Friday, April 11, 2008
Kevin Sandbloom LA to the UK
Kevin Sandbloom is the other amazing artist that Orrin manages from across the sea. Kevin is planning a summer 2008 tour of London, and one of my projects has been to create a one-sheet for him that emphasizes his LA Acoustic Soul style and makes an interesting pitch to promoters in the UK. Here is the one sheet I have created:
Artist Development with Riccardo Lopez
Riccardo is an Italian singer-songwriter who moved to London 2 years ago with a dream of becoming a professional musician/songwriter. I met him through Orrin who set up our first meeting, and immediately got to know him by asking lots of questions so that I could write him a biography. Which I have done, and will include in this post. Orrin set us up in hopes that we'd help teach each other things and that I would help with promotion and also with songwriting by critiquing songs and helping to develop his music as well. The biggest challenge for Riccardo is to write music in English, which is his second language. He speaks it well but as I talked about with him early on, it is much harder to translate poetry or to write poetry in another language because it uses metaphor and there are different ways of expressing ideas in different languages.
So I worked with him on finding ways to express things in English that he wrote in Italian. I also helped work on some lyrics that he had written in the past to say which phrases were not as strong. It is difficult to do this because in helping I do not want to misrepresent the ideas of the song. It ended up being a lot easier to start fresh, and within 2 weeks of meeting with Riccardo we wrote our first song together called 'Let it Out' which can be heard on Riccardo's myspace page: myspace.com/riccardolopez. I also offered helped with his vocals by teaching a few simple vocal exercises and explaining the different registers of the voice and how it can be difficult to switch from chest voice to head voice for example. This was fun because we got to see how high Riccardo could sing when he did scales and kept going up. Since then he's worked on singing in different registers, Orrin has requested he sing in the lower register of his voice and he's been working on that lately. Its good practice to see where vocal strengths are.
In addition to working with Riccardo I found a few open mics, hoping we could perform at one together but due to the LC schedule of constantly going to amazing concerts almost every night of the week, we had to go to open mics at separate times. I have performed at:
The Riverside - Tower Bridge January 23, 2008
The Sun - Clapham Common February 11, 2008
The Star - Tuffnell Park March 3, 2008
Riccardo has also been playing monthly at the SoBar on Fulham Broadway, here is a photo of him playing there:
Right not Riccardo is recording with a producer in London and continuing to perform at the SoBar.
Here is the bio I wrote in January:
Italian singer-songwriter Riccardo Lopez, born and raised in the beautifully rich artistic city of Rome has come to London’s open-minded international community to pursue his passion for songwriting and performing music.
When asked what Riccardo wants to accomplish in the coming years of his life, he says “I want to live thanks to my music. That’s everyone’s dream, to live thanks to what you love.” He is currently working with one of the most important composers in Italy, Louis Siciliano. He and Maurizio Clamente wrote a beautiful song for an Italian movie that will be released next spring called “Aria!” directed by Giorgio Arcelli. Caterina Sangineto will sing the Celtic version of the song, and a rock version of the song will also be released in the film and sung by Riccardo himself!
His contribution to current film scores is no coincidence. Riccardo’s songs are like scenes from a movie captured in musical form. He takes a place and moment in time and expresses love, encouragement, and sadness. Like the great songwriters that Riccardo has been inspired by: James Taylor, Neil Young, and Paul Simon—he tells a story with his music and brings certain emotions to life in a way that captures an audience and makes them feel what he’s feeling too. His music carries the romantic melancholic air of the classic British poets he reads Coleridge, Keats, Blake, while staying refreshingly grounded in rock and roll influences ranging anywhere from sounds of The Beatles and The Who to Oasis, Coldplay and the Foo Fighters.
His music brings together a diversity of sound, mixing a genuine folk feel with the gripping intensity of rock music. For the next couple of months you can catch him performing with American singer-songwriter Jodi McLaren. The duet is producing straightforward powerful lyrics with rich harmonies and layered guitar parts that are reminiscent of Guster for their catchy creativity and Damien Rice for his sweet male-female vocal mix. Visit www.myspace.com/riccardolopez for information on upcoming shows, releases, and recordings!
Promotion-- general guideline
In order to promote an artist you have to get a true sense of what the artist has to offer to the community. This includes choosing a good way of describing the artists style and genre. Many artists today find it hard to fit themselves into a genre but it is important at least to have a few words that explain to someone who has never heard the music something about the music and how it sounds.
Bio: A biography is used to tell more about the artists accomplishments, what types of music they sound similar to, where they are coming from, and what they have to offer as musicians and or songwriters.
