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01/06/2013: WE ALL NEED TO PLAN AHEAD AND PRIORITIZE, EVEN MUSICIANS

Especially musicians I would say, starting with myself.

So, now that the first demo has been finished (what, didn't listen to it yet ?) and the show is on the road, it is time to start planning ahead. What am I going to work on over the next few months decades ?

Here is a quick run-through what is cooking in BARON ZERO's kitchen:

1. NOMAD'S LAND: first priority is to record all the songs I have in stock and put together enough material for an album, hopefully by the end of the year. I will probably put out an EP with the best songs first.
2. LIVE AT HUTAB: "one voice, one guitar and 19 classics reinvented". Since last year, I've been sitting on close to 20 songs recorded during my last acoustic concert; I'm planning to mix them into an album which I will make available on this blog.
3. IN THE SHADOWS: talking about "classics reinvented", I still have in the back of my mind to make an album of covers a la Baron Zero.This would include some of the songs I have played live but in full electric versions.
4. REMIXES: again an idea I had for a while which is to ask a number of people to make remixes of some of the songs. Should include "Positive" for a release on World Aids Day (still haven't forgotten about the "Indie music against AIDS" idea).
5. COLLABORATIONS: more to come on this at some point, but I'm likely to be involved in a few side projects as singer and in a completly new musical direction. This should ne a lot of fun !

So what do you think, this is obviously enough to keep me busy throughout this life and the next: what should be the priorities ?

28/05/2013: NEW BARON ZERO SONG VISUAL "NO EASY WAY"

Thanks for everyone who took the time to press play, I hope you guys liked what you heard.

As a (small) token of my everlasting gratitude here is the visual for NO EASY WAY.

03/05/2013: WHEN DO YOU KNOW IT IS TIME TO BURN YOUR BRIDGES ?

One of my favourite motto has to be: "there is always a plan B". And in truth I have always tried to be one step ahead of my life and make sure I have options available whatever happens. In itself nothing wrong, in fact I can say this attitude has served me well untill now.

But I'm starting to have the feeling plan B might be holding me back from putting all my heart into plan A, from being able some day to live from music.

So here is a new motto which I'm trying to keep in mind: "freedom is more important than security". And to show that I'm ready to walk the talk, I have just turned down a job offer as marketing director for an iconic Austrian brand (hints for the Austrians - it is sweet and sold in a pink packaging).

For the first time in my life, I feel that I'm ready to walk into the unknown. I've never been as excited ... and terrified. Am I throwing the career I took so long building into the wind ?

But the wind in my face is also here to remind that to reach your dreams, all you need to do is spread your wings and dare to fly ...

17/04/2013: THERE IS NO BETTER TIME THAN RECORDING IN STUDIO

Finally back in in studio tomorrow to record vocals for a few songs I have been working on.

And totally psyched up !

15/04/2013: TIME TO PICK UP THE PIECES AND MOVE ON

Almost two months since the day when I became a "future ex" marketing director. The first few weeks were difficult enough, actually much more than what I would have expected. I guess however cool you want to appear about your work, it still hurts deep inside when someone comes along and seems to view everything you have done as useless.

Well good ridance, you have bought yourself a new toy, up to you to break it if you want. But don't come running back to mama afterwards.

So, enough of the mourning, time to pick up the pieces and get moving. There is a new life waiting for me just around the corner. I only need to be able to put the pieces in the right order:

• PLAN A - clearly my heart tells me this is the perfect opportunity to finally focus on making music. I'm exactly at the point where I'm young enough to give it a shot and old enough to have nothing much left to prove. But my head is saying "Huh, huh, even if you have talent, do you really think you can live from this ?".
• PLAN B - which brings us to plan B. I'm realistic enough to know that making money from music will take time (if ever) and I need to find some paied activities besides. Setting myself up as marketing consultant is one obvious direction: I have the experience, I have the contacts, all I need to make sure is that it does not end up taking all of my time.
• PLAN C - in addition to freelance consultant, another thing I was always interested in would be teaching. In this case, I could relatively easily teach marketing in universities, I certainly feel I have a few things to share with students. Good thing: it would still leave me time for music. Bad thing: obviously not the quickest way to get rich.

So here you are: I have a few aces up my sleeve and I will try to build myself a new life starting from these. The toughest will be to find the time, keep the momentum when things start to look grim and find the right balance between the different pieces.

And in truth, what is the worse that can happen ?

