Recording Artist Advocate: Cowboy Logic…

Ask someone why they like a particular artist and they’ll either say the artist is like them or they aspire to be like the artist. They listen to a band or style of music to let the rest of the world know who they are, or to reinforce their world-view back to themselves. I see this particularly in “Cowboy” music.

In truth, there are few people in the cattle business, riding horses and rounding up cattle. But there has been a consistently strong market for western clothing and country music. For the most part country music themes are current with the rest of the culture, but true cowboy music is still firmly set in the cattle drives of the old west. The audience requires authenticity to that era above all else. The artists are as likely to break off into cowboy poetry as a song.   

Still, just living a somewhat “western lifestyle” requires commitment. Listening to country music reinforces the audience’s decision.

Several years ago there was a song called “Cowboy Logic” where several scenarios describe why the real cowboy is smarter than the lesser cowboys around him. If there was ever proof of what I’m talking about, that was it. Every time the singer said “He” describing this smartest cowboy, he could just have easily s been saying “You” in the mind of his listeners.

The best songs work when your audience says, “That song is about me!” or “I know that person!” or "I want to be that person!"

You can reach past their minds into their hearts. Do that and you will gather a large group of people who want other people to know they are your fans.

Recording Artist Advocate: Walk through your front door…

When I worked in Radio Advertising Sales I noticed how often the big boss would have a separate entrance near or sometimes in their office. This would seem to be a nice perk to being in charge, but it can be a problem too. If you never experience your business the way your customers do, how can you know what you’re doing right or wrong?

I remember a business with double doors that went into a small atrium with another set of double doors before you got into the main showroom. It’s a pretty standard way to save air conditioning here in the south. The problem was that the employees and owners used a separate entrance in the back. No one from the business ever walked through those doors. The atrium would fill up with leaves and dust from the street. The showroom looked good, but the first impression you had was a mess. Over time it just got worse.

Just like those business owners, we get so busy working and never see ourselves from the perspective of our customers. “Walk through your own front door” applies to all of us, but how do you do it with a band?

I think you start by going to see other bands. Don’t call ahead to get on the list or go backstage to hang with the other bands. Really experience the show as a regular member of the audience. It will open your eyes.

You’ll see artist putting on great shows and you’ll see guys reading texts while they’re on stage. You’ll hear great solos and crappy ones. If you really put yourself in the same place as your customer; your fans - it will change the way you do business. When was the last time you had to wait in line with the regular folks to buy merch? Try that sometime.

I’m not saying you have to do this all the time. I’m not saying you have to do this at all. But the most successful artists and businesses at least think this way.

You can lose perspective hanging out in the tour bus, backstage, or the VIP.

The company I told you about had other problems too. But it all came down to losing sight of the wants and needs of their customers. They had done business for over twenty years and thought they were the only game in town. They thought customers would come to them no matter what. They were wrong.

I got to work advertising their competitors and put them out of business pretty quickly. Now I drive by that building and think how they could have done so much, but thought they knew it all.

You have to live on stage with your mind on the wants and needs of the people watching you. It's not easy, but those who do it right get long successful careers.

Recording Artist Advocate: Taking advice...

I once described how a deaf (mostly deaf) guy made a great producer on his band's CD project. His hearing was so limited I had to face him when we talked, but he was able to perfectly describe what he wanted and even set eq and levels. I had a built-in bias against his ability to even hear but he proved me wrong. I learned a lot from that experience. 

One time I was working with a solo artist who couldn't bring himself to make small changes that would have allowed his music to be played by his friend at a radio station. I tried to convince him that there are radio edits and CD cuts, but he couldn't take that advice from me. His music was so personal he really couldn't take that advice from anyone. Later, enough people told him to make the exact same changes or they wouldn't even talk to him about getting his music played or even reviewed. So now he plays really great music, for himself. There is no audience. He doesn't even play out because no one will hire him. His music is good, but he doesn't have the maturity to take advice that could help him. 

On the opposite end of the spectrum are people who change with every person they talk to. 

Don't be on either extreme. 

Everybody has an opinion and they love to tell you all about it. Know yourself well enough to know what advice to accept and what to reject. Sometimes good advice comes from someone you just don't want to listen to. It takes maturity to get past your own bias.   

Separate the information from the person. There are people who drive me crazy with their advice, but when I get away from them and think about it, they're absolutely right.

Have the maturity to take good advice, even from those people.    

Recording Artist Advocate: Don’t do what I do.

My recording studio tends to be different every time you see it. Each band has different needs. Pretty much anything that’s not attached to the walls or floor gets moved around to accommodate each band.

In the same way, the configuration of my studio equipment changes a lot. Some producers EQ first, some compress first. If you don’t take good notes, you’ll never know how things were when a particular band recorded.

There was a restaurant we went to when I was growing up. I remember really liking it the first time we went there. But the second time it was a different place. Each time we ate there it was a different restaurant. They quickly went out of business because their customers never knew what to expect when they walked in the door.

I can make a good excuse for configuring Rough Wood Recording Studio to fit the needs of each band or client, but in the band business, like the restaurant business, that won’t work.

Your customers, I mean fans, need to know what they’re in for when they see your show or purchase your music.

Your fans define themselves by the clothes they wear, the car they drive, and the music they listen to. Your band is part of that self-identity. You can mature with your audience, but you can’t go off and leave them.  So you better figure out who you are and plant your flag. The people who see something of themselves in you will gravitate to you.

Have you ever liked a band or artist and then they just changed so much you had to drop them?

If they found a new, bigger audience then good for them, but it usually doesn’t work that way. 

Recording Artist Advocate: “Hippy Dippy Crap”…

When you learn to ride a motorcycle they tell you to look where you want to go, or “where you look is where you’ll land.” You have to keep your focus in the right place. Your brain can react lightning fast if you let it. Don’t give your attention where it slows up the process.

A new age – Hippy Dippy guy (keyboard player) told me when you focus on your goal it’s as if you grab on to something and get pulled along… or something. I can’t take those folks seriously.

A drummer told me that when he injured his ankle the doctor told him to keep his head up and look at where he was going instead of looking at the floor or his leg. He realized the truth in it when he had to walk up several flights of stairs. He was doing great till he started to hurt and looked at his leg. He said the pain instantly got worse. Remembering the advice, he raised his head up and looked at the top of the stairs. As soon as he focused on his goal he moved there more easily. So, maybe hippy dippy guy was on to something.

Have you ever talked to a person who tells you everything that’s wrong? Everything that hurts, or every bad thing that's ever happened to them? They give so much attention to the bad they can’t see the good. If you‘re not careful they can bring you down with them.

Just like you can spiral down, you can spiral up too! When you’re about to go on stage, think about the best show you’ve had. How the crowd reacted and how everything went right. Take that memory with you.

Some performers have taken this to the next step where they look at something as if it already happened, and it was great.

A fighter described how he was in a match and felt like he was watching himself execute perfectly. He said it was like the scene in the Matrix where Neo finally figures out he’s indestructible. He anticipated his opponent’s moves as if he remembered what was going to happen.

A comedian described how before each show he says, “Remember how great this show was.” Since he’s changed his focus to the great result he expects, he even comes up with better material while performing.

You’ve done the hard work to get to this point. Written great music and practiced till you can perform with your eyes closed. Now you can anticipate great shows and fans who respond back with the same energy you give out.

Remember how great your next show was?