Logo/Image: Developing an image or logo using the artists name preferrably in a way that communicates qualities of the artist's music really helps get an artist established. People can then see the image and associate it with the artist. This is also good to use and keep consistent on other promotional materials like the biography, the one-sheet, and the website, and/or CDs--though other art should be used for each of these materials as well.
Website: Today a myspace page is really essential in getting to know other musicians and developing a fanbase. Posting recent songs on myspace keeps fans connected to what you are doing and gives them a chance to hear your music, old or new! Designing a separate webpage that matches the feel of the artist is also important, pictures, background images, and text should all be chosen carefully to reflect the artist.
One-Sheet: A one sheet is a brief, front side of one sheet of paper with a picture of the artist (usually) and some information about the style, recent venues played, recent accomplishments, along with any quotes from popular sources about the artist. It gives people a sense of what the artist is like in a short period of time, which is great for todays world where theres so much information flying around. It's important to make these concise and to choose to include the most relevant information about the artist.
Flyers/Mailing Lists: flyers and mailing lists with upcoming show information is a great way to keep fans and strangers informed about shows.
T-shirts and other merchandise: using designs and logos, make things people would like to wear in order to promote the music.
The general path an artist might take is in more or less this order:
1. Create a bio, website, one sheet, establish an identity.
2. Connect with other artists and work together to book shows
3. Start performing open mics and forming connections with booking people at various venues.
4. Create a Design that embodies the artists look/ideas/feel.
5. Make flyers, posters, t-shirts, email fans/form mailing list.
6. Record an EP (3-4 songs), get reviews for the CD, pass it along to music magazines and websites as well as venues.
7. Contact newspapers, internet media, distribution magazines about upcoming shows, cd releases, etc.
8. mail in top songs to local/internet radio stations.
9. maintain local fan base and travel/book show further away.
Keven is already to step 9--he's been doing this for a long time, and I have been working with Riccardo from step 1, these certainly do not have to go in this order but they are all components of promoting an artist.
Since Kevin will not be in London while I am here and Riccardo has not come to the point where he is ready to book shows, I have created a list of some venues to match each of their styles. Some overlap, here is the list!
Kevin Sandbloom: Barfly, JazzCafe, Ritzy Cafe (Brixton), 12 Bar Club, Roxy Bar and Screen, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Borderline, Aint Nothin but Blues Bar, Maggie's Bar, Green Note.
Riccardo: Roxy Bar and Screen, 12Bar Club, Ruskin House, Maggie's Bar, Green Note, South Hill Park Arts Centre.
And some good open mics at popular venues: The Troubador, Bar 12, The Spice of Life, Progress Bar, and Native Tongue. useyourears.co.uk lists dates and times for many open mics in London!
Bio: A biography is used to tell more about the artists accomplishments, what types of music they sound similar to, where they are coming from, and what they have to offer as musicians and or songwriters.
Logo/Image: Developing an image or logo using the artists name preferrably in a way that communicates qualities of the artist's music really helps get an artist established. People can then see the image and associate it with the artist. This is also good to use and keep consistent on other promotional materials like the biography, the one-sheet, and the website, and/or CDs--though other art should be used for each of these materials as well.
Website: Today a myspace page is really essential in getting to know other musicians and developing a fanbase. Posting recent songs on myspace keeps fans connected to what you are doing and gives them a chance to hear your music, old or new! Designing a separate webpage that matches the feel of the artist is also important, pictures, background images, and text should all be chosen carefully to reflect the artist.
One-Sheet: A one sheet is a brief, front side of one sheet of paper with a picture of the artist (usually) and some information about the style, recent venues played, recent accomplishments, along with any quotes from popular sources about the artist. It gives people a sense of what the artist is like in a short period of time, which is great for todays world where theres so much information flying around. It's important to make these concise and to choose to include the most relevant information about the artist.
Flyers/Mailing Lists: flyers and mailing lists with upcoming show information is a great way to keep fans and strangers informed about shows.
T-shirts and other merchandise: using designs and logos, make things people would like to wear in order to promote the music.
The general path an artist might take is in more or less this order:
1. Create a bio, website, one sheet, establish an identity.
2. Connect with other artists and work together to book shows
3. Start performing open mics and forming connections with booking people at various venues.
4. Create a Design that embodies the artists look/ideas/feel.
5. Make flyers, posters, t-shirts, email fans/form mailing list.
6. Record an EP (3-4 songs), get reviews for the CD, pass it along to music magazines and websites as well as venues.
7. Contact newspapers, internet media, distribution magazines about upcoming shows, cd releases, etc.
8. mail in top songs to local/internet radio stations.
9. maintain local fan base and travel/book show further away.
