I just re-installed ProTools successfully today. Got it to record audio successfully but the playback wouldn’t work. On top of that, ProTools Academic 7.3 is pretty slow ’cause I have a slow computer. I think I’ll use Music Creator 5 from now on ’cause it’s faster and easier to use.

When I was first using ProTools 7.3 way back in 2006… it used to work perfectly fine for me but up until now that the software is pretty old and outdated… it doesn’t work too well anymore. I haven’t used ProTools in so long that I’ve probably forgotten how to use it. I had to uninstall IE8 in order for ProTools to launch. So after I uninstalled ProTools, I went back to Google Chrome. Another reason I’m sticking wth Music Creator ’cause it actually sounds better than ProTools. In ProTools you hear humming noises and in Music Creator you don’t.

I think I’ll either throw out Pro Tools or just give it to somebody, I guess.

I don’t know why these programs go outdated and then you have to buy new software. I guess it was done intentionally ’cause it’s their sneaky little way of making more money.

I want better DAW software so I can do my own mixing, producing and try to find my sound with my music. Music Creator 5 is just a cheap software for beginners that was about $40 or so but still sounds incredibly decent! So I’ll stick with Music Creator for a long while, I guess.

I don’t know why the musicians industry make it so hard to find decent recording equipment these days. I really miss those Tascam 4track/8track cassette boards. With those things you didn’t have to worry about using too much memory in your computer or worry about wasting a lot of time trying to figure out your input/output stuff. That stuff was cheaper than recording software too. I miss making demos on regular cassette tapes back in earlier days. Yep, I’ve been songwriting and recording music for years… it really has been that long.

I started off pretty crappy in songwriting when I was younger but I improved as I went along. I would like to go back to my older cassettes and listen to my older demos for fun but to be honest, I don’t really enjoy listening to myself. I only listen to myself when I’m recording and when I am finished with the track, I never look back on it. I don’t listen to my own music like a lot of musicians do. I don’t have that big of an ego and I can be my own worst critic!

Kev

It really bothers me that people have to rely on alcohol when it comes to local music. I understand bands need to play them in order to make cash and they need to have a place where their fans can go and see them but you don’t really have to rely on the bar scene. I really hate bar gigs. I really really do. I used to go to bar gigs all the time when I was younger and I try to avoid bars more often to this day. People claim to have a blast hanging out at these places but really? I don’t find bars fun at all. They’re ridiculously stupid, boring and uncool. Starting now I think I’m going to avoid bars completely. I will try to at least. I can’t stand being around a bunch of drunk people to begin with. Why? You might get into potential fights and you might get hit on by some strange drunk woman that you’re not attracted to. Bars are also not a good place to pick up women. Just my opinion. People are also weird as hell when they’re wasted.

If the bar and club scene is not your thing, there are still ways to support local music that doesn’t involve alcohol. What about cafes? Bookstores? Churches? Places like those. You just gotta use your imagination and plan. There are other ways of making money for playing music and you don’t have to play bar rooms.

It’s not that I’m anti-social, I just can’t stand the bar & club scene, that’s all. All people wanna do these days is drink and drink and drink. That’s how local venues make the money ’cause they exploit people with drinking and take their money from them.

Bars really are terrible and I’ve had a mix of good & bad experiences with them. When I get back to playing live again, I think I’m only going to play cafes & diners types of places. I like playing those venues better ’cause that’s when the audience will sit and listen and not talk over your playing. That’s another reason I don’t like bars ’cause they’re too loud.

You don’t always have to play for a bunch of drunks. I think the only reason bands wanna play bars ’cause it’s just a lousy excuse for them to get drunk themselves. Check out their facebook pages for proof on that. They seem to be more psyched on the drinking more than playing the music for the people. Alcoholics. Too many of them out there. It’s nuts! There is nothing cool about drinking. I’m glad I gave it up.

Kev

I have always said that local musicians know nothing about professionalism in music and I still stand by it. Meaning, they know nothing about having a professional attitude and they know nothing about being courteous/friendly to others. People mistakenly believe that the Albany’s music scene is a positive, lovable and happy music scene but the truth is, it isn’t. This area’s music scene is not friendly at all. It never has been and never will be. Musicians think they know about having a professional attitude but the way they communicate with other musicians and music fans, they look like amateurs, honestly.

How?

Lets see here… musicians with short tempers, horrible attitudes, bad communication skills, musicians who don’t write or speak well, being too critical and outspoken of other musicians — shall I keep going with the list? I can go on all day. If you’re any of those things, then you don’t have a professional attitude in music.

