MidPoint Part 2 - Friday night preamble
Friday afternoon here is "beautiful" downtown Cincinnati. Gotta say I'm a little cynical today, its been a day of contrasts. Lets back up and recap Thursday night.
My favorite bands of the night were Stephani's ID (virtuoso level vibraphonist, un-F'ing believable player, i was captivated), that are from North Carolina. My favorite band in the world, Small Town Sleeper came down on zero notice to fill in a cancellation slot. They drove 2 hours each way to play a 35 minute set, because me and the festival needed them. Thats hardcore, and they rocked it out. I'm so glad i got to see them play. They come back Saturday night to play their scheduled slot for the festival, 10PM at Jefferson Hall. If your in town, DO NOT MISS THEM!!!! And last, Ric Hordinski tore it up. He's one of the most amazing guitar players i know. truly gifted. His band lays down some serious rhythm as well.
Today. No panels to speak on today, thats all tomorrow. I did do mentoring sessions though today and i went to see both keynote addresses. Here comes the cynicism. OK, i'll preface this by saying its my fourth year doing the festival, alot of people have already heard everything i have to say, but i made myself available for 2 hours of mentoring sessions, which is basically one on one, ask me whatever you want, anyone at the festival can sign up for them, and they run 15 minutes each slot. In 2 hours i had 3 people come talk to me. So i guess that means there were only 3 artists at the whole festival who could have benefitted from any of my experience. Even funnier still, all three artists that came to talk to me, have had a fair amount of individual success already and were looking for ways to take their careers even further. Not a single young, hungry, doe-eyed artist or band came thru. I guess those guys already have it all figured out. At least 3 people there understand whats going on. Well, actually 4 people. Me being number 4. To show you how valuable i personally think the mentoring sessions could be, I signed up to be mentored by one of the panelists at the festival. (me the student, he the mentor) Unfortunately, much to my dismay, he didnt actually show up to do any mentoring as he was scheduled to, i missed out on 15 minutes of getting schooled by someone who knows alot more about things that i wanna know about than i do. Indie artists pass up so many opportunites for knowledge. Its really rediculous.
Further. The keynote speeches. Both of which were dismally attended. I mean, the room was mostly full for both, but it should have been overflowing with people. Again, i guess alot of the artists at the festival didnt think they could learn anything valuable from these guys. I learned alot and I've been making major label records for about 14 years. The industry keynote speaker was Alan Light (formerly editor in chief of Spin, editor in chief of Vibe, senior writer for Rolling Stone, etc...). I was like a sponge soaking every word of knowledge he passed on, and there was alot to learn. Greg Dulli was the artist keynote (lead singer of the Afgan Whigs, and the Twilight Singers) Greg and the Whigs have been personally highly influential on me with their music, so getting to hear him speak was a real treat. I'm on a panel with the Whigs bass player, John Curly, tomorrow. Anyway, Dulli was very inspirational. Didnt necessarily "teach" me anything i didnt already know, but if i were a young artist, it certainly would have. I just found it highly inspirational and enjoyable. So many people missed out.
My panels are tomorrow. There's a production panel, and the Demo Derby (each artist gets a minute or two of one song played, and the panelists rip it to shreds, actually not true, lots of good music gets played, and we critique it constructively). I'm also doing mentoring tomorrow if anyone shows up. We'll see. I always love doing the panels, its fun, and nice to feel like i'm contributing in a small way back to the cincinnati music scene. The guys who organize and run Midpoint along with all of the volunteers deserve a HUGE pat on the back. Its a really great festival, with great bands and great panels and great speakers. I wish more bands utilized the information disseminated here though. Your missing out.
Tonights must see bands for me, Holly Spears, Cari Clara, High Water Trio, Kevin Shima, other very good artists I'm going to try to attend are Two Turntables and a Saxaphone, The Whitney Bariklow Band, Soular, Messerly and Ewing, Clabbergirl, Captain of Industry, i'm sure there's a ton of other great talent playing tonight as well.
Off to dinner now, then on to the shows. Should be a great night. And my note to all unsigned artists, you command your own destiny. knowledge is definitely power, self promotion is absolutely crucial. Dont miss a single opportunity to get out there and gain knowledge or fans. If your not out there doing it, someone else is.
- Ken
My favorite bands of the night were Stephani's ID (virtuoso level vibraphonist, un-F'ing believable player, i was captivated), that are from North Carolina. My favorite band in the world, Small Town Sleeper came down on zero notice to fill in a cancellation slot. They drove 2 hours each way to play a 35 minute set, because me and the festival needed them. Thats hardcore, and they rocked it out. I'm so glad i got to see them play. They come back Saturday night to play their scheduled slot for the festival, 10PM at Jefferson Hall. If your in town, DO NOT MISS THEM!!!! And last, Ric Hordinski tore it up. He's one of the most amazing guitar players i know. truly gifted. His band lays down some serious rhythm as well.
