In the Mind of Nate

Hello all, I had yet again another unexpected hiatus. I am trying to move this blog over to our main website (which you maybe reading this from for all I know) and after the unexpected low number of reader for my last entry I was a bot taken aback. It may have been the fact that some people are not a fan of the late David Crosby or the genre of music he created. I assure you that whatever your muscial taste, it is something that you will benefit from by reading it. Yes it was about an artist that was prominent in another time period, but much of what he said is extremely relevant today. Especially with everything that is working so hard to divide us againsst on another. I must admit I am NOT a fan of these cold months and I literally found myself of dreaming of being back in California. The irony goes beyond that fact that there is a song about it, but also that I have only spent a few days of my life there so far (go figure). I can...

Hello everyone. After last week I don't think there's any way I could top that, so I'm not going to try. But I'm also not going to allow the the shift in my schedule or the fact that this it's a holiday weekend to put things to a screeching halt. For many this is the time of Lent in which people are supposed to give up something they enjoy for a short of time. With everything that's going on in the world right now most people, regardless of religious beliefs or lack thereof are already giving something up they enjoy. And not just one thing, in most cases several things. For many it's almost as if our lives our assembly being put on hold until further notice. Anyone who read my last entry, knows that I decided to not let my life be on hold and took a trip out of the country. I think the airlines and the place I was staying did a very good job of keeping everybody safe. Despite not requiring a vaccination (as if they h...

Hello, so here I am yet again trying to think of a theme that's not going to bore all of you to death. This week was a little more busy for me and I almost found myself making me excuses that normal people usually make as to why they can't do certain things. I'm really glad I didn't fall into that metal trap like most people do. I do admit that being much busier did have an impact on my activity on social media to promote the band and our upcoming show in Salem, MA . But luckily, I figured out how to organize myself a little bit better so that these things don't keep piling up. Here's the flyer and the event link btw. I'm sure it's apparent to most of you by now that one thing I'm referring to is, Change . After all, it's one of the few things that's guaranteed in life. And then when we need it, we choose not to change. I think mostly because, even though a certain situation be it a relationship that has gone sour, a job or living ...

Hello again everyone. Now that I'm back into the full swing of things, it seems pretty ridiculous that I took such a long break from blogging. Recently I've been trying to finish up a lot of tasks that have been stockpiling up by simply not overthinking and diving in little by little to get what I need get done. After completing a few things, I couldn't believe that these things have just been sitting around not finished for so long. Some of the stuff included re-doing the band's online merchandise store to showcase some stuff like new shirts, phone cases, etc that have our new album cover printed on it. My main deterrent was the fact that I started doing this a few months ago absent mindedly placing our new album cover on the merchandise before it was actually finalized to include the album title at the bottom. You see, these little things create lots of mental clutter that kept me from making the merchandise available to people. But this was just one of severa...

Hello everyone, at this point it wouldn't even be redundant to say I'm sorry that I haven't blogged in a while. It's nearly downright embarrassing that I haven't. Especially since this is the longest I have gone without making a new post. Ironically enough, I was planning on doing this post almost a year ago. So obviously a lot has gone on between now and then. We recently released a new album called "the Sorrows" and we've already done three out of town trips to perform. In the interim, we have parted ways with some bandmembers and gain new ones. One of which literally risked life and limb on one of the tours. The actions of our new drummer, Kenn Holley who came in literally one week before we were going to go out on the road are the complete opposite of the title of this post. I'm sure many of you recognize the title as a line from a song by The late great Tom Petty . He was certainly onto something, and that's not the only re...

Greetings people. With the warm-er weather now here(finally) it is harder to sit down and write on a Saturday, which is usually when I do it. However, I had plenty of work to do with the upcoming re-release of the Imbolg album and the release from Of Beauty and Madness , titled Litany . For a long time I have been focusing on my own band and felt that I would not be able to devote the proper attention to another musical project, however this has taught me a lot about the dynamics of being a part of a band, as a member and not being the leader. I must say in some ways it is a relief to not have that burden on my shoulders. Even with the process of getting this album ready, I saw how much of a well oiled machine a band can be. We had a friend create the album artwork,we designed the rest,with the exception of a photo taken by another friend. We placed the order for the cds and distribution, and fortunately one band member lives close enough to Discmakers and was able to pick the ...

