Quick Fix: Recording and Random Band Stuff

I call these posts quick fixes but they usually end up being as long if not longer then my chapters of music knowledge. Oh well it doesn’t matter all that matters is that people read and maybe learn something or get some kind of entertainment value out of this. So tomorrow my band Salt Rock Jones (http://www.facebook.com/saltrockjones) will be recording our debut album. I’m pretty excited about it and I’m ready to get to work, its stuff like this that makes me happy. I love music and I love making music so this should be a fun project.

 As I’m writing this I’m listening to this seminar about building a buzz and selling music online, which sounds like its pretty hard work I guess that’s why I never have any time on my hands because I’m trying to move this band forward. We are also looking for shows farther away to get a bigger fan base and get the word out about this band. We’ll be starting a mailing list telling people the goings on with the band and all that as well as posting show dates. I’m also going to start a street team page for the band to get more people involved with what we’re doing. We’re not rock stars and we like to connect with fans because without them we’re nothing.

Since November is the month of giving thanks and getting together with family I have decided to put my album up for download for free. I have had people give donations but I think I may just keep it up for free because I’d rather be heard than paid but being broke all the time is kind of a downer. Either way I’ll figure it out in the long run, I just hope all my music is enjoyed and not made for nothing. It always sucks to hear that your music doesn’t appeal to anyone. But I make music for me so I just try to make myself happy with it and worry about everyone else later. If you’re reading this and you haven’t heard my album or want to download it (it’s free right now so that’s a good reason to go ahead) you can check it out at www.rosslacey.bandcamp.com and like me on facebook at www.facebook.com/rosslacey618

So for now I’ll release your eyeballs from this word prison and let you back into the world. Here’s hoping that this blog thing takes off and it helps my music career at the same time. Also I was told that the text of my posts are too small so I hope this new font size will be satisfactory. 

PS: I love you Laura, enjoy the bigger font :)

Chapter 3: Rules? What rules? This is Rock And Roll!

So I’ve been actively playing shows in different bands for almost 10 years now and I have seen a lot of things. Anything from live song flubs to onstage meltdowns even members quitting the band before the show was over. In all this accumulated time I have devised a set of rules for myself to follow playing these shows and although sometimes I’m guilty of breaking them I try to follow them as much as possible. I know some of you are asking “I thought you were in a metal band and rock bands, why do you have rules?” and then saying “rules are for pussies who don’t know how to be awesome” well you’re wrong and an asshole. So without further disruption I’m going to list these rules and a brief explanation so maybe this chapter will be short (I doubt it).

Number one, the most important rule: Always finish the show. No matter what happens this has to be done, if you don’t finish the show you don’t get paid, and your audience will forever doubt your ability. The only exception would be if the place you’re playing at is evacuated for fire, natural disaster, or zombie outbreak. And of course if you’re playing to an audience of ninjas it’s hard to keep going because you can’t see any of them but they’re out there trust me.

Number two: Try to have a positive outlook about every show. I know sometimes there are shows where the shit hits the fan from the get go. The best counter for that situation is to look at the positive and forget about the negative. For example maybe your drummer miscounted and doesn’t have a cymbal, stand, or god forbid one of his drums. In this case you’ll just have to say “well we can either go back and get it or go experimental tonight. Sometimes you may be close to your practices space and able to send someone back to get it but if you’re 90 miles from home (this has happened to me before) then you either have to try and borrow from another band on the bill or work it out if you’re the only band playing.

Number three: Be it mental or physical make a checklist and double check before and after shows for all equipment! If you’re still reading then you should know from the last rule you don’t want to forget stuff when you’re on tour or just far from home. It’s easy to make a mental checklist when you’ve been doing this for a long time, but if you can’t remember everything you bring to a show write it down or you risk losing money and equipment. All you have to do with that is put a slash by each item when you load it into a vehicle and then turn that slash into an x when you put it back into the car after the show. Doing it this way lets you use the same checklist multiple times.

