In the Mind of Nate

In my last entry this was one the things I didn't mention about promoting an album, well this and the importance of making a video (mainly because I assumed most bands have videos on you tube of performance and regular MTV style music videos). Touring is a very necessary and effective way for bands to build a more solid fan base and insure that album sales will increase, if done correctly and effectively. Many bands have an unenthusiastic opinion about touring or unrealistic expectations. First off the word "Tour" doesn't necessarily mean 3 months out on the road packed in a van, but it can mean that. You can actually take trips to separate cities and come home each time and consider that a tour too. Either way the goal is to play in as many different cities as you can in order to strengthen your fan base and album sales. But of course it is wise to KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS in this case it pertains to how many places you can afford to travel to with your budget and

Ok, I have been speaking about this for some time now. A few years back I put together a list of books and webpages I suggest for all independent artists. They will help you learn about the music business and make it easier for you further all your musical endeavors. I have read most of these books(really, I did. I'm not lying) and they can be found at the library and on sites like Ebay or Amazon. If anyone has any other books or webpages that you think are useful please let me know. I will start with the Books and include some webpages for the end. REFERENCE BOOKS The Indie Bible a book that is released yearly that has a list of contact information for record companies, radio stations, magazines, distributors and more that will work with independent bands. It is divided up Geographically and by Genre. The Music Atlas Another Yearly reference book. Not specifically geared towards independent artists. But does have many resources such as record labels and other informatio

Earlier on in the week, I found myself commenting on a Facebook post by a slightly discouraged musician from a new younger band out of NYC called Candy Brain that feels that the music industry is ruining music for him. I think he was speaking more about the local "seen" which is basically just a staging area and not the be all end of all the music business(Thank God). Luckily, there were a few people like myself to shed some light on this. Years ago, the Record companies decided your fate and very few bands could control their own destinies. Simply because the resources available to us now where not there 20, 25 or even 30 years ago.Remember there was no Itunes or Cdbaby , so no record deal meant no distribution. Yes you could go into a studio on your own and record(if you were lucky enough to even afford that let alone getting your finished product duplicated), hoping a record label would take notice of your valiant effort and offer you some sort of deal which would in

Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans-John Lennon I was waiting to get some updated mix downs of some songs today, but it was practically the furthest thing from my mind. In the mists of what was nearly a family tragedy, I found myself using my resources and my knowledge of working along side of the press to search for a missing relative. Fortunately he was found unharmed, however when something of this nature occurs it really shows you how much somethings that we see as important are virtually insignificant in the grand scheme of things. Some artists have an "all or nothing" attitude when it comes be successful. I have even seen some bands putting out an ad looking for a new member saying we dont want anyone that will be looking to take time off for Birthdays, Anniversaries, Holidays. What nerve? This is clearly not the case for all bands. I recall U2 canceling an entire tour due to a family tragedy. And since they probably were playing in arena

    I wanted to copy an old blog I had made years ago on myspace with some tips, reference materials and links to help people learn more about promotions and the music business. However, the new myspace has deleted all the blogs created on their page. Instead of getting mad, sulking and feeling stuck yet again here I am taking a more progmatic approach to this, while knowing it could be worse. I still have most of the books I have read and I remember most of the links. However, many of them probably are outdated. Ironically enough, I thought I had saved this blog years ago but all I saved was a blog with links for pages that Imbolg has profiles on (and lets face it who wants to see that). Lesson learned (yet again) Always have a back up. If did not have most of these books, or a good enough memory to remember most of what I was trying to enter I would have lost most of this information for good. I hate to put this off yet again, but I will have to create another blog on this topi

