Its been a rough and tumble year. Things started off looking extremely promising then in a matter of months multiple projects and one bigger one all came to a crashing halt.
Rough and Tumble
The rough… A person I was working with for a nice boost on streaming media ended up stealing $14,000 from me. That might not sound like a ton of money, but as a non-signed artist that is paying for everything – that puts a serious dent in your operational cash flow. This is one of the primary reasons I’ve been so quiet here on my ‘dot com’. I’ve been out money to make things happen when I should have been seeing a return.
In turn, this slowed my process down on making the finishing touches on my website. (grrrr).
Its made it difficult for me to upgrade gear.
I’ve been unable to do any PR.
Not a fun position to be in.
Right now I have someone working on getting that money back from them, but after 3 months of trying, I’m beginning to lose hope.
Another element of fallout from this is losing the lovely lady I had been dating for nearly a year. That was a blow as well.
The tumble… They (whomever ‘they’ are) say “roll with the punches.” I’m feeling more like I’ve been tumbling. Whilst I’ve been recovering from the theft, I’ve been finishing music. Lots of music. Some with co-writers, some for TV placements, some for my future releasing. Writing and recording all this music is part of what keeps me sane in such a conniving business.
In other news. A device, that I developed for my own use a couple of years ago, is now generating interest from a couple of companies. I had a meeting with one company a week and a half ago at the end of July. The meeting was scheduled for 30 minutes. That 30 minute meeting ended up lasting an hour and 45 minutes. To me that’s a very good sign and sometime next week I will reach back out to them to follow and see where their thoughts are. In the meantime, I’ve started the patent process to make sure my idea is protected.
Some friends of mine have started developing a content platform for YouTube. As it turns out, my channel and website titled Inside The Recording Studio will get rebranded to be the umbrella for all the content. I’m looking forward to providing cool content about gear, recording and the process of creating music.
Moving on
As I sit here recapping on several months of what feels like waiting in a holding pattern, I’m working on keeping a positive attitude going into my birthday. I’m taking yet another trip around that sun. Despite being beat down again in my career as a musician, I can be grateful for being alive and healthy!
As the song image for Spotify shows above – I will Rise Up!
I’ll work on being a bit more energetic with content here. In the meantime, thank you for reading.
BTW – if you haven’t joined my email list, please do!
Ah what a year it’s been. Say goodbye to 2012. A year of interesting change. Musically, politically, and so much more. Help me in saying welcome 2013 Happy New Year!
For me, I’m knee deep in finishing preproduction on a a slew of songs. I’m currently about midway through. My first couple of weeks will be pushing those gears to get them all done before running around LA coming mid month. Got meetings coming up with some of the networks and attending the infamous NAMM show.
In the past 24 hours I finally got a couple of the lyrics changes recorded on a few of the finalized songs. That’s a great way to finish out the year!
Next stop this year: new music. Plus another idea I’ve been kickin around is finally going to start getting of the ground. To the outside ear it’s huge. In my mind – it’s the way this event should be done. Stay tuned to find out what it might be.
In the meantime, I hope you’ve enjoyed your evening’s festivities in a wild fashion without causing injury. Be well. Love to see more of you in 2013, Happy New Year!
The light at the end of the tunnel on a recent project is opening wide. A project I’ve been doing for John Michael Kane has been completed today. I’ve been mixing it up and down with a large selection of songs for John and now it’s over.
The beauty is, a lot this music will be getting heard relatively soon on sports programs and other things TV related. John is part of a library that gets his songs licensed on TV. It’s a beautiful thing.
In front of the last mix for John Michael Kane.
This particular song is called “Won’t Stand Down”. Seems like I went alphabetical in the song order or I could been saving the best for last. Either way, I’m happy, he’s happy. We’re all happy with the end result. May the music grace your ears before too long.
— Jody
Here’s a question that I’ve been getting recently: What songs are left? Meaning, what of the 72 songs that I started with for the next CD are now being considered for the next release. No need to ask any more. Why? Because the list is here [in alphabetical order]…
American Mayhem
Careful
Femke
Imagine Life
In Disguise
It Burns
Jupiter Bowl
Love Takes A Holiday
New Here
Stand My Ground
Stand Up
Things Left Unsaid
Thump Thump Thump
‘Till We Meet Again
Touch
Vaporize Your Heart
Waiting On One Thing
You Can’t Hear
Of those 18, there are a few more that I’ll axe from the list to get it down to the final group. I’m spending time pouring over each song. Debating on the arrangement. Making necessary lyric changes. Ending with any transitions between parts that need to be made. After all that, it will be time to assemble the proper crew to help out with the recording process.
I’d love to get your help with offsetting the costs of the recording process. Please share the love of this page and help it go viral (click here).
Stay Tuned!
— Jody
There’s less than a week left in a cool little project of putting your ears to good use. I’ve been having you the Unity 42 fan to help pick the songs that will be presented on the next CD. It started with over 70 songs and has been an adventure getting them down to a studio manageable amount of 12. What I’m saying is song voting is coming to an end.
It will end on the 30th of June.
After which comes my process of going through the chosen songs to make tweaks to the arrangement, tempo, and any lyrical content that may need modifying. Once that’s done I should be heading into the studio with a band of friends to knock out the recordings. It’s exciting to have all this going on.
Thanks to everyone that has been participating. If you have participated yet – why not?
— Jody
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.