Number four: Respect other bands whether you like their music or not. This is not a fucking competition people, many different bands and similar bands are out here every day trying to entertain the people. The only way we all get ahead is by respecting and helping each other out, if we’re all competing with each other we’ll get nowhere and stay there. Sure the time comes along when you’re playing with bands that you don’t really like or maybe a member of the band has wronged you in the past, put that shit behind you and make the show the best you can. And with respect we all get ahead. The bands from your area can either help you along the way or hurt you depending on how you treat them. An example would be maybe you can’t make a show and you have to cancel, instead of making the venue go through a phonebook all day suggest a band to them and help your scene out. If it works out than that band may do the same for you in the future, think about it.

Number five: Accept what compensation you get with gratitude. I have been asked to play shows for no money, and I have played shows for no money. The difference is that some are for charity or a good cause and other are because no one got off their ass and promoted so no one showed up. Back in my metal band days there were no set payment amounts, the bar charged a cover at the door and that was split between 4 or 5 bands. Most of the time this amounted to enough money for gas, no one was getting rich off of this and everyone was having a good time. If the time comes when you play to walls and you only get 10 bucks at the end of the night accept it and say thanks for the opportunity. You may not get a lot of money but you get respect from other bands and possibly more bookings from them or the promoter putting on the show. And if you’re playing for charity remember that what you don’t make in cash you make up for in new fans and exposure.

Number six: Distribute money evenly, only special exceptions apply. When you play a show with 4 bands and the door makes 100 bucks then each band gets 25 dollars, simple as that. The special exceptions would be if one band was touring and came from 5 states over and is trying to make it through to Nevada and back throw them a little extra and take the hit remember the respect rule. Another example would be if you’re on a show run by a promoter and they put up flyers, ran internet and radio ads, and hit the streets for that show throw them some money for their trouble and possibly score some more bookings with them. Sad as it is money does make the world turn and greasing a few palms never hurts. But if you have an even split then the entertainers should get paid even unless you have a special exception like the ones I just talked about.

Number seven: A freebie here and there never hurts but don’t turn every show into a product toss unless you have enough to get rid of. Most bands have merch for sale whether its shirts, demos, stickers, or any random assortment of items (hats, can coolers, or thongs yeah I’ve seen them on the board before). This is the stuff they need to sell in order to make gas or food money on tour, if not that then just to make more seed money to buy merch. Unless you have a sponsor backing you all this stuff comes out of your pocket so when you toss out too much for free you’re basically giving away money. Now don’t get confused it does pay off to give out a freebie to some people, remember what I said about greasing palms it doesn’t always mean money you know. I have given out my album to some people and told them to spread the word but some people have paid for it as well. In both ways I’m being supported by my friends and fans but at the same time I’m not losing my ass on merch cost. When Salt Rock Jones plays a new place we try to give the owner a free shirt if we have their size to secure more bookings. We have sold a lot of shirts and we thank each and every person that bought one but sometimes it helps to give one or two out so those people can model it and promote you at the same time.

Number eight: Always be open to new ideas and don’t get stuck in a rut. This one is easy to figure out, I play original music but to play around the area both Salt Rock Jones and my solo thing have to fill the set with cover songs. We get a lot of requests and we take them all into consideration and attempt them. If it doesn’t work out then we don’t play it but with people inputting ideas we are always moving forward and progressing with the help of our fans. And a lot of times the fans help us remember songs we wanted to try and play all along but forgot about at one time. And I know it sucks to remember a lot of songs but keep moving forward and don’t get stuck playing the exact same songs every night or you’ll be back at the starting line.

Number nine: don’t let heckling get to you/respect the band and your peers. This is for both bands and fans. Heckling is stupid and used by stupid people who want attention, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard someone shout free bird or any other random request in the middle of a song. We all know it’s annoying and you’re only making yourself look like an idiot, if you want to hear a song and you think the band knows it ask them when they finish a song. And if they don’t know how to play it they will take it into consideration of it fits with what they play but don’t get mad if they don’t know it you’ll just cause a scene and bring the whole vibe down. Now to the bands that get heckled the best thing to do is just continue the show, if they get too out of hand someone will get control of them or they’ll get kicked out if there is any hope left in the world. But take this into consideration, if you decide to go toe to toe with a heckler and you don’t come up with a good argument then you run the risk of making yourself look dumber than them. Be careful when dealing with drunken idiots, they have no common sense.

