With the year coming to an end, it is time to take stock of where we’ve been and where we plan on going.
Most days it is hard to believe that 2019 is almost over. In roughly six weeks, people everywhere will be gathering to celebrate the start of 2020. There will be parties held and promises made, all of which hinge on our awareness that time marches on whether or not we are prepared for what comes next. The best we can do is to position ourselves for success, which is what you need to do in the days and weeks ahead.
We live in exciting times. There is so much happening at any moment that it is all anyone can do to try and be present. If you take your eye off whatever you’re doing right now to reflect or plan you’re likely to miss the next opportunity that presents itself. Thankfully, the end of the year signals a slowdown in music that gives people at every level of the business a chance to take stock of their lives.
There are three things every musician should do before the years ends, but before we get there, consider this: Are you happy? Is the work you’re doing, including everything that has happened over the last year, making you smile? Is the path your on in line with your dreams? If the answer is yes, great! Keep on keeping on. If the answer is no, then consider this moment the perfect time to make a change. Don’t allow yourself to enter another year living a life that doesn’t reflect your values or interests. We only have a limited time on this planet, and you owe it to yourself to do everything your heart desires. Don’t push off being your true self any longer. Be the real you to the fullest extent possible.
After you do that, do these things as well:
Take time to appreciate your journey.
With so much happening all the time most people rarely take the opportunity to reflect on their journey. A lot has transpired over the last year, probably much more than you realize, and it’s important to set aside time for reflection. Maybe you did not accomplish everything you hoped for, but you no doubt did a lot. Maybe you played shows in places you’ve never been or wrote a song about something you never thought you’d share. Maybe you wrote a single lyric that made you feel like your truest self was being expressed. Whatever the case, take some time before the year ends to appreciate the work you’ve done. The life you are living now was once a dream that felt out of reach. Don’t forget that.
Show appreciation to those that support your dream.
No one is an island. Your success is the direct result of other people caring about you and your creativity. Every listener, concert attendee, and person who responded to an email has helped shape the career you have today. Before entering 2020, reach out to those who made an impact on your career to show your appreciation. Make them feel as special as their support has made you feel however you are able. If you can send notes or cards or gifts, do so. If you want to post a blog that recounts some of the more memorable experiences you’ve had receiving help from others, do that. Go above and beyond to show how grateful you are for the support you have received because there are many who would do anything for the following you have right now.
Make a (reasonable) plan for the new year.
The goal of every artist is to do something new and exciting with each passing year. The best way to position yourself for success in 2020 is to enter it with a plan already in place. Set reasonable goals for yourself that play into your strengths. If you wrote two good songs this year, consider planning to release an EP in the new year rather than two full-length albums. If you played two shows this year and want to play more, try making plans for a short tour instead of a month-long trek across the country. Set your sights on achievable goals that won’t feel too great to tackle when it comes time to work.
Furthermore, once you have a few goals in mind, create checkpoints in your calendar to help keep yourself on track. If you want to tour for a week in the summer, set aside time every other week where you work on building connections and pitching venues. If you want to record, set aside time weekly to work on your material.
Small accomplishments can easily lead to major accomplishments, but trying to do too much without a plan is a recipe for disaster. Take your time, trust yourself, and commit to seeing things through. If you can do that, which may be a bigger ‘if’ then you realize, then you will already be ahead of the competition.
Everywhere you look, people are encouraging you to work harder, but there is more to life and success in music than grinding yourself to death.
The world is full of lies, and the most hurtful are often those disguised as advice. Motivational speakers and authors everywhere have spent the past several years speaking about the need to work harder. “Do more of what you love,” they say. “You have to want it more than anyone else.”
Working hard can lead to success, but there is more to life and having a career than working around the clock. The CEOs of tomorrow are not necessarily the people working eighty-hours a week right now. The innovators who will lead us into the future are not pushing themselves to the point of exhaustion every single day. Hard work plays a part, sure, but it is not the entire story.
