agree this is what we crave most?yes a bit of cash here n there would be nice,but i think anybody who does this for nothing but money will have more problems along the way.
just being happy for a start

another thing you said "its not a gift its a curse"
yes sometimes it does feel this way when youve not slept fo a week tryna get the cybal crash in just the right place but in the end every sound we make is art in itself never to be repeated

just go with it
what will be will be
or
you get out what you put in

[mystahr]

And basically have fun......

What is in the past makes for a fine bunch of memories.
What lies ahead is something neither of us control.

The moment is actually all that matters

[rjt]

Dan, that sounds like what I did. I put 11 songs on CD, recorded and mixed it at home, then had it mastered. One thing that I did (it took me about 2 years to write 11 songs... I am a SLOW writer--and a bad payer... which can be a deadly combination ) was to keep practicing the songs... and making minor changes until I recorded them. Then I recorded the accoustic stuff in about a week. Dumped it into the computer and mixed for about 4-6 weeks and it was done. I noticed that my earlier tunes continued to change (and hopefully progress), but recording them at the same time helped.

Take Care