What are the most important legal milestones for someone looking to start their own label in 2009? What bases need to get covered ASAP?
Paul Loverro: The first thing you need to do is craft a contract for the artists you will be working with. The contract needs represent the way you want to conduct business as a company and as a person. I would suggest crafting a short, concise document. Our contracts at Uncommon are only 2 pages long for example. I had the advantage of signing a contract back in the days, so I was able to look at that contract and use it as a template for mine. I got rid of what I didn’t like, and added what I wanted in there, but it taught me the flow and verbage of how contracts should read.
I would also suggest not writing a document that is an imitation of what you think a contract should read like. That’s amateurish. If you don’t know, do the research, don’t “play label”. Keep it simple, don’t go overboard.
Our contracts are very simple. We sign projects, not artists. An artist signs over the particular album that we are releasing for a certain amount of time, they don’t “owe us” x amount of records and our contracts are not exclusive. We allow artists to put out other records by themselves or with other labels, only the Uncommon record has exclusivity. A lot of times that exclusivity is only in the digital realm too, so they can press CDs and sell as they like. All profit, post-recoupment, is split 50/50. I don’t think we can be much more fair then that.
I started this label to help artists, not hinder them. That’s my business model and it’s represented in our contracts, every label should start there when creating their foundation of how they will be going forward.
What’s the most unexpected lesson you’ve learned from running your own operation with Uncommon Records?
Paul Loverro: That’s a tough one, because there have been so many lessons it’s hard to determine which one was the most unexpected. I guess it’s getting over the fact that your music being dope really has no effect whatsoever on how successful you are. I always knew that making a successful label and career took a blend of talent, luck, money and contacts—but I had no idea that talent ranks a very distant 4th in that equation.
Do you have a template for planning future releases, or does each project come with unique demands and opportunities?
Paul Loverro: I think over time you try to get a template of how you want to do things exactly with releases but that’s not always the easiest thing to do, or the smartest.
Addressing the “easiest” part first, when your a label like Uncommon, it’s basically a one man operation. I have some heads that help me out, but really it’s me at the controls for almost everything. That goes for planning releases, A & R-ing releases, booking shows, doing press and radio promotion, recording and producing music, managing the website and managing all the online promotion (ie. Youtube, Myspace, Twitter, blogs, etc). That sort of arrangement creates peaks and valleys based on time demands. So I can’t easily sit and say, “OK, we’re gonna put out an album every 3 months”. I’d like to sit down and do that, but it’s not feasible all the time. As this company grows I hope to add people to the staff starting as interns (hint, hint—send resumes!).
As far as it being the “smartest” thing to have a template for putting out records? That’s not always the best thing. Each project may appeal to a slightly different audience and each artist is an individual with unique expectations and goals. You have to treat records like babies, they breath and have a life of their own. Sometimes the level of “success” or coverage something gets is completely out of your control.
The second part of that nowadays is that as an artist you have to be putting the work in now for yourself and not depend on a label to every last thing for you. It’s a team effort or a collaborative effort. Artist coming to Uncommon, I think understand, that they have a record that they want to get out to as many people as they can. Thus, they want to do shows, promote on the internet on the various forms of social media, they might have their own blog or merch store. Artists really need to build their own “empires,” then bring that to a label like Uncommon which bolster that empire further. We’ve got our own kingdom here with a base of people that support us. We add credibility to artists no matter how established they may be or not be. The hope is that someone says “Wow, Artist X is doing something on Uncommon” and their just as excited about the artist being on our label as they are that our label is doing something with that artist because they are familiar with us both. It’s power in numbers, if you don’t get that that’s the way it works in 2009, I think your lost.
All of that feeds into why labels have gotten a lot looser with their “template” for releases. I think publicists (thank God) also have a lot less input on release schedules nowadays too because they carry less weight with the print media and terrestrial radio industries fading as they are.
You’re running a successful and growing operation on youtube—how do you keep that organized? What makes for good video content, in your opinion?
Paul Loverro: Thanks, I think You Tube should be part of any indie label’s promotional effort. These days video is crucial to keep people’s eyes on you when they are online. It’s also very easy to flood You Tube on a budget.
I would suggest anyone reading this get a Flip Mino video recorder. It’s only about a 100 dollar investment and is the best way to record live performances to post online on a budget. It is a handheld (size of a cell phone) camera. It has one big red button on it that records, it’s idiot proof. Aim it at the stage and there you have a video that can sit online promoting you for all times. It “flips” out a USB port that you plug into any computer and it can post video with one click to Youtube or Myspace Video straight from the interface it comes with. Not everyone is going to be able to come and see you in your town live. Fans that aren’t living near you can really get a kick out of videos of you rocking, this is a global game now. Besides, people near you that can come see you may get more motivated to come the next time if they see what they missed the last time. Even if it’s low quality, who cares? It’s something.