When you speak to people in positions of power they will tell you that taking time off can be as beneficial as working long hours. The human body has limits. You can only do so much and come up with so many ideas before you hit a wall. You can push yourself beyond that point, which many do, but such behavior produces diminishing results.
In this episode of Music Biz, host James Shotwell tells us about the dangers of living a ‘hustler harder‘ lifestyle.
One of the internet’s most popular phrases, ‘Hustler Harder’ is a recipe for disaster, depression, and feelings of inadequacy.
Read a motivational blog, any motivational blog, and you’re bound to see the word ‘hustle’ used as if it were going out of style. People will tell you to hustle every day, hustle nonstop, always be on your hustle, etc. But what does this really mean, and what – if anything – will hustling every day really do for your career?
I take issue with the idea we should always be hustling for a few reasons. For starters, not everyone knows how to hustle. People often confuse hustling with merely getting your work done, or doing whatever you think needs to be done to get ahead. That may be true in some cases, but the hustling as an idea is a bit broader in its definition. Hustling refers to being smarter than those you’re competing against to get ahead. This goes beyond working hard for long hours. In fact, you don’t even need to do those things to truly hustle. Lots of people get ahead by doing less than their peers, and that is its own form of hustling.
Secondly, hustling every day never guarantees success. A person with a terrible voice can practice singing every day for the rest of their lives and never be half as good as the least successful major label artist. Likewise, I can hit the gym every day and never gain enough muscle to be a linebacker in the NFL. Just because I want something and work diligently towards achieving it does not mean that goal will one day be realized. It makes it more likely, sure, but that’s about it.
Third, and most importantly, some hustles are actually detrimental to your personal development. Some people spend years of their lives working toward something that is never going to happen and in the process make great sacrifices that they later regret. To understand whether or not this is happening an individual needs to disengage from their hustle and take stock of their life. They need to possess the power to step back, examine what does and does not work, then adjust their path in life accordingly. When someone hustles hard every single day, 24/7, the opportunity for reflection is lost. By the time people do think to look up, time and life have often passed them by.
Very few people hustle hard every day and achieve their goals. The vast majority hustle hard for longer than they should and realize they missed their chance to pursue their passion. Worse yet, many often miss out on experiences with family and friends because of their dedication to the idea of hustling hard.
Those who hustle hard will inevitably burn out. Don’t hustle harder, Hustle smarter, and by that I mean constantly evaluate your situation and what you need to do to create the life you aspire to experience. Examine the world around you and ask yourself if you are really leading to the life you want. If the answer is no, adjust your trajectory and keeping moving. Then do so again and again periodically for the rest of your life.
A great hustle is just one part of the recipe for success. Other elements include talent, networking skills, and general likability. Do you really think the hardest working person always gets the job over the person people like the most, or that those who are naturally gifted in a particular field do not rise through the ranks faster than those who have to work on their talent? The idea that hustling hard will eventually give you what you want only applies in a world where things are fair and trust me – this life is not fair.
Don’t hustle to hustle, don’t work hard just to say you drove yourself to the point of mental exhaustion, and don’t place work over people. You may never get where you hope to go, but you can still enjoy the journey.
Publicists can do a lot for your career, but only if you’re ready to work with them.
Every artist wants to find success in their career, but the path to success is rarely the same. What works for one artist or group may not work for another and vice versa.
For example, some artists get ahead with the help of publicist who uses their connections to land the band press opportunities that offer exposure which aide in the development of an audience. Other artists choose to promote themselves, and in doing so often find a quicker route to connecting with listeners. One way is not better than the other. Both offer success, though how it comes and what comes with may vary greatly.
The vast majority of up and coming talent we engage with mention their desire to find a publicist. Most know what publicists do or at least have some understanding of their role, but very few seem to grasp their role in determining whether or not a publicity campaign will succeed. With that in mind, we put together questions that every artist should ask themselves before investing in PR for their career.
