minnesota – Page 2 – Alternative Student

I Moved to Mankato

As many of you know, I’ve been going to MSU Mankato since January of 2018. I’ve been living and working in Faribault: making the drive to class a few days each week. I started slow with just Music Theory II, then took Activities in Music Industry and Songwriting 1 the following semester. I liked my classes a lot and felt I was learning exactly what I needed to. My last semester was three classes plus guitar lessons, and I was happy to hear some major improvements in my songs.

Because of the commute and my work schedule, I haven’t been able to take a full load. This has been frustrating to say the least, and the lengthy commute – made longer by the Minnesota blizzards – meant more time on the road and less time making music. Because of this, and wanting to be more engaged in the community, I decided to move.

It wasn’t an easy decision. I actually tried really hard to find a schedule that would make staying in Faribault sensible, but I couldn’t find one. I’d been living with two guys that were good friends, the rent was cheap, and my family was a two minute drive away. I was pretty sad about moving to be honest, but now that I’m here I know it was the right choice. Let me tell you some things I like about Mankato (so far).

I live two blocks from a coffee shop and a used book store! Well, I live near downtown so there’s lots of places I could mention, but those two I was most excited about. I’m probably just romanticizing the idea that I can walk over and get a cup of coffee and smell old books whenever I want, but it’s always been a dream of mine. What’s more relevant to this blog is that I’m within walking distance of Pub 500, and they host an open mic night. I’ve only been once, but I’ve already met some cool, local musicians.

I’m also excited to be able to go to shows without having to drive forty five minutes. The Coffee Hag hosts singer-songwriters, and the What’s Up Lounge a variety of acts including rock, indie, and hip-hop. And for bigger artists, there’s the Mankato Civic Center. I’m sure there’s other venues and events as well that I haven’t discovered yet, but I’m hoping to learn it all. I want to meet more people, make more music, and be part of a great musical community.

The Importance of Making Demos

When I thought about demos, I used to imagine a shittier version of the final song: badly recorded, unedited, and with a sub-par performance. I used to label tracks “demo” when they weren’t up to snuff. It was never planned; f I was embarrassed to share something I made, I used “demo” as a qualifier, thereby excusing all mistakes.

Nowadays I have a better grasp of what a demo is. It’s a rough take of the finished song, not intended as a final product, but a necessary step in the creative process. All the essential elements are there, and the arrangement is done (to the best of your ability). When you listen to the demo, you’ll hear how all the parts work (or don’t work). You’ll discover what sections feel too long or too short, if the drums are meshing with your guitar, if there’s enough contrast from verse to chorus, if the bass guitar is boring, or any number of issues.

There are some things you simply won’t know until you hear them in context. These are changes you want to identify before final tracking. When making a demo, you’re not concerned with guitar tones, what the best mic is, getting great takes to edit, or editing at all. Your goal is to get the idea down, have it sound good enough, and learn from it. How will the final song sound? Once you have a better vision of what the song is about, going into the studio is fun because you know exactly what you’re going to do. It takes a load off your mind, and then you can spend more time experimenting with tone, knowing you won’t need to come back and re-record.

Even if the song is just guitar and vocals, I still recommend making a demo. You’ll be surprised at what you hear when it’s playing back. It’s counter intuitive, but while you’re playing you don’t notice everything, and the demo can reveal what to fix.

I’ve recorded songs with and without demoing first, and I highly recommend it. There’s always the occasion where my original demo was spot on and I don’t need to change anything, but that’s usually not the case. Most of my demos have been pretty bare bones, but I’ve found that the better the demo, the more you learn from it. That being said, don’t be a perfectionist. Make the demo, make it pretty good, and move on. Keep finishing.

Spring (2019) – Semester Wrap-up.

This semester I took Songwriting II, Musicianship II, Practicum in Music Industry, private guitar lessons, and Concert Attendance. I had a lot more on my plate this time around, but I only had to commute to school two days a week.

Songwriting II was my favorite class. We learned mixing techniques, made demos, and got lots of feedback. Class was split pretty equally between the classroom and the studio; the main way we learned was from our own projects. A student would bring something in and we would learn to edit, track, or mix whatever it was. I found it helpful because a lot of what I learned was stuff I didn’t know I was doing wrong. For instance, when recording bass, you want the initial sound to be kind of thin and not have a lot of low-end. The reason is that it’s easy to add bass frequencies later, but more difficult to take them out, and once you start taking frequencies out it messes with the tone you had going in. These are things you wouldn’t know unless someone told you.

