What This Means For…

YOU: You can download my song “Spinning Daydream (Acoustic Remix)” for free, an acoustic remix exclusively available through the program (along with 999 more exclusive tracks from other bands).

MICROSOFT: Microsoft gets to slap their logo on 1,000 pieces of album art, as well as generate awareness for their new Windows on Myspace presence.

ME: I get $0.50 per download, up to a $50 cap, and bragging rights.

Bands were selected by Reverbnation based on a combination of fan counts, song plays, song downloads, and profile visits, leveraging fan activity to drive the selection process.  As I write this, GarageSpin is #34 in the Alternative category, and #404 across all categories.  Check out the 1,000 song catalog, the songs are actually pretty good (and if you feel so compelled and/or generous, please download mine while you’re at it ;) ).

More detail is available in ’social media speak’ in the press release, as well as at Marty’s blog (Microsoft Group Marketing Manager and Social Media Strategist).  Some interesting discussions have spawned at Hypebot, with artists both praising and trashing the new program.  Healthy debate stuff.  Some artists think the caps are insulting, whereas others are psyched about the promotion. As a social media marketer, I think it’s a pretty sleek way to drive brand enhancement and awareness.  As an artist, I appreciate the promotion, payout, and press kit-building opportunities.  As a music fan, I enjoy wallet-free music discovery.  Kudos, ReverbNation.com.

Did I already mention the “Spinning Daydream (Acoustic Remix)” free download?  I did?  Nevermind, then…  (Hey, the baby needs a new onesy…)

That’s what the band The Get Out Clause did (except it was in the UK).  From the Future of Media:

“The band set up their music equipment, from microphones to drum kit, in eighty different locations, including buses and what appear to be taxi cabs, and then requested all of the footage using the Data Protection Act, an English statute similar to the U.S.’s Freedom of Information Act that mandates any individual should have access to all information collected about them.”

Pretty sweet.  Now yes, granted, though the footage was free, the travel expenses and editing costs probably weren’t.  But it’s still an awesome idea.  The video looks great, and the song…well…I’ll let you form your own opinion:

Who will be the first band in the US to accomplish the same feat?  (Thanks Taylor! Via chasejarvis; via Telegraph)

I’ve received a decent amount of requests for guitar tabliture for both “Spinning Daydream” and “20/20 Foresight” lately, and figured it was time create some.  Though it’s not fully developed tabliture — I didn’t include strum patterns — hopefully you’ll be able to figure it out from what I’ve provided.

If you try a song and have questions, please let me know.  More importantly, if you record audio or video of yourself playing a song, definitely let me know, and I’ll post it on a soon-to-be-launched “Your Stuff” page.

Oh, and I also included “background info” for each song for songwriting geeks,  and “recording software/gear used” for each song for gear heads.  It’s always fun to share ‘n’ compare, right?  No doubt.

“20/20 Foresight” was included in the Home Made Hit Show podcast a week ago or so.  Tony Buttersworth (I can’t help but wonder if that’s a stage name?) runs the weekly show, and talks about songwriting, production techniques, software and gear for DIY songwriters recording at home.  Each show then features a few songs from said DIY musicians, which the hosts critique.

If you’re interested, you can listen to the podcast episode here: Episode mp3.

A couple notes:

• “20/20 Foresight” is at the very end of the podcast.
• Tony mentions that at first listen, he thought it was a pro studio recording.  (Thanks for the compliment, Tony, but nope, it was a living room recording.)
• Tony and his co-host both complimented the string section, but incorrectly state that I had real friends play real instruments for it.  The truth is, the cello you hear throughout the song is real, and played by me (requiring many, many takes, and much splicing).  But the string section that appears at the end of the song I created in Reason 2.5 (violin, viola, and double bass).

Thanks again to the Home Made Hit Show for my first podcast airplay.

How To Get Your Facebook Username

Just go to Facebook.com/username (After 12:00 AM, on June 13, 2009), and follow the username creation instructions.

User Profiles will have to meet one requirement to enable Username creation:

• They must have been live on Facebook prior to 3:00 PM EDT, on May 31, 2009.  (I’m guessing this will likely change at a later date to require that a user profile have existed for a certain minimum number of days.  Be sure to register your “Coldplay Rules” user profile today.)
• UPDATE: This limitation is temporary. All users who joined Facebook after the cut-off will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009.

