We’re back with another episode of FAQ Friday!
It’s been a great week and we have a lot of fun announcements to come! I just want to say thank you all for being such and amazing community! Now, let’s get to your questions!
This week’s featured question is:
“Is it possible to start making money in music without being very social or having a lot of connections?”
When I started making a living/money from music, I always made it work because when I was a kid and I first started doing music I was really poor. Simple as that.
Back then I was doing club gigs for 25£ (sometimes 50£) and there were 4 of us! So 10£ each and 10£ for petrol (gasoline). But I could do 2-4 of those a week anywhere between 10-20£.
I left home really young and moved to the north of England when I was 16 or 17 years old. At the time I was doing gigs that paid 10-20£ a night and living super cheap.
If I was doing this again I wouldn’t expect to pay a mortgage and just flick on and make that much money. I have accumulated a lot of acquired knowledge. As I said to Dave Pensado when he interviewed me about 4 years ago “there is no substitution for experience, there is no substitute for acquired knowledge.”
I don’t think you need connections to start, but I believe you will develop connections. Social media is increasingly more important, but if you’re not a social person, that’s ok! Social media doesn’t require you to be social; it’s actually completely and utterly anti-social – think about it.
You’re sitting there on your laptop, phone, or tablet, in your apartment on your own, posting pictures or music… it’s not a social thing. Being a social person is going to shows and introducing yourself to a band, and offering to record or mix a song for them for free… and them agreeing that if they like the work then they can pay and maybe bring you more work. – That’s how I started, and it was terrifying.
I worked in two music stores: Kingfisher music and then Anderton’s. What I learned working with Lee Anderton, is that Lee is a very outgoing person. I loved music and musical instruments so we had a blast working together. I would sell guitars and recording equipment and it was absolutely fantastic. That’s where I learned to be more social by selling instruments and talking about what I love. And I was playing in club bands and being an engineer.
So all of these things, they have all created what I’m doing now, this is all I know, I’m useless at everything else – Just ask my wife.
This is all I know. I love music! I really strongly believe and know that what I’ve done here on a social media level isn’t very social. We have a couple of cameras and Eric is the only other human being here in the studio with me, I don’t have to be very social!
You can do many many things without being social, you just have to make sure you are discoverable. Is doesn’t matter how it is, could be at a show putting your hand out or it could be somewhere people can find your music.
Being wonderfully talented and working your but off for music is great but people need to be able to find you, find your music and listen to it. So you need music on Soundcloud, a website, a Facebook page! You need these ways of getting your music out there! You can communicate with people without ever having to actually see them.
You could be living in the New Hebrides and mixing the new Metallica record! It could happen, that’s the reality. Andrew Scheps, as we know, moved back over to Britain, but he’s mixing the same bands as he was in America and he could be living anywhere. There are many great mixers who don’t live in America or even in the United Kingdom; they all live in places in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, you name it!
If you’re talented, you can get work from all over the world, you don’t ever have to meet the client. Just make sure you’re discoverable. Make it easy for people to find you, and don’t be afraid to reach out to them- you can do that on the Internet very easily without having to be technically “social.” It’s not the same as going out and holding out your hand.
It’s a very very different world and I highly encourage you to get out there and get your music heard by people!
We also cover the following questions during this episode of FAQ Friday!
• Do you have any idea how to accomplish gain riding on a pre if you’re recording yourself? (1:08)
• Where do we submit questions for FAQ Friday? (4:59)
• What is your stance on different sounds of each song on an album? (6:09)
• In the Era of bedroom producers, how do you feel about artists who want to contribute to the production of their music? (11:34)
• When you’re producing, how much if at all do you allow the artist to influence the sound and mix you have them in the studio? (18:39)
