Musicians Can Thrive

One of the things I’m most interested in this year, is how artists get real people off the couch, out of the house, and in the venue as part of the crowd they’re performing for.

Social media followers and streams are great, but developing an audience that will make the effort to see you perform and hear your music live… It’s a critical piece of building momentum as a musician.

And in those early days, those shows are often the biggest revenue generators. So Alfred Banks shares a perspective on audience building that leverages live shows and merch first, social media second.

Alfred Banks has gone on tour opening for artists like Tank and the Bangas, and I caught him in Austin this summer just before he did a series of Texas shows opening for Devon the Dude. He’s a hip hop artist, based in New Orleans.

Links:

Visit Alfred Banks’ website for merch, videos, and more. https://www.underdogcentral.com/

Musicians Can Thrive things:

Share your thoughts on this episode with your host, Gigi, on Twitter @gigi_alyse

If you liked what you heard, please subscribe! And if you’re really feeling generous, give a review to help your friends decide this show is worth listening to.

If you want to dive in deeper, you can find the full back-catalog of episodes from SZN 1-3 on your favorite podcast app.

More show notes:

There’s a point in our interview where Alfred Banks calls himself an octopus, because he’s learned how to do so many different things as part of building his independent music career. Listen to find out more.

Recovering from burnout is a slightly different process for everyone. But, there are a few ways creating and trying new ways of approaching your music/ art can help you recover faster. Personally, I’ve reached the burnout point more times than I can count in the past 7 years. That’s not a pattern that’s conducive to long-term momentum as I develop this podcast, my songwriting, or any other creative project I want to make.

So how do you prevent burnout? How do you find ways to recover that can feel sustainable, and make you more resilient so you don’t reach the same burnout point again? There was a big shift for the better 12 months ago when I tried a new approach. If you’re impatient, I get into those details about 10 minutes into this episode…

This episode features clips and examples from the king of “consistency” and content creating himself, Gary Vee. As well as a talented Austin-based rapper named RAH. He’s also built quite the content library across multiple social platforms, YouTube, and his music. Links below if you want to dive in deeper.

Please subscribe if you liked what you heard! 

Source videos:

Gary Vee - How to Make Content Consistently | New Media Academy [watch on YouTube]

RAH - I’m quitting YouTube? ** The Truth ** [watch on YouTube]

RAH’s music and more: https://rah.biglink.to/RAHONLYFAM

RAH’s apparel line: Only Fam Mafia https://www.onlyfammafia.com/

Welcome back to Musicians Can Thrive! We're going to kick off this new season with the stories you know and love. Featuring a variety of independent artists developing their own definition of what it means to thrive in the music industry. A few things are going to change though. You might hear from multiple people in the same episode.

I have stories that I'm going to weave together so you can see different perspectives right next to each other.

There are also some live show interviews I did at an event called Tillery Live, during South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. I actually co-hosted this rap, R&B, and hip hop showcase with my friend Abhi at PRMTD. Entertainment. It was very fun. And it's also my first experiment with interviews that have video to go with the audio.

So you'll find those short-form interviews on YouTube. Go ahead and subscribe to the channel so you don't miss the rest of the videos I have coming. 

If you're a returning listener, you already know I'm interested in how people are building careers in the music industry, independent of a big label. But lately, I'm especially interested in how we can make those careers sustainable. Over the course of decades.

So that's behind what most of these episodes are exploring. I'm hoping you can listen to this and find something helpful among the variety of different stories and experiences from artists who are out there showing up. And doing what it takes, week in and week out.

Find @musicianscanthrive on Instagram for behind-the-scenes stories, clips from live shows I attend around Austin, and other ideas I share exclusively on IG.

Thanks for being part of the Musicians Can Thrive community - your host, Gigi.

Yandi shares his approach to collaborations, and his perspective on when getting paid is a priority, and when it's more important to focus on your music's reach.

I admire the work Yandi is doing both as a producer, and as a rap artist. There's a maturity to his approach to building a career in music that makes him more resilient when unexpected hurdles like a pandemic come and disrupt our lives.

The first time I saw Yandi’s name, it was the production credit of the debut single my friend RC McCree released in January 2020.

At the time, RC was still a vague memory of a guy who I played a show with and I remembered I liked his voice. So I tapped on the screen of my iPhone, turning on the volume... It was a great song. RC’s voice had this unique tone that it felt like every other track of the song was designed around.

Immediately after listening to that song, I wanted to figure out how and where I could find this guy Yandi so I could meet him. I wanted to get to know who this talented producer was.

Find Yandi's samples and loop packs on Bandcamp.

Listen to his original music on Apple Music

Listen on Spotify

IG @mynameisyandi

Twitter  @mynameisyandi

Visit Yandi's website https://www.mynameisyandi.com

Mama Duke is a gifted storyteller, and a rap artist capable of giving J.Cole a run for his money. I say that because he's one of my favorite rappers, so I'm familiar with most of his work. But honestly... you could name any number of artists and Mama Duke would bring some fierce competition.

I got lucky and found Mama Duke and her music because a friend of mine turned me onto her. His name is Harvest Louis, and he's an artist manager here in Austin, with excellent taste. From the day I first explored Mama Duke's Instagram page, I knew she was something special. An engaging entertainer, who pulls you in with a tantalizing story, her warmth and humor win you over as a ride or die fan within 3 videos, or less.

Listen to Mama Duke on Spotify

Listen on Apple Music

Follow Mama Duke on IG @mama.duke