In music, everyone will point out your flaws, unless you are the Rolling Stones After my last post, I noticed that I didn’t get much response from people as some of my previous posts. Even with a video,and it being my Birthday. But, I did realize that in my hast to not waste my day as I rushed off to see the Hangover 3 that I made several grammatical and typographical errors. Which brings me to my topic of choice, Failure .I really was shocked that some of my regular readers did not even comment. However, as stated previously I made many errors and looked at what I created in the eyes of a first time reader. Some one who was careless enough to not examine his work and present it in an orderly fashion shouldn’t expect to be taken seriously(from now on I will be even more meticulous when it comes to my final edit,lesson learned). As far as my regular readers, many people are away,planning trips and what not. You can never let one flop be your last post,last album,show,whatev

I decided to take a few days off my "real job", I was planning on taking just today. But after a very unfair situation that cost me a promotion, I decided to take a few days to recharge, handling the stock pile of work that has been building up and prepare for the re-release of our album this Fall. I would have enjoyed making more money and being more stable, but not at the expense of creating words and music. I feel that after the all the years I have put ino creating this music, I need to bring it to the next level no matter who or what is holding me back.Especially after I learned the business side(partly thanks to my High school music teachers who hosted seminars in house with industry professionals). But, I didn't stop there. I have done lots of research, read many books on the business, and I always keep an open mind to new trends. More of this will be included in future blogs. So I decided to try and make some order of all the video I have captured over th

“Without music to decorate it, time is just a bunch of boring production deadlines or dates by which bills must be paid”-Frank Zappa Hello, I know it has been sometime since my last post. After posting my first video in a blog, I wanted to give people sometime to soak that one in. Even though I know many of you do not play an instrument. This video was shown to co workers and many admitted that it seemed almost alien to them. Nevertheless, I will make more in the future & this entry has its own video as well. I did want to touch a bit of the reality of being a musician.This is one of the most misunderstood professions in existence. People often depict a musician as arrogant, yet expandable at the same time. I recall once I was in training class at my job with some guys that were a bit younger than me, pretty straight laced,car enthusiasts types from the suburbs. I remember one of them talking about a friend who was involved with a Girl who's Father was a decorated W

This will obviously be the last post of the year. I was brooding over what I should write about, I really don't want bore everyone with some lame ass "Year in review" piece. I was just very indifferent about the Holidays this year with the requirement of having to rush around like a maniac to buy stuff, which keeps getting crazier and crazier with each passing year. So much so that I even dreaded going to Holiday parties, partly because of my need to not conform to what is being spoon fed to us, but mainly because of my own self disappointment in where I think I should be at this stage of my life. However, the much dreaded Holiday events made lead me to meeting a remarkable person from another era. This person had been telling me about how the music scene once was here in New York , and in other places. The importance of such places like the Joshua Tree (the place in Southern California ,not the U2 album) and how he feels that music will be society's saving gr

Hello, I know it has been almost 2 months since my last post. Obviously this has a lot to do with Hurricane Sandy. For the most part I don't discuss my day job, simply because it has nothing to do with our music and I assumed that people have this stigma about a band whose members have to go out and work a "regular" 9-5 isn't worthy of the same respect that bands whose music is their main job get.Of course, I would be much happier to be doing the band full time.Although recently, I have been seeing it from a different angle. We are actually able to fuel our own machine, as opposed to dealing with a large corporate entity (such as a major record label) in order to stay afloat(that's why I started my own record label). Over the course of the years,I learned that many bands that are established, that make album sales,and tour actually do that. For example, some friends of mine in High School found out where the guy from Obituary worked and decided to attempt a p

Hello, Previously I was using this blog to inform people about news on the band such as events, release and what not. I figured I would change it up a bit and write about some personal experiences, both related to the band as well stuff that has happened to me in my personal life that I figured people would enjoy reading. Perhaps I will just start by giving a bit of background. I grew up in a small town in New Jersey called Ridgefield Park. For most of my childhood I was shuffled in & out of schools outside of my town and it kind of made me feel out place with the other kids. But, I did get to meet people from other towns which was cool and some of these people I still talk to. I think the first song I remember hearing was "Imagine" by John Lennon and I became fan of Black Sabbath by no choice of my own. I recall my Uncle and his friends hanging out in the garage chanting "Generals gathered in their masses" in unison and I ended buying a copy of thei