1. Is my career even at a point where I need a publicist?
The idea of having someone in your life who spends a part of their day doing whatever they can to get the word out about your efforts sounds like a smart decision, but unless you have something worthwhile to share with the world you’re going to end up wasting a lot of money. Focus on creating the best album/single/video you possibly can, which I can tell you will likely not be your first release, and then think about bringing in someone to help promote. While many professional publicists will tell a band if they think the band is not ready for such a business relationship, there are a number of those out there who will happily take your money and never look back. It’s not on them to have something worth sharing; it’s on you.
2. Can I financially afford a publicist right now?
This may seem like a rather obvious statement, but the truth is many artists do not fully understand the costs associated with having a publicist. Most PR firms require a minimum commitment of 3-months for any project, regardless of whether it’s an album, video, or single. That means for three months you are expected to pay whatever price you negotiate at the time of signing, and failure to do so will likely result in monetary penalties being issued against your group. Avoid this unnecessary trouble (not to mention looking amateur to industry professionals) and double-check your finances before seeking representation. Set a budget and work to find someone who offers you the most ‘bang for your buck.’
3. What am I hoping to accomplish with this campaign, and do I need a publicist to pull it off?
It’s common sense that artists and bands hoping to promote their new releases turn to publicists to help get the word out, but depending on your situation you may be able to handle marketing perfectly fine on your own. There are a growing number of articles and sites dedicated to empowering independent artists, including the one you’re reading right now, and if you’re willing to put in the work yourself, it’s reasonable to assume you can gain at least a small amount of press on your own. Blogs and smaller publications usually post their contact information online, and by reading up on PR tactics, anyone can craft a pitch letter, so as long as you’re okay with Rolling Stone and Pitchfork not giving you the time of day you may be able to do it on your own.
Furthermore, you need to know what you hope to achieve with a campaign. Getting the word out about something is too vague. Do you want more followers? one-thousand plays in the first twenty-four hours of release? Ten interviews a month? All that and more? Make a list of goals and ask yourself if you possess the knowledge and means to achieve them on your own.
4. Do I have high-quality promotional materials ready to go (masters, photos, etc.)?
Publicists spend their day trying to get the word out about their clients, but that does not mean they’re going to create promotional materials to help get the job done. As the client, it is on you to provide your publicist with everything they need to promote your efforts, and it should go without saying that quality plays a big role in whether or not journalists give you some of their oh-so-rare free time. Before you even consider bringing someone else into your career, make sure you have quality materials you want to be shared with the world. If you turn in mediocre media, the returns will likely be mediocre as well. Publicists work with what they’re given, so be sure you give yours the best material you possibly can.
5. What marketing ideas do I have for the release of my album/music video?
This is probably the most important part of this entire list because it’s the area artists most often overlook. Publicists can make amazing things happen for your career, but without guidance and direction from you, they will have no idea what it is you’re trying to convey with your art. This is why when deciding to bring on a publicist it is imperative that you first come up with your own set of goals and ideas for the release. Publicists want to help you, not do the work for you, and starting the relationship with a wealth of ideas on deck will simplify the promotional efforts on their end. By knowing what you expect, publicists can work with you to craft a campaign that’s designed to accomplish your specific goals, and that will lead to better results down the line.
Hello, everyone. Welcome to the very first Artist Spotlight of the new year. we have been getting a large volume of requests for this series, and in the months ahead will be expanding its reach to include a variety of talent from all over the industry. If you have any questions regarding the content of this blog, or if you would like to learn more information about the services offered by Haulix, please email james@haulix.com and share your thoughts. We can also be found on Twitter and Facebook.
If you were to ask a teenage Eric Morgan what his dreams were for his future in music he probably would have confessed a deep-seeded desire to one day be signed to a top record label. If you were to post that same question to Eric Morgan today however, he would probably tell you he’s happy just being able to make music with his friends. He has spent the better part of the last decade on one of the largest independent labels in the world, and in that time seen the best and worst sides of the business, but in the fall of 2013 that project (A Hero A Fake) decided to call it quits. Now he’s returning to music with his new group, Bornstellar, and in the interview below he tells us about the lessons he’s learned along the way.
