Musician’s Notebook

 

Nine Inch Nails’, “The Slip” Album Review

 

 

I was fairly impressed with Nine Inch Nails’ album. To think that most of the times when people say,

“The best things in life are free!”, I will forever relate that to this album. I would like to warn most though 

its hard to really determine my opinion because I am an overall Nine Inch Nails fan for about 12 years now.

I do, however, would like to add that the one album I had anticipated from Nine Inch Nails for many years wasn’t

my favorite (”With Teeth”) of course after 2 -3 years, “With Teeth” did grow on me.

 

 

The reason why I’m even mentioning a past album in a current album review is because if I really wanted to 

say if I had to imagine what kind of sound I expected “With Teeth” to sound like it would have to be, “The Still”.

I think this album was is genius. I would have paid two times the amount of “With Teeth” for this album and I think

my wallet would have had to problem giving it up.

 

 

So I’m going track by track to describe to you guys another great record by Nine Inch Nails.

 

 

Track 1: 999,999

 

Sometimes Trent loves to do a great a little intro to his albums whether it be all atmospherical or a good intro song. 

Here he uses kinda of a hissing sound with some ambient and some greatly designed sounds in the background that 

he uses his great knowledge of sound synthesis to perform. The sounds get a little more intense then it all stops and

you hear his voice saying something which at first you didn’t notice was being manipulated by an effect  saying, “HOw did I Slip….”

which leads to the actual track.

 

 

Track 2: 1,000,000

 

Using one more 1 to the title of the track brings you his next track. Which has the usual harsh and rash synth lines with some 

crazy noisy sounds and harsh bass sounds to accompany his neighboring sounds. There’s even a slight guitar shred in 

the song that reminds of “Wish” from their “Broken” EP. The chorus is catchy along with some the abrasive sounds 

in the verse. Overall great song! It kinda reminds you of a mixture of what he would do in his “Broken” EP 

with his maturity of the “With Teeth” album.

 

 

Track 3: Letting You

 

The drum programming sequence in the beginning of this song kinda reminds me of some crazy drum n bass but then the synths 

begin to go nuts with some speedy vocal melodies. Another aggressive sounding song to follow up with its previous.

The chorus really hammers on against your brain in this one. It’s fast and its what you expect in a nicely evolved Nine Inch Nails song.

 

 

Track 4: Discipline 

 

This is the single for this album that most of us have already heard before the album came out. The song that made us 

anticipate the album to begin with. This one reminds me of something that would be in “With Teeth”. Its got your

synth lines that remind you of the synth lines in “The Hand That Feeds”, but its just such a better song. A very catchy song and kinda 

tones down his aggressiveness from the previous tracks on this album so far.

 

 

Track 5: Echoplex

 

This was the other song that was heard in iLike before the album came out. The electronic drums starts off the song along 

with the bass line that is effected by a strange kind of distortion. It’s a pretty good song overall with some great melodies. The beat I think is one 

thing that will stay stuck in your due to the fact that it never really changes. Maybe not my favorite song out of the whole album 

but it gives good contrast to the other songs that you’ve heard up to this point. 

 

 

Track 6: Head Down 

 

I love the drums in this song and the extremely distorted guitars. I love this song its very mid tempo and everything, but what I really love about this song

is the chorus. WOW! The sequence that follows the chords is just really amazing. It kinda reminds me of what “The Line Begins To Blur” 

did to my auditory pleasure. Not a track to skip at al!

 

 

Track 7: Lights In The Sky

 

Piano and vocals. One of the things that I love that Trent does. Sounds like a ballad of some sort, but if you’ve ever liked any of his piano and vocals 

only like the beginning of “Hurt”, “Something I Can Never Have”, etc. I think you’ll love this one if you’ve ever loved his piano and vocal work. I think the 

structure if very heart and especially the chorus and the melody that accompanies it.

 

 

Track 8: Corona Radiata 

 

Sounds sinister and almost like the world is ending or something. It’s another instrumental that could be used for a score of a movie or something. 

I will have you judge for yourself. Strange way to follow up sucha great ballard sounding song. 

 

 

Track 9: The Four Of Us Dying 

 

Another sinister instrumental. The bassline and the effect in it is lovely. The song is generally a harsh electronic rock jam to me. 

It keeps you anticipated throughout the entire song. It’s a great track to jam to if you feel you need a dosage of a great blend of electronic rock

with crazy synths and background sequences and etc.