When you become a professional musician, they mistakenly think that you must be yourself. Well, a lot of times you can’t. That goes for online and social networking.

If you want to have a professional attitude, you must:

1) Be courteous and friendly to EVERYBODY (I mean everyone, even if you don’t like the person)

2)  Don’t respond to critics & haters

3) Be accepting of things even if you don’t like ’em (If you don’t agree with how you get paid at the gigs or if you get your set cut short, keep those opinions to yourself and let it be)

4)  Don’t be critical and hateful to other musicians (The bullying and harassment that goes on around musicians is pretty insane. If you’re the type of musician who is somebody like, “I don’t like you” or “I don’t like the way you said that”, then that’s pretty unprofessional. I can understand that you don’t like other musicians or bands as there are plenty out there I don’t like but it’s best to keep those opinions to yourself)

The simple fact is, that musicians know nothing about professionalism in music, period. End of story.

That includes me. I make my mistakes and learn from them. I still need to learn to be more professional and I am as you can see.

What I don’t get is… musicians appear to have professionals attitudes around everyone else but when they associate with me, they’re absolute shit. I got treated like crap by a lot of musicians out there over the years. Honestly, I would expect a professional attitude toward myself by other musicians but I never see that. They always came back with rotten attitudes. When they do stuff like this, I’m not afraid to expose that stuff on my blog. That’s what I’ve been saying all along over the years that musicians aren’t friendly. Honestly, I would like to be treated like a human being myself. What makes other musicians think it’s okay to treat me how you want to just because I don’t play music the way you do or not in your league on a professional level? That’s the thing about local music. If they think you suck musically, you’re the badguy. If you play extremely well, you’ll be a friend to other musicians. It’s pathetic really. We all should be treated with equal respect, no matter the level of talent or if you don’t like our playing.

I’ll ask again, musicians have professional attitudes? LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When you become established and popular in the music scene, you have to have a professional attitude, all the time. You can’t really be yourself even though you would like to. Even in facebook, you have to act professional.

If you act unprofessional, a lot of bad karma will come out of it. You will lose a lot of support from fans, musicians, and music venues. I know from my own experience.

Make no mistake about it, people. When musicians talk to me, I expect a professional attitude from them too and when they don’t… I won’t be afraid to write all about it on my blog.  There’s so much negativity and drama in local music ’cause musicians thrive on it. As I repeatedly said, it’s all ego with them. They want to think they’re better and smarter than everyone else ’cause of their successes and accomplishments in music. Maybe if I had some of the same successes and accomplishments other bands had, maybe they would take me more seriously…that’s how weird musicians can be.

We all should be treated with the same respect. To hell with musicians, ya know? It’s why I don’t care to support the scene much anymore as I used to. Musicians can be real douchebags.

Kev

When I first started in music, I used to be offended by haters. I used to defend myself from every negative thing written about me online but I don’t care anymore. They just give me even more encouragement. They inspire me and make me stronger. You have to learn that when you put your music out there, you’re gonna get haters. It might be hurtful and upsetting that people would write nasty stuff about you online but you have to learn to be tough and learn to ignore them completely if you want a healthy, successful, and positive music career. Responding to the haters will not solve anything ’cause that’s gonna make you look childish and unprofessional instead. The professional thing to do is you gotta learn to love your haters. Don’t take it personally and be flattered by the hate.

I’m strict on moderating comments not because I’m offended at hateful comments. Not true. I don’t even read the nasty comments. I just quickly delete them without reading and just move forward to my life. I’m just trying to keep my public blogging and social networking a positive world. No matter how positive or how good of a person you are… you are always going to get people who aren’t going to like you. Once again, you can’t please everybody.

You will get hate by other fellow musicians and regular music fans but simply laugh at it and let it go. Think about it, the haters are a huge part of why you’re a successful musician to begin with. They helped you get there, agree with it or not. Haters are gonna hate. It’s just simple as that.

I came pretty close to quitting music completely a few years ago because I get too many haters but I learned that was a huge mistake. You’re just letting them win ’cause that’s what they want you to do is to quit. If music is what you love to do, you have to learn to say “fuck EVERYBODY” and just play no matter how many hates you. Another problem musicians seem to have is defending themselves from haters and feeling hurt by them.

All bands have haters. Just ignore them. Don’t respond to any of them and just play. Life in music would be much easier for you.

