Rules of reinvention

Compare yourself to yourself first. In other words, say you want to get in shape. If you keep comparing yourself to an olympiad you'll never get anything done. Start setting realistic goals and work towards them each and every day.
Get a lot of exercise and eat right.
Skip the parties for a little while. Wait till you get to the point where you are proud of where you are.
If you fall down, get up. Count to ten and start over again.
Have heros you look to for inspiration, but don't idolize them and realize that you can be powerful too.

What record labels should do in the age of technology.

The music industry is doomed! Never to return! Now instead of wrecking hotel rooms even successful bands are having to stay in average motels and eat at Dennys. Oh, the horror. And record labels are freaking out. No more money to pay artist and repertoire people! So who is going to go scout for new talent? Why even go to clubs to look for talent when you can dial it up online? So the computer has been the enemy and the saviour of the modern industry. Now Billy in Billings Montana can play his new song online and put it out to the world with no record label whatsoever. But who is going to see it? Unless Billy becomes an expert in Search Engine Optimization in addition to learning guitar chords, Billy is not going to make enough money to buy a carton of top ramen. But maybe Billy isn’t trying to make money in music. Or he’s vaguely decided that perhaps somebody will stumble upon his material and sign him to a major label so he can tour the world and make lots of money for the rest of his life.
These days less and less people are making a comfortable living out of streaming music, etc. When I look at my scans to see what I’ve made on spotify or whatever, it generally comes out to about .0008 cents a song. But to be honest, I’d rather people hear my songs than not. The new paradigm of musicianship in this day and age isn’t about primarily making money off your recorded music, but to use that music to develop fans that will want to see you play live and sell merchandise. When I think of ways that record labels/ record publishing companies can implement change,  I understand that these expectations may not fit in with those who are concerned with the bottom line. But how about instead of keeping your eyes fixed on the bottom line you keep your eyes on the prize and think of long term implications for your artist and thereby, eventually, yourselves.

1) Embrace the changing tide. Instead of bitching about piracy, go with the flow. Offer free download cards with a shirt that people can buy. Put your artist out there. Have an app where you can live stream performances, even rehearsals.
2)Only sign artists that you believe have a long shelf life, not flash in the pan one hit wonders. Find good songwriters that have extensive catalogs. Have an artist web app where you can access lyrics, even have your artist share lyrics of songs they may be currently working on.
3)Increase the ease of the artist/ consumer relationship. Hire liasons that manage fan databases and keep track of demographics of fans.
4)Let the artist have input when it comes to marketing. Make sure the branding fits the message.
5)Make sure the artist focuses on having a banging live show and increasingly find ways for it to be live streamed via the web.
6)Have special insider extras that people can experience online like extra interviews, band warmups etc.
7)Make the band web app transferable to Iphones, androids, etc. Leave nothing to chance regarding the usability of band apps. Nobody should be left out because of what kind of phone they own, etc.

sometimes i flake

sometimes i flake
because i'm hungry
tired
haven't paid the bills
and don't want to tell you
don't want to make you wait
don't want to communicate

Zakarah and Ocean by Jeremy Ferrick

Zakarah and Ocean by Jeremy Ferrick

 1st 2 bars- Riff      2nd 2 bars- strum bm, c#m, a 2x

 Verse 1                                                                       

 B                           C#  A    B                          C# A        B                              C#  A           B                            C# A

 Zakarah and ocean/ live out by the ocean/santa monica a mile away, from the promenade

 Middle 8- A(7x) E A(7x) E A(7x)E D B

 

A       A          A    A   A       E               A     A           A          A    A A  E       A   A     A   A    A     A    E

 He wants to be a detective/ she thinks he could be a star/ he listens to led zeppelin,

 D

 thinkin’ about

 B

 Learnin’ to play guitar………….

 2 bars- short solo 2 bars- Riff

 Verse 2

 B                                                    C#                           A               B                                                     C#

 She looks at me and she says she’s just a good girl she turn around and say “I don’t

 

A             E      A                                                  C#                 A           C#                        B  C#A    BC#A

 

do drugs     She don’t want her little baby to know, she had too much fun! Too much fun

 

 

 

 

 

 Middle 8 A(7x) E A(7x) E A(7x)E D B

 A              A           A       A   A   E                            A              A           A           A    E

 

We’re gonna go back to London Town/ where we’re originally from

 

A      A          A          A      A           A E                                         D                         B                                    E

and than we’ll come back in a little while/ sit and soak, up the warm santa monica sun.

 

 Solo 4 bars

 Riff 2x

 

 Verse 3

 B                      C#   A       B                   C#     A              B                       C#                                     A

 Zakarah and Ocean live out by the ocean/ three blocks or maybe four/ out in Goa, the

 BBBBBC#   BBBBC#                      BBBB  C#            BBBBB   C#

 Arabian shore   the Arabian shore  the Arabian shore The Arabian Shore 3x

 

A           A         A A       A             E                             A            A          A       A     E     A         A      A         A

 We’re gonna go back to London Town/ where we’re originally from and than we’ll come

 A               A          E                            D                         B

 back in a little while/ sit and soak, up the warm santa monica sun.

 

99 store shopping!

What I got at the 99 cent store for 25 bucks.

2 bags of Cactus Corn Tortilla Chips (5 Oz. each)
Red Baron deep dish mini pizzas (3)
6 pounds of bananas. (Thank you, Durian rider.)
Green Tea pack of 12
Raspberries  (6 Oz.)
Blueberries (4.4 Oz.)
Mazel Mocha coffee mix (10 packets)
6 Zico Coconut waters (11.2 Oz each)
2 Udi's granola -1 cranberry, 1 regular- 13 Oz each
Kern's mango nectar juice (11.5 Oz)
1 pound of brussel sprouts
1 large mexico mango
Grandos instant Espresso (1.76 Oz)
Chocolate Piroulines (3.25 Oz)
2 pounds of oranges
Mori-nu silken tofu- (12 Oz.)
Mila's salsa 12 Oz
A horse calendar for my ex girlfriend because it's good to stay on friendly terms with the women in your life.
A blue 99 store bag (since i'm carrying it all on the metro.)

You Could.

 you could be the mayor if you wanted to.
walk through
walls
and fly if I told you to
magically appear
into the
outer blue
spin this matrix like a web, yes, you know it's true
But do you want to-
and if not, what do you want to do?
You could take these victories
and wear them like a robe
tell them that there's even better things than hope
give the naysayers, just a little bit more than enough- rope
but do you want to
and if not, just what is it you could do
you could do anything
so please stop complaining

She said

she said "I don't know if you still love me"
you shouldn't place no one above me don't you know what's good?
and than she said,
"we're going to the beach right now-
meditate-
yeah the waves are gonna show me
what
I should do
right now."
She's unafraid
to speak her mind
I tell her to quit
pressing
rewind!
She said
She knows but it isn't always that easy
and i should also let you know
that she loves
to tease me
She said we should just be friends,
and I said of course,
but than again
of course,
that
depends.
Let's go pick up Coco sometime in the afternoon
maybe by than you know who
could've changed their tune
And where we going if we would have known
we'd be
somewhere
else
by now
Maybe
we can drive out to Los Osos
for the day
and even take a hike around the rock
on
Morro Bay.
She said, I know there's something more
and I don't even know what I've been waiting for
you know what they say- about the closed door
To look away- cause I got a feeling
it will be ok.
She said
it'll be ok.