 

 

Track 10: Demond Seed

 

The drum sequence is what really turns me on in this song. It’s more electronic than anything and I have been loving what 

Trent has been doing electronically lately especially since the “Year Zero” album. The song has some similar traditional Nine Inch Nails 

sounds. It’s abrasive, the vocals are soft, and the guitars at a minimum. It’s repetitive but it’s that beat that just doesn’t leave you 

and doesn’t get tiring neither and thats also the way the album ends.

 

 

 

Overall

 

I”m very impressed with the album. It seems almost too short sometimes, but that can be a perspective thing. You can enjoy it so much you might want 

to play it again.  I honestly suggest getting this album, after all its free! Any hardcore NIN fans would def. appreciate it. It’s got its older influence

back somewhere in there with a blend of the new mature sound since “With Teeth”, but it’s got the balls of “Broken” and “Year Zero”. So if you were 

a fan of any of those records, then I can almost guarantee you will love this album. For those of you who have been living under a rock for nearly 15 years

and are a fan of electronic music blended with rock music because I really wouldn’t want to call NIN industrial these days, I would get out of that shell of yours

and check this out this record. So don’t wait and do your ears a favor and get this album now at http://www.nin.com (Again, it’s free and you won’t have to feel guilty about “illegally” downloading it from a torrent site or a file sharing P2P network)

 

 

 

 

 

Upon arriving on Nine Inch Nails’ website on the highly anticipated day after the message on their web blog titled, “2 Weeks”,

we saw that the assumptions were very much correct, we stumbled across the message saying:

“05 may 2008: halo 27

 

Click HERE to get the new full-length nine inch nails record: the slip

 

(thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one’s on me)”

 

 

That’s right ladies and gentlemen the expected (or unexpected) album from Nine Inch Nails is out. The best thing about it is, as you can read, 

“this one’s on me” meaning its absolutely FREE! It’s not another Ghosts I-IV this album actually contains vocals like all other Nine Inch Nails albums.

Anyways I don’t want to keep you here all day but the link to download this album is here: 

 

http://theslip.nin.com

 

 

Upon arriving at the site you will need to give your email address so that the download link will be sent to you and onc eyou click on the link you will have a 

choice to forward it to some of your friends via email. Once you have click on the download, you will be given several choices as to what format you want to download 

and also mentioning the fact that  the physical format are coming soon and i doubt those will be free. The formats available at the moment are:

 

High-Quality MP3s

FLAC Lossless 

M4A Apple Lossless 

High Definition WAVE 24/96

 

 

All files are 100% DRM

 

Also, as usual somewhere in the link you will have a link to download the multitracks to the album and NIN also encourages you to remix it and pretty much pass it along.

 Track Listings:

1. 999,999
2. 1,000,000
3. letting you
4. discipline
5. echoplex
6. head down
7. lights in the sky
8. corona radiata
9. the four of us are dying
10. demon seed

 

Aside from the new album I thought we’d all have to wait for awhile before Nine Inch Nails decided to announce their tour dates till May 25th but it appears they already

started throwing out some of the dates in our faces unexpectedly. Now, I too am disappointed that I don’t see a Florida date on here, but I mean it’s okay because they normally won’t give 

you all the dates for this next album’s tour right away. My only advice to those that don’t have their hometown under this list is just sit there and wait a little while longer 

and hopefully we’ll see them come around to our hometowns. Cross your fingers!

 

 

For ticket sales and presales it’s noted to go to their site http://www.nin.com 

 

 

 

7/25/08 Pemberton, BC [Pemberton Festival]

On sale: NOW

 

7/26/08 Seattle, WA [Key Arena]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10:00AM)

 

7/28/08 Edmonton, AB [Rexall Place]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (10:00AM)

 

7/29/08 Calgary, AB [Pengrowth Saddledome]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (10:00AM) 

 

7/31/08 Winnipeg, MB [MTS Centre]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (10:00AM) 

 

8/2/08 Minneapolis, MN [Target Center]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

8/3/08 Chicago, IL [Grant Park - Lollapalooza Festival]

On Sale: NOW

 

8/5/08 Toronto, ON [Air Canada Centre]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (5:00PM)

 

8/7/08 Uncasville, CT [Mohegan Sun Arena]

Pre Sale: 5/21 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/24 (10AM)

 

8/8/08 Worcester, MA [DCU Center]

Pre Sale: 5/14 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/17 (12NOON)

