Where did you hear that the world is a fair place? When, in all the years of your experiences, did you ever get the impression that human nature is to ignore that which is popular, and devote all their attention to the things that are socially important issues?

No, it’s quite the opposite.

And furthermore, there’s a margin to which the specifics of what is “socially important” is subjective. Who are you to decide what is “socially important”?

When you run your mouth off publicly in outrage of everyone else’s shallow character, disgusted by the fact that people prefer something seemingly less meaningful (by your definition), over something that is arguably more important, not only do you make yourself a hypocritical jerk, but you also demean the very thing that you scold the community for ignoring.

The irony is that you do more damage to the issues you’re passionate about by indicting others, than they ever do themselves when failing to recognize the issues to your standards.

Don’t disrespect the leaders you are passionate about by being a loudmouthed jerk. That’s not what these leaders who have inspired you would do, and that’s not what the leaders of your community would want.

Shut up and lead. Don’t scorn.

//Jon
Website: jonstinson.com
Blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

Ryan Hogan (along with Jaime Raybin) was one of our featured Dance Your Art Out artists at the first party we threw. To use a word such as “fascinating” to describe Ryan’s unique style of sculpture-based installation art is too banal, and does not justly articulate how galvanizing his work actually is. Each piece is singularly provocative, piquing, and complex. As observers, we expect artists to make strong statements-to challenge us in affecting ways. Clearly, Ryan Hogan is on course to become a leader in this realm. Below are eight questions we asked Ryan in an attempt to get a closer look at his talent. Hope you enjoy.

How did you get started in the world of art?
By making Ewok [the character from Star Wars: Episode VI-Return Of The Jedi] costumes at the age of five. In all seriousness, I’m still in very formative stages, so I guess I’m still getting started. I took classes in high school and produced poorly informed, juvenile art. For whatever reason, I studied art in college. I feel like I have to show something for that time spent on a degree. So, here I am today.

When did you first become interested in creating visual pieces, and begin dabbling in artistic pursuits?
I think I alluded to this in the previous question. It’s hard for me to remember a time when I wasn’t making something or working on a project. My parents instilled this in me. When we don’t have something, we make it. My mother is a talented seamstress and my father is an artisan in his own right. Growing up, I would play with legos and erector sets. As I got older, I would continue to construct things, weather it happened to be a small scale model or a disfunctional hover craft. I think this all somehow translates into what I do now. It’s a lot of playing around and not knowing what to expect.

Who are your biggest influences? What artists have inspired and shaped you the most?
There are artists I like and artists I try to mimic. Joseph Beuys is an artist I like. Eva Hesse is an artist I try to mimic.

What types of art, both media and genres is your focus? How do you describe your work from the genre standpoint?
Whenever I’m asked this, people often jump to the conclusion that I paint. Sometimes they go further and volunteer the information that they play with charcoals or that their niece does watercolors. It usually throws people off when I say I’m an installation artist. I say it because it’s succinct, but it normally garners looks of confusion. If I’m really looking to bemuse, I tell them I make non-representational, context free, closed systems (This is debatable and I’m being rather grandiloquent). So, to keep it simple, I make biological, organic, biomorphic landscapes. Usually, this is done through sculpture, but I’ll also use video when warranted.

You were a featured artist at our first Dance Your Art Out, along with Jaime Raybin. You two collaborated on an installation called “Suspension”. Tell us about the concept of that installation. What were the ideas that led to the main concept of the series? Describe the type of art “Suspension” consists of. Describe a few of the individual pieces in this installation.
Jaime and I met about three years ago because we were both part of a studio tour. I think we saw each other’s work before we actually met but we both knew that we wanted to show together. It took about two years to work that out, but it finally happened. We didn’t collaborate so much on the individual pieces, but we were conscious of each other’s work while making our own. For “Suspension,” we both continued with our own respective processes and luckily, it turned out very cohesive. The show consists of ambiguous specimen-like forms. The self-illuminated work includes sculpture, collage, and projected imagery. Jaime made these large PSA style, illuminated posters that displayed visceral bodily imagery, along with captions. My work included viscous sculptural forms that are partially obscured from the viewer within contained displays. The show kind of gave the feel of a strange science exhibit, something like the Bodies exhibit. By the way, Jaime is a great colleague to work with.

Can you describe the approach you used to create these pieces?
I just continued to do what I normally do. The process hasn’t really changed. I’m continually informed by external stimuli. I pay attention to things around me and fine tune based on the external stimuli.

You currently have an installation on exhibit at Seed Space called, “Expanse”. Can you tell us a bit about this series-the main concept, the type of art “Expanse” is made up of, and your approach to creating the pieces?
In keeping with my recent work, “Expanse” employs organic looking forms constructed out of synthetic materials placed behind a murky and atmospheric barrier. For this installation, five forms are encased in a 3’ by 6’ enclosure. These internally lit forms fade on and off in an non-synchronized varied rate but still interact with one another. Low, gurgling sounds are amplified behind the piece and play congruously with the visual display. The overall effect is to create the sense of embodiment within an organic, ever changing environment.

