Shomee Creators Podcast

What is the future for young musicians? If they can’t make money from downloads, and very little money from streams, what are their options? Touring is more expensive than ever. Social media is saturated. And during pandemic, everyone and their uncle - including established artists -  started their own Youtube channel, in hopes of making some small kickbacks from ad revenue. It’s simply not enough to just be a good at your instrument or at songwriting. You have to be good at something more. My guest in this episode, Pierce Marengo, seems to have a figured this out. Still in his early teens, he’s on his way to becoming a veritable entrepreneur, following in the footsteps of artists like Dr. Dre, Jay-Z and J-Lo. I talked with Pierce about music, fashion, marketing, and how life experiences can drive both creative and business ideas. And why not combine the two? Would it be completely absurd for artists to think about getting Business degrees? I think it might be prerequisite. But that’s just me. Let’s hear what this young artist of the future has to say.   

Homepage: https://www.notdefinedbyflaw.com/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/notdefinedbyflaw/

Watch on youtube: https://youtu.be/ds3v5WcXAi8

June 15th is around the corner. California and several others states are planning to fully re-open entertainment venues, and there’s a scramble to book artists for the summer. And the question for artists and venues isn’t whether you’re ready with your new songs, and new haircuts, and freshly stacked bars. It’s what are you going to do differently? What new experience are you going to create to convince people to get off the couch, and spend their money on live entertainment? Don’t just assume that people will come to escape their routine of afternoon Zoom calls with a Bloody Mary just off screen. It’s time to think about your worth ethic. What are you going to deliver to your audience, and what are you going to contribute to rebuild your local scene? And for that matter, what methods still work?

These are the kinds of questions my guest in this episode might tell you to ask yourself. Jeff Lysyczyn is an artist manager, and music educator, and just about the most dialed in person I know in the Nashville music scene. There’s a lot to be learned from him and from Nashville itself about how to keep working, and how to work together. This was a truly enlightening and encouraging conversation for me. I hope you’ll enjoy it as well, and that you’ll forgive the occasional drops in audio. I could have re-recorded this interview, but like any live performance, and as Jeff would say, despite the ups and downs, you’ve just got to stay with it, and something good will happen.

http://musicbusinessafterdark.com

Before pandemic, my guest in this episode was one of the most successful independent music promoters in Southern California. And when I use those words “successful” and “independent music”, I’m basically saying, he didn’t lose money with local artists, and he didn’t make them to pay to play. Now, if you know anything about the music scene in Southern California, you’ll know that’s virtually unheard of. So what’s his secret?

Honestly, it would be a cliche’ for me to say it was just one thing. In fact, it’s better you about it as a kind of methodology - the method of creating a great experience for your audience months before show even happens. Hell, maybe even all year round. Are you up to the challenge? Are you satisfied with just getting obligatory Likes from your friends on social media in support of your music career?  Or do you have the discipline to do something more? Before you answer, let’s find out what “something more” really means, and let’s hear it from someone who was a promoter for House of Blues, a financial advisor, and one of the earliest music bloggers. Basically, this guy just knows what he's talking about... which is what you'd expect from someone called "The Gig Boss".

There’s something I’ve realized after speaking with a number of dance and theater companies on this podcast…. Musicians, like me, probably don’t think enough about the space in which their performance takes place. Sure, they might think about the size the of the stage, and how close they’ll be to the audience, or maybe to the bar. But I have to admit, if I was asked put on a performance outdoors without a stage, and where is almost necessary to incorporate the environment as part of the experience, I’m not sure I’d quite know how to go about it. I might have to ask my guest in this episode for advice.

Winifred Haun is a dancer, and instructor, and recipient of a 2015 MacArthur Foundation International Connections award. Winifred is very familiar with creating site specific performances. In fact, it’s kind of her specialty. Her dance company Winifred Haun Dancers will be returning to live outdoor performances this May 16th with an outdoor performance at Pleasant Home & Mills Park in the Chicago area. And even you can’t make that, be sure to visit their website Winifred Haun dot org, to get access to their channel on Vimeo where you watch videos that give you and inside look at the creative process of choreographing a performance of this kind. But first let’s hear from Winnie herself about what that process is. And… Musicians… pay attention!

