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 This is a feature column on the experiences and insights of a modern indie musician. Sounds a little heavy, but could make for a good read, right? I"ll tell ya" what . . . before you make up your mind, give me a few lines.
The name"s Uni and I sing for the band Red Carpet Rats. Our road has had more twists and turns than a Tarantino/Rodriguez double feature, and ‘ol ACED here is letting me tell you all about it . . . and then some!
Part how-to, part how-not-to, it's your very own all-access, VIP, couldn"t-get-closer-without-a-MySpace-password, look under the hood of indie rock. Still with me? Good. Now let"s see, where to begin . . .
Ahhhh . . . my debut full length CD! The first time the people will
hear me proper. The first time I get to say, “This is me . . . er, so
whaddayathink?”
Now, even as a music fan of almost Rain Man
proportions, I never put much thought into an artist’s first record,
other than, “I really dig that song, I wonder if the rest are any
good?” All
I was listening for was more of the same of why I purchased it in the
first place, i.e. the first single. I had no idea about what was on the
line for the artist I was listening to. Now that I am recording my
independent debut with RCR, I know exactly what’s on the line . . . me!
First off, any musician who releases a record, on any level, that tells you they never lay awake wondering if their music is gonna ‘go over', is lying. Period. If they just wanted to create art for art’s sake, they wouldn’t make it available, right? They’d just go on playing it for their moms/dads/girlfriends/boyfriends/girlfriend’s boyfriends, whatever, and never venture any further with it than their own PCs.
So, as I stand here waiting to see if RCR (Red Carpet Rats) goes over, and before the good ol’ full length CD has gone completely the way of the Stones, uh...I mean, dinosaur (and we’ve gone back to an early-Elvis era ‘hit single’, albeit downloadable, society), I’ve outlined a few of the hot buttons that artists face when delivering a record:
1- Flow. Not as in the Hustle and . . .sense, but basically how the CD feels, song to song. Track order. Consistency. Does one song sound like a demo for “Lithium” and the next a mastered “The Black Parade”? If so—uh oh.
This brings us to Uni’s Thought For The Day: Isn’t My Chemical Romance what Queen would have sounded like had they grew up on, uh... I mean . . . listening to, “Lithium”?
Also, it doesn’t matter if the artist is saying “I’m-just-a-songwriter-and-these-are-my-songs” (a la Van Morrison) or, “I’m-just-a-gigolo-and-these-are-my-songs” (a la Van Halen), as long as they don’t swerve. Or else it’s not real . . . and I, you, we, ain’t buying.
2 - Artwork. Now we’ve all, on at least one occasion, bought a CD because of the way the cover looked. I know I have. Granted it was Shania Twain, so not only can I be excused because she’s a stunner, but also, who can argue with ‘Def Leppard country’. Joe Elliot maybe. But not me. Pour Some Sugar On Me . . . Ya’ll!
So, back to a picture of the artist on the cover. It can be kinda cool, all those 60s groups (The Beatles and The Doors) used to do it. It can also kinda not be cool, like all those 90s boy bands (any of them) who did it.
Another route is to go with the existential ‘what does this really mean’ cover. Personally, I’m all for artistic freedom. Hell, throw a naked baby in the water and have him swim after a buck if that’s what you’re into. Wait, that’s been done!
To Be Continued . . .
Coming Soon . . . Feels Like The First Time: Part II
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