Monday April 11^th , my flight to London was leaving on Tuesday, so I decided to spend one day in New York rather than flying back to LA. At the airport I was trying to check my big suitcase in and was told it was 8 pounds over the limit, even though I had sold a bunch of CDs. I must have packed less carefully. Rather than spreading my laundry and everything over the airport floor, I opted to buy an extra bag for 25 bucks, fill it with my garment bag and a fairly heavy foot switch. I can deal with it in New York. Southwest let’s you check it two free bags so there was no big problem there. I got to Newark that evening, managed to find the air-train to the shuttle to the hotel and settled in my room. I opened the big suitcase to take my clothes out and put them on a hanger, when it hit me. I had grabbed my guitar, the carry-on suitcase, the big suitcase. But the bag I purchased for $25 I had left behind at the airport. I just totally forgot about it and never picked it up. Panic struck me: my stage clothes and the foot switch for my computer system. By now it’s midnight and I get a shuttle back to the airport. I got there just in time, before the Southwest counter closed and thank god they had my bag.

The next morning I made my way into Manhatten to meet up with one of my clients, Al DeGregoris. Jeff Lorber and me have been producing tracks for him and he is currently working on a new project. It’s always good to get some face time. So we had some lunch at the Carnegie Deli. I also used the opportunity to get a 9V power supply that could handle all voltages from 120 – 240 and had 4 outlets for my pedals. The batteries, seemed like a good idea at first, but some of these pedals go through them in a few hours. The delay crapped out on me on the boat due to an empty battery and there is no warning. Plus a big bag of batteries is even heavier than the power supply, and weight counts. I did spend more time when repacking the big suitcase this time and it came in just under 50 lb, which is what the allowance is.

Currently I am charging all my devices waiting to board the plane to London.

I will write the next installment from there.

Cheers

…. To be coninued

you can read part 4 here

And the only way I am going to see any considerable additional income from my creation, is when it becomes a hit. Which brings me to the production aspect. And I realized that with the production tools becoming so readily affordable, a lot of young artists are thinking I can do this myself. But just because you can buy a cheap microphone, doesn’t make you a good engineer. And just because production software like Logic Pro, Cubase , ProTools etc have come so affordable doesn’t mean everybody is a good producer. Which brings us to the question:

What does a producer do anyways?

I like to use the analogy that a producer in music is what the director is in film.

Like a director needing to get a great performance out of the ensemble of the cast, the music producer needs to bring out the best of the artist. He needs to tell him when things don’t quite work. He might also have to deal with band egos,.

And just like the director needs a vision for his movie, the music producer has to have a vision of what the song can accomplish and a plan of how to get it there.

He knows who to hire to get the desired result. Not every musician is good at everything. Your buddy might be a great drummer, but lack in understanding of a certain style. A producer can tell you, if your buddy is the right musician for the job or not. He also has access to great musicians to help enhance your material.

He has the objective ear and tells you, if the track is cutting mustard or not. Friends and family are often not a reliable source of constructive criticism in that regard.

So I compare a new artist producing his own CD to a rookie actor acting and directing his own movie. As a screenwriter, I’m not sure I would let him have my script and as a composer I am reluctant to give that artist my song.

I understand that sometimes the reality dictates that you do things within your means and can’t afford to hire a producer. And I always advocate to create rather than to wait until the situation is perfect. But if you really want to compete in the radio market then hiring a producer, even for a couple of songs might be a wise investment into your career. Ultimately your goal should be to get to the next level and gain recognition you did not have before. With that comes the ability to sell more CDs or downloads and opportunity for more work, like being invited to perform at festivals etc.

When you look for a producer, you should first have a conversation with him. Find out if you feel comfortable with him personally. He is going to be an important part of your music and sometimes he might have to tell you things you don’t want to hear. Ideally you want someone, who has a track record on radio, so you know he has his finger on the pulse of what’s going on.

He should push you to be better, than you even imagined you could be. Finding the right producer can be the best thing an artist has ever done. The artist needs to look at it as an investment in his career.

By the way I realize that I use “he” referring to the producer. There is no reason why it could be a “she” of course.