 

8/10/08 Baltimore, MD [Pimlico Race Course - V Festival]

On Sale: 5/3 

 

8/12/08 Knoxville, TN [Knoxville Civic Coliseum]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (9AM)

 

8/13/08 Duluth, GA [Gwinnett Arena]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (5PM)

 

8/15/08 Oklahoma City, OK [Ford Center]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

8/16/08 Houston, TX [Toyota Center]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (5PM)

 

8/18/08 Dallas, TX [American Airlines Center]

Pre Sale: 5/6 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/9 (5PM)

 

8/20/08 St. Louis, MO [Scottrade Center]

Pre Sale: 5/28 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/31 (10AM)

 

8/22/08 Cleveland, OH [Quicken Loans Arena]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

8/23/08 Auburn Hills, MI [The Palace of Auburn Hills]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

8/27/08 East Rutherford, NJ [Izod Center]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (12NOON)

 

8/29/08 Philadelphia, PA [Wachovia Center]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

8/31/08 Lexington, KY [Rupp Arena]

Pre Sale: 4/30 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/3 (10AM)

 

9/2/08 Morrison, CO [Red Rocks Amphitheater]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On Sale: 5/10 (10AM)

 

9/3/08 Salt Lake City [E Center]

Pre Sale: 5/7 (5PM)

On sale: 5/10 (11AM)

 

9/5/08 Oakland, CA [Oracle Arena]

Pre Sale: 6/12 (5:00PM)

On Sale: 6/15 (10AM)

 

9/6/08 Los Angeles, CA [The Forum]

Pre Sale: TBA

On Sale: TBA 

 

l

 

So it appears that Nine Inch Nails is doing it again! 

 

 

After releasing, “Ghosts I-IV” on March 2, 2008 you figure most fans were thinking, “Okay, great well, now we’ll have to wait for some time for another release from Nine Inch Nails.”  Well guess again! Nine Inch Nails just so happens to release their new single entitled, “Discipline” (mixed by Alan Moulder), which includes vocals and everything. American radio stations began playing the new single and provided the online links  as to where you can download this song for free (discipline.nin.com)    

 

 

 

Now the whole situation that has people completely psyched and in massive anticipation is the fact that about two weeks prior to “Ghosts I-IV”, Trent Reznor posted on his site blog “2 Weeks”. So he does it again now! April 21, 2008 Trent Reznor posts “2 Weeks”. So us doing the math leads to the very speculation that the follow-up to “Year Zero” will be released on May 5th, 2008!! Even contained with the MP3 down for Discipline is the message that says “Go to www.nin.com May 5″. So no one knows exactly what that’s all about, but we all know that Nine Inch Nails has gone completely independent and of course thats a whole other story. 

 

 

In the future, I  will be discussing a few things about how the music business has changed over time and why artists like Nine Inch Nails and Radiohead have been doing these complete DIY releases. As for now let’s all put our hands together for more Nine Inch Nails material! 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

Stone Temple Pilots have just recently reunited for a 4-month summer tour and before all that takes place on May 17th, they will start off their first performance at the ABC-TV’s “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” tonight  (which is actually tomorrow early morning Friday at Midnight!).  It should be exciting to see the long await reunion take place. I don’t know about all of you but a Stone Temple Pilots reunion is something I always predicted would happen. Now before you go off to see them live in person you should take the time to see them on screen. The performance will bring great fuzzy feelings to every hardcore 90s music enthusiast . To bring back that refreshing sound of Stone Temple Pilots should be something of wonders to all our ears! 

 

 

In the side note of all this related news, I would also like to inform that they will be working on a new album and Scott Weiland actually said that there might be a DVD included with this upcoming album. Another part of this to mention is Scott Weiland’s second solo album will be coming out along with his autobiography later towards the end of the year. 

 

For those of you that haven’t kept taps on the recent news from Stone Temple Pilots, they have also announced their tour dates starting May 17th (or should we say Tonight at “Jimmy Kimmel Live!”) 

 

 

For those of you completely oblivious to the tour dates here they are! 