Kev

I remember last year’s “Rest Fest” lineup, Sharon Van Etten headlined the whole thing. They were pretty lucky to get her ’cause she’s a pretty big indie artist. Plus, two other legendary local bands reunited for this gig: they were the Kamikaze Hearts and Dryer.

This year, Rest Fest, is a little different. EBJ and Wild Adriatic makes the lineup which isn’t surprising, honestly. I’ve always wanted to see EBJ and the Parlor on a same show together. The Parlor is a folk music group fronted by a female vocalist. Hopefully, EBJ and The Parlor will perform on the same day, the same stage.

Rest Fest is a pretty big music festival that is at a church. It’s for a fundraiser and charity, I think.

Kev

I have quite a bit of unsigned/local bands & artists in my own facebook page. Sometimes bands promote themselves really well and know what they’re doing. Sometimes they’re really shit about promoting themselves and horrible at it. Why are bands sometimes horrible at promoting themselves in facebook? I can name ten of these reasons in no particular order…

Warning: This post may ruffle some feathers of musicians but the truth needs to be said.

• Obsessing with getting as many likes as possible – Can bands really be this selfish and desperate? All they think about is getting more fans. Your focus shouldn’t be on trying to get as many fans as possible. Your focus should be on making the great music and getting people to like it. Let the music speak on it’s own. Make it, get it out there, and let the people decide if they want to support you or not.
• Giving fans rewards when this band reaches a certain number of likes – You see it all the time in facebook. When bands reach to a number of 5,000 fans or 7,000… they’ll say things like, “Hey facebook, thanks for helping us get to 7,000 fans and for this here is some free music for you to download for a week”. Pretty lame and stupid, in my opinion. The fans don’t realize that they are being tricked. As explained above, the only thing that bands care about is getting more popularity. They don’t give a rats about you, sorry to say.
• Using facebook as an official band site – I freakin’ hate this. Too many bands have been using facebook as an official site as of late. It seems like that the, “(name here).com” domain names are dead. Keep in mind people, that not everyone uses facebook. A lot of people avoid facebook like the plague so you have to have an official site. A lot of bands use official websites with their own domain names sure but they hardly ever use it. All the action is on facebook. You must promote yourself a lot on both. I did most of my music promoting on here over the years. A lot of people heard of my music and came out to my shows ’cause they heard about me on my blog. It works, trust me!
• Using Itunes, bandcamp, spotify to exclusively release your albums – Another thing I hate. You should release your album on your official band page. Bands used to do this but social media is definitely changing things around. Using Itunes, bandcamp, spotify to release your music is all good and cool but don’t use that stuff to release your albums exclusive. That stuff should be secondary. Be careful here.
• Using their personal page to promote their band stuff – Another thing that pisses me the hell off. Your personal page and your music facebook page should be two separate things. Your facebook personal page should be used for non-musician related stuff. Do all your band promoting on your facebook “like” page. Doing band promoting on both personal and the like page is ridiculously stupid. It’s over promoting, that’s why. If you’re gonna post on a personal facebook page, we want to know who you are other than music. I don’t promote my music too much on my personal page… I use it for other things.
• Posting how high their songs went up the charts (from sites like broadjam, reverbnation, etc.) – Really. Nobody cares if your song is no. 1 on some music site. They aren’t like the Billboard charts or anything. They post this stuff to make themselves look good and talented. Just another example of jerking yourself off. Another example of musicians thriving on flattery.
• Promoting the same thing more than once – Another thing that bands have a big problem with. Posting event invites, show flyers, status’s, etc. more than once. All you need is to post it once. Posting the same thing 10 times will lead people to “unlike” your page. You don’t want to lose your fans support, do ya?
• Posting facebook memes and humorous photos to entertain their fanbase – I understand you need to entertain your fanbase by giving them a good laugh or some inspiration by posting facebook memes but that’s what your personal page is for. On your facebook band page, should be band related stuff only. Bands can sometime go a little overboard by being too funny. Do you wanna be comedians or musicians? Watch how you put yourself out there.
• Getting people to vote for too many contests – There is no need to enter every band contest/competition you see out there. This is one thing that bands get pretty obsessed of doing… getting people to vote for stupid & ridiculous stuff. Not a cool way to promote yourself. Are you that desperate to win something?
• Thinking that playing local shows is a “tour” – I just laugh at some bands who think playing a bunch of shows around the Capital Region is a tour. They just book a bunch of shows, and make some silly flyer that lists all the gigs and calling it a “tour”. Sorry but playing different cities like Saratoga Springs, Albany, Troy, Schenectady, etc. is not really a tour. A “tour” is a band who travels around the states and the world. That’s just the way I look at it. I just call playing shows around the Capital Region, “gigs”, not a “tour”. I think bands know this. They call it a “tour” anyway ’cause their egos are so big and they want to make themselves look like they’re going somewhere with their music.

