Music Thoughts – Alternative Student

My Musical Goals: 2021

I’m sitting in a room at my parents’ house right now, and I just finished a beat. I’m moving out soon and much of my stuff is packed. I’m listening to Tycho on headphones (Epoch). He’s been my go-to writing music ever since I started this blog in 2018. Since then, I’ve learned so much, and there’s a lot I want to accomplish. Here are my musical goals for 2021.

1) Be a singer-songwriter again. I started performing as a singer-songwriter in 2013, and because of the pandemic, I barely played in 2020. I found myself writing less for my singer-songwriter name and focusing more on beats and electronic music. I love writing electronically, but I want to come back to guitar and voice, too. There’s something personal and uniquely expressive about playing guitar and singing. In general, I want to sing more.

2) Collaborate with other artists. Working with people on Songs From Home was a really cool experience. I loved hearing my instrumentals come to life and the surprising directions they went. I haven’t worked with a rapper since 2014, and I really want to change that. I’ve been stockpiling rap beats and in February I’m going to start reaching out. I’m not trying to sell anything at first; I’ll be DMing talented locals with free beats and see if there’s any interest. In the future, I’d love to work with all kinds of singers and musicians.

3) Create consistent content. Every teacher, vlogger, YouTuber, and Gary V will tell you about the importance of content creation. I’ve done the random Instagram post, blog, or video, but it hasn’t been consistent in awhile. In 2018 I released a video and blog post every week for months and that was awesome; I want to return to that level of output. My goal now is to make a weekly YouTube video and take clips of it for microcontent on Instagram. I’m hoping to slowly build a following and get better at consistent creation.

4) Get an internship / volunteer. I graduated with my Bachelor’s of Science in Music Industry, and now I’m ready to be rich! And by rich I mean gainfully employed (but first, an internship). In my projects class I focused on the licensing side of music, but recently I’ve been interested in non-profits like Musicians on Call and the Harmony Project. I’m also excited for volunteer opportunities like working at Big Turn Music Festival. There’s a lot of people that need help and endless ways to get involved.

Whichever way I go, I’m excited to learn more about these fields and be part of a world I love. Thanks for following my journey!

2020 Year End Review

I know one day doesn’t really mean anything, but for a lot of us it’s the end of a terrible year and it feels like things will get better. I certainly hope so. 2020 has been rough on us all, but today I want to focus on the good parts.

For me the best part of 2020 was exploding creatively. I wrote 50 songs this year and released 17 of them. That includes the Beat Station EP, Songs From Home, Finals Week, and two singles (It’s Fall, and Covidween). Starting in June I wrote two songs a week and was able to continue for most of the year. I broke the mental block of being precious about my songwriting and was finally able to write without second guessing myself and judging every step. My Beat Station challenge of writing only at the coffee shop pushed me in the right direction; I was forced to make those songwriting decisions in the moment since I couldn’t make them later.

After releasing Songs From Home I was excited to get back into demo writing. It was here that I took the “Finish a song even if it’s bad” mantra to heart. After spending so much time agonizing over perfect mixes, writing a lot and not judging the result was like medicine. One of the coolest discoveries of writing songs even if they’re bad is that sometimes a “bad” song will turn into a “good” song by the time you’re done. The reverse is also true, but that’s why consistent writing is so important. I always heard this advice, but only in 2020 did I internalize it.

I had the awesome opportunity to perform on KEYC in Mankato, a local news network. And I had my songs played on Keepin’ It Local 89.7, a show on the MSU radio station. They even played the entire Finals Week EP. How cool is that? I also got some press for Songs From Home from Mankato Life and Faribault Daily News. It was really cool to have my music played and recognized locally.

Perhaps my biggest accomplishment of the year was getting my Bachelors in Music Industry from MSU. I started my college journey in 2018 with a music theory class and later made the decision to fully enroll. My plans for 2021 are to write a ton of music, work with rappers and artists, and learn more about the licensing side of the business.

Thanks for reading my highlight reel of the worst year ever. Here’s to an amazing 2021!

Making a Lofi EP

This December I graduated college and I celebrated by releasing a lofi EP. I wanted something commemorative of the college experience, and what better way than by making chill beats to study / relax to? Not to mention, I love lofi. I dropped it during finals week in the hopes of attracting more student listeners.