I first came into contact with Eric while covering A Hero A Fake debut album on Victory Records. At the time, I was merely a fan trying to learn more about a promising new bands, but in the years since I have been fortunate enough to know Eric on a more professional level. He’s a brilliant team player, but he also has the leadership qualities needed to hold a group of creative minds together. Further, he has the kind of always-positive outlook on things that one needs to survive the often turbulent waters of the music business, and it rubs off on everyone he meets. His future has yet to be written, but I am confident he has a long career ahead of him in the music business.
If you would like to learn more about Eric and his thoughts on the world we highly recommend following him on Twitter. If you want to learn more about Bornstellar, click here. Additional questions and comments can be left at the end of this post.
H: For the record, please state your name, job title, and the group you’re currently involved with:
E: My name is Eric Morgan and I play guitar for Bornstellar.
H: Thank you again for taking the time speak with us. We like to build these features from the ground up, so let’s dive in with a little bit about your history. When you think of a formative moments/experiences that lead you to a career in music, what comes to mind?
E: My fascination with music began fairly young. When I was seven years old, this traveling folk band came to my elementary school to perform in our auditorium. At some point they handed out all these different instruments to the students so we could play along with them. I ended up getting the spoons and it changed the course of my life (ha!). I completely lost myself in the music that day. We were supposed to stay in our seats but I HAD to get up and rock out. It was the first time I had ever played an instrument and the feeling of playing along with the band overwhelmed me. I actually ended up getting in trouble with my teacher for being too wild.
I still get that same feeling today when I go on stage. It would look 100x’s cooler if I picked a couple good poses and stuck to them but I just get so absorbed in the music that I have to jump around and go crazy.
H: Was music always present in your household growing up, or was it something you found later in life?
E: My father played guitar in a couple bands when he was younger and so we always had instruments laying around the house. When my brothers and I were young, he would sing us these songs with his acoustic before bed and would kind of just make up these silly lyrics that would have us all laughing. It was one of my favorite things as a kid and I would beg him to play me songs all day. He eventually taught me a few chords on guitar and from there I taught myself everything else.
H: What was the first album you purchased with your own money (and the format)?
E: The first album I purchased was All the Pain Money Can Buy by Fastball on CD. I had an older brother so initially I would just steal whatever he was listening to – Green Day, Butthole Surfers, Third Eye Blind etc. I also had this little boombox that I listened to the radio on while going to sleep. It had a cassette recorder and I would jump out of bed if a song I liked started playing to hit the record button.
H: The age of digital media has changed the buying habits of many consumers. Do you still buy a large volume of music? Do you prefer physical or digital releases?
E: I pay for an Rdio subscription and I love it. Before I had a streaming service, my music collection was growing quite stale – I wasn’t actively discovering new albums or artists. Being able to listen to new bands on the fly is great and it has definitely sparked my own creativity. It’s $10/mth so while it seems pretty cheap for an unlimited library of music, $120 a year is more than I was spending on CDs.
Physical releases have become more-or-less art pieces because logistically they just don’t make sense as a convenient medium. More and more bands are skipping CDs all together and releasing on vinyl with digital downloads. Vinyl’s collectability has proven valuable to fans and having great design can turn the larger vinyl covers into great pieces of art. I think this is where physical can still play an important role.
H: Onto your life in music. What can you tell us about the local scene where you grew up?
E: The scene in North Carolina, and Charlotte in particular, was booming when I was going through high school. Bands like Hopesfall, Between the Buried and Me, and all the Tragic Hero Records bands were starting to get national recognition and that helped churn out even more great local bands that went on to become national acts. Around 2005 when we started playing out with A Hero A Fake, it seemed like every weekend there was a local show that was packed. The scene died down a little around the end of that decade. However, in the last year or so there has been a resurgence of new and great sounding local bands that have started to pack out shows again and North Carolina in general is cycling back around to being a healthy music scene.
H: When did you first pick up a guitar, and how long was it until you started creating and/or participating in bands?