Musicianship II was an ear training and sight singing class. We learned to sight sing solfege in major, minor, melodic minor, and harmonic minor. If you don’t know what solfege is, it’s a system of syllables relating to scale degrees. You’ve probably heard this song from the Sound of Music that explains it. Class was okay, but our time wasn’t utilized all that well. It felt like we didn’t have a lot to go through, so about half the class was the teacher joking around. I’m not criticizing him necessarily, we were well prepared for finals and all that, it’s just that the curriculum wasn’t demanding so we had time to kill. The most useful part for me was getting a better understanding of modes and how to use them.

Practicum in Music Industry was like a weekly TED talk. My professor was always enthusiastic; he talked about current trends, music news, and volunteer opportunities. He is a firecracker of optimism, and has the stories to back it. He’s worked with Prince and has taught countless successful students, so his fervor is earned. This class wasn’t hard, but it was uplifting and I looked forward to it. The only assignments we had was to usher two times, and volunteer for 16 hours. The volunteering could be done with more ushering or with other music events.

My private lessons were all right. Not very challenging, but still useful. Concert Attendance was kind of a hassle to get done, but that’s mainly because I live out of town. All in all, a pretty good semester. Here’s my final EP for Songwriting II.

I’m having a bit of an identity crisis with my music, so I decided to write two electronic songs and two singer-songwriter tracks. I’m happy with how these turned out, but since this was finished around the same time as Chasing Ghosts, I haven’t been promoting it. These songs are more about exploring sounds and finding out what I want to be musically, whereas Chasing Ghosts was a defined statement. That being said, I like these songs, and I’m happy to share my journey through them. I titled it Mankato Tapes, Vol. 1, and I plan on making successive volumes.

Dave Simonett (of Trampled by Turtles) came to my school!

If you’re savvy to Minnesota music, chances are you’ve heard of Trampled by Turtles. Hailing from Duluth, this blue-grass and folk band has released 8 albums and 7 music videos. They’ve played countless festivals, performed on David Letterman (twice), and held a Top 10 spot on the bluegrass charts for 52 weeks. David Simonett, guitarist and vocalist for the group, visited MSU Mankato and sat down with some classes.

I hadn’t heard of Martin Zellar before he came to school, but I’ve been a Trampled by Turtles fan for awhile now. I forget when I first came across them, but I remember “Wait So Long” being their smash at the time, so it was after 2010. I’m mostly familiar with their work after Palomino, my favorite album being Stars and Satellites.

I was fortunate to get one of my songs played for Simonett. This version is pretty bare, but I’m planning on adding more instrumentation.

Simonett liked it! He said I have a “beautiful, unique voice.” I could hardly believe getting that kind of praise from someone who’s made multiple albums that I own. It felt great. He had kind things to say about my classmates, too. I guess we’re a pretty talented bunch.

Unfortunately, Dave Simonett’s concert for the Minnesota Story Tellers Series sold out, so I wasn’t able to attend, but I can offer some insights he shared in class. One thing I found interesting was what he said about collaboration: “I’m limited by my own imagination… Get someone else in there.” I’ve talked about the importance of collaboration before, but I never thought of myself as being restricted when I write alone. He talked a lot about the importance of other people’s input.

When asked how often he plays shows with bluegrass bands, he said, “Almost never.” That came as a surprise. I assumed that most shows or festivals they play would be very genre-specific. He said, “We spent most of our time touring with friends, because we have more fun with friends.” That ties in well with the theme of community championed by my teachers. Who do people want to work with? Not the most talented or the most similar, but people they get along with.

Although I only saw him for the one class, Dave Simonett attended several, played a show at the performing arts building, and was part of Minnesota Story Tellers where he spoke about his songwriting process. This was really cool and informative. I hope we host more artists in the future.

MSU Mankato, Songwriter Showcase. Spring Semester, 2019.

On April 2nd, MSU Mankato’s department of Music hosted a songwriter showcase. It took place at the Halling Recital Hall of the Earley Center for Performing Arts and featured five songwriters. I had gone to the last showcase in October, and was impressed by the talent. This year was even better, and I want to share the music with you.

Starting out the night was Alec John and the Sky Surfers, an Indie Surf band. Their brand of surf rock is mellow and groovy, with influences like Hippo Campus. They wear bright Hawaiian shirts and perform shoeless. They’re the kind of band you want to hear outdoors on a nice day, beer in hand.

