Once a year I do a proper review of my instrument collection and decide whether to move on some of the collection. This can be for a variety of reasons. Sometimes some instruments have served their purpose and have been superceeded by new aquisitions.
I have a checklist of four fundamental questions when deciding whether to keep or move on an instrument
1 Do I use it live? 2 Do I record with it? 3 Do I write with it? 4 Am I keeping as an investment or for sentimental reasons?
I’m lucky enough to travel across the globe each year and to know where to find the very best instruments. The biggest challenge of living in the UK is that we simply don’t have the choice that would be available in many other countries. Stores like Rudy’s Music in New York and Carters Music in Nashville simply don’t exist in the UK for guitars. For ukuleles there are numerous great stores in Japan than offer instruments I’ll never see in the UK.
Custom Built instruments that are “keepers”
I never set out to be an instrument collector, but mostly seek out instruments for live work, writing or recording purposes. With live work any instrument needs to be amplified and 100% reliable. Some instruments are better played acoustically without pickups and of course every instrument requires different amplification considerations. This is one of the reasons why questions like “Whats the best pickup or amp?” are totally meaningless!
I have increasingly sought out had made custom instruments rather than production line instruments. Yes, there is a higher financial ticket price but the attention to detail and quality is usually much higher. There are few companies who reach such quality standards and Collings guitars definately falls into that catagory. I interviewed Bill Collings many years ago and told him that I have never played any acoustic or electric Collings instrument that was anything other than excellent. Bill had the perfect ability to figure out the very best elements in brands like Martin, Gibson and Fender and then improve on what they did.
I own a number of Collings instruments including an I35 electric, a tenor guitar, a 6 string acoustic and two concert ukuleles. All are superb. In terms of custom builds my preference for ukuleles is Takahiro Shimo and I have eight of his instruments so far. I also own two Stefan Sobell acoustics and a mandola. Stefan is another great builder and like Shimo there is a wait for any instruments as they are greatly in demand. Pete Howlett is also a superb builder from Wales and Gregor Nowak from Vienna continues to amaze me with his instrument builds. Almost without exception any of these purchases are keepers and the production models are the ones that usually get moved on at some point.
Space and other considerations
Ukuleles and mandolins are small bodied instruments, so don’t take up a lot of space. Guitars however can soon take up a lot of space, especially if you have good protective cases for each instrument. Suddenly space (or lack of it) can be an issue.
I’m a big fan of instruments being played and its of course once you get to a certain volume of instruments its impossible to play them all on a regular basis. I’d rather pass on some such instruments so they get the attention they deserve, than have them just sitting in cases.
This year I have been learning new instruments and one of the toughest adjustments has been to learning the mandolin. I’ve always wanted to find a mandolin I loved and until this year have tried numerous great instruments but never really got on with any of them. That was until I was introduced to this mandolin previously owned my Martin Carthy by Martin Simpson.
Its been a tough 6 months and Evan Davis has been a wonderful teacher coaxing out some sonic improvements. The initially experience was like wrestling the kraken as I found it really hard to get used to the neck width and the either strings in what to me seems like a very small space. Finally we’ve made friends and I’m starting to get some good sounds from this mandolin and to my delight am enjoying playing it. Up until recently, its been a lot of work where my brain found it very hard to connect to my fingers!
One of the key realisations is that this is very much a percussive instrument and having a proper think mandolin plectrum really helps. I’ve had to park all previous thoughts and expectations from years of playing guitars and ukuleles and start from scratch. It continues to be a massive learning curve, at times frustrating and at times just delightful. I’m glad I’ve stuck with it and have made a plan for 2020 which will include picking up a second mandolin custom made, so I better get myself in gear to learn more tunes and even start writing some material.
2019 was a busy year with the release of “Tales of Dark and Light” and a launch party in May. We recorded 14 tracks for the album and I have another 7 tracks ready to record already in 2020. As well as lining up new gigs, I’ll be spending some time of a side project “The Edge of Feedback” and working on an album of duets of original songs for release late 2020, early 2021.
The lineup of the Caravan will change in 2020, but the core members of myself, Fergus Quill and Rich Ferdi remain. Special thanks to everyone who has recorded with The Caravan of Dreams or played live with us in 2019, including Agi, Rich Ferdi, Fergus Quill, Dave Bowie Jnr, Laurent Zeller, Phil Doleman, John Burr, Chris Smith, Alice Higgins, Paul Conway, Adrian Knowles, Jed Bevington, Evan Davies and Ruth Nielsen. Additional thanks to everyone who came out to see us live, Nick Bloomfield for some amazing video and Carl Rosamond for superb sound engineering and keeping us on track.