I started the writing process in June. I know firsthand the annoyance of putting together an EP and not liking all of the songs. I usually handle this by releasing fewer songs or by writing more, but this time I tackled the problem upfront. I committed to writing 20 songs and only releasing the best. This helped me relax while writing since each song carried less weight. I wasn’t too hard about whether or not I liked what I had; my goal was to finish two demos a week, good or bad. This gave me more freedom to experiment.

After I had my 20 demos, I found several that I could eliminate instantly. They were good songs that didn’t fit the lofi aesthetic for varying reasons: too exciting, too high energy, too much dynamic range, and a few that I just wanted to develop into hip hop beats. Writing a lot of tracks made it easy to finish these ideas as they came along rather than scrapping them on the spot. Especially after I had a handful I liked, it was nice to write without any sense of needing it to be good or having it fit in a particular way.

I eliminated seven songs for genre reasons and one because it was a remix (Misty by Ella Fitzgerald). I wanted to have five to eight songs. There were some I planned to include from the start (Morning Dew, Breakfast Brew, Halloween Chillin), and for the others I relied on Instagram polls. I had eight songs selected, but as the deadline got closer I narrowed it down to five. I was on the fence about a couple and opted for quality over quantity. The project is only 9 minutes long, but I think I made the right choice.

I’m happy with the outcome and I hope you can enjoy these songs while studying, relaxing, drinking coffee, or watching the snow fall.

Finals Week Available Everywhere.

Big Turn Music Fest – 2020

I had volunteered at Big Turn last year, and it was a good experience. I discovered new music and met a ton of musicians. I knew I had to come back.

One of my favorite things about this festival is that many of the acts are lesser-known, Minnesota locals. They have a great lineup of successful artists (Lydia Liza, We Are the Willows, Mason Jennings, Jeremy Messersmith, Charlie Parr, ect), but they also showcase artists who don’t have a big following. Some performers had fewer than 100 likes on their socials, and it’s cool that they were included.

Big Turn hosts a wide variety of music from pop, hip-hop, folk, funk, reggae, blues, EDM, bluegrass, and more. The audience is diverse, too. It’s not all young adults, but an age range from tweens with their parents, to couples in their 60’s. Given the range of audience, you’d expect the older folk to be turned off by metal or rap, but I generally saw age diversity in nearly every venue I visited. These people, like me, wanted to check out new music, regardless of genre.

My first stop was ArtReach, a visual arts non-profit. Glitch and electro-pop artist SYM1 was performing with EDM producer Eye Dyed. They had a fun, high-energy show with lots of dancing and dope beats.

After that I went to Mandy’s Coffee & Cafe where singer-songwriter, Noah Short, was performing. He is a classic, coffee shop, singer-songwriter: acoustic guitar, pretty melodies, and emotional lyrics. He was accompanied by a guy playing a cajon-type instrument, and a girl who sang and played piano. It was lovely.

After that I explored more, checking out random bands from their descriptions in the logbook. Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters stuck out because their bio boasts songs about video games and nerd culture. When I first walked in, they didn’t thrill me, but as I stuck around (not wanting to leave after one song) I started to like it. Having the songs be about nerdy things made me more attentive to lyrics than I normally am; and a few of the songs were pretty catchy. I recommend “Refusal of the Call.”

After that I started my volunteer shift at the Barrel House. My job was to check wristbands and make sure we didn’t exceeded our 75 person capacity. The worst part of the job is explaining to drunk people that, yes, the fire marshal comes through counting people, and my one job is to make the fire marshal happy. However, I did get a brush with Minnesota music royalty from the experience! Apparently one of the guys wanting to get in was Greg Norton of Porcupine and Hüsker Dü. The person he was with kept asking me if I knew who he was. I kept saying no, and eventually she told me. At that point, he had already slipped in the back where there was no volunteer. I’m gonna call that networking.

My time at the Barrel House was all right. Volunteering is awesome because you get to hear music for free, and the only downside is being tied to one venue. Aside from having to argue with drunk people from time to time, it’s a good deal. I would definitely do it again.

Notable Acts (that I actually saw)

SYM1, Eye Dyed – electro-pop, EDM, high energy. Dance-able.

Noah Short – Soothing singer-songwriter, pretty melodies, thoughtful lyrics.

Beth Kinderman & the Player Characters – Nerd narrative. Catchy songs. Intricate lyrics.

Soultru -R & B, solid voice. Soul vibes.

Is The Song Even Good?