I also found this website called One True Media. They have video editing tools that you can use from their website, so you don’t have to own an expensive video editing program. It’s like $3.99 a month to use their more premium tools and you can post straight to Youtube from the site. I’ve done “video flyers” for some of our big shows on there and promotions for upcoming releases. You can mix in slide show pics as well and add music beds. It’s really simple, it’s grimey, but that’s not really a bad thing for us.
Those are 2 incredibly cheap ways to get your You Tube operation popping and that is really huge. We’re about to launch a brand new website at uncommonmusic.net and we’re featuring a Livestream player as a main feature of it. Livestream is the next level of video integration, it lets you make playlists out of your uploaded or favorite videos on You Tube, it also lets you load video straight to it’s site or broadcast live from your webcam. There’s also a chat room in the widget where people can comment on videos. It’s pretty sick. It’s also free, because they run banner ads at the bottom of your videos, much like You Tube now does. The interface they have is like running a real TV Station, a must try and must see.
Video is huge online, you can’t have a site without video integration of some sort anymore. We went from having a few random videos to having a giant You Tube page and now a dynamic video player on the new site in a couple of months, with almost no money and I know it’s made a difference in hits back to the website and awareness of what we do generally online.
One of the most frequent questions I get these days is about being a recording engineer. How did you get prepared for that career? Also...was it an enjoyable job?
Paul Loverro: It’s funny you ask that, it’s actually something I’d like to get back in to as my day job. When I got to a point in High School where I was forced to “choose a career path” this is what I chose. I loved music, had a whopping 66 Average and my folks had next to no money for any college. I went to a school called the Institute of Audio Research in Manhattan. Those were some of the most fun years in my life. It was around that time that the underground scene was really taking root, circa 1997 and I had just met the woman that would be my wife.
When I graduated school, I started interning in what I would now define as a “demo studio”, we charged people about 15 bucks an hour and advertised in the Village Voice in the classifieds. That’s how it was done back then. There was a lot of opportunity for jobs, especially PT. The studio scene in New York has changed a lot since then, with the advent of home recording.
I ended up at Ozone Music where I met all my favorite underground emcees of that era from when I was in school and started to build up my credits—when Ozone shut it’s doors I was picked to run Definitive Jux’s fledgling studio. At a certain point, Jux no longer needed a full time studio and I was let go. At that point, I went back to school for broadcasting, which is fine, but just not the same. I’m working (luckily) in that field now, but I want to get back into working with musicians again full time and am about to start working at venues doing live sound, I have a studio that hopefully some work will start spilling into the more I get back out there (hint, hint).
That’s one story on how I ended up in Recording Engineering, got out & want back in. Hopefully, that helps anyone about to chose that career. Schooling of some sort, I think is vital. You need to know electronics and the acoustics of sound to really do this right. If you don’t know what the numbers mean on your eqs and compressors and what they actually do, your not really mixing, your just thumbing around. With Recording Engineering there is a lot you have to be
taught and basically forget in order to fully understand something else that you use every day.
Does it make sense for small labels to pay for Soundscan numbers? Do you think that’s a necessary step?
Paul Loverro: No, absolutely not. I think it costs several hundred dollars for that access, who really gives a damn? If you’re a small label, the CDs are in your crib, you can see what your doing. They’re either there or they’re not, you know? As a small label, your number one concern should be “am I making a quality product?” That goes to the music itself, the mix down of it, the packaging and artwork, the hype you can build for it. If you press a CD and are tracking Soundscan everyday waiting to see the numbers jump- I don’t know what to tell you. Soundscan in this environment has been replaced by your Web Site hits, those numbers mean more to you then anything else really as far as sales.
I know you’re not exactly a fan of Napster or Rhapsody: what’s your take on the digital distribution landscape in 2009?
Paul Loverro: I’ve tried to push our fans toward services like Itunes, Emusic and Amazon because the pay scale is far better for artists and labels. Here’s the problem with Napster and Rhapsody and even a store like the Zune Marketplace:
Payment first—they essentially charge the listener a fee per month to have access to pretty much their entire library. The listener “streams” songs from the company. The company then only pays you per stream or listen. That’s like 3 cents a listen. I think we see the problem here. It’s almost pointless. If all music was distributed this way, I don’t think there would be any music being released independently. Companies like Rhapsody walk away with 10 bucks a month or whatever they charge and give the artist next to nothing. In the meantime, the customer doesn’t even really have your track, at least in a more tangible form. They listen to more and attach to less.
