MattRyd.com

My girl @xoewise is on Lincoln Hall’s marquee!

Wed, 24 Jul 2013 23:17:25 -0500

My girl @xoewise is on Lincoln Hall’s marquee!

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. @mattnathanson

Fri, 12 Jul 2013 17:45:26 -0500

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. @mattnathanson

I have quite literally been chasing a White Rabbit for years,...

Wed, 10 Jul 2013 17:51:50 -0500

I have quite literally been chasing a White Rabbit for years, and have finally caught it!

Coming Soon...

Fri, 05 Jul 2013 15:21:07 -0500

musicscout:

Features for the following amazing bands*:

Gooding

Common Shiner

Lady Laura

Wax Works

The Empty Pockets

Matt Ryd

Starlike Collision

Mike Roth

* In no particular order, just when I get around to it. #finalsisabitch

Go start following this blog, ASAP. It provides great insights into the indie music scene, it whole-heartedly supports a new term that I love (“Band-ception: where listening to one band leads you to become a fan of another band”. I live and die by this idea, and there’s a reason I’m always posting other indie artists’ music to Facebook, etc.–I love what they’re doing, and I want you to love it too!), and they called me “awesome”, which makes me blush, and I’m told that I’m adorable when I blush, so the blog is, by association, both awesome and adorable.

gonnagetrealfarkid: This is a poor life choice. You should turn...

Mon, 24 Jun 2013 18:56:12 -0500

gonnagetrealfarkid:

This is a poor life choice. You should turn back while you still can.

I maintain a daily decision to be a musician for a living. Poor life choices are are part of my charm. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to reply to a recent email from a Nigerian prince in need of my assistance.

That’s a loooooong line. And yep, I used the Nashville...

Sun, 23 Jun 2013 10:26:11 -0500

That’s a loooooong line. And yep, I used the Nashville filter while in Nashville. Guys, I’m so funny and meta.

… if you know what I mean....

Sat, 22 Jun 2013 09:30:54 -0500

… if you know what I mean. #inappropriateUseOfQuotationMarks

Jesse Thorn: Tumbler: Why is MaximumFun.org Listener-Supported?

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 19:25:00 -0500

Jesse Thorn: Tumbler: Why is MaximumFun.org Listener-Supported?:

I’m a supporter of MaximumFun.org (I religiously follow at least 3 of their podcasts, and dip into many of the others for a listen here and there). I absolutely love this explanation of their business model and, frankly, am evaluating it as a possible method for my own distribution. I love the idea of, “We are going to make things that we think are awesome. If you think they’re awesome, too, we’d love it if you could help us continuing to make them.” It’s not a model that depends on iTunes downloads, Spotify plays, or anything like that–it’s a way for the frands and the creator to have a relationship, and for the amazing people who like the content to be truly involved in its creation, knowing that every time they listen to a song, they get to think, “This is because of me!”

I have a lot of new and exciting things coming down the pipeline that I can’t wait to announce when they are ready. Some of it will take inspiration from this model, some of it will still rely on old-fashioned distribution.

But the fact of the matter is that “Nothing Left to Lose” (my charity track for which all income, for all time, will be donated toward causes fighting eating disorders) raised $2,700. In one week. Despite the fact that anyone could stream it for free, and all anyone needed to pay was $1. Yes, it was for charity, and that’s an entirely different proposition than what essentially amounts to paying an artist so that he/she has time and flexibility to keep creating as much and as often as possible. But, still, it shows that, given a legitimate reason, people will rally behind something as simple as a pop song about struggling with an eating disorder.

It’s all extremely interesting, it all requires a great deal more processing and thinking on my part (luckily, my brain never shuts up and at least 60% of its thinking power is always focused on music), but there are signs here that a new business model, one that relies on a direct and close relationship with the frands, could potentially be possible. And as an artist who makes a really big effort to connect personally to as many people as possible who listen to my music, that’s what I want. I don’t want to put out albums/singles/EPs to get rich, I’m not looking to become famous, or even Internet-famous. At the end of the day, I just want to make cool music and cool videos that people enjoy, and I want to know who those people are, and want them to feel personally invested in the art, because, without them, it wouldn’t exist.

This is rambly, this is stream-of-consciousness writing, and this is 100% just me thinking aloud (thinking a-type? thinking a-write?), and there are probably 8 million things that I haven’t considered yet. But that’s the way that things happen–they start out as ludicrous ideas (“Hey! I know! I’ll make an alt-country EP!”), and then can turn into something cool. All I know is that I have a lot more thinking to do on the subject. And all I can say is to stay tuned, because there are some announcements coming that aren’t entirely unrelated to this post.

Always 100% serious when I say that I can never possibly express all of my gratitude to you all,
Matt

jessethorn:

Folks ask me sometimes why I’ve chosen to make my podcast network MaximumFun.org donation-supported. I thought I’d try and explain.

First of all, I think that our talent and producers deserve to be paid for their efforts. All of our folks are professionals, doing very high-level work. It’s work that frankly couldn’t be produced if it was just a hobby for them. I think they should get paid for it. Plain and simple.