Keven is already to step 9--he's been doing this for a long time, and I have been working with Riccardo from step 1, these certainly do not have to go in this order but they are all components of promoting an artist.
Since Kevin will not be in London while I am here and Riccardo has not come to the point where he is ready to book shows, I have created a list of some venues to match each of their styles. Some overlap, here is the list!
Kevin Sandbloom: Barfly, JazzCafe, Ritzy Cafe (Brixton), 12 Bar Club, Roxy Bar and Screen, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Borderline, Aint Nothin but Blues Bar, Maggie's Bar, Green Note.
Riccardo: Roxy Bar and Screen, 12Bar Club, Ruskin House, Maggie's Bar, Green Note, South Hill Park Arts Centre.
And some good open mics at popular venues: The Troubador, Bar 12, The Spice of Life, Progress Bar, and Native Tongue. useyourears.co.uk lists dates and times for many open mics in London!
Orrin Ezralow: What I've Learned about Music Management
I am doing an independent study project with Orrin Ezralow on artist development, promotion, and management. Through my discussions with Orrin, I've learned a lot about the different avenues a musical artist can take. The role of the manager is to guide a musicians in the right direction, finding the best ways for an artist to make a living off of his or her talent in ways that fit the artists personality.
I am going to outline the different ways a musician can become successful:
Composing/Writing the Music: A songwriter makes 50% of the profits of any further production or performance of the music created. This is the most profitable way to make music. A musician writes a song and sells it and then does not have to perform it necessarily and the song gets passed into different venues of interest, whether it be film or whether it gets used by another performing artist.
Licensing: getting the rights to the music.
Selling CDs/Concert Tickets: Some artists make a huge profit on selling CDs without necessarily going on tour! Selling CDs in the next component of making money off of music.
Performing the Music: Going on tour, getting paid to do gigs, etc.
The thing I've really enjoyed about Orrin is he knows how to maximize the talents of an artist in a lucrative way without exploiting the artist. He finds a way to make money off of the true personality and vibes a specific artist gives, and also really makes sure the artist has the right drive to go into the field he or she chooses. This is so important because it allows the artist to be themselves and to thrive using their talents.
A manager helps bring out the strongest qualities of a musician and highlight those things as the artist continues to develop in other areas. For example, if someone is an incredible folk guitar player but really aspires to do a heavy rock CD, the best bet would be to go into what the artist does best, and work from there, and if heavy rock comes later than thats okay, but if it isn't a strength yet it may not be ready to enter into trying to get a record deal or something like that. Focusing on talents and developing those talents by taking lessons and practicing and having a united image is a great way to have a successful entrance into music making and selling.
A good manager helps guide the musician in a path that matches the artist's life, and also takes care of a lot of the logistics: paperwork, press, promotion companies, booking venues--they really "manage" all of the technical things that most artists would rather not have to deal with. In return they get a percentage of profits on certain things outlined by signed documents and agreements (these exact percentages I am completely not sure about, but this is the general idea from what I've gathered).
I am going to outline the different ways a musician can become successful:
Composing/Writing the Music: A songwriter makes 50% of the profits of any further production or performance of the music created. This is the most profitable way to make music. A musician writes a song and sells it and then does not have to perform it necessarily and the song gets passed into different venues of interest, whether it be film or whether it gets used by another performing artist.
Licensing: getting the rights to the music.
Selling CDs/Concert Tickets: Some artists make a huge profit on selling CDs without necessarily going on tour! Selling CDs in the next component of making money off of music.
Performing the Music: Going on tour, getting paid to do gigs, etc.
The thing I've really enjoyed about Orrin is he knows how to maximize the talents of an artist in a lucrative way without exploiting the artist. He finds a way to make money off of the true personality and vibes a specific artist gives, and also really makes sure the artist has the right drive to go into the field he or she chooses. This is so important because it allows the artist to be themselves and to thrive using their talents.
A manager helps bring out the strongest qualities of a musician and highlight those things as the artist continues to develop in other areas. For example, if someone is an incredible folk guitar player but really aspires to do a heavy rock CD, the best bet would be to go into what the artist does best, and work from there, and if heavy rock comes later than thats okay, but if it isn't a strength yet it may not be ready to enter into trying to get a record deal or something like that. Focusing on talents and developing those talents by taking lessons and practicing and having a united image is a great way to have a successful entrance into music making and selling.
A good manager helps guide the musician in a path that matches the artist's life, and also takes care of a lot of the logistics: paperwork, press, promotion companies, booking venues--they really "manage" all of the technical things that most artists would rather not have to deal with. In return they get a percentage of profits on certain things outlined by signed documents and agreements (these exact percentages I am completely not sure about, but this is the general idea from what I've gathered).
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