 

 

Columbus, OH

Rock On The Range Festival 

(May 17)

 

Camden, NJ 

Tweeter Center The Waterfront 

(May 18)

 

Cleveland, OH 

State Theatre Playhouse Square 

(May 20)

 

Chicago, IL 

Charter One Pavillion 

(May22)

 

Indianapolis, IN 

Indianapolis Motor Speedway 

(May 23)

 

Uncasville, CT 

Mohegan Sun Casino 

(May 26)

 

 

Holmdel, NJ 

PNC Bank Arts Center 

(May 31)

 

Mansfield, MA 

Tweeter Center For The Performing Arts 

(June 1)

 

Detroit, MI 

Fillmore Detroit 

(June 3)

 

St. Paul, MN 

Roy Wilkens Auditorium 

(June 6)

 

Kansas City, KS 

Rock Fest Liberty Memorial Park 

(June 7)

 

Maryland Heights, MO 

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 

(June 8)

 

West Valley City, UT 

E Center 

(June 11)

 

Las Vegas, NV 

The Pearl

(June 12, 14)

 

Calgary V Festival 

(June 21)

 

Los Angeles, CA 

Hollywood Bowl (June 24)

 

Tucson, AZ 

Anselmo Valencia Amphitheatre 

(June 25)

 

San Antonio, TX 

AT&T Center

(June 27)

 

The Woodlands, TX 

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion 

(June 28)

 

Grand Prairie, TX 

Nokia Theatre Grand Prairie 

(June 29)

 

Morrison, CO 

Red Rocks Amphitheatre 

(July 2)

 

Milwaukee, WI 

Summerfest Marcus Amphitheatre 

(July 4)

 

Quebec City, Quebec 

Summer Festival Planes |Of Abraham 

(June 10)

 

North York, ONT 

Edge Fest Downsview Park 

(June 12)

 

Canandaigua, NY 

Constellation Performing Arts Center 

(July 15)

 

Green Bay, WI

Oneida Casino 

(July 17)

 

Mt Pleasant, MI 

Soaring Eagle Casino 

(July 18)

 

Cadott, WI 

Chippewa Valley Music Festival 

(July 19)

 

Berkeley, CA 

Greek Theatre 

(July 25)

 

Paso Robles, CA 

Mid California State Fair 

(July 26)

 

San Diego, CA 

Concerts on the Green Qualcomm Stadium 

(July 27)

 

Bethlehem, PA 

Muzikfest 

(August 8)

 

Atlantic City, NJ 

The Borgata 

(August 9)

 

Baltimore, MD 

V Festival Pimlico Race Track 

(August 10)

 

Charlotte, SC 

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre 

(August 17)

 

Orlando, FL 

UCF Arena 

(August 19)

 

Hollywood, FL 

Hard Rock Live Seminole Hard Rock Casino 

(August 20)

 

Tampa, FL 

Ford Amphitheatre 

(August 22)

 

Alpharetta, GA 

Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Encore Park 

(August 23)

 

Vancouver 

GM Place 

(August 30)

 

Seattle, WA 

Bumbershoot Festival Memorial Stadium 

(August 31) 

 

 

 

   

I was very impressed with the collaboration of Vocalist/MC Cee Lo Green and Producer/Composer Danger Mouse on their first album, “St. Elsewhere”. In fact, I had heard the song, “Crazy” a million times on the radio and it was a major explosion. Whenever I walked into the store that song was playing, whenever I was in someone else’s car and they had the radio on, it was playing. I loved the song and still do, but it wasn’t until a friend of mine recommended me to get the album and informed me that it was  collaboration between Cee Lo and Danger Mouse. My eyes were wide open because I always a fan of Cee Lo and heard nothing but great things about Danger Mouse’s compositions. When I picked up, “St. Elsewhere”, I was very very impressed! Great song concepts and storytelling.

 

 

Now I recently picked up Gnarl Barkley’s latest album, “The Odd Couple” and heard it through twice and I wasn’t disappointed. I do mark the fact that the album is different from the debut. If you liked more of the rapping, just be informed there is not much of that in this album. If you liked the song ,”Crazy” and Cee Lo’s singing, then you’ll enjoy, “The Odd Couple”. 

 

 

Let’s go through each song now, shall we?

 

 

Track 1: Charity Case

 

Great introduction soul due to the whole soul music feel. It reminds of Outkast’s , “The Love Below”. In fact a lot of the songs are like some of the songs from Outkast’s, “The Love Below, but in another level of course. The beat is continuous throughout the song and it has a female vocoder effect on a female voice at some point. I found the whole idea very impressive because a lot of times people were overusing it became sort of a new electronic music cliche, but they did it right. The mood is very chill and upbeat at the sametime, its actually very moderate feel good track. Good job guys!