Culturally—you can see where I’m going with this. What services like this say is “people that steal music through illegal means need to be satisfied in a way they can understand, they need to be brought into a payment fold that they can handle”. It’s almost like music outsourcing. The illegal downloaders driving down the price to the point where it almost makes no sense to charge people for your music. Fuck that. I work hard, we all work hard, we deserve something for our work. If we choose to drop something free to support our fans and spread the word, that’s on us—not you motherfuckers out there. And that extends to Rhapsody and Napster all these sorts of “pay for share” services.
The whole thing just cheapens the worth of a song for another generation.
I feel like nowadays there are a lot of powerful blogs, magazines and music think tanks that are run by people that grew up on the original illegal Napster. They saw the illegal Napster and the ensuing court cases as a struggle for “Freedom” or something. They want to sit at a round table and decide how those “musicians” can make money in some new way so that they can continue to get an ocean’s worth of music for a pittance. Fuck that. Online folks need to stop saying things like “well, musicians just need to tour more and make money on merch”. These are people that haven’t even been to shows lately themselves and probably haven’t played a note in their lives. Musicians must tour (or do shows locally or reginonally). That’s part of the art and how you spread the word and collect fans. This is a basic, but to say that’s the ONLY way that we should be getting paid is lunacy. Would they do that? I think not.
The same people rally hard about how much they want the majors to fall. To me it sounds like they are so busy trying to cause the majors to fail that they don’t realize they are in the process of setting up an all-new uneven and unbalanced system for artists.
Ahh, I can go on all day on this man. Got into a tangent, hope I answered your original question (laughs).
One last question: Who’s doing it right these days? What labels, managers, and artists do you think young, hungry cats should be studying up on and learning from?
Paul Loverro: That’s the golden question. On one hand it’s unanswerable. No one knows, the business in total flux. The death of the CD can not come fast enough in my opinion and until that happens we will all be running in different directions trying to make something happen. The media is in flux too, the old print media is on the way out and also dying a slow death. At the same time, as we just talked about, we don’t have a perfect system for selling music set up online and if you’ve surfed the net and read blogs/social media you know that’s not the end result of what online media will look like either. I also refuse to count anyone in this conversation that has a big budget publicity company behind them or stacks of dough of their own.
With that said, I won’t leave you hanging. The game I respect right now is that of Homeboy Sandman. This dude does shows all the time NYC, he rocked “Yule Prog” for Uncommon in 2008. His sets are original, his music is really like nothing else that’s going on. He’s got a track called “Lighning Bolt” which is both progressive and hilarious at the same time which is really hard to pull off. His sets feature him rapping over just the crowd clapping and him dropping verses over intros to Muse songs. The guys got talent, but to go with that, he promotes online all the time—he has mad videos on Youtube made on a budget, and seems to be good at pollying with other cats that get behind his music and do some promotion for him. I give him the title of “doing it right” right now.
The Presence - Hermit Kingdom
Finally, here’s an example of making low-budget work in a high-concept way: the latest video from Uncommon artists The Presence, detailing the situation in North Korea. Hip hop as Edutainment is in the DNA thanks to acts like Poor Righteous Teachers and of course KRS One—here’s how it looks in 09:
2 responses to "An Interview with Paul “Nasa” Loverro from Uncommon Records"
Brzowski: Blazing Your Own Trail
By Justin Boland on May 27, 2009
Business
5 commentsWhat’s worked for you in 2008, in terms of promotion and marketing? What tools, websites and software have been helping you keep organized and spread the message?
Making interesting music is the most important component.
Beyond that, hard work in terms of bringing your music to the people where they live. Websites like myspace,facebook, and message boards can be helpful, but they are no substitution for hand-to hand flyering and touring.
For face-to-face flyering, what works for you? What’s the best approach, and what kind of mistakes have you learned to avoid?
Well, the first thing in a local sense is to hit whom you know. From there, they will bring their friends who may not be familiar with you, simply on the strength. Some people use flyers as an an excuse to talk to girls, which is fine, but to be real, you may get a date but not make a fan.
Hit up people with similar street hustle when traveling to ensure that you will at least have the core audience of someone musically related to you present.
My ritual is hyper-activity.
A level of irritability pervades before shows; running around the club, adjusting the set list to fit time-slot and mood, making calls, networking, making nice with the soundperson. All the while taking the time to talk to fans and friends in the area and be sure they are having a good time. After all, the music may be dark and the mood heavy, but hell, we are hanging out in a bar on a Wednesday, so let’s make this a party.
What advice would you have for first-timers in terms of booking gigs, being prepared, and delivering the goods? What are the most common mistakes you see other cats making?
1. Listen to people’s music before you holler at them about a show. Fans of Jadakiss don’t want to book Swordplay. (Swordy would never be guilty of this, I’m just using his name for realistic coloring)
2. After some years in the game, you allowed to say no to “opportunities” that, in fact, are not truly furthering your master plan.