After that, solo performer, Noah Battles, took the stage armed with an acoustic guitar and a loop pedal. His voice is mellow and fits well with his folk rock playing. His style is similar to Neil Young. Using his loop pedal, Noah peppered in some solos. The guy can play.

Brandon and the Clubs is a solo pop artist in the style of Lady GaGa. Brandon dresses in sparkling clothing, and performs with backing tracks. He is one of those performers who is fearless onstage: dancing and interacting with the audience. His songs are about self love and acceptance. He didn’t play this, but his song “Love Club” is really catchy.

Second to last was Anastasia Ellis who took her place at the piano. Ana writes lyrical pop music and is influenced by Rhianna. She performed two songs from her new album, Love & Attention. They were both emotional and raw, in particular her song “Battered Skin.”

Matt Ruff closed out the night. He plays piano and has a powerful voice, with songs reminiscent of Sam Smith. Like Ana, his music is emotional and full of stories. He absolutely kills it at singing, and can play a mean piano, too. Overall, a great night of music.

I realize this is different from my normal posts, but I’m trying to get away from my blog being all about me and my thoughts. There’s a lot of great music happening locally that I want to highlight and share. Please check out any of the above artists that catch your fancy. You might be surprised at what you hear.

MSU Mankato, Minnesota Storytellers: Martin Zellar.

I hadn’t heard of Martin Zellar before he came to school, but I got a brief history lesson from my teachers. In the 80’s Minnesota rock was starting to gain mainstream attention. Zellar was the frontman for the Gear Daddies, a band that rose to fame among the likes of Hüsker Dü, and the Replacements. At the time, Minneapolis was hot.

After three studio albums, a performance on David Letterman, and three years of touring, the Gear Daddies peacefully broke up. Zellar started playing with a new group, Martin Zellar and the Hardways. They released their first album in 1994, and have been together ever since. Zellar has enjoyed a long lasting career, and a loyal Minnesota fan base. He sat down with my Songwriting II class, listened to our songs, and shared some words of wisdom.

Zellar was very complimentary; he said the songs were fantastic. There’s a lot of talent in our class, and it was cool to hear that validated by a successful songwriter. He said that what a lot of my classmates got right, was having a memorable chorus he could sing back. Zellar’s own music is defined by story telling, and he talked about the importance of being a good listener. He said that a lot of his songs come from stories others told him.

For the first Minnesota Storytellers, Martin Zellar and the Hardways took the stage at the Earley Center for Performing Arts. They had two acoustic guitars, a bass (played by Zellar’s son), and a drummer who mostly used brushes. Zellar sang lead, and the drummer occasionally harmonized. They played their brand of country and rock, old songs and new. I am only recently familiar with his repertoire, but I was happy to hear “Stupid Boy,” and “Wear Your Crown.” They did not play that damn zamboni song, which was fine by me.

Every two songs or so, Professor LeGere would come onstage and ask questions. They talked about breaking from a small town, and the importance of their Minnesota community. Zellar said that some Minnesota bands were kicking down doors and his band could kind of sneak in behind them. When the Minnesota rock sound was hot, labels were sending out A&R guys just to find their own Minnesota band. The community had defined a sound, and everyone wanted a piece of it.

Zellar is definitely a story teller. He gave quite a bit of backstory between songs, and told us about his time with the Gear Daddies. My favorite was when LeGere asked if they had any “debaucherous tour stories,” and they talked about playing at Carleton College and throwing a tray of food against the wall, making a mess. They felt so bad about it they cleaned it up themselves. “We’re just nice Minnesota boys,” Zellar said. It was also funny to hear that when their label was called about them performing on Letterman, the head of promotions had never heard of them. Overall, this was a pretty cool event, and I look forward to the next one.

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.

Book Review: How To Make It in the New Music Business – Ari Herstand.

Ari Herstand is an LA-based singer-songwriter, blogger, and actor. He graduated with a degree in music business from McNally Smith College of Music in Saint Paul, Minnesota. After conquering the Twin Cities scene, Herstand moved to California and made his name there. In this book, Ari shares his first-hand experience. He breaks down booking, touring, planning a release, recording, crowdfunding, and just about anything else you’d want to know. He also demystifies Performance Rights Organizations, sponsorships, and placements. If it’s music related, Ari has done it. I found it incredibly helpful and enlightening, a must read for serious musicians. Here are three lessons I learned from this book.