 

 

Track 2: Who’s Gonna Save My Soul

 

This song has a chillout hip-hop feel beat-wise. The talent in the vocals is very soothing with its rich soul. The lyrics are assisted very well with the music, its sort of a downer song but yet you don’t really feel down. Something you would hear at a jazz lounge but instead the music is unique with its blend of hip-hop, lounge, and soul. When I say soul, I mean lots of soul! Like the souls in the afterlife style!

 

 

Track 3: Going On

 

It’s an upbeat version of the first track, “Charity Case”. It almost sounds like you could compare it to “Hey Ya” from Outkast, but in my honest opinion, this song completely gets the torch handed to it. I apologize for the comparisons, but its the best way to describe. I’m impressed how the mood switches from it being so upbeat and wild and all but then the beats begin to slow down a bit showing the remarkable beat complex composition talent of Danger Mouse. Yet throughout the whole track, you can’t help but feel your aura become brighter especially after the last track.

 

 

Track 4: Run (I’m A Natural Disaster)

 

I don’t listen to the radio or anything to be honest with you, but I think this is the single for the album. I think its really fair to say that this would be the best single for the album as well. It really defines what this album is mostly about. Again, that upbeat soul sound with electronic beats and it sounds nothing like anything in the Outkast album, “The Love Below”. I really love the lyrics and how the music and lyrics reflect off each other. In a sense the song is so upbeat, it kinda makes you want to run in a 60s/70s movie scene.

 

 

Track 5: Would Be Killer

 

Very short song, but the feel is probably a little darker than the rest of the album. I love how it starts with some gun clips being inserted. The song has its hip-hop sound but leaning more to the soul with some strange yet clever samples playing around and Cee Lo just singing his crazy heart out.

 

 

Track 6: Open Book

 

Nicely done reversed string sounds and a rain forest atmosphere with some complex beat sequencing. This song really shows an example of Danger Mouse’s amazing sequencing skills as its completely electronic. Vocally, I find the chorus pretty nuts, but again Cee Lo doesn’t fail us vocally throughout the song.

 

 

Track 7: Whatever

 

A mid-tempo short song with some synth leads and still in his form of its neo soul genre and the lyrics are simple and direct. Again great song!

 

 

Track 8: Surprise

 

Another upbeat song that I feel takes you back. You’ll forget you’re in the year 2008 (or whatever year it is now if this review is old). Again, this song has a strong resemblance to Charity Case and Going. I really love the hook on this song the vocals really are highlighted in this song. 

 

 

Track 9: No Time Soon 

 

This song has a great guitar lick with some synths again. Its very slow tempo and at some point some nice electronic beats. I really have to say the synths in this song amaze me the way it accompanies the guitar, its a pretty attractive tune. 

 

 

Track 10: She Knows

 

It kind of reminds of me the previous track but a bit more steady paced. The beat doesn’t change. The vocals pretty much are soulful as usual but nothing else changes. It’s a very relaxing beat nonetheless. 

 

 

Track 11: Blind Mary

 

I love this song. It’s a nice feel good track. The hook is extremely catchy and actually the whole composition is catchy. It all stays the same in terms of beats and stuff. Its makes me feel like I’m listening to an islander confessing his under dying love for someone, Mary. The lyrics are also very nice.

 

 

Track 12: Neighbors

 

This combines a faster pace typical trip-hop beat with its strong soul vocals. The beat is what really attracts me to this song. The lyrics again are also amazing and extremely interesting. I should have you read them for yourselves. The clever production of Danger Mouse really shines on this track as well.

 

 

Track 13: A Little Better

 

The song’s full hip-hop beat assists the vocals very well and its even got a blended funk feel. This is pretty much the conclusion to the album and the final song is pretty much a great way to end the album. I love the way the vocals just come in and attract you by coming in by stating there’s a story to be told.  The great uses of effects on the vocals towards the end and ending the album the way it started with the construction worker’s drill-like samples and something else.  

 

 

Overall

 

You can tell already by the review of each song that there’s no rapping at all.  In fact, I would like to consider this being more of a neo-soul, hip-hop electronic album than anything else. Whether it’s because, “Crazy” from there debut album was such a big hit or if they just felt more into doing the neo soul deal, it doesn’t matter. I thought this was a great album, nicely written songs and greatly produced. Everything musically and lyrically fell into place and with each song that I had no desire to skip. In fact, upon hearing this album only the second  time to review this article I had to go for thirds. The success of this album was so high, it still to the very day of this written article, is placed on #1 on Top Electronic Album.  I highly recommend if you guys enjoyed their first album  on the neo-soul side, you’ll will love this one! Just don’t take it from me, listen for yourself!  