3. Just because you can make $4000 in your city does not mean fans anywhere else have heard of you. Be modest when asking guarantees unless you are touring with Guns N Roses or the ghost of Jerry Lee Lewis. This does not mean undercut yourself either, just be sympathetic to both sides when negotiating.
4. ...and never,ever, hit me up on the interweb and ask me to check your beats for sale if i don’t have a working relationship with you personally. Your beats are probably trash if you have to whore them to people you don’t know. Fuck your presets.
You’ve got a reputation for killing it onstage. Would you say live shows are the core of your gameplan or just one octopus arm?
Live shows are the best way to prove to your audience that you are indeed worth their money.
The other “arms” are always in the process of becoming: new albums, growing a name in multiple markets at once, etc. Right now I’m looking around at who is interested in my next album and can put some financial heft behind it. After 3 years of writing and revising, I’m not going to hand over my creative offspring to just anybody.
Right now Delusional Records and Milled Pavement are talking about dropping it collaboratively, and its smelling pretty good, as those folks are like family.
Now that you’ve gotten a number of projects completed, what kind of changes have you made to how you prepare for new albums now? What are the hidden details you’ve learned to plan for?
The most important thing personally, is to work quickly, but not call something finished before you are happy with it. My time is finite (I work 50 hours at shit jobs to live in a hellhole in a newly gentrified city), so I have to take advantage of every free moment I have. When you release a project, you will not be present to personally prop it up, as opposed to a live performance. You have to be able to step away and know that your work will stand on its own.
Insofar as hidden details, just tack on an extra 2 months to your initial deadline, especially when other collaborators are involved. Nobody takes your art as seriously as you do. This goes for press/radio/vendors as well.
Man, it’s been a blur the past two years trying to strike a homeostasis between homelife/dayjob/commitments and the torrent of work to be done by a serious d.i.y. artist.
I still have not stuck it quite right. Its a challenge to go from Music Mode to Job Mode, to Booking Mode, to Relationship Mode and so on. The most important thing is to shut off the phone and computer for a day or 2 each week and just present where you are. I am exhausted perpetually...Dog Tired in the Fast Lane.
Insofar as collabs, I’m always honored to contribute if I know and enjoy the artist. I have collabs with Georg Korg(Russia), Moderskeppet (Sweden), and k-the-i??? all dropping this year on various albums, as well as an ep w/ Monsieur Sai (france). Staying busy.
Do you think the European hip hop scene is more open to collaboration and experimentation than the US these days?
Absolutely. Those folks are always reaching out to other artists for guest spots and collabos, and never really worried about purism...which is truly an an antiquated notion in our current cultural climate. The States still abide by relatively provincial standards set by the artists making good in NY/LA/Chicago/Houston. Check out the new Andrromak album for a perfect example of a release with global reach. At least 5 countries are represented.
Have you experimented with digital distribution services for your music?
I only sell digitally after the physical copies are nearly extinct, and my homies Milled Pavement have a deal with IODA, so I have that covered. I plan to re-press “Blooddrive Vol.2” again before making it available digitally. I am not really interested in digital-only releases, buying or selling. If a friend asks me to contribute to a digi-comp or whatever, I will on the strength, but it is not preferred. I just don’t see that sort of release as legitimate. Any asshole can have a website and release music these days. In the Myspace/Facebook/Serrato/ipod era, it is very difficult to sift through and find who is doing music in a tangible fashion....vs. hobbyists. Respect is due to the dj’s+ fans who still buy music in a physical format.The new album will likely come out digital shortly after the physical, just to move with the times,though thiat will not be my decision this time around. I may sound like a dinosaur, but who wants to leave their mark as a folder of mp3’s? If I had my way, all my releases would be vinyl and cassette only.
Do you handle your own recording and mixing?
I record at home, but all the mixing and mastering is done by the super-villain Agent 8. I am techno-deficient by comparison.
What would you like to see change in the music business over the next 5 years?
Brzowski: I don’t know if my desires about the state of the business are really relevant to voice. I am more interested in being able to achieve a level of sustainability within it.
I would like to see vinyl continue it’s upswing, and relocate Agent 8 to Easy Street.
More
Related Entries
5 responses to "Brzowski: Blazing Your Own Trail"
Eyeris: Getting Ready for the Spotlight
By Justin Boland on May 11, 2009
Business, Promo
Having been bouncing around the world most of your adult life, what are your favorite scenes for hip hop? What are the common threads that you think makes a scene work and thrive?
Eyeris: Every scene that I’ve been in has its own dope flavor...but I’d have to say New York. At first I was like “where is the hip hop scene at?” But then I realized that there’s so many different scenes with their own styles. Everything from the spoken word, to very underground, to the party scene. It’s amazing to see so many young artists/friends around me coming up, it’s such a great feeling. The second part is kind of tough. There definitely has to be support not only from fans but between the artists. Other than that: strong work ethic, constant flow of different types of events, and organization. Talent is already a given.
