What a Life

As usual, things haven't moved along much. The band I drum for decided not to become anything more than local, so I began picking up my indie project again and finally have more connections. Thanks to booking again and doing stuff with my band I have much more to work with in terms of local connections. As well, I feel like I now understand the basic steps for a band to really get out there in a big way. Hopefully I can pull together a group to get this indie project ready and then let it take off.

Equipment

I finally have the equipment I need to start recording and getting music projects really started. Unfortunately I ran into a snag...with everything. I got an Axiom25 (2nd gen) but something is wrong with the keyboard so I have to get it exchanged. I also have an audio-interface to start getting instruments recorded, but the firewire that came with it is a 6-bit to 6-bit and my mac has a 4-bit firewire port, so I need to get a convertor or a wire. While both these things aren't really much of a problem it is just annoying that I couldn't plug in really play around with anything.

It will be nice to record because it will make starting a band easier and it will help with promotion. It's pretty hard to get heard when you don't have anything recorded...although that isn't quite as apparent when you're focused on playing live shows. That is one of the reasons why my current band got on its feet so quickly, the lead singer already had all the songs written and recorded. We just needed to learn them and then give our own little tweaks. The downside is we don't have the money to re-record the songs so they truly reflect how we sound now. Listening to our recordings it almost sounds like a different band.

Hopefully I can get this stuff up and running quickly...but I have to put it on pause for a trip I leave for in two days (technically tomorrow since it's past midnight). Once I'm back though, it's on.

Wheels now turning

Things have slightly begun to move along. I now have the equipment I need to start recording myself and really get different types of projects in motion. I am also playing drums in a band which is playing shows around town. We got together pretty quickly and have played 3 shows already. We have 2 more scheduled, one in Charleston and another in our hometown. Hopefully we will get a tour soon enough, especially since we are capable of doing so.

One of the members of this band is also working with me on my indie-alternative project. We have practiced a few songs together but won't really be able to progress until I record something for him to learn to and practice to. He likes what I have and if we can find some other musicians we could get a great band going, plus we are both itching to get on tour.

I haven't had a job for over a month now, doing random little jobs for random cash. Of course, I am hoping to start making money with my music finally! The band I am in has made some money at shows but we all agreed to use it towards merch for the band. Im going to try my hand at jingles and see if I can make some money in the local commercial market. I've begun the slow process of applying to 'real' jobs (the type a starving musician such as myself would take) but I'd rather make money a way I actually enjoy.

First Post

This is my first post to my new blog. I have had a few blogs before, but I slowly stopped updating them once in college. Now that I have graduated from college I figured I would start off fresh. If you couldn't tell by the name of this blog, I am a musician. I didn't study music in college, I studied communications and film, but I have been playing music since I was a little kid. In High School I tried to start a few bands, which at first seemed like an easy task because I could play drums and guitar but it turned out to be quite a hard thing to do. Still yearning to be part of the music scene I decided to book and promote bands, joining a friends company and then going on to start my own. Just like blogging, booking and promotions went out the door when I got to college.

After graduation I still wanted to be a musician more than anything so I took my old job at a restaurant and began working on writing music. I have slowly begun to play live, but I have spent a lot of my time trying once again to start a band. The music I have played live has been very well received but it is hard to tell if someone is being nice or honest. I hope to start making money through freelance methods, such as blogging and writing (one other reason to start a new blog), so I can easily work on my music and make money at the same time.

Luckily for me I enjoy writing and have a ton to write about. Besides music I spend a lot of time doing genealogy, cooking, making art and writing (entertainment stuff like jokes and scripts). I am very into self-expressive activities, although genealogy isn't exactly self-expressive but more self-explaining as in 'where you come from'. As you follow this blog I will go into more detail, but for now lets just keep it simple.