SMooth Jazz Radio – Nils https://www.nilsguitar.com recording artist - producer - composer - guitarist Sat, 18 Apr 2015 00:10:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9 114805641 The artist’s need to create https://www.nilsguitar.com/the-artists-need-to-create/ Fri, 17 Apr 2015 23:47:54 +0000 https://www.nilsguitar.com/?p=1177 As part of my 2009 “Backstage Pass with Nils” Interview series I had a conversation with Brian Simpson and we touched on the subject of the changes in the music business. Record labels started to feel the shift from CD sales to downloads. Many Smooth Jazz radio Stations changed format so the outlet for this type of music shrank considerably. Just think that in 2005, when my hit song “Pacific Coast Highway” was # 1 it took 750 spins per week to hold that spot. This week Brian Culbertson’s brilliant song “Think Free” holds the spot solid with 300 spins and 40 spins lead to #2. It’s easy to understand why labels got nervous and many musicians too.

But as I discovered in the interview, Brian was staying very busy. He worked as Dave Koz’s music director, kept writing his own material and he is still going strong today. One thing that stuck out in the interview was that Brian said the format needs more original material. I’m paraphrasing: “ It needs to evolve, otherwise it’s going to die, and the only way to do that is by introducing more new original material.” That is a sentiment I whole-heartedly agree with. Brian went on to say that he always works on writing as much new and good material as he can, and when he runs out of ideas he approaches other songwriters to supply him with tunes.

Brian SimpsonBrian has been doing well in the last years since this interview. He just released a new CD entitled “Out of a Dream”. And I am happy to see him in the charts. True to his believes he approached various songwriters to help him and collaborate on the CD. I was one of them. The opening track “One of a kind” was my contribution. Brian took my idea and put his own spin on it. The result is a nice mix of Nils’ upbeat grooves and Brian’s sensual piano playing.

Brian recognized that the key to an artist’s resilience is flexibility and good original material. This attitude has served him well. Every great artist I can think of is associated, if not defined by an original song.

I have been writing more songs the last two years alone, than in the 5 years before. I expanded my work into producing new and upcoming artists, as well as writing songs for established artists. Of course I try to keep the best stuff for myself. And therefore I feel that my upcoming album, to be released later this year, will be the strongest work I have done in years.

The only advice I can give is to write as much as you can. Realize that not every song is going to be a masterpiece. But if you keep writing eventually you’ll come up with something great. And if you can’t and need more material to make your album stand out, give me a call.

 

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]]> 1177 Don’t pigeonhole me https://www.nilsguitar.com/dont-pigeonhole-me/ Fri, 03 Apr 2015 04:49:23 +0000 https://www.nilsguitar.com/?p=1166 Breaking the boundaries of your genre
ISA 2014
I realized that a side effect of many of us artists starting to self-promote, is that it gives us also more freedom to find our true voice.
The way the music industry evolved since the 90s had been a big obstacle to many artists, who don’t fit a certain mold. Careers have been more and more defined in a narrow stylistic niche to fit a certain radio format. Especially Smooth jazz radio was notorious in that regard. Some artist struggle to find songs in their repertoire that perfectly fit a genre. Others might adapt their style to gain access to the exposure radio offers. But as the saying goes: “Be careful what you write, you might have a hit”. Meaning that you might have to play that song for the rest of your life, even if you hate it. Bobby McFerrin – ‘Don’t Worry Be Happy” and Tina Turner – ‘What’s Love Got To Do with It” come to mind. My life changed when we released Pacific Coast Highway, which the most played SJ song from 2000-2010. This song threw me into the scene and gave me a career. Fortunately, I really like this song and I have no problem playing every time I perform. When I look back at my career though, I remember that I started off playing Rock and Pop, then Funk, which led me to Jazz-Funk, later called Fusion and now morphed into Smooth Jazz. I also write for Commercials, Television and had a few cues in movies.
But I always feel uneasy when people call me a Jazz guitarist. This is just one small aspect of my ability of a player and writer, but it’s what I am best known for. Last year I produced and recorded the music for the Independent Spirit Awards. I was especially excited about the project, because I was asked to produce alternative Rock music. It gave me the ability to showcase some of my other talents on the ‘big stage’ of television.
Brangelina ISA
What many people don’t realize, is that many artists have a variety of talents and interests far beyond of what they are known for.
My friend, violinist Dov is another great example. By most accounts he is known as a New Age artist. However his interests far exceed that genre. I produced a Smooth-Jazz/Chill CD for him CD Cover Dov Journey to Edenentitled “Journey To Eden”, featuring many greats of this format. He also writes Pop–Rock songs, that remind me of Coldplay and similar bands. We actually went into the studio and recorded some tracks with Toto drummer Simon Phillips.
There is a reason why we are known for a certain aspect of our music and not others. And in my opinion it lays in the traditional marketing strategies used by record labels. It takes money to create a name and a brand. So you want to strengthen that by re-enforcing it, rather than diluting it by going into too many different directions. Those strategies are proven to work and are still true today.
However, I think that the new independent marketing and self-promotion, that I see many new artists undertake, opens up possibilities for a wider approach. I see a switch from ‘big money marketing’, like buying TV, radio and print ads, to grass roots Internet marketing and social media campaigns.
It’s easy to imagine, how an artists can promote themselves in a variety of musical genres, when their name recognition is no longer tied to a radio station’s sound, but rather to a face book page or twitter account.
I recently saw Annie Lennox doing a jazz gig. I thought it was fantastic. The fans went nuts. I don’t think we are giving our listening audience enough credit, when we assume they only love one sound.
So why not giving it a try and show our fans what else we love to do? Let’s see what sticks. We have to evaluate what works and what doesn’t. That’s what the whole evolution, which is currently taking place in the music industry is all about. Call me idealistic, but I think there is an opportunity for artist, to become bigger than one genre or being pigeonholed into one little aspect of their talents.
To me this makes the future a very exciting time. And I hope to hear a variety of music from artists coming to light.

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