I think that pretty much covers it. I can come up with more but those are the ones I can come up with for now.

Kev

There are too many local musicians around here lately that want it. National fame. A lot of them want to make the big time. I shake my head at all of this and ask myself why? Once they get there, I’m pretty positive that they aren’t gonna like it. I don’t think I would want fame with my music with the way the industry is going these days. The industry isn’t what it used to be. Today, music in the industry are all fake and manufactured bullshit. It’s crazy. Most music today is all auto-tuned with the singing and too much technology that makes these artists sound so good. When you do get there, it’s going to be pretty stressful for you. You will get controlled by industry big shots. You will get told by the producers how to write your songs. The labels will pick the songs to release on albums for you. The label will also choose the single to release on the radio. Do you wanna lip synch on stage and even get forced to fake play your instruments? Do you want to get bombarded with interviews with the media and the press? You’re gonna be busy all the time for sure.

Do you really believe that fame and fortune is all that glorifying? Once you get there, you’re gonna realize that fame and fortune isn’t all that glorifying as you think. You’ll realize that you’re still a human being and doesn’t make you all that special. The only difference is that you’re richer and got a lot more recognition. Musicians in the national industry today don’t even care about fame. A lot of them are just musicians like the rest of us. They just wanna do what they wanna do. Keep playing music that they spent most of their lives doing.

In this day and age, a lot of famous bands and solo artists have dropped major labels they used to be signed under and then they end up either self-releasing their album DIY style or release their albums under their own label. When you see so many artist dropping major labels and releasing albums their own way that’s when you’ll know how bad the industry is getting. Even they don’t mess around.

I’ve always said it’s best to release music unsigned. Even the independent record labels are all shit as well.

On top of all this, you don’t need fame when you already have a bit of fame by releasing your music publicly for the whole world to see and people listening to it. You may not be world known yet but at least you have minor fame. You should be proud enough for getting your fans to like your music. That’s all the fame you really need, right?

Why would you want to be a mainstream commercial artist? I think the mainstream is really lame and it continues to get worse. I don’t buy too many new albums anymore. Maybe back in the earlier days in the industry like the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s… fame would be cool then but today? LOL! Today’s industry is garbage. ALL OF IT!!!! It would be really hard to get fame. If you’re really serious on making it then you would have to write music that would fit today’s mainstream. You would have to write pop songs like Justin Bieber or rap stuff like Chris Brown. You’ll have to write music that will get the teenagers going crazy.

The rock n’ roll lifestyle of fame is pretty much dead. Musicians trying to get fame are just wasting their time and life. Just play your music and enjoy. That’s all you need to make yourself a happy person.

Kev

One thing I’m noticing lately with local bands is that a lot of them use the same gear at their gigs. They use the same guitar and amplifiers at all of their shows. Pretty much the same equipment, all the time. Is this a good idea? Nothing wrong with it. I understand a local musician can’t afford a lot of gear but if you wanna perform live all the time, you gotta have more gear and instruments. The thing is, you wanna experiment with different sounds. You want to learn how to take tone a little more seriously.

For example, if you look at all of these professional musicians who work for the independent labels and the music industry, they would use more than one guitars on stage and different amps to experiment with different sounds. On stage, the more professional bands don’t like to sound the same at every song. They usually find the right gear to find the right fit for the right tone on each song they play live. A lot of the bigger bands take guitar tone very seriously. The guys in the major labels who play on stage would have a collection of way over 20 guitars or more. They use different amps and guitars to get the right tone and stuff. Hard to explain but I think you get the point by now.

For a local band, you don’t need a very large collection of gear on stage but you should have at least 3 or 4 guitars.

I’m gonna wanna get more gear myself at some point. I already have a few professional sounding amplifiers, a few guitars, and a P.A. system. I have one acoustic/electric and one Hollow body electric guitar. I’m also gonna wanna get myself a solid body electric and a regular acoustic guitar sometime down the road.

You should also try experimenting with different effects. There are all kinds of cool pedals out there. I don’t have a lot of pedals. I have a few of them. I would like to get more of those someday as well.