Facebook Pages will have to meet two requirements to enable Username creation:

• They must have been live on Facebook prior to May 31, 2009.  (Likewise, I’m guessing this will probably change at some point to a “minimum number of days in existance” requirement.)
• They must have a minimum 1,000 fans as of May 31, 2009.  (Ouch.  So much for getting www.facebook.com/garagespin with my sub-100 fan count.)
• UPDATE: This limitation is temporary. All Pages created after May 31, 2009 or that had less than 1,000 fans on that day will be eligible to claim usernames on Sunday, June 28, 2009.

Selecting a Facebook Username

Facebook Usernames won’t be able to be edited or changed, and are also non-transferable, so make sure yours is acceptable for the long term.  Only one Username is allowed per Page and/or user profile.  I.e. don’t do anything you’ll regret later.

Additional Facebook Username Info

• Facebook blog post explaining Usernames
• Username Frequently Asked Questions
• Form: Notice of Intellectual Property Infringement form (in case someone beats you to grabbing your own Username, or in case you want to protect a trademark you own)
• Username Creation Page for creating Facebook Usernames (you must be logged in to see it)

If you were to list traits and skills of a DIY musician destined for success, what would be on your list?

Which brings me to Brian Hazard, of the solo act Color Theory.  A little background — Color Theory recently won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in the Electronic music category (and is about to go up against other category winners for the Song of the Year award). So clearly, Brian’s got serious songwriting skills.  If you listen to his winning song, “If It’s My Time To Go”, you’ll immediately notice his musicianship and great vocal ability.  He also happens to be an audio mastering engineer, running his own mastering studio at Resonance Mastering.  Furthermore, Brian knows how to leverage online media to successfully promote his own music in a web 2.0 world, and shares his experiences at Passive Promotion.  So check, check, and check.

Once I learned about Brian, I wanted to get to know him better — so I interviewed him.  Check out the Q&A:

***

GARAGESPIN: So Brian.  You (Color Theory) recently won the John Lennon Songwriting Contest in April.  That’s awesome.  Tell us about the song, and the process that lead to the victory.

BRIAN (COLOR THEORY): The song was originally created in collaboration with my friend Caesar Filori of Wideband Network. I sent him three piano sketches to pick from, and he sent me back a rough demo of his choice. The dark and melancholy character of Caesar’s demo inspired my lyrics. I recorded vocals and he wrapped up the mix.

After a few months, it became clear that neither of us had time to do an album together, but I didn’t want the song to go to waste. He gave me the okay to create a new version of it for my latest album, The Thought Chapter. The original version that Caesar produced is featured on a follow-up EP entitled Second Thoughts.

As for the contest, that was kind of a fluke. I’ve submitted to song contests over the years and got a few honorable mentions, but overall felt they weren’t worth the effort. The deadline for the John Lennon Songwriting Contest came just after I finished the song and was feeling overly optimistic about its chances.

GARAGESPIN: Where do you get your song inspiration?  What hits you first — lyrics, melody, a song title, a piano chord lick?

BRIAN: I usually start from a title. When one hits me, I’ll rough out some stream-of-consciousness prose to make sense of it. Next I’ll flesh out the song structure and melody. Then I’ll mold the useful bits of my garbled prose into a lyric. The production goodies come at the end - typically the hardest part for me. At that point, I just want it to be done. I can only spend so much time finessing automation envelopes.

GARAGESPIN: That echoes my own experiences. Especially the final phase of a song.  I’m usually praying for it to end, but am unable to take the production to a close.   At what point to you, personally, ask for colleagues’ opinions?  Early on in the process, for preliminary feedback, or later, after the song is already 95% complete…etc.?

BRIAN: I usually run lyrics by a friend or two when they’re done, and the song as a whole after it’s 100% mixed and mastered. I’ll revisit the mix a couple months later and marvel that I couldn’t hear obvious flaws.

GARAGESPIN:  You currently run your own mastering studio at Resonance Mastering.  How did you get started, and how has it helped your career as an artist?

BRIAN: After putting out two poorly mastered albums, I realized I’d have to unravel the mysteries of mastering for myself. My friend Todd Durrant of A Different Drum took a chance on me and gave me a lot of work early on. It got to the point where I was mastering everything the label put out, which at its height was 6-10 releases per month. That established me as “the synthpop mastering guy.” The positive word-of-mouth brought in work from all genres, including a large Christian distributor releasing plenty of rock and hip hop (I guess we called it rap back then). The business continues to grow solely from client referrals.