As well as working on the projects mentioned I’ll be travelling to Japan, USA, Russia, Austria, India and Poland in 2020 with my other work. Finally the Music for the Head and Heart project goes from strength to strength with more showcase events planned in Jan and April.
In part one, I pointed out how many artists are not looked after by promoters and how promoters fail to pay attention to detail.
As well as these issues, another great way to kill live music interest is to try and promote live music in a space that is totally unsuitable for this purpose. I have countless examples of this, but here are some favorites.
Once example is a venue where the layout means that even though they “promote live music” only a third of the café can actually see the artist! The others can hear the playing faintly in the distance above the conversation of assembled diners. Another example was an EP launch where the light on the stage was literally a single 60 watt light bulb which gace out such poor light that my video recorder couldn’t properly get a picture and this piece of gear worked well in low light, but not that low light!
Other issue can be where the sound kills the artist performance. This can be true for even major venues where I hope against hope for decent sound and its always terrible. I’ve stopped going to such venues as I know I’ll always be disppointed. Unfortunately artists can be complicit in maintaining all these problem scenarios and the end result is that they unintentionally are killing the public’s enthusiam for live music.
This is mostly all avoidable with a little bit of joined up thinking and attention to detail. Perhaps I’m expecting too much?
I have always been a massive fan of live music and in the last 45 years have seen some extraordinary concerts including The Allman Brothers at the Beacon in NYC, Bill Frissell at the Village Vanguard, Pink Floyd playing Dark side of the moon, Tori Amos’s first UK tour and some extraordinary Nick Cave concerts. I also in recent years have enjoyed playing live gigs with my current band The Caravan of Dreams and my previous band The Small Change Diaries in the UK and overseas.
In setting up the Music for the Head and Heart platform I have had the opportunity to talk to a wide range of artists from the UK and overseas. We have talked a lot about live playing opportunities and earnings opportunities. I’m increasingly amazed at how artists are often disadvantaged and how promoters make basic business mistakes.
The Art of Artist Demotivation
Often promoters mean well but are wholly unaware of the effect they are having on both artists and audiences. I was at a recent gig where an artist had travelled hundreds of miles to play a small club. As well as receiving a fee, the promoter had a bucket to pass around for tips for the performer. The promoter commented “Please give some change for the artists to buy some chips on the way back home” Although this may be done with some humour, the effect is to devalue the artists contribution and all the audeince members then did as instructed putting in some small change for the artist. The promoter could have said “Please give generiously to this terrific artist who has travelled a long way to give us such a great evening of entertainment today” My guess is that the artist take would be much more rewarding. BTW, I threw in a ten pound note which I though was great value for a superb 90 minute set…
Another artist was telling me about play a set at a local club for payment in drinks rather than money. When she went to request a coke for playing a set, she was told that the “payment’ could only be made in a specific beer and she’d have to buy the coke herself. This is truly the art of artist demotivation guaranteed to kill live music opportunities.
Make it hard for people to find the gig
Another great strategy in how to kill live music opportunities is to make it almost impossible for people to find the gig. I was recently looking at going to a gig and found the date on the artist’s webpage. I went to the venue webpage to find ZERO EVENTS listed and “site under construction” I then went to a fb page to find the date and time. Thirty minutes before setting off, I got a message suggseting the time had changed. I rang the venue and was told “Ignore social medial” the time is the original time listed! Needless to say the venue was only 30% full…
Conclusion
I’m increasingly hearing about venues closing down and artists who have stopped playing live as its not financially viable. The tragedy is that often promoters miss “the elusive obvious” in promotions, such as looking after the performers who are the ones who provide the entertainment in the first place!
We are just a few days away from the launch of the Music for the Head and Heart evening and I’ve been once again reflecting on the whole issue of music promotion. I confess to having a problem solving brain and in my non musical life I teach problem solving internationally to groups.
It occurs to me that artist/music promotion follows many of the same rules as promoting any service or product.
Get attention
The first rule of any marketing or promotion is to get customer attention. “The good news” is that there have never been so many free mediums to connect with a wider public. “The bad news” is that there have never been so many free mediums to connect with a wider public! The advent of social media and YouTube are both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand these new mediums mean great opportunities, but the downside is that the promotion noise level is at an all time high.
Great video and photos are essential in getting the public’s attention. Increasingly people have very short attention spans, so “good” is not enough, visual mediums need to be great! I appreciate that artists will have financial budgets but its IMO better to have a few great videos and or photos than dozens of average ones. As I have always said
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
The importance of continuity and diversity
In my other life I have worked with many successful longstanding musicians. One of them had severe anxiety about live performances and was about to go on a major tour. I floated the idea of taking a break and he commented
“The music industry is very unforgiving. Once you are off the radar, that’s it”
The noise level in music promotion means that its easy to be forgotten very quickly if you don’t maintain a regular stream of creative musical output. The challenge of course is to maintain both quality and quantity. Artists can get known for just one classic track which can then define your entire career. Below is a wonderful spoof from Ralph McTell illustrating this with his classic track “Streets of London” Who reading this blog could name another of his songs?