Today. No panels to speak on today, thats all tomorrow. I did do mentoring sessions though today and i went to see both keynote addresses. Here comes the cynicism. OK, i'll preface this by saying its my fourth year doing the festival, alot of people have already heard everything i have to say, but i made myself available for 2 hours of mentoring sessions, which is basically one on one, ask me whatever you want, anyone at the festival can sign up for them, and they run 15 minutes each slot. In 2 hours i had 3 people come talk to me. So i guess that means there were only 3 artists at the whole festival who could have benefitted from any of my experience. Even funnier still, all three artists that came to talk to me, have had a fair amount of individual success already and were looking for ways to take their careers even further. Not a single young, hungry, doe-eyed artist or band came thru. I guess those guys already have it all figured out. At least 3 people there understand whats going on. Well, actually 4 people. Me being number 4. To show you how valuable i personally think the mentoring sessions could be, I signed up to be mentored by one of the panelists at the festival. (me the student, he the mentor) Unfortunately, much to my dismay, he didnt actually show up to do any mentoring as he was scheduled to, i missed out on 15 minutes of getting schooled by someone who knows alot more about things that i wanna know about than i do. Indie artists pass up so many opportunites for knowledge. Its really rediculous.
Further. The keynote speeches. Both of which were dismally attended. I mean, the room was mostly full for both, but it should have been overflowing with people. Again, i guess alot of the artists at the festival didnt think they could learn anything valuable from these guys. I learned alot and I've been making major label records for about 14 years. The industry keynote speaker was Alan Light (formerly editor in chief of Spin, editor in chief of Vibe, senior writer for Rolling Stone, etc...). I was like a sponge soaking every word of knowledge he passed on, and there was alot to learn. Greg Dulli was the artist keynote (lead singer of the Afgan Whigs, and the Twilight Singers) Greg and the Whigs have been personally highly influential on me with their music, so getting to hear him speak was a real treat. I'm on a panel with the Whigs bass player, John Curly, tomorrow. Anyway, Dulli was very inspirational. Didnt necessarily "teach" me anything i didnt already know, but if i were a young artist, it certainly would have. I just found it highly inspirational and enjoyable. So many people missed out.
My panels are tomorrow. There's a production panel, and the Demo Derby (each artist gets a minute or two of one song played, and the panelists rip it to shreds, actually not true, lots of good music gets played, and we critique it constructively). I'm also doing mentoring tomorrow if anyone shows up. We'll see. I always love doing the panels, its fun, and nice to feel like i'm contributing in a small way back to the cincinnati music scene. The guys who organize and run Midpoint along with all of the volunteers deserve a HUGE pat on the back. Its a really great festival, with great bands and great panels and great speakers. I wish more bands utilized the information disseminated here though. Your missing out.
Tonights must see bands for me, Holly Spears, Cari Clara, High Water Trio, Kevin Shima, other very good artists I'm going to try to attend are Two Turntables and a Saxaphone, The Whitney Bariklow Band, Soular, Messerly and Ewing, Clabbergirl, Captain of Industry, i'm sure there's a ton of other great talent playing tonight as well.
Off to dinner now, then on to the shows. Should be a great night. And my note to all unsigned artists, you command your own destiny. knowledge is definitely power, self promotion is absolutely crucial. Dont miss a single opportunity to get out there and gain knowledge or fans. If your not out there doing it, someone else is.
- Ken
posted by Protools Mixing at 6:43 PM
3 Comments:
Hey Ken,
You know what the good thing is about those people not booking time with you? Or really taking time to learn anything?
-It weeds out the crappy artists that arent meant to make it, QUICK.
I remember thinking a couple years ago that all of the riches in life were just going to be dropped upon me because I was a guitar player who liked his own tunes. I can admit now that I was a f'n idiot for wasting time thinking that. Still so many people believe that they are the special exception to the industry and they do not need to exert any real effort (to learn).
-Just imagine this..
You're competing for one of the absolute most desirable jobs on the planet; are you willing to open up a book on the business and learn it? Spend time researching who the professionals are and gaining information? Are you willing to jump through a couple hoops in order to achieve "your musical career", Are you willing to make yourself avaliable everysecond of the day to give yourself a better chance? Cause if you're not - I may not be a pro yet - But i'll tell you there is no way in hell you're going to ever reach rockstardom.
-modest "ameteur" thoughts
Tom Wells
hi ken,
thanks for the kudos to stephanie's id... we had a great time at midpoint. want to talk to you about mixing!
ciao,
stephanie
Stephanie's Id
www.stephaniesid.com
Thanks for being available for the mentor sessions. 10 free minutes with you was great. As an artist, there is so much work to do but it's all in vain without direction from people that have had artistic success. The best advice you gave me was: "anything that gets your name out is worth it even if there is little to no money involved." That advice rings in my head like Big Ben. I find that with everything I learn, I'm able to understand more. The suggestions you gave me about my one-sheet would not have applied a year ago because a year ago I didn't have a one-sheet. Your review of my CD means that my next one will be that much better. Thanks for your contributions and sharing of information. You give us little guys hope.
Thanks,
TKD
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