As the (self made) Chinese say goes: "if you aim for the stars, the worst that might happen is that you end up on the moon". 

25/03/2013: HOW TO USE SMS TO ENGAGE FANS INTO YOUR LIVE SHOWS

An interesting interview taken from the MASHABLE VIDEOS series.

This time it is with band UMPHREY'S McGEE who through-out their 15-years carreer have done a lot of experimenting with texting and SMS. Recently, the band announced the return of their signature UMBowl, a live concert in which fans control the direction of the show via SMS.

18/03/2013: KNOW THE 3 MOST IMPORTANT REVENUE STREAMS FOR MUSICIANS

Now that I have been a future ex-employee for a month, it is high time to start thinking about plan B. Clear in my mind is the fact that I want to make music and if it's not asking too much, be able to live from it. Which is where the plot thickens. But I have read an interesting article a couple of weeks ago on HYPEBOT which sums up the 3 main ways inedendent musicians can generate revenues:

1. YOUTUBE: I keep thinking you need at least a decently interesting video to stand out in the crowd. Turns out I'm probably wrong and I should really make more of YT. "Complain all you want about musicians making YouTube covers and goofy videos instead of being “serious”. The reality is many of them make a good living from this".
2. LIVE TOURING: not the biggest option for me as I do not want to sleep in the back of my car and go from one skihutte to the next to liven up the apres-ski parties. Still according to HYPEBOT "musicians who aggressively work these approaches take in mid-to-high five figures in profit. As tough as touring can be, artists focused on this are clearly leveraging it into a career".
3. SYNC PLACEMENT: "Artists who fit the sound requirements and have a certain buzz amongst music supervisors are often rewarded with multiple placement opportunities for their music. Rates can be as lower than $100 but they can also be upwards of $100,000 for a worldwide television spot". I have worked long enough in advertising to know that only the likes of COLDPLAY or JAY-Z can really command such high fees. But certainly getting paied $5,000 to $10,000 is realistic.

The most interesting part of the article is the conclusion though: "There are multiple examples of DIY artists who could fit into each of these buckets, but there are very few that were actually succeeding in multiple buckets."

18/02/2013: ONCE AGAIN, I FIND MYSELF SEARCHING HARD FOR THE SILVER LINING

The Germans bought the company, they came and they fired everyone ...

I actually half expected they would announce I do not have a job anymore this morning but I was taken aback (like everybody else) to hear that the other 120 people working on the site were fired as well. Although I have only worked there a couple of years, it is hard not to feel heart-broken at the thought of how the long history of what started as a small family company is going to end.

At the same time, if I'm honnest with myself, I have to recognize that things are pretty much going according to the plans. When I made the decision to move away from Singapore, it was with the idea of finding a job which would leave me more time for music. Maybe even the possibility to work part time. So, in a sense I should be satisfied with the situation: here I am, with a few months ahead of me to focus on making more music.

I always believed that things happen for a reason. Last time I found myself in a similar situation was more than 10 years ago. And I always thought that I did not quite make the most out of it. So maybe this is another chance to chase up my dreams of living for and from music. Maybe this is actually the last chance and I should not blow it away this time.

It is hard not to feel scared like shit but at the same time, this is just what freedom may taste like.

What do you think ?

Should I take the jump ?

06/02/2013: ANOTHER MOVE, ANOTHER FLAT, ANOTHER CITY

10th move in the last 20 years !

This time that things are reasonably out of control

... meaning that at least after a week we have managed to move the right carton boxes in the right rooms !

05/02/2013: LISTEN UP TO GEORGE BENSON, YOU SHOULD STUDY THE GREAT ONES

Those of you who follow this blog know that I'm a regular on CD Baby very own blog THE DIY MUSICIAN. They just posted an interview of music legend GEORGE BENSON whi is back with a new record; you can read through the whole interview here.

It covers most of his career, starting up with his upbringing in Pittsburgh and his early days as a guitar player. He also pays tribute to the environment he grew up in and the many influences his family opened him onto:

I think environent is everything — what you’re exposed to [...]. My first exposure to music was to people like Nat King Cole. My father was a Charlie Parker nut, and my stepfather who taught me to play guitar was a Charlie Christian nut, and my mother sang all the time — although she never did it professionally. My father played trombone, drums, and piano, but he never did it professionally.

But here is in my views the best advice he has in store:

“You can’t be great unless you know what greatness is.”