What are the biggest lessons you’ve learned from doing tours and international gigs?
Eyeris: My biggest lesson was that I have to be completely real with everyone, from fans to other artists. When you aren’t real about who you are, it’s almost like it outshines the art that you’re making. Most may not agree with me but I believe that if you’re making music as self expression but can’t be real with yourself and/or others, then what from your music am I supposed to feel? Being away from home really allows you to learn not only about yourself but others around you.
But on a lighter note, I learned that all of the hard work and grinding will eventually be very rewarding. The love for hip hop in Europe is so amazing. We had an all female stage at Hip Hop Kemp in Czech Republic, it is basically like Woodstock for hip hop with about 20,000 in attendance. We wouldn’t have been able to do that festival in the states. We had everyone from Roxanne Shante to Bahamadia, Apani B Fly, Invincible, DJ Shortee, Stacy Epps, Eternia, Yarah Bravo, and more. The support we got over there was so unreal. I was like, “okay, I remember now why I’ve been busting my ass and why I’m gonna continue doin so.”
When was the turning point for you, when you realized you wanted to do this professionally? Did you get organized right away or has it been a more gradual, trial and error kinda process?
Eyeris: I’ve been rapping ever since I was probably like 7 or 8. But growing up in the suburbs I was always told I couldn’t do it and got made fun of. When I moved to Portland at 15 I started dabbling in the scene there and did my first demo when I was 17. But I didn’t really start stepping everything up til I was 18-19 and moved to New York. I met Yarah Bravo out there and from day one she has always believed in me and been pushing me. It has definitely been gradual; started with just writing, to recording, to doing shows, now I’ve been focusing more on the marketing side of things. I dropped my mixtape “Tha Carter .5” last summer for the trial and error reason. I put mad different styles on there to see what people were feeling and just been working from those ideas. People think being an emcee is so easy but there’s so much work in it that they don’t see. This is definitely just the beginning.
Eyeris: Thank you! At SXSW you really have to put any insecurities or fears aside and just believe in yourself 110%. I was lucky enough to have Miz Metro, a singer from NYC, perform with me and our chemistry was crazy! Music is about self expression and when people see your passion coming out in live performance it really touches them. Interacting with the crowd in every way possible is important because it makes the showcase entertaining for everyone. The most important thing though is to have fun and enjoy yourself. So a few drinks definitely won’t hurt, ha ha.
What’s your favorite technology for staying organized? What kind of tech would you like to see in the future, to make your life easier?
Eyeris: Honestly right now, a NOTEBOOK!!! It sounds so corny, but I’ve had the worst luck with laptops and phones. I’ve gone through about 4 Blackberries; one recently just died on me for no reason, and I lost all my contacts. Luckily, I had written down everyone’s info around January, but that’s still over 3 months of contacts I lost. My MacBook also crashed on me around September.. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE technology. I can’t leave my house without my Blackberry, so tech wise I’d have to say that. But writing everything down works best for me.
In terms of online promotion...what DOESN’T work? What mistakes or wasted efforts have you eliminated in the past 2 years?
Eyeris: I’ve been pretty good with seeing mistakes other people have made and not doing the same. But one of my biggest mistakes I think was whenever I’d record new stuff I would put it up on Myspace right away. I’d have like, 2-3 new tracks up instead of putting one and making people eager to hear more. I’ve definitely learned from that. You have to keep people thirsty for more.
Eyeris: I’ve just started preferring that and definitely will be doing both this summer. I’ve rocked different shows from very large festivals to smaller shows; its like comparing apples to oranges. I’ve realized with parties it is a lot more intimate and the energy is crazy. In New York we have this whole party scene of our generation of artists, DJs, writers, designers, etc and I feel that the best way to connect with my people is going to be that outlet. We’re in a recession, people are on unemployment and not everybody has money to go see a show. I’m not bashing club gigs by any means, I love doing those shows… But I want to connect with my people as much as possible.
Learn More, Read More, and Bump Some Tunes
Great example of humble + hustle, when I asked Eyeris what she wanted to push, she chose a group project: the Hip Hop Howl mixtape, featuring some of the best indie hip hop from the last SXSW festival. (Needless to day, the lineup is pretty damn impressive.) You can get more tracks and get connected with Eyeris on the Myspace.
More
Related Entries
Objektiv One: “I Seem to Have a System for Everything”
By Justin Boland on May 07, 2009
Business, Workflow
13 commentsWhat are the biggest surprise lessons you’ve learned from your time in the trenches selling beats?
