Tag: music release strategy

  • The Dark Harmony That Gave Egoman Its Edge

    The Dark Harmony That Gave Egoman Its Edge

    Feverishly working on a backend system that will not only simplify my life, but will also improve your experience as a part of my Jody Army. There’s a good chance I can still get it fully working before Friday when Egoman releases. The first song I ever used a vocal tritone harmony on.

    For the system, I put the pieces together correctly, but for some reason it isn’t sending the email. Somewhere in the system I mussed up a setting or the information in a variable. Once I find it, it should work flawlessly. Which will allow me to get out weekly emails with much less effort. Or to send them bi-weekly or monthly based on your choice. The page/part where you can choose how often, that works.

    Power to the listener!

    With this week’s release it was power to me when I took a concept from my then roommate, Jeff Scott Soto. He had recently recorded a track for a situation where he’d asked me to do some gang vocals on. Then he did a bit of a volume ride to bring in a vocal harmony. I’m pretty sure he lifted it from Prince, and I lifted the idea from Jeff.

    The impetus of the song itself came from a mutual friend of Jeff and I. We were all given a shot at writing some songs for an actor who had joined a hit TV show (Melrose Place) and somehow also got a record deal. A small group of us wrote songs for him and I was asked if I’d be his touring guitar player if things took off.

    Egoman was my contribution. It was heavier than the selections the rest of us had submitted, but he was looking for something heavy with a grunge vibe. Yeah – it was during the grunge era. In the end, the situation fizzled despite some cool songs and all the demos.

    I took the song as my own and de-grunged it as I didn’t see myself as a grunge artist. Though I did keep it more simplistic by not going with a flat out guitar solo.

    The part in question in terms of the vocal harmony and a volume right happens in the chorus. There’s a dark harmony that rides in every other time the title is sung. It coincides with the dark nature of narcissism and the dark corners of fame that come from it.

    To say that I enjoy singing and playing this song live is an understatement. Mainly because it reminds me of a time when a fair amount of action was happening around me and it seemed like the world was going to be my oyster.

    Stay tuned for more coming next week.

  • How Creative Setbacks Shape a Musician’s Emotional Growth

    How Creative Setbacks Shape a Musician’s Emotional Growth

    Little steps backwards are sometimes a great way to get a big jump forward. I’ve experienced a good deal creative setbacks; not only with music and technology but also with food. Yesterday started with the bigger steps forward and it makes me giddy when that happens. Plus there’s another new release, Barricades of Hate, coming this Friday.

    As mentioned last week, I started shifting some technical things away from 3rd parties in regards to emails. It has more to do with removing the middle-men between you and I. The less outside prying eyes about your information you allow me to have, the better.

    Last night, that connection became 1 degree. Meaning, your info when it comes to my contact list for my web store or my email list for updates no longer has a 3rd degree of distance. If you’re already on my email list, you’ll only notice that it no longer has a 3rd party name on it.

    For anyone who is new to my musical world, you’ll be getting the best of the upcoming world when you join my musical army.

    It took a lot of little steps backwards and forwards getting it to actually work. Then last night, BAM! I finally got it doing what it should to send the emails. It’s exciting. And what I’m putting on the roadmap is even more exciting.

    Musically, I had some little steps go wrong with getting some of my updates to work right in the web store, not any more. Those updates are up and available as well. Whew.

    On the side I’ve learned to make bread, the kind you eat. What is crazy is that I grind my own wheat berries for the flour to make said bread. Generally it goes quite well. Unfortunately the last loaf did not rise correctly on Sunday. But Monday, I made a different loaf that worked splendidly. Odd how fresh flour can be so finicky.

    Which now brings me to this week’s upcoming release, Barricades of Hate. New artwork, new mix, and an animated cover. More nice steps forward and it makes me giddy. The timeliness of this song’s message can’t be better. Especially with the current state of affairs.

    I have hope that we’ll stop having the your side, my side spats and get back to the truth!

    More coming…