It’s been a long time coming, but I’m very proud to be kicking off the summer season of Audible Hype with this interview.  Paul “Nasa” Loverro was the sound engineer behind most of the early classics from Def Jux, and these days he’s been running his own label, Uncommon Records.  Actually, running a label makes it sound very calm and dignified.  More accurately, he’s managing a unit of guerrillas and running an ongoing media warfare campaign.  The military jargon is more than a metaphor: it’s also the best state of mind for running a music promo operation in 2009.  You are at war in a literal sense, and you are seriously out-gunned and out-numbered, too.

What Paul is breaking down here, in generous detail, is the foundation work and the daily routine behind leveraging everything you’ve got into an organization that grows by design.  He’s got a lot more experience in the business than most of us, but what really makes Paul Loverro worth listening to is his balance between big-picture strategy and small-detail dedication. 

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Coming from New England, I’ve known about Brzowski for years.  He’s been forging his own sound and style, pissing off purists and building a reputation for sweat-soaked, brutally honest live sets.  Hip hop is easy when you’re not trying to be original—but Brzowski has a lot to teach about finding your audience when it’s not already identified and established for you.  If you rap like Jeezy, promoting yourself in 2009 is a no-brainer.  Brzowski has walking a weirder road, and I caught him mid-tour to conversate about booking shows, promoting yourself right, and squeezing blood from stones on the road.

Enjoy.

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Interviewing Eyeris in May 2009 is like a photograph of an athlete in midair.  She’s currently towards the beginning of a national publicity wave and she’s aiming high for 2010. This is the busiest, most rewarding and most dangerous part of a music career, so I was grateful for the chance to talk shop with her. 

Here, Eyeris is sharing experience with promotion, DIY touring, and how to blow the room away at SXSW, too.  DIG IT.

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In addition to Audible Hype, I’ve been running a hip hop production site for one of the World Around Records artists, DJ Multiple Sex Partners.  My work there has been organizing sample collections (free downloads) and doing interviews with dope, professional-grade producers and beatsmiths.  Lately the quality level has been through the roof, like recent talks with Man Mantis, HipGnosis, and Falside.  Drummer / graphic designer / blogger / producer Objektiv One also made an impression...and then he whipped up a bunch of custom photos of his home studio.  I figured this was so good it should be on Audible Hype.

I’m grateful for this interview—Objektiv One is a rigorously organized and ambitious dude with a lot to teach about hustle in 2009.

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I’ve known of Scroll for many years now, and he’s always impressed me because he never stops moving. I didn’t appreciate how important that was until I grew up a bit: Scroll was always involved with whatever scene he found himself in, not only as an artist, but also booking shows, promoting, even doing volunteer shitwork postering for other local acts at 2 am in the morning.  These days, Scroll is making a name for himself all over again as a solo hip hop orchestra.  Doing gigs with 2 Akai MPC samplers and an assortment of other toys, building richly layered beats right in front of his audience—needless to say, that kind of act makes an impression.

Here, Scroll opens up about his years of experience, the endless frustration of doing independent hip hop, and his possible transition to artist management.  This is a mix of rants, gems, and gear porn—enjoy.

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Godamus Rhyme has a simple self-assessment: “I am one multi-tasking motherfucker.” With a non-stop work schedule and experience in every aspect of the music business, he’s exactly the kind of DIY role model Audible Hype readers are looking for. 

In this interview, he’s got eloquent and honest advice to share on everything from booking shows to managing multiple projects.  This is some serious science.  Enjoy.

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With spring in the air and dozens of non-music projects behind me, Audible Hype is coming back with a vengance.  Before I start dropping new content, though, I’m cleaning out the archives, starting with this blunt, useful list.  (Bear in mind this was written while I was doing the Jesus On Ice Tour with Devastate in early 2008...but then again, nothing’s really changed since.)

Hustle can be a dangerous thing. All of the terms and metaphors we use for hard work have nothing to do with actually thinking about what you’re doing. Believe it or not, when you’re being stupid, no matter how many hours you put in, you’re not going to see much in the way of results.  This short article is a warning: look up once in awhile. Put in work, but only when and where it actually matters.  Here’s a list of What Not To Do…

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This article is built around a single insight.  The artists I talk to who already have an online footprint and already did everything in the $0 Promotional Plan are facing a new question: What in the hell am I supposed to PUT on my website, blog, facebook and mother-effing twitter account? The nutshell answer: you use your platform to promote your fellow DIY hip hop artists.  This is a fundamental win/win situation—you get more content, they get more promotion, and the world is a better place.  For details and examples of Doing It Right, start here.

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Back when Audible Hype was running full steam—not coincidentally, also when I was living online fulltime—we had a regular series called Weekend Brainfood where I’d round up all the best articles I’d read recently, as well as sharing the personal lessons I’d been learning that week through World-Around Records.  Now, I realize I got a little cynical but that’s part of the growth process, too.  I stand by my mistakes...otherwise I’ve got nothing to stick up for.

I’m still a pitbull asshole in the content department—ask Kavit Haria—so I feel like I should be doing more to spotlight the people who are helping me stay informed.  This is an introduction to three of them, plus a summary of my daily e-hustle website routine, and as usual, way too many resources.  TOO MUCH IS ALWAYS BETTER THAN NOT ENOUGH.

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This has been a long time coming—I’m finally laying out, in great detail, how to set up a powerful online presence using nothing but completely free tools. 

In the past week, I’ve had no less than 11 up-and-coming hip hop artists tell me almost the exact same thing: “I’ve got my album done, but I just don’t have the money to promote it.” While I won’t pretend you can get to the top of the Clear Channel playlist and get some MTV rotation for free (without guns)—I am saying you can get to work promoting your music effectively as soon as you finish reading this article.

Let’s get right down to it...

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