Unlike the recent story that graced the pages of the SESAC Magazine, this interview with the Park Record is one I haven’t forgotten about. Mostly because I sat with Scott just last week. Based on that and him telling me the story would run on Saturday it’s pretty easy to remember that it was recent. The best part is, it’s another write up that really went well. I may be a musician with a full plate, but I still enjoy reading a good article.
Here’s the link for the article that appeared in The Park Record on Saturday May 12th. (click the paper name)
The two highlights are the song voting and the Patrons of Music points that are being announced and are now open on my website. In order to vote on songs, you need to log in to my website here (in the upper right of the column to the right of here). Once you’re logged in, you’ll be able to see the “Voting” link in the menu. You hit that and bingo, you can listen to demos for the next CD and then vote on them. It’s a beautiful thing.
For the Patrons of Music, I’m going the Kickstarter type route without using Kickstarter. The article explains why. Mostly because I’m wanting to cover all my bases beyond major investors.
Enjoy!
— Jody
For the next three months: Happy When I’m With You now available for purchase. That’s right my movie-loving, audio hunting friend. You can now purchase the song you’ve been searching for from the movie Lucky starring Colin Hanks.
The lovely, bouncy and foot tappin tune that plays during their honeymoon montage is available right here, right now! Click the little [ok, the kinda wide] button right now.
Get “Happy When I’m With You” Now
That will wisk you to a special place that will allow you to purchase a higher quality version of the song than you’d find on other digital service sites. Hurry and get it now as the offer is going to expire in 3 months from the date of this posting. Not sure when it will become available again after time runs out. Grab it now!
Enjoy!
— Jody
A few days ago I was made aware of a nice little fact that had escaped my awareness. Back in January I was interviewed by SESAC about things I had going on musically. The writer of the article managed to whittle a two hour interview down to a half page write up inside SESAC’s Spring 2012 magazine.
Makes me wish I was the mug on that cover. However, I can understand the desire to go with a well known quantity. Not far off is the day where I’ll be that known quantity – minus all the drugs and abuse. Beside the nice writeup that Tommy Lee gets, I didn’t know he was a SESAC artist until now, there’s a another person inside those pages whom you may recognize. He goes by Jody and you’re here on his website.
Initial feedback that I’ve heard from friends is that the article is really well written and looks great too. One thing I really dig about my P.R.O. SESAC, they are detail oriented and do things with paid attention to that detail.
At this point I know you’re wondering to yourself ‘how do I get to read and/or see this article about you Jody?’
Good question. The answer lies in clicking right here -> SESAC Spring 2012. [or you may have already clicked on the cover image…]
Take a moment to read it, enjoy it, then make me happy and proud by spreading it around. Click on the share button [below] and pick all your favorite services. You’ll feel instantly better when you do it. Right as rain as “they” say. All because you helped a musician inside SESAC’s Spring 2012 magazine get a further reach on the web with your good deed.
More coming soon.
— Jody
p.s. – have you signed up on my email list yet?
As I’m closing in on the songs that will wind up on the next release, I’m looking into other aspects of things that need to be brought into order. I put out calls to the musicians that I will be hiring to record the other instruments. I’m planning on going as live in the studio as I can for this next excursion into recording. I’ve talked the drummer. I’ve talked to the bassist. I’ve talked to the 2nd guitarist. I’m still putting out feelers for backing vocals. Beyond the studio I’ve been revamping my business plan into a shiny new PDF file. This is the point where I say: help me find angel investors.
Actually the reality is, I’m looking for investors in general, Angel or otherwise.
Do you know of such people? Would you be willing to link up a musician who has all the pieces of the puzzle to make things happen? I’ve got the proper connections to make a go of taking my act on the road and being successful with it. The only missing element is the money to make it happen. Being so inclined to make that link, I’m more than happy to sign an NDA. I’m also inclined to have you point them to the following special page: On Records Investor Proposal.
It’s not for the faint of heart. So please only do so if you’re serious.
For you, the helpful fan and music buff who wants to see a musician make it to the top without a label and with your help, I’ll make it worth your while. Details only given to those who are absolutely serious about this. It’s not a joke. Please contact me and lets get the ball rolling. Be a part of the magic and watch what happens!
For everyone else interested helping out. There is going to be a kickstarter campaign coming for helping to raise the money for the recording part of it. At this point, I’m looking at raising nearly $15,000 to cover recording costs, in about 4 chunks. Videos and details will be coming very soon.
So not only am I asking you to help me find angel investors, I’m also asking for you to be one as well.
Two days ago I spotted a tweet about a piece of music. That particular tweet came from a fan of mine. One that runs a few online radio station types like Blip.fm. She goes under the moniker Jalapno. I’m thinking that’s supposed to represent Jalapeno the spicy pepper. The tweet I’m talking about mentioned a song I recorded last year with my buddy Robert Navarro. It’s about how Morning Rays brighten your days. Two fold there, with the sun coming up meaning the world is still here and if you have a special someone who puts a ray of sunshine in your day.