E: I started getting serious about guitar when I was around 12. It took a while for me to find other people that wanted to make music, my school wasn’t exactly the best place to find musicians. One of my neighborhood friends also took up guitar so I would always print out song tabs for us to learn. I would take them to school and hand them to him like homework. I don’t think he was as into it as I was…
H: You found a wealth of success with your efforts in A Hero A Fake, which we will get to in a moment, but I am curious about the bands that came before AHAF. What can you tell us about those groups?
E: Justin [Brown], also vocalist for Bornstellar, and I became best friends in high school and eventually met Lenin [Hernandez]. The three of us started writing music together and ended up spending everyday after school practicing. The first band we started was called Nothing Gold Can Stay and we recorded a six song demo that we passed around school. It sounded awful, the recording was garbage, but just having our own music on a disc was a dream for us at the time.
H: Onto the band that launched you into the national spotlight. When did A Hero A Fake form, and how long were you together before Victory Records came into the picture?
E: That core of Justin, Lenin, and I eventually became A Hero A Fake in 2005. The same year we recorded the Friends Are Family EP with drummer Evan [Kirkley] (who would rejoin the band in 2010) and shortly after added guitarist Patrick [Jeffers] and bassist Matt [Davis] to the band. In the fall of 2005, Justin and I went to college together at UNC and put the band on hold while Evan left to focus on his band Cambridge and later Seneca. In 2006 we got back together to record a new EP with Peter [Gwynne] on drums. Peter left soon after and that’s when Tim [Burgess] joined and would end up playing drums through our first two Victory releases. Justin, Lenin, Patrick, Tim, and I spent much of 2007 writing Volatile and in December of that year went to Jamie King to record our first full length.
A few months after submitting the album to labels, I was at work and got a call from Tony at Victory. It was one of those things that you daydream about but never really expect to happen. Many of my favorite bands were on Victory and at the time they were the biggest indie label around. We had a couple offers from smaller labels but this was the label we dreamed of being on and having the owner call me out of nowhere was one of my most surreal moments. We released Volatile at the end of 2008, graduated from college that spring, and then started touring full time.
H: You released a handful of albums while on Victory, but in the fall of 2013 A Hero A Fake decided to part ways. What can you tell us about the time leading up to the group’s decision to go your separate ways?
E: It’s incredibly difficult to keep a band together no matter what level of success they’re having. You give up so much to be on the road full time – money, relationships, a home – that eventually it wears you down. At the end of 2010 as we were coming off a tour with Texas In July and Like Moths To Flames, Justin and I weren’t seeing eye to eye on things, we both had issues outside the band that were stressing us, and then our van breaks down in Cleveland causing us to miss the last couple days of tour. We spent a few thousand dollars fixing our van, basically wiping away any money left in the band account. We drove all night back to North Carolina with this dark uncomfortable cloud over all of us and I remember thinking on ride down, “Did I just play my last show without even knowing?” Justin and I had been best friends for years but after that tour we didn’t talk for nearly six months.
H: During this transitional period, did you ever think your career in music was over? When did Bornstellar, your new effort, come into existence?
E: Right after that tour I definitely thought my music career was over. Evan had moved to Pennsylvania and it seemed like a long shot to try and get a band together again. However after several months of no communication, Justin sent me one of the nicest, most heart warming emails, and we ended up hashing it out and putting all the negative stuff behind us. It felt great having my best friend back.
We ended up talking about music and what style of songs we really wanted to write and how much we missed playing since we had stopped. Patrick and I then got together and started writing these new songs so we could test them out on the road. I ended up booking a DIY tour out to the west coast in December 2011 and we ended up having a blast so we decided to make a new album. That album was The Future Again and was the last one we put out as AHAF, though it has some of my favorite songs on it.
After that album, we really wanted to keep pushing in a new direction but felt tied down by the AHAF name and that style of progressive metal that was expected from older fans. After our tour last spring with the UK band Fathoms, we immediately went into the studio with Drew Fulk and decided then we would start fresh as a new band so we would feel free to write songs exactly how we wanted.