As for helping my career as an artist, it keeps me connected with other artists with similar goals. I suppose it saves me money. Prevailing wisdom is that you shouldn’t master your own stuff, but I don’t trust anyone else to do it for me. That said, I always bounce the results off some engineer friends before committing.

GARAGESPIN:   What production software do you use?  What are your two favorite pieces of hardware, your two favorite effects, and your two favorite production techniques, and why?

BRIAN: I used Cubase for the past dozen years, but right now I’m learning Ableton Live. I won it as a prize in the Lennon contest, so I figured I’d at least give it a shot. I’m inspired by the workflow, and eager to make the jump. I may even go so far as to do a 100% Live album, using only built-in instruments and effects.

Hardware - what’s that? Everything is on the computer. Well okay, I’ve got my RME Fireface 800 interface, my Benchmark DAC-1 converters, and my Rode NT-1A mic. This probably isn’t what you had in mind, but my room treatments are probably the most important pieces of gear I own.

I use my Universal Audio UAD-2 Quad for most of my effects, mostly just compressors and EQs. I really don’t do much beyond that, but I plan to experiment more with the next album.

As for production techniques, I’ve been detailing them in my mix tips articles on Passive Promotion. Lately I’ve focused on spectral mixing, and clearing out the low end to leave space for the kick and bass.

GARAGESPIN:  You have a relatively large discography — how do you think you’ve evolved since your first album?

BRIAN: While the production quality has improved, the basic formula hasn’t changed. Nobody else that I know of is doing the classical piano plus electronics thing, so I consider that my signature. I did experiment with one all-acoustic album, involving an insane amount of work that went largely unappreciated. While it was a rewarding experience, I’ll stick do doing everything myself for the foreseeable future.

GARAGESPIN: What do you see as some of your biggest “break-through” moments that helped get your music heard, before the John Lennon contest?  I.e. what has most helped you grow your fan base?

BRIAN: Jim Beam, the bourbon company, sponsored my all-acoustic album, but we know how that turned out. Looking back, it’s hard to pinpoint any breakthrough moments. It was a slow build from the day I started taking preorders for my first album. For the first few years, compilation CDs helped the most. Later, my Depeche Mode tribute got a lot of attention. I’ve tried lots and lots of ideas, some crazier than others. In most cases, it’s hard to tell which worked and which didn’t.

GARAGESPIN:  What is one of the craziest ‘good’ ideas you’ve tried, and one of the craziest ‘less good’ ideas you’ve tried?

BRIAN: The good ideas don’t seem so crazy anymore, and the bad ones are embarrassing. Devoting an entire album to Depeche Mode seemed a little wild at the time, but it worked out well. On the other hand, I burned CD-Rs and passed them out to DM fans in line for tickets, and got zero response. Go figure.

One of the embarrassing ones involves my third album, Perfect Tears. The album is quite intimate, even confessional. I decided to push that angle by promoting it through a series of personal ads, that I actually published in the Los Angeles Times and Orange County Register. The exact text was:

20-something musician seeks fans for mutual musical fulfillment. Must be intelligent, cultured, and emotionally available. Inquire at www.colortheory.com.

I expected at least a handful of curious visitors, but as far as I can tell, nothing.

GARAGESPIN:  Covers are always said to work wonders for promotion.  Is there a strategy to selecting the most  promotable cover? Genre/style/era of the original, and the interpretation of it?

BRIAN: It’s probably wise to cover bands your fans like. My Metallica and Sondheim covers didn’t do much for me. The interpretation needs to be different enough to justify the cover in the first place, but not so different as to be unrecognizable. On the other hand, my friend Mark Nicholas attracted lots of attention with his cover of “Maniac” from Flashdance. I suppose it worked because everybody knows that song, and he made it even funnier.

GARAGESPIN: According to a recent post, you’ve experienced some success at TheSixtyOne.com.  What social networks have been most helpful in promoting your own music, and what other online tools do you feel you can’t do without?

BRIAN: Twitter updates my Facebook status. I usually tweet (I still feel silly saying that) three times a day. Those two sites bring most of the traffic to my sites. ReverbNation’s widgets and fan e-mail system have become indispensable. Those three sites, plus colortheory.com, are my foundation. Everything else is a series of experiments.