It’s a good question to ask, and the answer isn’t always obvious. When compiling songs for Chasing Ghosts, I was constantly changing my mind about which songs to include. I had about ten songs I liked, but wanted to release five. One of these songs was “Maybe Next Time.”

When my roommates heard it for the first time, it instantly became their favorite. They regularly requested it at shows and were very encouraging, so I decided to record it. When I released the EP, a lot of people mentioned that one, and it became my most played song on Spotify. And to think it was almost a reject!

This lesson is this, we’re not always the best judge of our own content. We see our art in a way no one else does, and what might seem to us like a lame idea could resonate with others.

Did you know that Slash from Guns ‘n Roses originally didn’t like “Sweet Child ‘O Mine”? In an interview with Loudwire, Slash says, “I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t fond of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine.’ And that gives you a good idea of how credible my opinion is…” When Ed Sheeran wrote “Shape of You” – currently the most streamed song on Spotify, ever – he wanted to pitch it to Rhianna. It was the head of his record label who convinced him to keep it. “I don’t know what it’s like to choose a hit,” Sheeran said during an interview, “I just like writing songs.”

Basically, our job as songwriters isn’t to judge art, it’s to create it. There’s going to be a certain amount of self critique and creative decisions on our own, but we can’t neglect the importance of community. I can become biased for or against a song based on the amount of time I spend on it, how musically complex it is, and how personal the lyrics are. A person giving me feedback won’t have these biases and can give me a different perspective.

At the end of the day, we are the artist and we make the final decisions, but getting outside viewpoints is useful. Sometimes we need a kick in the pants that the house track we produced is actually pretty bad and a cheap imitation. Other times we get the good news that someone connected with our lyrics in an unexpected way. Whatever it is, take the note and keep working.

Works Cited

Childers, Chad. “Slash ‘Wasn’t Fond of’ Guns N’ Roses ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’.” Loudwire, 15 Apr. 2014, loudwire.com/slash-initially-not-fan-guns-n-roses-sweet-child-o-mine/.

New York Times. “Ed Sheeran’s ‘Shape of You’: Making 2017’s Biggest Track | Diary of a Song,” YouTube, 20 December 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZpMNJbt3QDE.

Krishna, S. (2019). Spotify reveals its most-played music for its 10th anniversary. [online] Engadget.com. Available at: https://www.engadget.com/2018/10/10/spotify-10th-anniversary-decade-of-discovery/ [Accessed 2019].

Are You Too Old to Make Music?

It’s pretty common for people to believe that there’s a time limit when it comes to making art. “If you haven’t done it by x, then it’s not gonna happen,” as if these things had expiration dates like milk or something. We romanticize the past, particularly when it comes to what we didn’t do that we should have. It’s painful. Rather than cut our losses and do it now, we believe in a magical time that no longer exists. “Well, it’s too late.”

I’m not talking about “making it” in music, but that could be a separate discussion. I’m talking about someone who wanted to play guitar, write, or draw their whole life but never took the chance. They were too scared or too busy to start, and now they’ve reached a point in their life where (in their minds) it’s too late.

When I was 26, I started piano lessons. All my brothers took lessons when they were younger but I never did. I could’ve gotten a book for “older beginners,” but I picked up a kid’s book instead. It was filled with cartoons and short pieces like “Let’s Go to a Party” and “Dinosaur Stomp.” It was pretty fun, actually. I definitely wasn’t too old, but you might be wondering about someone who’s older. We’ll imagine they’ve never played an instrument before and today is their first lesson. They’d have to learn their notes, practice fingerings, and talk about boring stuff like tuning and posture. It can be daunting to begin and the slow process is why so many quit.

Adults haven’t had to deal with the growing pains of learning a new skill in a long time. They’re used to being capable, so to fumble over a piece of music intended to teach children can feel embarrassing. Who wants to struggle at something most people master at twelve? That being said, it’s absolutely worth the trouble, and I believe anyone who’s physically able to, regardless of age, can be creative. As Kurt Vonnegut famously said, “To practice any art, no matter how well or badly, is a way to make your soul grow. So do it.”

My advice for the older beginner is to put in the work, and be humble. No matter your age, it’s not too late.

Small Town Vs. Big City

When people talk about getting into the arts, there’s usually a few cities that come up. Los Angeles, Nashville, New York. Big cities, vibrant cities, cities with people who are great at what you want to be great at. My field is music, but this applies to all art forms. A big city has a lot to offer, but do the pros outweigh the cons? We talked about this in class and I thought it would be a great topic to blog. My own experiences are limited, but I’ll share some observations.

