(via Retecool.com)

I wish you all the best in 2012! Hopefully we’ll see each other a lot more in 2012 and hear even more. Speaking of which; I think an EP is coming this year! As a teaser, the title is in the picture above. I think I’ll have to explain that one, but I will later (cool points for any one that knows without using Google). All in  good time. Patience!

Yet another Rotterdam venue is closing its doors. After medium sized venue Watt being dropped by the city council, the smaller ones are starting to fold. Waterfront was destroyed in the merger with Watt. Heidiger is gone. The FFWD dance parade was no longer welcome. Dizzy was closed, but luckily re-opening soon. But for how long? Rotown and Baroeg are the last small venues to hear live music.

I saw this coming and this is why I decided to chose home-gigs as an alternative. But many Rotterdam musicians do not have that option.

Maybe it’s time for the old model of illegal gigs in unlicensed locations to be put into use. Last put to use in a period where Rotterdam became synonymous with a genre of music: gabber. At least then all the voters who are responsible for the devastating culture policy of the city of Rotterdam, will have something to really complain about. Make some noise for Rotterdam.

Bands and musicians of Rotterdam, I await your illegal rave flyers.

Even though I hail from the South-West of the Netherlands, I was willing to travel all the way to the East of the country to go to a conference organised in Deventer by Nieuwe Electronische Waar (New Electronic Goods) next weekend. Master-classes in making electronic music, that sounds too perfect to be true. I didn’t even care that it would cost me three times more to get there compared to the ticket price. Or that it’s actually organised for musicians on the East side of the country. Why is there nothing like that around Rotterdam?!

But as it turns out, I’m needed elsewhere that weekend. My services as server migration specialist are required at a client. IT-superhero by day, undercover DIAY electronic musician by night. No one said it would be easy.

Remember I released the song Perfect back in March (you can still download it for free here)? Well, it now has a music video I produced all by myself:

The reason I made the video was to make a simple point: making music videos is something you can do all on your own. Just like you can do many things as a musicia/one-man-band yourself. I like to call it DIAY: Do It All Yourself. Granted, making it yourself means it won’t be as flashy and slick as one from a record label. And maybe it’s not something people will want to watch over and over. But actually creating something and putting it up on YouTube requires nearly zero budget.  The rest is creativity, resourcefulness and hard work.

I’ll let you in on a secret. I shot this video with in one afternoon with just one camera. And not even a video camera, a digital still camera with video option (a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FS6 if you must know). I used a microphone stand as a tripod. No really. I planned out what I wanted to shoot and what shots I needed. Then just filmed myself like crazy. I edited al the shots together with Lightworks, a free video editing program. I’ll admit, it took me a weekend long of swearing and cursing to learn how it works and to get it to do what I want. But I did, and got a result. Kudos to the guys at Lightworks.

Due to being busy with work and other stuff , it took me a month to complete, but if I’d add up all the hours I actually put into it, I think it could’ve been done in three 8-hour working days, maybe even two if you worked all day. I could’ve picked any of my songs, I picked the one that was currently easiest to make a video for at this moment. Plus now I have some practice and know what the possibilities and limitations are when I want to make something better. And I especially know to watch out for continuity errors now. LOL

On NPR an awesome article (with sound) about the Oramics machine by Daphne Oram. Daphne Oram was a composer and innovative electronic musician who worked at BBC Radiophonic Workshop (which among others worked on the sounds for Doctor Who) and later started her own workshop. One of the devices she created was the Oramics machine, an early synth which didn’t have a keyboard or anything, nope you had to draw on it. It had been lost and Daphne Oram passed away a few years ago, until recently, the machine popped up again:

I do recommend reading the article and listening to the interview at NPR too.

The text on the left is from a t-shirt that can be purchased here. I have seen it going round on the internet among my many creative friends. And rightfully so. I know many of them have a hard time making ends meet doing what they love and what they do best.

But there is an alternate strategy to follow as a musician. One that I personally follow. And I’m not alone.

In the Dutch news paper NRC.next of July 28th (the one with their Lowlands supplement) there was a front-page article titled “Rock Star looking for part time job“. You can read the whole paper including the article here in Dutch (page 4 and 5 of the regular edition). The simple truth is that very little musicians in The Netherlands can pay the bills with just rawking out. Only big stars with a broad appeal and their face on tv regularly can actually make a living with it. Professional, trained musicians will often have teaching jobs in music or do a lot of session work (for the aforementioned big stars and their labels). But many indie artists will have a job on the side or more usually, they have a day job that pays the bills and making music is something that makes them an extra buck. Even though they would rather be doing that alone. You can’t get rich making music, let alone earn a living.

But there’s an immense freedom in accepting you will not make (much) money  from what you love doing. It means you can do whatever you want, without fear of ending up in the gutter. You don’t have to please others for their money. Plus I take pride in the fact that I have skills outside music that some one is willing to pay me for. It does mean however that your productive out will be lower than most artists and you will have to plan your spare time more carefully. Or simply work less so you can spend more time on what you love doing. I did that. And it was the best choice I ever made.

I’m not saying this will work for any creative endeavour, but you can invest on growing into a skilled artist who makes the art he/she wants and still live comfortably. Your audience will be smaller, your means a bit more limited, but the possibilities endless. You’re creative, figure it out! But please, if you ever run into some one who does work as a professional artist and is dependent on the money, please pay them. Pay them well. Or do something equally awesome (and of the same value) for them in return.

You know I’ll play in any weird location, but I have to admit I still have to reach the level of awesomeness of these guys:

See, just cause I don’t post regularly about samples any more, doesn’t mean I’m not interested in it any more (double negative!).

Lately I’ve been playing Skrillex’s First of the Year (Equinox) a lot. Twice in that song you can hear the sample Call 911 NOW! I was pretty sure that probably came from a film, but was unsure which one. So I looked it up and the internet answered me, nope, it’s from this YouTube-clip of some angry/crazy woman shouting at skater kids. Thanks internet for educating me.

The pictures from my gig at the Car Art festival 2011 are up on the pictures page!

I had great fun in that van, kindly borrowed to me by the organisation. (And again my apologies to the owner for breaking her car key.) I played a 6-hour long set (with breaks, phew) in which I entertained the audience with a song or 2, or 3 or … well some stayed quite a while. At a certain point there was even a queue outside the van. I handed out a few cards to people so hopefully some more gigs will come from this. I loved how I kept getting a lot of requests for Thunderstruck (the AC/DC song). People even told their friends to come listen to that specifically. And people seemed very curious about my stories about my Casio SK-1.

I’d like to thank the organisation & volunteers of Car Art, my lovely girl who played roadie and everyone who dared step into the van. You all made this one of the coolest gigs in my life … so far. ;)