GARAGESPIN:  You mentioned Facebook as one of your primary go-to sites.  I noticed your personal profile is your core profile.  Did you ever try setting up a Facebook Page, or did you just stick with the ReverbNation Facebook app early on?

BRIAN: I’ve got a personal page, the ReverbNation app, a Color Theory group, and a Color Theory page. It’s a hassle.

GARAGESPIN: Can you share any sales stats, specifically offline vs. online?  What’s your most popular album and single to date…and why do you think that is?

BRIAN: I post monthly sales and profit/loss figures for each of my albums at colortheory.com, so no secrets here. I’ve never done a single, but my most popular album is Color Theory presents Depeche Mode, most likely due to the last two words of the title. My first album is the second best performer, simply because it’s been selling for so many years.

GARAGESPIN: Have you been approached by any labels?  You seeM to be doing just fine on your own — are you even pursuing one?

BRIAN: I have been approached, but I’m not interested. I’m skeptical that a label would do anything for me, and I’m happy with the balance in my life right now. To invest more time into Color Theory, I’d have to give something else up. So it’s not so much that I’m doing fabulously on my own, but I’ve got an audience and the freedom to do what I want.

GARAGESPIN: What other new projects and/or gigs are on the horizon for Color Theory?

BRIAN: I’ve set the release date of my next album for next August, which means I need to get moving on it! I’m starting completely from scratch. I’ll put out an EP or two in the meantime, and hopefully put together a few “in the studio” videos. I’ve got some strong compositional ideas that I’ll expand on once I get a few tracks laid down, mainly an arrangement technique I’m calling “spiraling.”

No gigs for me - I’m strictly a recording artist. Color Theory is what I do when I’m not mastering somebody else’s music, blogging about promotion, or spending time with the family.

GARAGESPIN:  Thanks so much for your time, Brian.  I’m really looking forward to your next projects, both audio- and video-related.

BRIAN: My pleasure! Thanks for having me.

Over the last couple years, I’ve learned quite a lot about mixing and mastering audio. Not enough to claim any kind of expertise in either field (I still plan to have my first EP mastered professionally), but enough that enables me to vastly improve my home-brewed recordings.

In addition, Cakewalk added a few new plugins like Boost 11 and Vintage Channel 64 that specifically aid in adding finishing touches to tracks.  (I’m still a novice using them, but they definitely help.)

So, I took the old song project, and made these changes:

• Fine tuned the EQ for each track of audio to further remove unnecessary low and high audio frequencies
• Added a bass guitar part back to the bridge (on some stereos, that section of the song was annoyingly lacking in bass)
• Re-applied electric guitar effects to the final chorus electric guitar (the latest version of Sonar “lost” an older plugin I had used for the electric effects…fortunately, the newer plugin actually improved over the old one)
• Applied Vintage Channel 64 plugin to “warm up” the track
• Applied Boost 11 to increase the overall volume of the track
• Shrunk the track’s timing by a few seconds

So, if you already have a copy of the song, PLEASE get the Spinning Daydream mp3.  If you don’t, pick one up, and let me know what you think of the song.  Ok, back to working on new songs…

Case and point, I was recently introduced to The Dashing Suns, a band that did just that with JanSport, the ‘backpack’ company.  Since then, they recently rocked SXSW, produced a psychadelic music video (see below), and received this gushing praise from MTV:

 ”This seductively sunny little intersection of every band the ’60s and ’70s ever loved is really making my morning with its scratchy guitars, ooh-ahh Caramello vocals and vintage head cold production value.” (more)

Pretty sweet.  (I would totally be willing to carry a fanny pack around with me if I could get my music funded.) I sent a couple questions about the sponsorship both to the band, as well as to JanSport.  All the answers follow directly after the trippy “Van” music video below:

THE MUSIC VIDEO: “VAN”

A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR THE BAND:

GARAGESPIN: Quick history lesson — how and when did the The Dashing Suns form, and how much success had they had before the sponsorship?

KEVIN WALKER (from the band): The Dashing Suns formed during the winter of 2007.  Only a year and a half ago.  Matt and Jeff, the guitar guys in the band, had been hanging out and writing small little songs for the hell of it. One of their first songs was a Renaissance type song that dealt with dragons, castles,  potions, and ren faire.  Matt, David, and Myself were just ending our illustrious stint in a psychedelic country rock band called Sweetbriar. All of us were experiencing dark days from bad relationship break-ups and figured The Dashing Suns would be a better outlet than waking up in gutters.  So we started playing and writing all of our songs about the complexities of the opposite sex.  Before the sponsorship, The Dashing Suns just finished a small tour in New York as well as completing our first 5 song self titled E.P.  Other than local Bay Area success we have not toured the country or world with hopes of gaining a wider audience.