Where can people find out more about you?
www.suspensionexhibition.com
www.ryanphogan.com/
www.metamovement.org
www.facebook.com/rphogan
twitter.com/lonesome_hobo

The next Dance Your Art Out party happens this Saturday at Ha Factory on 5th Ave. It’s a totally free party featuring DJ Kidsmeal, and part of the August art crawl. Get the full details at our DYAO page. Add yourself to the Facebook Event

We’re always on the lookout for extraordinary art to feature at Dance Your Art Out. If you would like to be one of our future artists at an upcoming DYAO party, get in touch with us at team[AT]radicalnotion[DOT]net

I’m going to say something controversial. And I’m going to make people upset.

You’re not busy

It’s not that you don’t actually have time to work on that which you are truly passionate about-your music career. Yeah, perhaps it does not generate income for you right now, but it does have the potential to change your life in the future, yielding a significant earning for you later…

It’s not that you don’t actually have time for something like that, but rather that when faced with the choice, every day, to spend some time working on your music career, or to do something else, you make the choice to do something else. Because the ease and the short-term gains of that decision are greater than the former.

• You work a 12hr shift at your day job, and when you get home, you choose to relax in front of the TV (Not with your spouse and your kids, but disengaged in front of the TV).
• You go to class all day, and when that’s wrapped up you choose to go see Fitz and the Tantrums at the club downtown (No, you don’t study, you go to the show).
• Every day you spend your lunch break with your favorite co-worker at the sports bar talking about The Yankees (Yes, you do have to eat. But the Yankees can wait until tomorrow).

Do this: write down, every day, how you’re spending your time on an hour-by-hour basis. A very simple, single-line journal entry will suffice. Do this for a week, or maybe even a whole month.

Yeah, I’m willing bet that a few times I’ll be wrong. That’s ok, feel free to reprimand me in the comments below. But I’m also willing to be that I’ll be right more than a few times.

So stop procrastinating. Now that you’ve got a report that shows you how much time you actually have, use it to create a time budget, and designate a time slot every day to work on your music career. Stop being dishonest with yourself, telling yourself you don’t have time. Because now you can’t-you’ve got the document that proves it.

Reward yourself with the time to pursue that which you’re truly passionate about. I’m gonna get busy with my journal entries right now…

//Jon
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

Earlier in the year I was approached by my friends at Scenario Entertainment to partner up on an event they had created, called Dance Your Art Out. As creating a live event of some type is something I had been thinking about doing via Radical Notion, I was happy to accept.

So I’m thrilled to announce that we’ve been working hard the last few months to organize the next Dance Your Art Out event, which is happening Saturday, August 6th in conjunction with the August Art Crawl.

To kick things off, we’ve put together this promo video with the details:

For up-to-the-minute details, stay tuned to this blog, the special page we set up for Dance Your Art Out at: radicalnotion.net/dyao, and of course, the Dance Your Art Out Facebook page

Dance Your Art Out:
What: a free art show and dance party
Where: Ha Factory 238 5th Ave N. Nashville, TN 37219 (just two doors down from The Arcade)
When: Saturday, August 6th 8pm (in conjunction with the August art crawl)
What else: DJ Kidsmeal will be playing, and the artwork of Twist Gallery will be featured. This party is totally free, with free beer provided by Star Hill Brewery.

This event is to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Please consider donating to this cause.

The incredible motion sequence for the video above is a piece by visual artist Ryan Hogan. Ryan has been a featured Dance Your Art Out artist in the past, and kindly let us use his creation in this video. Thanks Ryan!

//Jon

Do you find that often times you run short on thoughts to share? Maybe this is one of the main reasons you don’t post on your blog as much as you would like. Or worse, maybe you have not started a blog at all (Yikes, get started!)…

I find myself in this position way more often than I would like.

Quick pseudo-digression: Have you ever met a friend for coffee, and spontaneously entered into a very inspiring and enlightening conversation? Coming away, not only did you learn a few new things, but you also contributed to the conversation, and taught your friend (and yourself) something as well? I’m privileged to have the kind of friends that spark these conversations regularly.

That little digression? That’s exactly the point of social media (blogs, social networks, etc). It’s like hanging out at a coffee shop, having a conversation with great people and friends. You may not know what you’re going to talk about when you sit down at the beginning of the conversation, but by the end of it you have contributed by teaching someone something.

So next time you’re short on thoughts to share, get inspiration from other people by reading their blogs or checking out their Twitter links. You don’t always have to lead the conversation. A lot of the time you can join and contribute to other people’s conversations.