The most obvious advantage of the small town is the cost of living. Food, drinks, and entertainment are all more expensive in a big city. Not to mention having to pay for parking, and spending more on gas because places are spread out. In Minneapolis (population 422,331), a studio apartment will cost you around $900 a month. Meanwhile, in Mankato (population 39,528) you can rent a one bedroom apartment for as low as $350. Minneapolis has a price tag, but it also has something Mankato does not.

The most obvious advantage of the big city is the culture. Music, art, restaurants, venues, and people. More people = more culture, as the saying goes. Well, no one says that, but it’s true. (Not everything that’s true sounds snappy when you say it). On any given night there’s a concert, art event, comedy show, or something going on. There’s like infinity bands and a million places to play. When I lived in Saint Paul, I used to walk by the Amsterdam Bar & Hall on my way home. I heard new bands all the time. It was exciting! My time in Saint Paul was short, but there was always a show.

Deciding where to live is a balancing act of the cost vs. opportunities. This isn’t a perfect scale, but it’s relatively safe to say that the more opportunities a city has, the higher the cost. That being said, if you move to a big city you need to take advantage of it; it’s not enough to just live there. Sure, you can spend over a thousand on rent and live downtown in a cool area, but that means nothing if you’re not actually getting out and going to shows. What’s the point if you’re not engaging? I feel like a lot of people move to LA without knowing why they moved to LA. There’s a lot to be said for someone who lives where it’s cheap and commutes to events. I’m not saying that’s right for everyone, but it’s an option worth exploring.

The question of where to live, like a lot of questions I ask, has different answers for everyone. It depends on what your goals are, and what you need to do to accomplish them. Answering for myself, I’m trying to be a small town hero, at least for now. I love the sense of community and the low risk factor. I want to build an audience here before I cut my teeth elsewhere.

Rhythmic Conflict

I had the opportunity to share one of my songs in class and have it critiqued. The song was pretty much done; I just needed to re-track the vocals, add some layers, and finish mixing.

As soon as he pressed play, my teacher noticed some issues that I hadn’t. The acoustic guitar and drums were not vibing. Everything was performed on time, but they had opposing feels. Basically, I had written a guitar part without drums in mind, and when drums were added they didn’t fit. Rather than change the rhythm of the guitar to be more drum friendly, I just dumped drums in. (I could also have changed the drums to accommodate my guitar, but at the time I didn’t notice the issue).

This is common for singer-songwriters. We outline a song with guitar and vocals, and just add everything else on top. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it doesn’t. What do you do if you like the drum part, but it isn’t working with your guitar? You change the guitar part! As obvious as this sounds, it’s never something I try. I tend to be attached to the first iteration of a song, and changing strum patterns or rhythms isn’t even considered.

You might think of the acoustic guitar and vocal version of your track as the main dish, whereas other instruments (bass, drums, synth pad) are seasoning, but that’s not the case. The song is the sum of the parts. All the parts have to play together nicely, and if they don’t, they have to be changed or removed. Just because a part is cool by itself doesn’t mean it’s right for the song. How does it sound in context?

If you’re writing a song and you know you want to add drums later, write with drums in mind. Just like with mixing, you want to be thinking ahead to the next step. My teacher said, “Writing is mastering.” If you wrote a song without drums in mind, but later decided to add drums (like I did), be flexible about changing parts. The part doesn’t necessarily need to be changed, but if it does be open to it. It’s all about what’s best for the song.

Here is the second version of my song. I didn’t have time to re-record the guitar before it was due, so I opted to change the drums.

It’s not there yet, but it’s better. I’m finding out that the more I write, the more I learn. I’m always uncovering these issues that I didn’t even know I had. For my next song, I’m going to write with percussion in mind.

First Do It Badly

Lots of people are afraid to start something on the grounds they won’t be any good. I’m that way. We’re usually right about it too, but the problem is that if you don’t start you won’t get any better. There’s a quote attributed to Carl Jung (I couldn’t find the source), “The fool is the precursor to the savior.” If you’re not willing to be bad, you’ll never be great.