If you have read the past few posts I have made you may start to realize that being a musical artist isn't always about writing and performing music. Especially if you are a DIY or an independent artist. You have to be your own booking agent, manager, tour manager, publicist and sometimes even your own record label. These dual roles or "wearing many hats" is not easy and sometimes your performance can suffer as a result of it. Many managers also have law degrees, but do not practice. However their education in law helps them read and write contracts for their clients in order to be more effective as representation to their clients. If you would like more information on this topic, I suggest reading this book on Music Law . Here is a musical fact you may not know: Huey Lewis of Huey Lewis & the News actually managed the band he created. Dual roles in music are so common that nobody even gives them a second thought. How bands do you know engineer their own...

As you probably guessed, this entry is dedicated to the DJ or Disc Jockey . Technically they are not musicians, however they are a big part of the music industry and club circuits. They can also help further a musical artist's career by playing their music on their show or during their club sets. So it's a good a idea for bands to work along side of and cross promote Djs (as I stated in the past the business is give and take, you should help those when you can). I mentioned in previous entries most radio play is handle through a radio promoter, however it is in most cases ultimately the Dj that decides what songs get airplay. Like musicians, these Guys and Ladies usually focus on a specific genre of music and in many cases develop a style and personality to add flair to their overall appeal. In some cases have even established a certain "rockstar" status by making a name for themselves after years of spinning at events geared towards the genre they chose to spin. ...

Hello again everybody, this entry I will be focusing on running a smarter campaign to avoid the backlash overdoing your promotions or (worse case scenario) being labeled a "Spammer". Yes, people do throw that and many other terms around too loosely, we all do. And I admit I have been guilty of overdoing posts in the past. But instead of defending myself and starting arguments I decided to evaluate how I was going about spreading the word about my music and this blog while sharing what I learned with you. Your goal when being on social media is not just to get people into your music music but also, entertaining them or engaging them with an interesting post, like a picture you took or asking them a question about a music related topic. Make it interactive and not just about you, people will respond more and, to quote Bill Cosby but you may even learn thing or two (Hey Hey Hey). Yes it can be nerve racking to think that so many bands are out their posting their music an...

Now that the Holiday consumerism fest is over, those of us that have their sights set on accomplishing projects can finally get down to it. Although, it may be a bit harder the first weeks with all that extra Holiday weight you maybe carrying around. For myself, it is a very difficult part of the Holidays having to drop everything and trying to celebrate with not even one major task out of the way. Although the New Year does bring us hope that we can make things better for ourselves and many believe how you enter the New Year is how you shape the rest of it. As I'm sure you noticed by now, this a downtime for the entertainment industry as a whole. Show attendance and club events usually don't have as many numbers as they do in the months prior to the Holidays. The music industry actually shuts down and all business starts up again in the New Year, as there are many behind the scenes things happening and many trade shows in January, such as the NAMM show. So what is th...

Hello again, I'm sure most of you that live in places the have seasons are already braving the cold or may have come down with one already. This time of year just sneaks up on us. Not to mention having the Holidays and the pressure to spend being forced on you. And of course all those Christmas songs, which I'm sure you have heard so many times that you may have created your own parodies of. After all " its the most annoying time of the year " lol. It is nice to spend time with family and friends during this time and celebrate after working all year. But the cold weather does make us more run down, unmotivated and more prone to over eat. A few things that are poison to anybody that is trying to focus on being successful in any field, especially in music. I decided to post this entry since this time of year is an easy one for us to lose focus on working towards our goals. Many work overtime if they are stuck in retail, and not to mention the music industry does...