GARAGESPIN: How did The Dashing Suns score the sponsorship?  (Or, re-phrased, what selection process did JanSport go through to pick the band?)

KEVIN: So far we have only heard about the selection process through word of mouth.  JanSport hired TEAK to create a brand video for them.  TEAK compiled a list of bands and music to use in the video for JanSport to review.  That list had some local Bay Area bands and other well known acts such as The Rolling Stones, The Velvet Underground, MGMT. JanSport employees and the CEO heard our song “Future Thunder” and felt that it had the right sound.  Which is funny because the original song was recorded in a crappy studio with a broken 8 track and lots of tape hiss.  So they commissioned us to re- record the song.

GARAGESPIN:  What advice would you give to bands hoping to find a sponsor for their next tour?

KEVIN: Hmmmm….. well… sometimes its a bit of luck, connections, and luck.  And then its a bit of persistence, patience, and luck.  To answer this question for real, I would say pick your sponsor and knock on their door for days and days.  If that doesn’t work, try becoming really good friends with someone who works there and convince them that your music is the best in the world.  If that doesn’t work there are professionals out there who you can pay to shop your music around to advertising agencies.  Good Luck!

A COUPLE QUESTIONS FOR JANSPORT:

GARAGESPIN: What inspired JanSport to take the approach it did with this particular sponsorship campaign?

JanSport: JanSport initiated our relationship with the Dashing Suns through the development of a brand video that would represent JanSport’s intersection with contemporary youth culture. We wanted to make a video that was fun, interesting to watch and above all connect JanSport to our audience through modes of self-expression, whether it be music, a roadtrip, grafitti art, etc. It’s an authentic representation of the Brand and where we live in our consumer’s lives.

GARAGESPIN:  How has the sponsorship helped the band so far?  How has it helped JanSport?

JanSport: The sponsorship has helped the band in many ways:  [publicity/ and promotion] — they got sponsored by JanSport to tour from SF to Austin; [they]played ReadyMade Rocks showcase at SXSW (JanSport sponsored showcase); [and they received] visibility/promotion on Jansport.com. The Dashing Suns were also wrapped into our press outreach surrounding SXSW - and as a result, landed a very nice piece on MTV.
***
Thanks to all, especially The Dashing Sunds, for taking the time to share their experiences.

What does that mean?  Well, because my songs are new on the site, they start out free.  As more music fans download the song, the songs’ prices will begin to incrementally increase.  (I actually wrote about Amie Street two years ago…it’s a pretty cool site, with some great music that I’ve discovered over the last couple years while poking around.)

So, if you have yet to download a copy of either song above, head over to my Amie Street page fast to pick up copies before their prices sky rocket.  :)  Actually, even if you DO have a copy of both songs, please download them…I’d love to see their prices go up from $0.00 to $0.05.  ;)

Alright, so it’s only been tried once. By me. With my wife. But the math is pure and true. In any case, this song is the only song I’ve ever written for someone. (It’s also more acoustic than my typical stuff). I’d promised myself I wouldn’t do so unless it was for the girl I’d spend my life with. (My wife knew that, which made it all the more special when I whipped out my guitar on that special night.)

Listen & Download (Free)

Listen to it here, or click on “download” to get the FREE Mp3.  (Just enter “$0″ as the price when asked how much you think it’s worth…I won’t be insulted.)

Share Your Thoughts

I’d love to know what you think of the track — please share in a comment below.  And PLEASE feel free to share the mp3 with any friends, family, co-workers, penpals, pets, snuggie lovers, or meerkats you think might enjoy it. (Your kind words are gold to an unsigned artist like me.)

Other Stuff To Do

In case you’re interested, you can also:

• Sign up to the mailing list so you know when new songs are available
• Check out more GarageSpin music
• Connect with me on Facebook,  Twitter, Friendfeed, or MySpace
• Read the song lyrics
• See song feedback at Home Recording forum and Cakewalk forum
• 

Thanks for listening. Three new songs are in the pipe…and one of which, I’ll be asking for YOUR help with. More soon on that…