You have to be willing to fail until you succeed. That’s all that practice really is. I’m taking piano lessons right now, and when I’m learning a new piece, it can be excruciating. Before I can play the song well, I have to sit there for hours and play it terribly. I fumble over rhythms, hit the wrong notes, forget to take my foot off the pedal, and lose my place in the music. That’s after practicing both hands separately. I trip, stumble, and fail my way through. And then I do it again, but this time it’s a tiny bit better. I continue that process 20 or 30 times, and eventually, I can play it.

When talking to students hesitant to begin writing, Jordan Peterson tells them to “Write a really bad first draft.” That gives them something to edit. Once it’s out in the world, the problems are no longer theoretical. They learn exactly what they are, and that makes them easier to fix. Keeping ideas inside and worrying about them is death. I’ve wasted a ton of time worrying about how I’m going to write songs, rather than just writing songs. Once I’m doing the work, my objectives are clear.

I’m trying to have a healthier relationship with failure; by all accounts the arts involve a lot of rejection. My teachers have been recently pushing the importance of content creation, even if it’s bad. That’s harder than it sounds. You think it’d be easy to just write something and not care too much, but it takes practice. The issue is that once you have an inkling of interest in what you’re doing, it becomes a little bit precious, and that impedes the finishing process. At any given time, I have two or three ideas that I really like, that I want to flesh out and perfect. I’ll start a new song from scratch, a project with less at stake, but pretty soon that becomes precious, too.

Allowing ourselves the practice we need will help. That’s why I’m learning to create on a schedule. I’ve been been trying to release a video every week. My first video took me the longest. I had to decide where best to shoot it, how to get the lighting right, where to place my mic, and how to edit the video and audio together. It’s been getting easier and faster every time. It’s helped me realize how I look while performing, which isn’t something I normally think about.

Adventure Time’s Jake the Dog, puts it like this, “Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.” Getting over the initial cringe of sucking is paramount, because it comes up again and again. Every new piece of music, technique, or exercise, if it’s helpful, will have growing pains. I remember taking guitar lessons at McNally Smith and my teacher gave me a difficult exercise saying, “This is going to make you feel like you can’t play guitar.” Eventually I want to get into making more elaborate videos; I can tell you right now that my first few aren’t going to be great, but they will give me an education I can’t get anywhere else. Don’t be afraid to suck!

Works Cited

Peterson, Jordan B. “YouTube.” Biblical Series IX: The Call to Abraham, 2017, 58:30, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmuzUZTJ0GA.

“His Hero.” Adventure Time, season 1. Written and story boarded by Adam Muto, Kent Osborne & Niki Yang. Directed by Larry Leichliter and Patrick McHale. Cartoon Network, 2010.

How Do You Define Success?

When I tell people I’m going to school for music, they often assume I want be a rock star, or at the very least a full-time musician. For a lot of students that’s the case and that’s fine, but it’s not what I want. In his book, How to Make It in the New Music Business, Ari Herstand writes, “It all depends on what your idea of success is. And no one can define what success is but you. Remember that.” (Herstand 29).

Derek Sivers, founder of CD Baby, puts it like this: “We all grade ourselves by different measures.” For some people, success is making a lot of money. For others, it’s about changing lives. According to Sivers, “It’s important to know in advance, to make sure you’re staying focused on what’s honestly important to you, instead of doing what others think you should” (Sivers 37).

For me, success is finding work I value and consider meaningful, making a positive impact in my community, and raising a family. I feel strongly that creativity is for everyone, and I want to do my best to encourage it in the people around me. I’m still deciding what I want to do with my life, but these are my guidelines.

When I’m looking at a long-term career, there are some jobs I simply would not take. They may be great, well-paid, amazing experiences, but if they don’t align with my goals, I’m out. If my ultimate goal is to have a family, I don’t want a job where I’m constantly away from them. If I want work that’s meaningful, I’m not going to take a job just because it pays well. For other people, it might fit perfectly, but it all depends on what they value.

Rockstar, hobbyist, what-have-you, it doesn’t matter to me, as long as you’re honest about it. Speaking for myself, I want to create work seriously, whether or not it’s a source of income. But however you define success, it’s important to follow your values and not someone else’s. What’s most important to you?

Works Cited

HERSTAND, ARI. HOW TO MAKE IT IN THE NEW MUSIC BUSINESS: Practical Tips on Building a Loyal Following… and Making a Living as a Musician. LIVERIGHT PUBLISHING CORP, 2019.

Sivers, Derek. Anything You Want: 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur. Portfolio Penguin, 2015.