Time and money investments
The most successful artists I see, have spent years developing their craft. In the era of talent shows there can be a belief that a person can achieve a level of fame really quickly, but that is often a myth. Many artists start off with great intentions with a musical college education, but only a few earn a living as a professional artist. Like any profession success depends on many factors including luck, but always a significant investment of time and money.
The money investment would often historically come from a record company, but the music industry has changed and those opportunities are less frequent. Many artists now self fund or will use some form of crowdfunding. This can work, but again this has become so common that it doesn’t have the same unique appeal as it once had. Pledge music was one of the biggest crowdfunding platforms, which ran into serious trouble, recently putting out this statement
“PledgeMusic entered liquidation with $9.57 million in debt and assets worth just $20,000,” it reported. “With an ‘estimated deficiency’ of $7,405.502.48 and secured creditor Sword Row, LLC first in line, there is ‘little prospect’ that artists and other creditors will be paid, according to the court-appointed receiver.”
So, what’s the good news?
If all this sounds somewhat depressing, then in my view there is also a wealth of good news to report. Its entirely possible to record and promote music to a wider audience in an effective manner, if you take into account many of the points raised here. I increasingly come across many superb artists and its my firm belief that the future is through artist cooperation. This is the thinking behind Music for The Head and Heart which follows the spirit of Robert Fripp’s DGM initiative, where the artist is front and centre.
Next Saturday I am hosting the launch of the Music for Head and Heart platform. I’ve spent the last two years working on this and the platform consists of two main ingredients. The first is interviewing artists for the platform, where they can talk about their creative process as well as performing some of their material.
To date we have over two dozen artists from all over the globe “in the vault” and over a dozen are live on the main site – www.musicfortheheadandheart.buzz
This has and continues to be a fascinating and inspiring project. I originally tried out a beta tester for this platform with originalukulesong.com but I realised I needed to create something on a bigger scale and more musically inclusive. I chose the name “Music for the Head and Heart” to suggest that the platform is about music that makes you think and moves you emotionally.
The spirit of collaboration
I’ve always been a big fan of collaboration and in my non musical other life this philosophy has literally helped me establish my trainings literally all over the globe. In the music world I have often blogged on the benefits of working with like minds and sharing resources. Not everyone gets this of course and some artists are pretty self obsessed and don’t appreciate the value of working with others to create a bigger dynamic.
Special thanks to my good friend Martin Simpson for agreeing to be interviewed for Music for the Head and Heart. Martin is a brilliant seasoned performer already and its gracious of him to be here. Later this year we’ll be unveiling other well known established artists as well as many newer less known performers.
Live performances
As well as the main website, I’m running a series of showcase evenings of artists playing live. The first evening is October 26th which will feature Captain of the Lost Waves, Miranda Arieh, Emily Mercer, and Behla Hutchinson. All four of these artists are superb musicians and great entertainers and its going to be one superb evening. Tickets are available here
There will be a second live evening, early 2020 which will feature more artists who have recorded for the platform.
In my “other non musical life” I train people globally about human behaviours and many of my private clients are artists. I’m personally fascinated at how some artists are super smart in identifying and capitalizing when making good decisions and others have an uncanny ability to snatch failure from the jaws of success…
Many creative types have a difficulty in managing time and are terrible at making good strategic decisions. I’ve lost track of the number of performers who can be on the verge of some really good success, who then swerve to go in another direction. There can be all manner of reasons for this of course. Here are some of my observations about those who snatch failure from the jaws of success!
Figuring time and money
Many musicians I have met often struggle to maintain predictable income. In these tougher economic times I have some sympathy but my business background has taught me the value of balancing time and money. Its really easy to play for free and for “exposure” but this can lead to all manner of problems.
People have different ideas about how to charge for time. I have a policy of always paying performers for their time whether in rehearsals, studio time or at live events, regardless of whether I am paid or not. Not paying artists is IMO a slipperly slope although many will still run “pay as you feel events” which can (not always) mean artists receive minimal payments. A basic cinema price for a movie is 5 – 6 quid these days, so 7 – 8 quid for three hours of live music is IMO not a big ask. I have looked extensively at pricing and relialised that those who value and love live music don’t usually consider price as a primary consideration. I have run my band events at 12 quid a ticket, pay as you feel and for free and there’s not a massive difference in uptake.