Objektiv One: Emcees are lazy. Not all of them, but 90% of them are. Coming from a music background where you tour for months on end, split money between many people ($100 between 5 people, and van expenses = $0 for you), and all pull your share emcees seem to be the complete opposite of this. It surprised me to learn all of these dudes who rap about hustling just sit around and play video games and never finish songs ever. I know emcees who have recorded less songs in three years than my band… and thats a full band who has put out vinyl, two releases, and now two splits in under 2 years. Once again not all emcees are like this… the special ones make it worthwhile, but selling beats I don’t pursue much because most people flake on the money or never commit. I started doing instrumentals because I will build my own career with or without them....
What’s your creative process like in 09? Do you approach making beats as The Job, or is it always happy fun time when you get to play with samples?
Objektiv One: The creative process changes depending on what type of track I am making. I usually start with digging. I will dig for almost two months and not even touch a beat. Once I have gathered lots of records I get to work and will not dig until I feel I have exhausted most of those records. For one of my labor intensive instrumentals this sometimes involves 20 records per beat. I usually build multiple patterns on the MPC to get a rough sketch of everything. Once I feel this patterns are complete I then bounce them down and arrange everything in Ableton. Then I will tweak and add synths, vocals, etc to fill the song out. All in all some of the instrumentals take 40 hours with upwards of 40 tracks. As for normal beats, I just dig a hot sample and try to make the dopest 8-16 bar loop I can. Then I will just build a couple patterns and arrange to fit.
Which came first for you: MPC or CSS?
Objektiv One: The CSS actually came first. I have only been making beats for maybe 2 1/2 years and the MPC only came around in the last year. As for web development I am very limited, and lean more towards the design aspect. That is where my specialty lies. However, music and computers have gone hand in hand since I have been pursuing both since the age of 2 or 3.
Do you have a system of organizing samples? So far, nobody who’s been asked that question does.
Objektiv One: I seem to have a system for everything. I am a systematic philosopher and obsessive compulsive. Haha. I organize samples on every level. Everything from the folders on my MPC, to having a spreadsheet that keeps track of every sample I use in a song. I usually organize everything by category as in snares, hihats, kicks, one shots, sfx, etc. Everything has a labeling sytem that follows as well. Snares are SN0001, SN0002, etc. Also, sub categories exist as well.... its actually horrible. I can go on forever. LOL.
Are you a 100% freelance human being right now, or is there a day job somewhere in your life cycle?
Objektiv One: There is a dayjob, but the two weeks was put in recently. So as of June 1st my soul will be free from the cycle of suffering known as the workforce. I have saved enough money to pay my bills for awhile. I am trying to go freelance and live off of design, beats, and assorted hustles. I also will be touring with my band Decades from June 1st-August 7th, which is whole other career in itself.
I also have some albums coming out soon. Most of them free and will be mainly instrumentals. One will be composed entirely in a moving van, one will be completely composed on a Nintendo DS and will be exclusive through Potholes in my Blog, and one will be my full length which will come out later this year (hopefully). Also, stay on the look out for a cartoon I am doing which will have beats, humor, and shennanigans all rolled into one.....
What are you playing for Decades? Does running two music careers feel like a balancing act, or good synergy?
Objektiv One: I play drums for Decades and have been with them for over three years. Two music careers is a balancing act, but because I am involved in both of them as a human I would say it is really one music career with two heads. In fact sometimes I feel it is more than that. I put on so many different hats in hip hop. It feels like a three headed monster because I try to progress my beats for emcees, my instrumentals, and then I do Decades. The synergy is nice though because I have been playing in bands for 10 years now and would miss the camaraderie and the live performance aspect of a whole group as opposed to hip hop where you usually are solo or with one or two others. Not to mention those shows keep my performance chops up for when I start doing live MPC shows....
Please explain the Nintendo DS project. That sounds insane.
Objektiv One: All I can say about the DS project is it will be titled “NintendoBlap” and will be exclusive to Potholes In My Blog. The methods of the project will be revealed when its done through video footage I am keeping during the process.
The basis of the project though is it will be completely composed and arranged on a NintendoDSi in a moving van while I am on tour. It will be an instrumental hip hop collage and might even include some guest appearances. So far the challenge is that everything must go through the DS. This means if there is vocals they must go through the DS first, if there is synths they must go through the DS first, etc. I will be tracking it on a 4track cassette recorder to hold the final projects. I can say I am using the Korg DS-10, and the DSi with the new record capabilities. The rest must remain secret for now....
Are you a VST head? What are some of your favorite plugins for Ableton Live?
Objektiv One: I am actually not a VST head. I am the complete opposite. I believe that the rapid advance of technology in modern society is destroying a lot of amazing things and is even morphing language and the way people communicate in a negative way. Now don’t get me wrong technology is a great thing, but not at the rate it is progressing… this being said I am currently moving completely away from the computer. I once constructed everything on the computer and now I have moved to the MPC and SP404 for constructing beats and I am arranging and converting on the computer. Eventually I will quit arranging on the computer as well. I think choosing your equipment is a very important factor in your sound and your workflow. Every piece of equipment alters the way you construct beats. The limitations on the older equipment forces creativity because you have less options. On the computer you have so many options you can easily spend 10 hours searching for a synth sound in your 10,000 VST plugins.