H: We have spoken to a few people who have told us about getting burned out on a specific genre after working in that area for a couple years. While Bornstellar is no doubt a new band with a unique sound, it’s likely the group will be placed in the same ‘hard rock/metal’ field as AHAF. What is it about this area of music that keeps you coming back?
E: To me, music is all about the energy it creates. There is just so much vigor and passion in the alternative genres that make it appealing to me. I have a little studio at my apartment and I’ll write anything from pop/rock to dubstep when I get inspired but the heaviness of metal and hardcore sparks something within me and I crave that energy.
H: Can you see yourself creating music in other genres down the line? Does that even interest you at this point?
E: Definitely. I write songs in other genres already and so if I ever had the time and met the right people to start a different style project I totally would. I’d love to do some type of pop/rock in the future.
H: As someone who has been on and off a fairly recognizable label, what advice would you offer to aspiring musicians/groups dreaming of creating a lasting career in the industry?
E: A lot of people define success in music by being on a certain label or management group but in reality that alone will never make you last in this industry. No matter what label you are own, you will be the one promoting your band the hardest and if it is truly something special people will take notice. It’s also important to define what exactly success means for yourself i.e. Do you want to just get your music out there? Tour? Try to make a living through music? Every step you climb will lead you to another so at some point you have to say: Is this working or not? I think if you can find happiness in the process and be open minded about learning every part of the business then you will enjoy being in the industry. Enjoying what you do is so important because it makes you willfully work harder at your craft and that is one of the keys to being successful.
H: What would you say is the biggest lesson you learned from your time in A Hero A Fake, and how has that changed your approach to Bornstellar?
E: The biggest lesson I learned from my time in AHAF was to be patient. I’m a pretty anxious person in general and tend to get pushy about having everything happen as quick as possible but that often isn’t the best tactic. With Bornstellar we took our time writing the songs, getting things right in the studio, working on our branding, and made sure we were presenting ourselves exactly how we wanted when we finally announced. You want to try and get your music out there as fast as you can once its recorded but it really does make a difference if you take your time and plan everything out in all the other areas (social media, publicity, artwork, etc) so that when you do get it out there it makes the biggest possible impact.
H: Piracy has been in the news a lot of as late, but we both know it has been a hot button topic for years. How has your career been impacted, for better or worse, by music piracy over the years?
E: I don’t think my career has been affected by piracy all that much. Maybe if we were selling 100k+ in albums it would come into play but even then the effect would be minimal. If you’re on a label, you’re not going to be making your money through royalties – even the biggest artist make nearly all their revenue on the road. With how easy it is to stream with services like Rdio and Spotify, I think it’s even less of an issue moving forward.
H: You have a new band and a new album prepped for release. Looking beyond 2014, what are your career goals at this point in life?
E: Bornstellar is all DIY for now and so we’re trying to build the band up carefully and take our time doing things the right way. The EP will most likely be self-released in the spring and I’m actually quite excited about that as we’ll directly see the results of all our efforts. Looking past the EP, my goal is to be able to fund a full length by the end of the year. I don’t think signing with a label is necessarily the only way forward, we are just working to make this project self-sustaining and put ourselves in a situation where we can balance life and music.
H: If you could change one thing about the music industry, what would it be?
E: The music business, like all industries, can be cliquey at times. It can make it hard for talented younger bands to get out there if they don’t know the right people. I’ve built a lot of relationship from my years on a label and from touring so I have a lot of advantages now that I’m starting this new project but at the same time it’s disheartening to see how fraternizing it can be.
H: We’ve reached the end! Before I let you go, do you have any final thoughts or observations you would like to share with our readers?
E: First, I really appreciate what Haulix is doing. I’ve read a lot of the interviews through your Tumblr page and it’s fascinating to hear all these different experiences from within the industry. Bornstellar’s first single “Wake the World” comes out Tuesday, January 21st so please go check it out, we’ve worked so hard on the EP and I can’t wait to show it to everyone!