Secondly: this isn’t a farm team. I don’t think that because it’s on the internet, or because it doesn’t have pictures, podcasting should be a way to “increase your profile” and improve your earning potential in other ventures. Some podcasters may work in fields where a podcast might increase their consulting fees, or their appearance fees. That’s great for them. I am a broadcaster, and so are my colleagues at maximumfun.org. This is what we do.

So, how to get people paid?

Most of our shows have audiences in the tens of thousands. That’s more than most podcasts, but rarely is it enough to generate significant advertising revenue. The truth is that advertisers as a whole are uncomfortable with podcasts, and generally disinterested in audiences which don’t number in the millions. If our shows were specialty programs - say “The Hardware Hour” - we could sell specialty ads - to Hammers, Inc. They’re not. Ads are part of the pie for us, but they’re just not enough.

Furthermore, I don’t want to depend on ads. We have some ads at MaxFun, but we work very hard to keep them appropriate and brief. When a deal is offered to us that we don’t like, we turn it down. The average hour of network TV has 16 minutes of ads. For talk radio, it’s more like 18-20. I don’t want to put out “content” that’s 1/3 advertisements, designed to make you feel like there’s a consumption-sized hole in your life. I can see how the need to create a consumption-friendly environment drives ad-supported media. I don’t really want to be dependent on that money. I care too much about what we’re making.

I also don’t want to withhold my work from anyone. Like any content creator, I want people to hear what I have to say, and to share my work as broadly as possible. And as a guy with no marketing budget, I want to make it as easy as possible for people to try my product. I also know that it’s easy to steal content on the internet if that’s the choice you want to make. I prefer simply to make our work free and openly accessible to all.

I don’t think we’re “begging” or running a charity. I think that we’re offering something valuable to people, and they’re paying for it. They happen to do so voluntarily, which I think is wonderful. Even in the height of the MaxFunDrive, our requests for donations take up about half the time that ads take up on commercial talk radio. We try to keep our message simple: if you like this, pay for it. We have no stick, only a carrot. We’re not going to take the shows away, we are offering the chance to feel great that you supported work that enriches your life.

It was never my dream to be an administrator. I don’t relish fundraising. I do want to make great work and help my friends and colleagues make great work. That takes money.

So that’s where I’m at. I’m grateful to all the people who make our work part of their lives, and to the thousands who make it part of their household budgets. Seriously: you rule.

And if you’re not already a supporter of Maximum Fun, but you think you should be, it’s easy.And you get prizes.

Both @ohhaisj and I are clearly in desperate need of cereal.

Tue, 18 Jun 2013 12:23:10 -0500

Both @ohhaisj and I are clearly in desperate need of cereal.

Sometimes, I really don’t understand what goes through...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 14:45:03 -0500

Sometimes, I really don’t understand what goes through peoples’ heads when they order their vanity plates.

A Small Way to Help Your Favorite Indie Bands So, I was...

Sun, 16 Jun 2013 07:34:00 -0500

A Small Way to Help Your Favorite Indie Bands

So, I was listening to this podcast the other day where John Hodgman said something interesting. He has a new special coming out on Netflix on June 20th, and he told everyone (paraphrased), “If you’re a fan of what I’m doing, all I ask is that at the very least, you go on Netflix, push play, and walk away. I’d love it if you sat and watched it, but the best way to make sure I’m able to keep making things is to make sure it gets played on Netflix.” He went on to emphasize how important it is for independent content creators to tell people the easy ways to help them monetize what they make.

So, let me tell you what I do, and let me offer the suggestion that you do it, too. I buy a lot of albums, especially of friends/compatriots in the independent music scene. But when I listen to their music, I almost always use Spotify, rather than playing from my phone’s memory or in iTunes. Why? Because, in addition to the money they received from my album purchase, they get a small amount every time their music is streamed. And every stream puts them higher on Spotify’s radar. It makes no difference to me how I listen to the music, so if I can help a bit by listening through Spotify, putting a few extra cents in their coffers, and promoting them (by posting my history to Facebook, my Spotify followers)… why not?

That’s a (as one expect from me) really longwinded saying: even if you own the album, try to listen to our records on a streaming service. It’s a tiny thing, and hopefully no inconvenience to you at all, but it offers us some small help, and we’d all appreciate it.

With all of my gratitude,
Matt

She senses when I need a cuddle. She’s really just the...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 22:54:30 -0500

She senses when I need a cuddle. She’s really just the best cat ever.

A parked Airstream. I really hope someone lives in it, and calls...

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:40:00 -0500

A parked Airstream. I really hope someone lives in it, and calls him/herself “Guardian of the Parking Lot”

Found this in a gas station in Kentucky. I’ve never seen a...

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:06:17 -0500

Found this in a gas station in Kentucky. I’ve never seen a modern Mountain Dew glass bottle before!

The second photo in the “magnetic bathroom graffiti”...