Many artists don’t price theit time well and I’ve recently met superb artists that are travelling hundreds of miles to play for expenses. In some cases IMO they are taken advantage of and respectfully its their own fault. In contrast I know some excellent musicians who better define this time and money ratio and I have massive respect for such performers. These are the ones who will do far better as they are thinking about what they are doing and and more grounded in reality!
This dream of a musical career is of course not new and these days the endless talent shows endlessley promote the idea of stardom. Of course in reality the expectation and the realty can be very different. In the same way many authors aspire to be the next JK Rowling, but very few authors generate even a sustainable living from their work. Like every other business, in order to create any kind of success you need to find this ability to balance time and money.
“I have known from the beginning one thing you need to know. That is, the music business is a business.”
Steve Brown
“As for the music business itself, the key things have not changed that much. It operates like any business and money still keeps things moving.“ Tom Jones
When I set up Music for the Head and Heart I interviewed a number of promoters, producers and artists. This has and continues to be a fascinating process and I keep hearing the same story. As a behavioral specialist I’m always on the lookout for patterns in human behaviour. Often (not always) many music students are sold a dream of a musical career in college that is very different to the reality of what happens in real life.
A cynical person might argue that its in the interest of the colleges to promote a positive image for their own business needs, but increasingly I hear producers comment that many new artists have “over optimistic” expectations of what they can expect.
10 years to become an overnight success?
There’s an old saying “It takes 10 years to become an overnight success” Essentially, success in most professions require a great deal of stamina and perseverance as well as skill. In my non musical life I have a good life presenting my own work in Asia, Europe, USA and Russia and its taken many years to build this reputation.
When I started to explore the world of music I could see many parallels and have often pointed out that “the music business” follows the rules of “business” Often artists really don’t get this and I’ve met some really talented individuals who are clueless about music promotion. Some don’t even have basic elements in place and others dream that “being signed” or “getting management” will solve all their problems! Some new artists imagine being located in London, LA or New York will solve all their problems, forgetting the financial cost of being in such cities and that countless others have imagined that this is the magic solution to artistic growth, which of course it is not.
Music for The Head and Heart experience
I’ve approached many artists to appear on the Music for the Head and Heart platform and am blown away by the response. These include some very well known international performers including Martin Simpson, who have agreed to be interviewed. The central idea is to build a portal for music lovers showcasing great creative talent from new artists to seasoned performers. To my amazement some new artists than are constantly lamenting a lack of financial and creative success, either don’t even respond to offers or respond but never book the time for the interview. Let me be clear, I 100% appreciate that its a personal choice to appear or not to appear, but its basic good sense at least to respond to an offer! I don’t chase people and usually offer once and then give a reminder. After that point, I move onto other performers and of course there are many to choose from.
On Music for The Head and Heart, artists appear for free and then have free promotion on the platform and on social media. The more artists that join, the more momentum for the whole platform. Despite explaining this, may performers don’t get it, but then the same artists often don’t have good online presences and are not paying attention to this key aspect of performer promotion.
Smart collaborations
I set up Music for The Head and Heart with the belief that its possible to bring like minded artists together in a way which helps everyone. My own experience is that some performers and promoters are totally self obsessed and its always one way traffic when interacting with them. I generally now avoid such characters and only look to work with people who have shared values. Other artists are walking disasters when it comes to any kind of planning and then finally there are people who have shared values and good strategic thinking, BUT we are stronger as a group than as individuals. Jon Gomm made a very interesting point in a recent yet unpublished interview –
“if you find yourself wanting to compete with other musicians and prove how good you are and that you’re better in some way and you know that you have that in your ego, you need to wind that down if you can. That’s the thing that will make it very hard for people to work with you.”
Jon Gomm
Performers like Jon Gomm give me some hope for the future of music.
I’m increasingly hearing about musicians having a tough time earning a living from music. With the advent of online streaming, revenue from products is not what it used to be. Live gigs are still a source of income, but many venues are paying less than in days gone by. There’s an additional problem with festivals, many of who seem to think they are doing a favour in allowing artists to play. As well as “pay to play” I saw one festival promotion talk about “compensation for playing” which IMO is perhaps not the best linguistic term, suggesting again doing the artist a favour.
I have blogged on this before and I appreciate the subject ruffles a few feathers as some have a commercial interest in this topic not being discussed. That said, I think all artists musical or otherwise should receive sensible payment for their work and not be exploited in any way. Social media is full of examples of artists being taken advantage of which is unfortunately a sign of the times.
I set up Music for The Head and Heart to give a voice to artists and to promote music in an affordable manner. The launch party with four great performers is priced at just 6 pounds for the evening. All proceeds go to the artists and the whole platform is dedicated to music lovers. Proper respect for artists is in my view important and sensible payment is a key consideration.
The launch party is just a month away and tickets are available here