That being said the restrictive work flow is where I thrive and I by no means think that people who use computers are not as good of producers. That is just how I have discovered my workflow. I love the sound of old records and I love the challenge the old equipment presents. I want to use older equipment, because I want to keep those methods alive before they collapse under the weight of technology.
Also, I like experimental and odd methods. For instance the DS project is modern technology, but it is unique from Reason, Ableton, ProTools, and Fruity Loops.
Objektiv One’s Home Studio
Akai MPC1000
Roland SP404
Korg MicroKorg
Alesis Micron
Nord Lead 2X
Presonuse Firepod
Technics 1200 MK2
Vintage Sansui QS500
Lots of records
More
Related Entries
13 responses to "Objektiv One: “I Seem to Have a System for Everything”"
Scroll talks Artist Management, MPC Performance, and Booking Hip Hop
By Justin Boland on May 04, 2009
Business
7 commentsWhat’s worked for you in 2008 in terms of marketing and promo? What kind of tools and tech have helped you stay organized lately?
Scroll: Well I guess first off, some more money to throw towards marketing could have helped out in 08. The longer I do this, the more I realize everything is about your market (in general) and then your marketing. But I guess the Internet has become the best tool I have at this point. Its very easy to contact all the man-children you know now scattered about, and coordinate various things. I do pretty much everything, from graphic design to booking with the ol’ laptop. With the upcoming releases, and a full time job, its looking like I’ll be turning towards management this year, but I’m still waiting to see where the albums go, I guess.
What got you interested in pursuing management? Did you discover a natural talent or is it based on traumatic experiences?
Scroll: Yeah, the management thing has just come over years of writing e-mails, returning e-mails and haggling over guarantee’s, and lots of flyers and postering, etc. It has just come to the point that, I’m sure there’s someone better than me at it, and I just don’t have time. For the first time I’m looking at label interest, and with a job, I need to work, then do music. The time just is not there, to try to put the PR in as well.
I think its a logical move for artists who want to just do music. Your putting in countless unpaid hours, might as well pay someone to do the work, and focus more on the real “art at hand” if you will. And at some point if you get enough notoriety, or an upstanding label, management will follow, it’s just part of how it works. Maybe you’ll have to pay at first, maybe you’ll have a product that someone thinks is worth working for, aiming for the long run deal.
Big venues will not even accept press material from non affiliated acts anymore. Meaning you want to open a show at the House of Blues with no management? Go fuck yourself. Makes one reconsider, either bombing clear channel and live nation or....find some fucker with an agency backing him.
Why do you think there’s still such a leadership vacuum in underground hip hop? Do you see any movement towards an artists union or at least an “industry blacklist” of shady promoters, venues, bookings agents, etc?
Scroll: I discovered this recently, and I think understood it in full only in the past year or so...as I probably for the first time, went from “another rapper” to a viable act in the eyes of a lot of venues and promoters. Because of how accessible marketing is (on some level) because of the myspace era, while it is incredible for the everyday guy, it is now impossible to quality control. Venues and promoters are forced to look at acts now as draw, and draw alone.
Thus, if you happen to be “indie hip-hop,” they know that no one will probably like it… and therefore, how many of your friends can you get out? How much can I make off of you feeling like a rock star? Then there’s being able to provide an evening of listen-able music based on actual music not how many of your boys turned out. The direct effect is, the one really good indie hip-hop act, that should be getting out there because of how good they are, has to face the onslaught of genre chains now attached to the pile of bad acts that are now so accessible, and impossible to decipher between.
Not sure I answered this one...just ranted. I think no matter what, it sucks when you rock and the promoter does not give you any cash.
You’ve bounced around the country more than most mammals—what are your favorite local scenes to play shows and stay inspired?
Scroll: As far as scenes go, I guess they all serve their purpose. For me, Boston works out the best, it is large enough to be able to open larger bill / venue events, and also not run into everyone you know...every day. I also like to hide outside cities, and be able to travel in, Mass lets me do that. Hide by the beach, go play shows. Smaller cities like Burlington are great to get your foot in the door, but its very easy to get played out, and seemingly repeat goals you’ve already accomplished...on frequent basis...potentially indefinitely.
New York city is great for trips, not careers in my limited opinion, and for some reason, I just did not like the Portland scene at all. I think its important to live where you’re happy, if you’re good, you’ll find some shows to play, and can always travel anywhere to gig. Scenes are good for support or to build you up, but it also sometimes traps acts...big in a local scene, but that’s it.