Sat, 01 Jun 2013 13:15:22 -0500

The second photo in the “magnetic bathroom graffiti” series. People are funny.

Found a men’s room with word magnets on the stalls. This...

Fri, 31 May 2013 22:21:28 -0500

Found a men’s room with word magnets on the stalls. This will revolutionize bathroom graffiti as we know it!

lrvin: I win. You can all go home now. Precious, precious...

Thu, 30 May 2013 19:55:17 -0500

lrvin:

I win. You can all go home now.

Precious, precious validation. I can stop saying “gee eye eff”, now. The shackles have been lifted. This day is a glorious day. If anyone needs me, I’m going to be looting and rioting.

One of my favorite pictures of my Dad. Spent some time with the...

Sun, 26 May 2013 22:40:17 -0500

One of my favorite pictures of my Dad. Spent some time with the grandparents today and snapped this, which has been hanging on their wall for as long as I can remember.

EP and Tour Questions! Answered!*note: I searched...

Wed, 22 May 2013 21:03:04 -0500

EP and Tour Questions! Answered!
*note: I searched “Questions” on Google Image, and this picture cracked me up, so… enjoy! These are answers to some questions I’ve been getting on Twitter/FB/email recently, and I thought I should

Hey, Matt, you’ve been talking about a new EP. You’d mentioned it might come out in June and then you’d tour during the summer. Is that still happening?

Well, yes and no. Is there still an EP coming out? Absolutely–1 song is completely in the can (complete with string orchestra), one more just needs vocals, and two are currently being edited and prepped for mixing. Is it coming out in June? Well, probably not. Here’s the thing: I have a new song that I’m currently finishing. I love love love love LOVE where this song is going. This EP didn’t really have an obvious “single” when I put together the original four songs for it, but this new one has “single potential” written all over it (and hopefully into it… ya know, once I finish writing it). So, in the interest of giving you all the absolute best EP that I can (and the best bang for your buck–5 songs for $5 just feels better to me than 4 for the same price), the release date will probably be at the end of the summer. Here’s the super-rough plan: soft-release the EP (make it available for sale online, etc.) end of August or beginning of September. Tour during the fall. Come back from tour and play a big EP release show in Chicago. The rough timeline places all of that happening from August through October or so. All of those things will DEFINITELY happen, but the actual dates might still be changed based on production progress, booking, etc. because I don’t want to rush anything and give you all a slipshod product.

Moral of the story: the EP is coming and will be out as soon as it is awesome. I’m super-proud of everything going on it, and I think you’re really going to like it. I’m co-producing with Bill Prokopow again, which guarantees that it’ll be fantastic (and will be more akin to “Looking For Home” than, say, the balladness of “Friends & Family” or the twang of “Ryd ‘Em Cowboy”). And after it’s finished, I’ll shoot it out, tour, and have a major release show in Chicago.

You’ve been mentioned other things… stuff involving putting out vinyl, involving ukuleles, and other random things about upcoming releases? What’s the deal with that?

I have a brain that refuses to let me think anything short of five steps ahead of where I am. That means I’m pretty much always planning and brainstorming for the project after next, and the project after that, and… yeah, it’s a minefield up there.

Basically, after the next EP is finished, I have plans to work on two projects simultaneously. One is going to involve ukuleles and vinyl records and will be an interesting experiment that I don’t want to condense down, so I promise to fill you all in when the time is right. And the other is another experiment–sort of an examination of my roots as a songwriter. Basically, I’m going through every song that I wrote while I was in high school and picking out the absolute best. Then, I’m re-recording them, and am going to put out a short EP. Why? {Shrug} It’ll be fun! And we’ll do something cool where preorders get the original versions of those songs, as recorded in 2002-3, and get to compare the 10 year difference.

Why don’t you do [insert song here] or more videos like [insert previous video here]?

Because I didn’t know that you wanted me to! Let me know! Email, Facebook, Tweet–if you’d like me to do something, tell me! I can’t promise that I’ll do it, but it helps me a lot to hear what people want to see and hear!

When is your next video coming out?

Soon! And it’ll be different, and awesome, and I’m actually not in it at all.

Anything else?

Depends. I have a new song that I’m working on that I really like and am considering releasing as almost a B-Side to “Ryd 'Em Cowboy” (it’s not technically a B-Side since it will have been written and recorded well after the EP, but I’m feeling like the production will put it stylistically in line with those songs. We’ll see, though–I still need to test it out, demo it, and decide whether I actually like it, or whether I just think I’m in love with it because it’s new.

Cool. I think that’s all the questions I had. Do you feel silly having an imaginary conversation with yourself?

I probably would if it weren’t such a frequent occurrence. :-)

Thanks, everyone! Much love to you all!

That guy who makes music that you sometimes listen to, Facebook statuses that occasionally make you chuckle, and thinks that you’re all just the coolest people in the world,
Matt

I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of the outfit I put...

Sat, 18 May 2013 14:19:53 -0500

I have to admit, I’m pretty proud of the outfit I put together last night. Paired with jeans and plain black Chucks. #latergram