Number ten: have fun, don’t be afraid of it. We all started this to have fun entertaining people with our twisted thoughts and songs that we love to listen to. Once it stops being fun it’s time to either hang it up or start playing different music that is fun to play and hear. And having fun is not a one way street, if you’re up there giving it your all and having a blast it transfers to the fans. There is no such thing as too much fun, if you’re having fun and so are the fans there is plenty of fun to be had. But getting out of control can ruin fun for everyone so if you can’t control your alcohol, your temper, or your mouth then you should probably have fun somewhere else.

Well those are my ten commandments, if you’re in a band or a fan of live music follow them if you like and the world might just be a better place. So it’s obvious that I talk too much so I’m going to wrap this up and let the readers rest their eyes. Keep praying to your deity of choice, I’m still waiting for that kiddie pool.

Quick Fix: Late Nights

For those of you that don’t know much about me, I’m about to give you a little insight to my madness. I’m not sure what is wrong with my body or have any knowledge on how it operates but sometimes I can’t help but wonder. I get on average 5-6 hours of sleep each night. I wake up around 9am and go to bed around 3 or 4am. It doesn’t matter if I’m tired or wide awake when I hit the bed I’m good for 5 or 6 hours of sleep then I’m up again. 

I can’t say it’s a bad thing because later at night is when I get a lot of ideas for songs and when I get most work I do at the house done. I am an independent artist currently doing acoustic rock music and playing drums in a southern rock band. I used to be the frontman for a groove/death metal band, that was my passion and my songwriting still reflects that.

 But I don’t think these late nights really sit well with my wife because she has to go to bed early for work and I’m up making noise all night. I try to be quiet and I think we have a good compromise going because I write a lot of songs late at night. I also repair computers so I do a lot of that work around this time.

I don’t know why I felt the need to share that but maybe it will help readers understand why I rant about things like a madman fighting a rat for a piece of cheese. I’m pretty sure I have ADD but as far as I know I’m using it to my advantage. Time to wrap this up, chapter 3 should be coming up soon. Enjoy living this life before it runs out.

Chapter 2: Anybody could have written that song.

If you’re reading this then you know I’ve covered why the music scene in my area is in shambles, well today I have something to say about songwriting. There once was a time where people loved to hear original music, songs people had written for many different reasons set to music they wrote for that particular piece. Sadly those days have disappeared, now it’s the same overrated and overused crap that people want to hear all the time. I’m not saying that good old fashioned music played by instruments that people have to take time learning how to use is gone it’s just stuck in a deep ass rut right now.

Now let’s get something straight I’m not here to tell you what music you should be listening to or criticizing your choice of music, music could be anything from beating on a trashcan lid to virtuoso guitar wailing over a singer with an 8 octave range. This rant is going to be about writing songs and if you have written any songs that are halfway tolerable then you know as well as I do that it’s really fucking hard to write songs. Not only do you have to make sense you have to hit a key demographic and make your words mean something to them, I say key demographic because no matter how hard you try you’ll never write a song that applies to everyone. People are all drastically different and there is no way to make words and music that speaks to all of them. 

A lot of people tell me the Beatles wrote music for everyone which is completely false because like a lot of people I don’t care for the Beatles. They laid the groundwork for modern rock music but as times change people also change and so do music trends. Take Justin Bieber for example, this little Canadian kid wrote some riffs and a couple of songs that appeal to teen girls and blew up like dynamite for it, but on the other end of the spectrum you have people like me who write for themselves and don’t care about popularity all that much (the first single from my album is called I’m Glad You’re Dead for crying out loud). When writing a song there are a few things worthy of remembering, write for a certain kind of people, write like you would think, and don’t expect everything to be a hit.

Writing for a key demo is better than thinking you can take on the world with your music because most of the time that key demo will spread to people who would have never listened to your music because of word of mouth alone. When you write like you would think it puts more sincerity into your songs and even if everyone hates them at least you know you’re being as real as you can, and it doesn’t matter if you write death metal or comedy rock sincerity still counts. You should never go into this expecting everything you brain shits out will turn into gold records, there is a reason albums have filler songs. If a group or artist tried to sit down and write an album of nothing but hit songs it would take years upon years and it still only has a 50 percent chance of succeeding maybe even less than that. Many bands try this and run the risk of the entire genre that they fall into shifting into something else entirely. 