You want to discover your tone and sound. That’s what it’s all about. Do some research on tone and sound. There are all kinds of gear and guitar magazines out there. I’m no genius at tone and sound yet but I would like to learn more about it myself. That’s the thing with a lot of musicians. A lot of them don’t take tone seriously. They just plug in and play. Not caring about their sound.

I take tone pretty seriously when it comes to guitar playing. That’s why I stick with Ibanez guitars ’cause they have a sound that fit me perfectly. I do plan on trying other brands of guitars someday. I wanna try Takamine or Washburn sometime. I would also like to try a Fender Strat and a Gibson Les Paul if I can ever afford those someday, ha ha!

I’m kind of having trouble with cash right now but when I start working again, I’ll start saving for more music gear. You wanna make your studio recordings and live shows as best sounding as possible so you should take tone and sound more seriously. When you want to play gigs on a professional level, you gotta have more gear. It’s good to sound fresh and different. Sound more interesting.

Kev

Whenever you criticize a band or the local music scene, chances are, you are going to get called a jealous person by other people. Whether you’re criticizing a band’s music or their so called success… you’ll get called jealous. I’ve been dealing with this for years. I’m like, seriously? That’s the best comeback people can come up with? That is usually all people got. When I call out this band or that artist… you’ll get called jealous by their supporters/fans or you would even get called jealous by the band themselves. I usually laugh at these attacks and just ignore them. Why? Think about it. What is there to be jealous about of these bands/artists around the Albany area? Can you think of anything? I’m willing to bet they can’t because simply put, there is nothing to be jealous of.

Sure, they may have gotten a “little” exposure of a few little opportunities that really mean nothing but they are still not the biggest band in the world that these guys make themselves out to be. The truth is that other bands are no bigger or better than me. They are no bigger or better than anybody else either. The question that I have to ask is, if these guys in bands think they’re so damn big and so great at what they do, then what are they doing still stuck in Albany? As long as you’re stuck in Albany playing music, you’re nothing. Albany is not much of a music scene. As musicians, we’re all on the same level together. There’s no such thing as “who’s bigger than who” around here.

So what, you may have won a few contests, opened for a famous act or toured another country someplace, congratulations, I’m happy for ya but that still doesn’t make you bigger than me. You’re still a local musician and you’re still unsigned. If you get accolades, good opportunities, exposure and whatever… the last thing you want to do is act like you’re bigger and better than everyone else after that. Calling people jealous ’cause they’re opinionated is probably the lowest and most unprofessional thing people can do. If you were a real professional musician, you would just accept a critic’s review as an opinion and nothing more. People are gonna be opinionated, there’s nothing you can do about it. Nobody’s jealous. Just honest.

Bands really need to let the music speak on it’s own around here ’cause none of them want to do that. Most all of them want to think they’re good at everything and they have to defend themselves after every time someone says something negative about them. I used to be like that but it’s a pretty unprofessional thing to do. I learned to ignore the critics and learn to accept people’s opinions. Ignore them if I don’t like ’em. You won’t get any respect if all you’re gonna do is keep defending yourself from the critics and negative people. Like I repeatedly say you earn the respect, not demand it. It’s your job to win people over, respect won’t fall in your lap. Just shut up, work on the music, ignore the critics/negative people and music life would be much easier on ya. Trust me.

Musicians like me should have all their right to speak out about bands and the local music scene in general. If all you’re gonna do is call us jealous, then we win. There’s nothing to be jealous of, especially over a local band.

If you wanna prove that you’re good at what you do and if you wanna prove that you’re big/successful… then keep doing what you do. A good attitude to have is to let people have their opinions. Just accept them for what they are, and be flattered  and be inspired by the negative opinions. Don’t just be inspired by the fans. Be inspired by the haters too. Think about it right… you wouldn’t be where you are musically, if some blogger online wasn’t calling you out online, right? Isn’t that a good enough sign that you could be big & successful? Absolutely! If you’re getting a mix of hate and love toward you, then you’re going somewhere. Don’t respond to the negative critics out there and that includes me. You should be flattered as hell that the Brock called you out.

With all this being said, bands will never follow this advice ’cause their egos are so huge. Their egos are just as big as a hot air balloon. They want positive feedback and responses on everything ’cause they obsess with flattery. They want to look like they’re so big all the time. They all live in different delusions and fantasy worlds. I never had that attitude. I always acted like people never cared about my music and it’s better to be that way.

Kev