The song was written by me, but it was done for a library. Therefore I don’t own the rights to it for selling and licensing purposes. Though the more it gets around, eventually the better it is for me and for Robert.
As it stands, look no further than here to hear the song:
Since you’re here reading this post, I’m requesting that you share the post as well as share the video too. Heck, while you’re at it – head to the video page and share some of my other videos. Even better, I’d ask you to purchase my tunes, make a video like this, contact me for a license (it’s important to get as YouTube and other places will likely pull it if you don’t get a license from me) then share ’em on youtube, vimeo, or your favorite video site. I’d like to see where the music goes.
Have yourself a fantastic week and may Morning Rays brighten your days.
It appears that a recent request for a copy of a song I’ve written has sparked a little interest across the internet. The song in question makes an appearance in the movie Lucky starring Colin Hanks. Recent traffic to my little corner of the web has shown that there’s a growing interest in this song. Such that people are looking for the words. I’m announcing that I’m posting the Happy When I’m With You lyrics in my lyrics section.
If the interest continues I may very well see what can be done about releasing the song to iTunes and other digital outlets. In the meantime if you’re landing here due to wanting to find a copy of the song and/or lyrics then you’re welcome to purchase the song directly from me. You’ll even get a better version than what could be bought via iTunes or Amazon.
There is one catch…
In order to read the lyrics you’ll have to login to the website. Easy enough to do with your favorite social ID. No extra site info to fill out. Just pick your favorite one and away you go. You’ll get the words directly from me. What can be better?
Thanks for stopping in. Take a look around and explore my sound a little further.
My first trip to GDC has come to an end. What a trip it’s been. Having never been to GDC before, I really didn’t know what to expect. I would consider myself a veteran of conventions that gear strictly around music. GDC breaks that mold. Here are some of my thoughts via my GDC It’s A Wrap feelings.
First is that the Moscone Convention Center is a little unconventional. That’s an oxymoron right? Unconventional convention… Hmmm. Why do I say that? My usual convention examples are things like NAMM. Where you’re almost entirely in one building. One enormous building. In terms of actual floor space, I believe NAMM is very well larger. In terms of sprawl, I have think that GDC is larger.
Second, I may be wrong about this, I felt there were a lot more people at GDC. Despite that, the crowds were easier to move around in. That was kinda weird.
Third, there is a totally different sense of community. Maybe it’s been a state secret, but there’s a whole different mentality with the music community that gathers in the video game market. In film, it’s very cutthroat. In TV, it’s very cutthroat. In the world of the Major labels it’s very much a mentality of, we’ll take everything we can from the creator and then chew ’em up, spit ’em out and leave out in the desert to die. In video games there’s a huge sense of camaraderie. I think that has to do with the market being newer, easier to move in the new digital era and the fact that it takes a large number of people to produce the product over a course of time. I like that vibe.
Fourth, the businesses involved are very open to new people approaching them. This is very different from my list of people in remark three. There’s a very interesting thing at GDC, they’re very open to people coming up and putting it out there they want to work with you. Here’s something to think about. They had people at each business dedicated to talking to those who are in school and wanting to work with that business. They also had people dedicated to talking to professionals looking to branch out. The school lines were usually long. The pro lines were generally very short. Made it really easy for me to walk right up and talk to a lot of people.
Like any convention, there’s always a few nut cases. GDC is no exception. See below:
God Hates Game Designers
I’m happy I went. I met a great deal of new people. Thus I have a lot of new possibilities planted for music. That is a wonderful thing. Plus it doesn’t suck that quite a few people were asking about my music as an artist and not just a composer. Bonus!
I look forward to going next year. I’m hooked.
p.s. here’s a shot of me sitting in a game consul that costs $15,000. Was it cool? Yeah, it was damn fucking cool for a video game. Very realistic race car driving game. The only thing missing from it is the G forces you’d feel.
Awesome Race Game
p.p.s. here’s another shot of me sitting on a throne for the game Game of Thrones.
King Jody for Game of Thrones
From San Francisco, say see ya GDC it’s a wrap.
I got an email recently. One from someone who had seen a movie that was released mid year last year. The movie in question actually has me scratching my head about one of the supposed stars in the film. As it turns out, a song that I had a hand in writing and performing called “Happy When I’m With You” was in this movie. In a way, I could say it’s lucky music in a movie.
The flick is called Lucky. It’s main star is Colin Hanks. Son of Tom Hanks. Other stars include Jeffery Tambor, Mimi Rogers, Ari Graynor, and Ann-Margaret. If I were prone to playing the Sesame Street game of which one of these is not like the other, it would be Mimi Rogers. Why? Well, quite frankly due to the fact that she is credited with a starring roll and I couldn’t find her in a single moving image in the movie. That’s pretty Lucky if you ask me.