You need to hustle. According to Ari, “Building a music career requires working at it for twelve hours a day. Every single day” (17). He writes that you should “split your time equally between the music and the business” (32). That’s six hours on music and six hours on business. If you’re not sure how you would even use all that time, this book will give you some ideas. Ari says, “If you’re ever bored as a musician, you aren’t doing it right” (32).

Music is a marathon, not a sprint. Not only do you have to work your ass off, you have to be working your ass off for years. In chapter 1, Ari makes you write out a spreadsheet and title it “My Music Marathon.” You divide it into four sections: 1 year, 5 years, 10 years, and 26 years. In each section, you write out where you want to be in your career. Doing this kind of long-term planning really helps you clarify what you want in life. It’s hard not to think 26 years in the future without gaining clarity about what’s really important.

You must have a story. “Whether you like it or not, your story is just as important as your music” (24). Ben Weaver toured on his bicycle, Bon Iver recorded in a Wisconsin cabin, Porter Robinson did the whole anime thing, and Daft Punk were robots. You need something other than “Singer-songwriter from _________. Sounds like _________.” It doesn’t have to be as extensive as the Gorillaz virtual band, but it has to be something. What makes you special?

The advice in this book focuses on making it professionally as an artist or band. If you’re someone less serious about music, it’s still worthwhile. Plenty of these tips are helpful for hobbyists and artists alike, and the portions that aren’t relevant are still interesting to read. For instance, I’m not going to be doing a lot of college gigging, but there’s a detailed account of how to get into it that’s fascinating. I will definitely be referencing this book during my musical adventures.

Rating: 8/10.

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.

Big Turn Music Fest – 2019. My Volunteer Experience.

I was already planning on attending Big Turn. Their lineup boasts some of Minnesota’s most well-known acts: Charlie Parr, Dessa, Gaelynn Lea, the 4ontheFloor, Dosh, Chris Koza, and Lydia Liza, among others. I’m required to do 16 hours of volunteer work for school, so I decided to kill two loons with one stone.

Red Wing is a cool town. They’re famous for their shoes, the first established bar in Minnesota, and (now) the Big Turn Music Festival. The festival involves 23 venues, and over 100 bands and performers. It’s small enough that it doesn’t suffer from the corporate saturation of SXSW, but big enough to host a lot of artists you’ve heard of. Nearly all the bands are Midwestern, and there’s a distinctly Minnesotan vibe to it. Fans of all ages attend, and the crowds remind me of a local bar in a small town.

I had never volunteered at a festival, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. When filling out my volunteer form, there was a checkbox to be considered for Venue Captain. I checked it because I wanted people to salute me. I was assigned to 223 Barrel House (the first established bar I mentioned earlier). We had to check wristbands, answer questions, count guests, and stop letting people in once we reached capacity (75). My role as VC was to be the main point of contact between the volunteers, the sound guy, the venue owner, the bands, and the volunteer coordinator. I had to make sure people stuck to their set times and ensure it all went smoothly. It was a lot of fun! It was a great excuse to introduce myself to bands and talk about music. Due to the snow storm, I only volunteered the one night, but it was a good experience.

Before my shift, I had the opportunity to check out some shows. I wandered into Artreach, a visual arts non-profit, where singer-songwriter Sterling Haukom was performing for about five people. I took a seat in the back. Among the attendees, I spotted Charlie Parr in the front row. Earlier that day, I overhead Dosh introducing himself to someone at the Artist Check-in Hub. I couldn’t go to their shows because of my shift, but it was exciting to catch them out in the wild.

I only got a small taste of Big Turn, but it was a good time. Talking with the bands, listening to music, and hanging out with the other volunteers was great. The community of music lovers was alive and well, and it was an honor to be a part of it. I recommend volunteering if you get the chance. It’s a fantastic way to support the arts, and it’s not hard. You get to meet a lot of cool people and be part of something meaningful.

Notable Acts (that I actually saw)

Savannah Smith – Singer-songwriter. Dope vox. Telecaster. Former Ukulele-star. Soundcloud.

Spaceheaters – Brass-based funk rock. Great for dancing. Groove city. Bandcamp.

Sterling Haukom – Singer-songwriter. Folk. Powerful, high voice. Dynamic. Had Charlie Parr watch his set. Spotify.