Homepage: WinifredHaun.org

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/winifredhaundancers/

My guest in this episode is one of these rare success stories of working musician. And by “working”, I don’t mean he’s just able to get paying gigs playing in a cover band, or make a few bucks from youtube streams. I mean someone who’s legitimately credited on albums by artists like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day, Tom Petty, Linkin Park, and the list goes on. Michael Hateley is a guy who’s worn a lot of hats. He’s had a record deal and toured as member of the punk band Extra Fancy, he’s worked for Warner Bros. Studios as an engineer, he’s been involved in an independent film project that was picked up by Netflix, and now he has his own audio mastering business in Los Angeles with clients like Atlantic Records, Warner Brothers, and Sire. I asked Michael to be on this podcast to shed some light on what working in the “biz” really means, and how you can carve out a real career if you just follow some basic steps. The first one being, listen to this podcast in its entirety. Learn from someone who’s being doing this before a streaming channel even existed, and what he thinks the future looks like. The good news is that’s always going to be filled with opportunities for those who know where to look for them.

Homepage: Lotusmastering.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lotusmastering

@Lotusmastering

It’s April, and we hear the news every day that large social gatherings are going to be possible again very soon. So does this mean it’s too late to get into the virtual game? Has the opportunity for offering online classes and events to anyone and anywhere passed you by? Or is there still a chance to get on board and double-down on all the lessons learned from this last year, and do what you’ve always wanted to do? In the case of my guest in this episode, Caitlin Gill, that goal was to elevate her role as a meditation instructor into a personal coach. Caitlin talks about what that transition was like and what tools she was able to draw upon to make it happen, both personal and technical. Her story, not unlike her workshops, is about transformation… something we’re all probably still undergoing on some level or another. But I don’t want to make it sound easy. Transformation takes work, as Caitlin herself teaches. And in this episode, we’ll learn about where that work begins. 

Homepage

http://curiouserawakening.com

Facebook

http://facebook.com/curiouserawakening

Musicians, let’s be honest with ourselves. Most of us suck at doing livestreams. It’s not entirely our fault. Technology isn’t our main medium, and we had no time to prepare for this before pandemic, nor was anyone one around to teach us. But in a good way, it’s forced us to look at  what we’re doing well and not well as performers in general. For example, do you know how to read your audience? Do you know why some of your songs go over better with an audience than others? Do you play to the camera or ignore the camera? 

My guest in this episode, John Mollenhauer, is probably the first musician that I know of to start his own livestream show... and that was over four years ago. So not only is he an expert in this topic, he’s also a veteran live performer and author of his own book about liver performance called Performance Matters. If only we all had seen this pandemic coming, we could have gone to him for advice earlier. But nonetheless, he’s got some great lessons learned to share, and the second half of this interview will get into some of the technical aspects of doing a decent live-stream show, which I’m sure just about everyone listening will gain something from. So before you go blowing your next paycheck on new gear and wigs (if that’s your thing), spend this next half hour with John.

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq0d6HFawuC5O5fk6RVAEhw

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnmmusic

“Performance Matters” book by John M: https://amzn.to/3sdCRva

Here’s an easy, no brainer business plan. Get a couple hundred acres of property out in the country, ideally near a river or a lake, add a couple of porta-pottys, install and few faucets, and throw out some inner-tubes, and now you’ve got a campground. Now, invite event promoters to rent your property to organize their own music festivals or adventure events. Make it a policy that everyone has to leave the grounds just as they found them. Give everyone a colored wristband to signal to others what is the comfort level with distancing. Then, just let them do their thing. You wouldn’t hardly have to hire your own staff, and since its your personal property, you won’t be under the same scrutiny as public venues. It seems almost fail safe, right? My guest in this episode, Lance Cauble of Water Mountain Camping Grounds in Belle MO, can answer that because that’s exactly what he and his wife did in 2016. Lance was probably one of the fews places in MO that could operate last year, and they seem to be getting bookings again for summer. But is it really the working vacation life that it sounds cracked up to be? 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WaterMountainLLC/

You’ve probably seen S. Robert Morgan on the hit TV show The Wire, or in the Marvel Universe series Luke Cage. But what you don’t know about him is that he’s the founder and Artistic Director of The Essential Theater in Washington D.C. It’s mission is to use theater as a vehicle to express the African-American experience, and to educate youths about realities outside of theater. For example, teaching kids in D.C.’s economically depressed areas about managing their own finances, and how to achieve positive levels of self-esteem. S. Robert uses the power of story-telling to ignite the imaginations of young people, and he’s proven that drama can even be used as a form of psycho-therapy. Yeah… this conversation ran very deep. And I haven’t even gotten to the part about how he directs his own productions while being sight impaired. Seriously, are you ready to be blown away? Spend the next 25 minutes with S. Robert.

Homepage: https://www.theessentialtheatre.org/  

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