Music can often make or break a film. While I would like to think the song I co-wrote in the film made the movie, it did fit very well and didn’t break it. How it got in was a little strange and how it got credited was a bit of a mistake. See, I did write the song with Johnny Elkins. I did perform all the instruments (except for the drums, they were done by my buddy Donny Gruendler). I did sing the song. Where it names the artist performing it should have said: The Pieces. Somehow it got credited to me – Jody Whitesides. Additionally, it got credited with the wrong title too.
I’m not trying to hide from something I created. It was an agreement Johnny and I had that it would go out as a band name rather than a solo artist. Despite that, somewhere along the line, there was miscommunication on the credits part and I got named. Not the end of the world. Oh well.
Getting back to the original first line here. Someone wrote me an interesting email. In it, he had stated how he tried to find the song on iTunes, Amazon, and other digital sites and could not find it. Then he went on to explain how he tried to find it on YouTube, other places and then pirate sites. All to no avail. He likened it to a search of Bigfoot and Nessie. This made me chuckle and I was flattered. Flattered that someone would go to such lengths to find a song from a movie.
Needless to say the song was not released on a soundtrack. Johnny and I never thought of releasing the song. It’s a catalog type of track, that wasn’t really intended for sale. However, I loved the email so much and I felt this fan really wanted the song. So we made an agreement. He sent a $1 and I got him a copy of the song for his very own.
I’m going to guess that you’re reading this post right now having searched for Happy When I’m With You as co-written and performed by Jody Whitesides. Which means you’ve seen the movie and now wondering where you can obtain a copy of that song. Which to me is lucky music in a movie. You can contact me and I’ll work it out with you on how to get the song. I also appreciate that you want to purchase it and not pirate it. That means the world to me.
Monday will mark my first journey to an event known as the Game Developers Conference. As a musician making his way in the world, I’ve had an agent for video game work for a little over a year. That has led me to work on several games so far. A wonderful experience. The best way to expand on that network for spreading the music is to go where the business is. Which means I’m going to gdc sf (GDC SF) for the 2012 experience. I can’t wait to find out what I’ll learn and who I’ll meet.
Already a contact from my NAMM journey earlier this year, I’ve been granted a pass to attend the San Francisco event. Gotta love that. I can sense that it will be a fantastic relationship with a new company. That makes it more exciting already. Knowing that someone is going to be there that I can be introduced to others via. The bigger bonus is one of my reps from SESAC will be there for a few days. Then my agent will be there too. Lots of people to meet. Lots of new relationships to make.
Two days ago, I was put in touch with another composer out of Salt Lake City, or rather south of there. He’s also working on heading there. Because of that contact, with him (Brady Ellis), I’ve already been hired to work on one of his projects as a guitar player. Good things are afoot even before the event happens. I’ll be playing guitar on nine tracks for Brady.
I have other music projects I’m putting some finishing touches on. I’ll have to announce them in some different posts as it’s probably not wise to cross my new wires too much in single posts.
The last bonus is that I’ll get to hang with my sister a little bit during the week. She lives not far from San Francisco. Additionally I’m going to reach out to another recent NAMM contact who works for Sound On Sound.
It’ll be a fun filled week of games, games, games, and more games. Plus, and I’ve witnessed this as well, I’ve heard that game developers party hard. There’s no doubt some late nights are ahead. More to come in a little over a week when I get back.
In the meantime. Spend some time listening to my music <- click there. If you’re going to gdc sf (GDC SF), contact me and lets meet up.
I want to thank everyone that entered to name my Fan Club. I got some really fun ones, some really strange ones, and some that made me think whaaa? Either way, I’m spending a little time rambling about it as I really wanted to dig in and give you, the fan, a chance to make a difference. I really love the fact that you put in time and effort to come up with what you did. It’s really a heartwarming thing. It truly is! I think without further ado I need to say: And the winner is…
“Unity 42”
Submitted by Tom B. Patter.
The reason behind it was two fold. First was the word Unity – the concept of uniting people thrills me. Not only because it’s uniting the idea of the fan club, but also uniting people behind my music. The number 42 represents a play on the book Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Wherein if you’re familiar with the story… 42 is the answer to life, the universe and everything. Thus uniting music with life, the universe and everything, well that really worked for me.
So congrats to Tom B. Patter for the winning submission. You rock my world and you’ll be getting all my released music to boot.
Here’s the runner ups:
Division 83 – Monty Wilson
J-Sides – Jeff Peterson
The Unexpected’s – Stacee Schmidt-Cottrell
They each receive a song of their choice. As well. Thanks yet again to everyone that participated, you’re all winners for putting forth the effort! For those sittin on sidelines waitin to see what would happen, I hope you’ll put your party hat on next time!
– Jody