//Jon
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

I‘m a member of a trade organization that recently made some structural changes which affected their members in a fundamental way.

The other day this organization issued a letter to all the members in response to a large member protest, not only stating their obstinate position that they will not consider reevaluating these changes, but also justifying their reasoning for making this decision, as well as reprimanding the member base for protesting in the first place.

And all this from an organization that is supposed to embody, edify, and serve the people they claim to represent.

I could probably go on to devote a great number of posts to the subject of transparency, or the abuse of trust…

…But the point I’m going to make is simply this: if you’re in charge of an organization that’s treating it’s customers as their subordinates, don’t be surprised when one day you wake up to discover that your brand has been cast out by the masses.

Unfortunately, the music industry has far too many stories of organizations behaving like this.

//stinson
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

You can look for every opportunity to contradict. Every possible space there might be where you could interject a “Yeah, but!”… Instead of truly listening and contemplating what others are saying, you can self-centeredly pre-fashion your counter argument to back up your opposing point of view while they are talking. And you can punctuate all the shortcomings of a simple life lesson with the tiny special circumstances that are meaningless anomalies.

OR! You can delight in the gift you’ve been given. A shortcut using someone else’s life experiences and knowledge. You can slow down and take to heart what is being taught to you. You can make the choice to truly acknowledge the underlying point.

Don’t be foolish. Don’t cut your nose off to spite your face, just because you’re too proud to acknowledge that someone else has more wisdom than you in a particular scenario. Because that’s a serious tragedy that robs you of a priceless gift to leap-frog your way to success.

//stinson
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

The Smashing Pumpkins are one of my three most favorite bands ever. You may have heard some people in the music business describe seeing The Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show as the moment they knew they had to be in the music business. For me it was The Smashing Pumpkins.

In January of 2010 (man, was it so cold!), we brought in director Robby Starbuck from Los Angeles to shoot the music video for the Mother/Father song, “Order”. You will notice that Robby is the director of the above embedded short film from The Smashing Pumpkins, Owata.

I Thought because of this connection, because I’m stoked for Robby, and because of my affinity for all things SP, it was fitting to share the film.

Congrats, Robby… Great work…

Cheers

//stinson
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

What would it take for you to get started on your next project? That one you’ve been thinking about and talking about for so long…

I’m willing to bet it’s really not as big a hurdle as you think.

Do this:

Pull out a piece of paper and jot down every requirement that comes to mind in order for you to pull this project off. Now pick one item from that list. How long would it seriously take to get that one little isolated thing done? Two minutes? An hour?

Do it. Cross it off.

Once you initiate, I’m wiling to bet that bringing the project to completion won’t be nearly as difficult as you thought before you started.

//stinson
My blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn

Many of you are probably already aware that on Monday, Amazon offered a deal on Born This Way, the new album by Lady Gaga. For one day only-Monday, June 23rd, Amazon featured Born This Way in it’s entirety for 99¢. I took them up on the offer, and purchased my first ever Lady Gaga album.

I half-jokingly made this comment on Twitter and Facebook post-purchase: “The entire new Lady Gaga record is on Amazon today for only 99¢. And for that reason only, I’m gonna own my first ever Lady Gaga record.”

A few of my friends/followers jabbed at me with some playful sarcasm for buying the record. I understand that a lot of people like to turn their noses up at Lady Gaga. And in all honesty, I’m not really a Lady Gaga fan. Yeah, it may make a few people raise an eyebrow when a rocker/shoegazer such as myself buys a pop album. But I’m also a professional record producer/artist developer/marketer/etc. An artist that is making this much of an impact and pulling in this much cash is worth taking an hour or so to gain some familiarity with. Actually, it should be required by someone like me, even if this is not the field of music I specialize in.

But here’s the real point I’m making with this post: I love Troy Carter, Lady Gaga’s manager. I’ve listened to what Troy has to say on multiple occasions. He’s brilliant, respectful of others, and one of the best, most innovative artist managers around today. He understands his business better than most people understand theirs.

Bob Lefsetz had some things to say in regards to Amazon’s Monday promo of Born This Way. As usual, he had some great things to point out. And just as you should expect from an innovative artist manager with his finger on the pulse of his business, Troy chimed in with a response.

The wisdom of these two gentlemen is inspiring, and this particular public dialogue especially educational. Paying attention to and pondering discussions like this is where you will learn the real in’s and out’s of the music industry that no one is gonna teach you in school. And if you wanna make it in this business, then you need to be paying attention to (and aspiring to be like) people such as Bob Lefsetz and Troy Carter.

Bob Lefsetz’s comments on the Lady Gaga Amazon promo:
Lady Gaga/Amazon

Troy Carter’s response to Bob Lefsetz:
Lady Gaga’s Manager Responds

//stinson
blog: www.producernotes.com
Twitter: @stsn
Facebook: www.facebook.com/stnsn