This blog is for all the musicians in the world who are striving to forge a long-term career. Today, I listened to some of the tunes of California band Monsters Are Not Myths and I must say, I really enjoyed their sound. Here’s a band that’s forging a following both locally and online. As I’ve said before: the Internet is a means of marketing and product distribution that completely changes the playing field of the music industry.

I spoke with singer and keyboard player Evan Hamilton via Skype. He tells me that the band is in a transitional period in terms of their sound, and their future releases will have more of a blues and folk feel to them. I look forward to hearing the differences between their local classic “What’s The Use” and their new material.

Clicking on the album art to the right will take you to CDBaby where their first release is available for download. You can hear many of the band’s songs on their site and MySpace page free of charge, so if you enjoy their music, do the right thing and help this band grow.

Check out the band’s Website, but they have uploaded even more songs to their MySpace page.

Blogged with Flock

Tags: independentbands, independent music, musician’s marketing, free music

Led Zeppelin will offer downloads of their music from all major online music retailers as of November, around the same time as their reunion gig in London.
Led Zeppelin is one of the last rock giants to allow their downloads to be acquired digitally, one of the last hold-outs across the world. When the last hold-outs cave in, it becomes clear that “Digital Downloads” are not just a passing fad for the music industry, but the new hegemony - something we at Musician’s Notebook already knew.

While Led Zeppelin doesn’t need to worry about forging an audience and a career, digital downloads are a vital part of the modern band’s effective marketing campaign, among other things (such as band blogging). It’s advice that may run contrary to the music industry’s own beliefs, but we all know that they’re not very good for you anyway.

We’ve come along way from the controversy around Metallica’s anti-Napster stance all those years ago. Personally, I don’t understand the controversy: Metallica has legal rights and the legal right to enforce those legal rights. They are legally, morally and ethically justified in demanding that fans don’t rip them off. At the same time, offering downloads of songs, whether it is free or for fee, is the distribution medium of right now and there’s no going back. If you have a problem with your songs being sold at iTunes, please leave through the third door from back - yes, the one that is marked “Career Incinerator”.

Led Zeppelin is also selling ring tones and full songs for mobile phones with Verizon Wireless, so you might say they’ve also sold their soul to the devil.

There’s a new tuneback out by Midnight.Haulkerton called Eastern Standard Tribe over on the official Midnight.Haulkerton blog, Alfadir’s Piercing. Go check it out. You like free music, right?

This tuneback is based on Cory Doctorow’s book by the same name and tackles issues such as the blurring distinctions between your place of residence and your time of residence thanks to the internet, artistic and intellectual betrayal, and more… check it out at Alfadir’s Piercing.

Too many artists are playing stale music; cliched lyrics, cliched licks and riffs, and cliched outfits. Ok, so the outfits don’t make a band, but it’s a hard question some of us have to ask: does my music provide something new? Years ago, I played in a band with some friends that sounded like rip-offs from cheesy 80s hair metal, minus the hair (except one of the guitarists, who had one heck of a fluffball). Had I liked playing in the band a bit more, it would have been much harder to admit: we were playing stale, cliched crap.

It’s hard to ask, and it’s harder to answer, but it’s something you’ve got to do, and do honestly. Take a tough look at your music and if you feel compelled to defend something, then your question is answered. If it’s fresh and exciting material, there will be no doubt. You’ll know it, because you wouldn’t have heard it before.

Your first instinct will be to brush past the question with a “of course it’s not stale!” but avoiding the hard truth is the worst thing you can do. What have you got to lose if you ask? Nothing - you will gain when you start thinking about the kind of music you want to be making. And if you don’t ask? You’ll lose a lot more, such as the prospect of an audience.

So, are you providing something new? Is your music fresh, exciting, and a relief from the barrage of cloned marketing rubbish that hit the airwaves on a daily basis. Go on - ask yourself.

It’s all well and good to have dreams for the future, and every band does–every band has a certain definition of what “making it” involves. But what they don’t know is how to get there. And while there’s a lot of learning required to find out how to get there in areas as diverse as marketing and public relations to management and organizational structures, there is a tool that anyone, or any group, can apply in practice.