Now national scenes are great...like the festival music scene, probably the best way to get your music out there now-a-days. That’s what I think, anyways. Those fuckers love the tunes!
Has working the live sampler sets given you gig opportunities and connections that weren’t available before? Have you been discovering new audiences this way?
Scroll: The live instrumental set has been huge, or sampler, whatever you want to call it. I can really make the set fit almost any bill, be that Hip-Hop or electronica/jammy stuff. Like I said the set is just very listen-able, and due to the fact that its all live, the act holds up as a performance as well. It is so much more to watch than a DJ, although still, a lot of people just don’t know what to make of it. Those who know, and get whats going on...they understand the set on a different level.
As an act though, it opens a lot of doors for venues and bills alike. I’ve been getting my music out to a lot more people for sure...I have hopes that this year will be a big one...although I think I’ve felt that way before.
What are the most common or disastrous mistakes you see cats doing with their live shows?
Well as far as mistakes go, I see a bunch of stuff, but again this is only what I think.
There are people who say all press, all promotion is good. I am not of this mind set, but then again, I’ve been doing this for 8+ years and this is the first year I feel like things are really happening (so what do i know?) With live shows, I guess the first thing is, you should not play every show just because “it’s a show.” Try to play events that work for your genre, I can’t even say how many shows I’ve played where, that weird indie hip-hop acts plays and it throws the whole show. Like the room goes from 200 to 15 people...in 20 mins.
I myself have done that at some point, but I’d like to think I figured it out quick. All music is great for what ever it does for people, not saying you have to be good to make music, do what makes you happy. But, before you go out and play a show, think about, do people really want to hear this? After I go out and hear 15 indie hip-hop acts on one bill, all before 11:00 and the headliner is on at 11:30...most of the time I don’t even make it to the act I went to go see.
People need to be able to listen to your music. I don’t even listen to my first 2 releases, its not that I am not proud of what they are, or think they are good on some level....it’s just not everyday listening music. The indie scene knocks a lot of stuff, while there is some horse shit out there, a lot of music is popular because its marketable...for better or worse. I think acts should think about this a bit more. Maybe I’d stay at shows longer, or go to indie bills a bit more.
As a beatsmith, what’s your creative process these days?
Scroll: My beat process has changed a lot as of late, I went from being entirely sample based and thinking, “who is this beat for?”, to looking at every track as part of a live set. For those who missed my VH1 Behind the Music, I’m pretty much focused on live sampler sets these days. So I’m still using 2 MPC’s but now I’ve thrown a Micro Korg and an old SP-303 into the mix. With this massive pile of out dated shit I have enough room/time to pretty much transition back and forth for as long as the set requires. Another thing which i was apparently missing was that people really like stuff to dance to, so I’ve been trying to split up beats from, technical to catchy, and such, and such. Its a very different process to make beats to play out live.. like a band, vs. stuff you have someone rap to. I still make tracks for people, but its mostly for very specific projects, where as I feel like 5 years ago, I’d make a bunch of beats and just hope that someone wanted them. I feel like I’m one of the only people I meet now that still makes beats on outdated machines...everyone loves the computer programs, I guess I’m just lazy or kind of an idiot.
Scroll: I am silly picky when it come to vinyl. Honestly, I only really sample solo artists for making beats. I like to compose music band style, I find some drums I might like, then I shoot for a first layer sample, maybe a solo banjo, or cello, guitar, what-have you. Then I go for a bass layer, then another in key instrument. And so forth. I never understood the whole, “well I’ll just take this Bobby Bland sample and put a snare hit over it, and WHAM...got a beat.”
It’s very easy to sample a classic song, the song was great, of course it will sound good if you loop its best 2 bars and put a break over it. Take the time, find the sounds, it’s well worth it. Keyboards always work for filling the missing parts at the end.
Any last words of advice for the young and inexperienced?
Scroll: My advice is this. While trying to book shows, take one method, and it is proven, over many failed gigs. Hit booking agents and venues with this e-mail.
1. What show you wish to support or date.
2. How long you can fill.
3. One sentence about your genre.
4. Where your press & music can be found at.
This is the tried and true e-mail, anything else they hate. When I first started, I remember trying explain shit in e-mails...4 lines, your web address. Works well for getting replies and landing shows.
More
Related Entries
7 responses to "Scroll talks Artist Management, MPC Performance, and Booking Hip Hop"
Grab your avatar at Gravatar.
Subscribe to Audible Hype
Subscribe to Audible Hype via RSS
More DIY Music Resources
Recent Entries
WE MAKE GOOD MUSIC
Great Hip Hop Sites
About The Author
Back Brain Media
Don't forget to grab our feed.
Subscribe to Audible Hype via RSS