Hello sweet Tumblr readers…
I’m moving things from Tumblr to Squarespace. Squarespace works better with where I’m wanting to go with everything.
Click over to my website and subscribe or you can subscribe through RSS too.
Onward and upward,
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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com
If you’re on the top of the charts, the people look for music on top charts will find you there.
But you’re probably not on the top charts. By definition few are.
So the people coming across, dabbling, testing out your music don’t (always) want what’s on the top of the charts. If they did they’d be clicking there instead of clicking you.
If they’re dabbling you know they’re dabblers, which is important for you to know.
When someone comes around your camp, they’re curious, they’ve got an eye out. What do you hope they find?
»» I gave my website a bit of a makeover. Complete with beloved internet standards like About and Contact (and if you keep scrolling, the bottom of each page has a special little extra).
Also, an important note for some, I moved my blog platform from Tumblr to Squarespace. There’s an RSS button at the bottom if anyone needs that.
It’s likely there will be some kinks to work out over the next few days so feel free to drop me a note if you see anything weird.
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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com
New Hum Love playlist up on Spotify and Apple.
For the most part I only listen to music in my car, so I’ve found that I like to make this a playlist that I look forward to pressing play on when I get in my car.
Getting in the car means there’s movement. Going, action, cool, speed, possibility, excitement, get some blood pumping.
Sure maybe it’s just to the grocery store but still. I want some spark when I press play.
Shout out to the couple Minnesota artists on there this month (Lupin and Step Rockets)…and there’s a guy, Zen Thomas, on there with a killer voice and when the chorus groove kicks in it really moves.
We usually want music to reflect our mood and/or change it.
From my vantage point, Hum Love enhances the excitement of going and possibilities of when you get there.
»» If you click the heart on Spotify it’ll automatically update for you each month.
»» Feel free to keep sending along suggestions for next time.
»» See all the past playlists: Hum Love Archive on Spotify and Apple.
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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com
You won’t be able to get through your car trouble story before hearing about everyone else’s car trouble.
Underwear is a very appropriately named article of clothing.
There’s a picture of Steven Tyler on the spine of the Steven Tyler book, my daughter thinks it’s me and I do not correct her.
Everyone who is shopping at Walgreens is ‘just running to Walgreens real quick’ and that’s why everyone looks like crap.
Excitement plus apathy. That’s why I’m no good at poker.
The first aisle of the grocery store is a bad place to run into someone you don’t want to run into. Cause then there’s the second aisle meeting, then the third, then the…
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It’s safe to say not many (or any) artists want to put out music as quietly as possible: Not posting about it or making a video or doing an interview. Just putting up on streaming and telling no one. (And if you’re wanting to do this as a career I don’t recommend this method.)
On the other hand, lots of artists put out music as loudly as possible. Shouting to anyone and everyone over and over, saying yes to every press outlet, buying followers to impress prospective press outlets, buying email lists to spam, Facebook ads, Instagram ads, hitting uninterested people over the head again and again because maybe they’ll click this time.
So you’re not going to put out music as quietly as possible…but what if you didn’t put out music as loudly as possible either?
What if you had a plan? What if you knew who you wanted to tell about it (ie. the people who want to hear from you) and just as importantly, who you can happily avoid telling about it because you know they aren’t your people anyway?
It’s not about raising the volume of your voice but the impact of it.
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I was going to go to Wendy’s but as I was pulling up I saw a Hugh Baby’s across the parking lot and since I’d heard it was good I decided to try that instead.
It wasn’t a sign saying Hugh Baby’s is ten miles down the road that way. It was simply right there.
It might be helpful to put yourself right next to the competition (or the people doing something similar to you) so you can be an easy alternative to someone who might be looking for an alternative.
»» Ok so I stole the opening sentence from a Yelp review of the Hugh Baby’s that just opened up nearby.
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Drop me an email: gabe@gabethebassplayer.com
The solo artist gets to call the shots. It’s their name on the poster so understandably it’s their call what goes on the poster.
For the duo: we did it your way last time so this time we’re doing it my way. Makes sense. 50/50. If one person has gotten their way a bunch it’s understandable to balance it out.
As for the band (anything with three or more), it gets completely different. Who is on whose side at this particular crossroads on this day and at this time? He always sides with you unless you agree with me and then all three of them are against us. In a band it’s too hard to keep track of “even” or how many times each person or combination of people have gotten their way.
The more people the more mess. But the shared journey and fulfillment is the prize if you keep it together.
»» If you’re not in music but you’ve watched children try and share toys…it’s the same thing
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Eventually gigs will go back to being gigs again, same as they ever were. Fans pack in and listen and experience the band on stage.
But right now as shows start popping up here and there, there’s an in between emerging…where the band and the stage and the setlist are all the same as they ever were but the audience is taking in the show differently than they ever have before. From their car, from just outside their car, in a small taped off area, at a table, with lots of empty seats around them, where having a ticket to a “sold out” show doesn’t feel like a sold out show because the venue is minimizing capacity.
So there’s a creative opportunity for performers. You (as the artist) get to be on stage pretty much like normal, but your audience is going through something brand new. How can you make this exceptionally exciting for them? Can you put on a show that is memorable, specifically because of this unique artist/audience exchange?
And though its’ been said many times many ways…If you build it they will come…and take pictures of it and put them on the internet and tell their friends.
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‘Out of control’ and ‘out of my control’ are two very different things…and one usually gets mistaken for the other.
When we say something is out of control what we really mean is that it’s out of OUR control.
And something being out of our control can be a really great thing…especially when we can trust the people whose control it is in.
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When you get validation for your vision/compass/intuition being expertly calibrated it means it’s been that way for a while.
Your expert-ness is true long before the validation you’re hoping for shows up.
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