Set targets for the near future - as in the next few weeks or months - and then work towards them.

Too many musicians look forward to ‘making it’ but don’t even know how to measure ‘making it’ - is getting a record deal (not for me, thanks), selling a few hundred copies of the band’s demo CD over the year at gigs,  or rocking out to a sold-out stadium?

If they don’t know what their desired end result is, there’s no way they can succeed on that level, whether the band objectively achieves success or not. The musicians in a band have to have a defined method of measuring that success.

So if this is pre-requisite for big-time success, what about small-time success? Worst still is the fact the bands who have no stated targets for the long-term never have a set of immediate targets!

When Midnight.Haulkerton first released the band’s name to the public in early 2007, a year and a half after they’d started writing music and planning for the future, we stated our immediate goal: have 1,000 song downloads within 6 months. We didn’t want a lot of attention yet, before we had recorded an album and readied our campaigns in full, so this seemed like an achievable goal without a hell of a lot of promotion involved.

But yesterday, only five months later, the download counter passed the 4,000 mark from the band’s main site without any real promotion whatsoever. Some of the band’s songs are hosted elsewhere, such as on the Sydney Morning Herald’s site, among others, and the combined count is expected to be double or triple that figure.

We weren’t consciously thinking about this figure most of the time, we just let it happen; but that target was in the back of our heads, churning away, as we worked to ready our various materials and campaigns. The strategy succeeded.

Midnight.Haulkerton, the band which I happen to be lead singer and songwriter for, launched its official online community, Haulkerton.com today.

This is the first time we’ve done this, and while our blog has done quite well, we have no way of knowing whether or not this does well for bands. Musician’s Notebook readers will be the first to know how it fares.

Members automatically get a free blog, photo album and access to the forums, so head on over and take a look.

And of course, check back here to see how well it goes, and how you can do this for your own band.

You’ve got a band! You’ve got songs! You’ve got a direction and goals! You have boundaries! You’ve got it all. Together we’ve built your band from nothing, to something that will remain on its foundations and not be shaken by any storm. Of course, the essential part of that foundation is you, and that’s by design. You might have control, but if you’re shaken by a storm, then everything’s blown. But no outside factors can knock it down.

What are your next steps? It’s time that you got your new group together, pulled out those chord charts and started teaching the repertoire to your band-mates. You must also remember that you’re learning too, because you’re learning to play with these other people and how to make your sounds gel. You might have to change some of the songs you’ve written—big deal. It’s to make them stronger.

Remember that when you wrote those songs, no matter how complex or simple they are, you wrote them with a band in mind. So you should have the mindset that nothing is ‘too precious’ and collaboration is welcome in the forms of suggestions and input, and each member should be allowed to contribute their sound to their individual parts. This is the stage where the song goes from being yours to being the bands, and before you perform it live, the band has to not only know it, but own it.

The first band practices will not be rehearsals. They will involve getting to know each other—and I’m not talking so much about personalities, as I’m talking about playing styles. It will be many sessions before you begin to play well together, so don’t expect much, just put the effort in.

Remember this two step process: teach, and learn, the songs, and then arrange them. This means that the songwriter gets the info to each band member and works with them to ensure they’ve learned the part.

The band then runs through the piece a few times, until everyone is certain they’ve got their part down, and the song is coming together as a cohesive whole. Then band members can look at their parts and see what they might like to see modified, what might suit their playing style better, and so on.

Through experimentation and open-mindedness, the band can forge a song that suits everyone and begins the crafting of the all-important signature sound. Remember that phrase throughout your coming band rehearsals, because if you can’t forge your own, unique sound, your band may never truly gain a substantial level of success.

The Establishing Your Band Series
Part One: What Direction Are You Going In?
Part Two: What’s This Band About?
Part Three: What You Need in Band Members
Part Four: Governing Models
Part Five: The Band Agreement
Part Six: Building Repertoire
Part Seven: Recruiting New Members
Part Eight: Learning & Arranging Repertoire

This article concludes the Establishing Your Band series. Subscribe to the Musician’s Notebook RSS feed to receive great information on all things to do with forging a successful musical career.

You’re finally up to the step you thought came first: getting out of the armchair and finding, and recruiting, a bunch of band members.

There are two major categories of recruitment methods: fast-paced recruitment and slow-paced relationship building.

Fast-paced recruitment involves putting up ads in music stores and local street press, and using the audition process to filter and select your band members. This can take as little as one or two weeks.