If you think that you’re music can’t be defined by a genre you should really just quit now. There is a reason we have labels for different kinds of music, its so people can find it easily and describe it to their friends. Sure there have been a lot of offshoot genres and even some made up ones but these artists understand that being labeled means people are listening to them and not throwing their music in the trash. And if you’re thinking you’re the one who will get famous without selling out or being labeled then you’re living in a god damn fantasy world and someone should hit you with a brick because that thought process is fucking insane.

The title of this is anyone could have written that song which after reading my insane ramblings you know that is a bullshit statement. People have distinct writing styles and a lot of times with modern music 4 or 5 people have to pool their resources to write one song and it may come out sounding like shit to everyone. If you’re out there reading this and you continue to write songs on your own without consulting with other people and they don’t sound too shitty then you have my respect. Writing a song on your own is so hard that I often contemplate not writing anymore songs because I get blocked up and pissed off at myself when something doesn’t come out right, but that is what haunts all songwriters. 

I just want to take this time to be a sleazy promotional tool and say that you can buy my album Beautiful Depression at rosslacey.bandcamp.com and thank anyone who has the patience to read my insanity. I hope you come back and tell your friends about the crazy dude on the internet that rambles about music and shit related to it. Also while you’re praying for me make sure you include your friends that you think might be going to hell, I don’t want to be the only one down there with a kiddie pool.

Chapter 1: Who wants to hear some music?

So this is my first installment of "Voices In My Head". Yeah I should get a catchier title but I don't care. Just to set the record straight I will be using bad language, I will offend people, and people my unfriend me on facebook for this but I don't care if you don't like it don’t read it. 

Now down to business, today we’re talking about music.  I live in Wayne County, IL and if you play gospel or you’re a female that sings well you have a chance. But if you play anything else outside of the gospel genre you’re pretty well fucked around here. Sure we sometimes have an open mic night but the location is under constant change and it’s my personal opinion that some of the people around here don’t want to play music because anything original is considered taboo and god forbid you start a metal band the whole county will want to burn you at the stake. Don’t get me wrong we have some amazing original artists around here but you wouldn’t know because advertisement costs and most of us are too broke to do anything about it. If we had more venues willing to open their doors to some bands and give them the opportunity to play their set and possibly give people (not talking about just adults here, kids also like listening to music) something to do and look forward to in this area it could really open up the path for touring bands passing from Missouri to Indiana to make a stop here and maybe get a little gas money and a place to crash and then they would spread the word and maybe Wayne county would be more than just a cluster of towns before you get to the cities.

 In theory this sounds like a simple idea yet there are so many holes in this plan it would never work.  First off almost all places equipped to have a band are backed by churches, no problem for me I can edit and I don’t blaspheme against any god that I know of but some heavier bands and even some of the rock bands are not welcome in that environment. Secondly there are no venues able to host all ages shows with proper regulation, I was a kid once and so were my friends and we all know that when you’re young you want to try everything so any all ages shows would have to be alcohol free so that kids could sneak it in (I don’t give two shits about how good you think your child may be you just haven’t caught them yet) and get hammered and screw it up for everyone else. And lastly if you got a band, got some songs, and you want to play in Wayne county you have to pay out the ass to play anywhere. When I did shows here the floral hall was 300 bucks, the legion upstairs was 250 and the gym at Sims was 50 dollars. The first two places might get people to show up the third was a bust because the sound sucked (it’s a gym with no stage what did you expect), no one knew where it was, and you couldn’t drink.

So a lot of people put blame on the bands, the fans, or the venues for local shows and bands dying out but when you decide to lay blame look at yourself and think “if all these people would stop blaming each other and work together we could have a hell of a scene to work with” then you will realize the problem is that everyone hates everyone and until this beef gets cooked our musical availability and diversity will be forever in the shitter. 

If you took the time to read this mess pat yourself on the back and rest your eyes because I’ll have a lot more to say I assure you, but for now I’m wrapping this up. Please remember to pray for me, even though I’m almost certain that I’m going to hell, it would be nice to have a kiddie pool.