Slow-paced relationship building involves meeting musicians through natural means (it helps to frequent some kind of establishment or event filled with local musicians), forging friendships first and looking for the right person. Instead of auditioning them, you invite them over for a jam a couple of weeks after you meet and make the decision as to whether you invite them to join the band or not. This can take weeks too, but it’s more likely to take months. It can even take more than a year.

Personally, I favor slow-paced relationship building. Both methods work, but I find that recruiting the slow way means you weed out the flakes, and forge strong songwriting partnerships from the start, instead of hitting and missing for months or years as you constantly fire and audition members. Auditioning does not weed out the flakes very reliably, it just weeds out those who can’t play their instruments.

In Part Three we looked at member selection strategies and developed a group of SWOT charts to help you analyze potential new members. You’ll need to keep that stuff handy throughout this process, keeping notes the whole time. Be honest, and don’t let desperation to complete your band cause you to shake off bad feelings or signs. You’ll actually cause your band to destruct, as much as you don’t want to see that in your excitement.

So get out the SWOT charts, place some ads, or go hang out a musician’s workshop or university studio for a while.

songwriting, music, musicians, bands, recruitment, band

The Establishing Your Band Series
Part One: What Direction Are You Going In?
Part Two: What’s This Band About?
Part Three: What You Need in Band Members
Part Four: Governing Models
Part Five: The Band Agreement
Part Six: Building Repertoire
Part Seven: Recruiting New Members
Part Eight: Learning & Arranging Repertoire

Subscribe to the Musician’s Notebook RSS feed to receive the next installment of Establishing Your Band.

Every band requires a basic agreement that sets the standard for working conditions and practices. The way this document will be written really depends on which governing model you’ve chosen, as discussed in yesterday’s Establishing Your Band post.

Aristocratic - if you’ve used the aristocratic model, the band leader should sit down and knock out a draft, then take it to the band and discuss each element, how it can be improved, and any ideas for additions your band members may have.

Democratic - if you’ve chosen this model, then the planning and writing process should be group-driven; get together and do the draft as a band, with no individual taking the first steps in the process alone.

Anarchistic - if you’ve chosen this model, you obviously won’t be having a band agreement!

If you have a business-savvy or intellectual property law-savvy friend (or band member) you might want to get them in on the process too. Don’t even attempt to start the Band Agreement without a good footing in IP law of your own. That said, don’t even get into the creative industries without knowing that stuff. Go to the WIPO site and get a grip on it all.

Once you’ve decided who is involved in the writing process you can get started. You’ll need to set up a document that follows a structure somewhat similar to the one included in the Band Agreement Outline, with any additions or deletions as necessary, and then filling out that structure to cover, exhaustively, each topic.

Download the Band Agreement Outline as a PDF.

This basic list will get you well and truly started on the way to producing a Band Agreement that will keep the operations of the band civil and provide mechanisms for the removal of a band member who causes too much trouble.

Midnight.Haulkerton (then called Orpheus) actually had a Band Agreement formed after one band member’s consistent poor behavior called for it. You can save yourself plenty of time and trouble (and lost hair) by getting it out of the way in the early stages.

The Establishing Your Band Series
Part One: What Direction Are You Going In?
Part Two: What’s This Band About?
Part Three: What You Need in Band Members
Part Four: Governing Models
Part Five: The Band Agreement
Part Six: Building Repertoire
Part Seven: Recruiting New Members
Part Eight: Learning & Arranging Repertoire

Subscribe to the Musician’s Notebook RSS feed to receive the next installment of Establishing Your Band.

Before you start working on your repertoire and recruiting band members, it’s important to make a decision on the governing model of your band from the get-go. It’s also important to bear in mind that the band’s governing model is different to the songwriting relationships in the band, and you need to know what route you’ll take before you choose band members so that the songwriting relationships don’t affect the leadership model.

It’s common fault for a band leader to think “I really click and can write songs well with member B. Maybe I should make him the deputy band leader, instead of member C.” But what the band leader failed to consider was that member C once ran his own business and has some marketing training. While member B is a valuable part of the band’s creative output, member C would fit that role better: the deputy leader takes over when the band leader is away, and helps out with roles in business and management, so it would probably be wiser to put member C in that role and assign B as a creative director.

I made this fault with Midnight.Haulkerton’s first incarnation. Actually, I made it a hell of a lot worse: the member I selec