should i stay or should i go.

[bill]

music has been a huge part of my life over the last decade as a artist.
i have had many triumphs and things occur during this time related to my music career that have been great.
its harder than ever to turn a buck in this industry but it still can happen.
well about eight months ago i started another project with a cool guy. we added a vocalist and worked on some tracks.
it was going great.
i always felt a bit of a lack of honesty from the vocalist.
now she drops the bombshell on us saying she is gonna move to montreal. none to honest for me i mean there has been clues of this for a while now.
with this project i write the bass lines the drum beats and the synth parts the music. i record the music mix the tracks and all that other stuff too.
i really dont need to be in a band i do like to work with other people tho.
the question i am facing tonight is wheather i should just tell them to forge on by themselves or keep working with them.
i mean the vocalist lyricist seems to think its going to work with her being on the other side of the country.
it would be pretty much the same as having someone from new york working with someone in cali.
i just cant see this going anywhere that way it is now.
the thing that is really pissing me off is this has been a period where i have produced some of my best work yet.
now all of those patterns and sounds have been turned into songs for this project.
i dont feel like chucking those tracks all down the tubes but at the same time i dont really see a point in releasing any of these tracks with a band doomed to fail.
i could always just work on my own again and keep plugging forward with things on my own.
its so aggravating i mean twice tonight i plugged in my workstation and contemplated just hitting the reset button and deleting all of those tracks.
sounds pretty extreme and harsh but i kind of feel like doing that and then just calling them and telling them ciao.
i really like my guitar player. i mean its a good working relationship but this deal has soured things a bit with my feelings for this band.
i mean when you tell someone you dont want to play music with them anymore its kind of like the other person becomes dead to you.
its the death of a relationship really.
that being said at the same time i am at a age now where i dont have much more time to work on music full time with out anything coming back for it.
i have had such a awesome run with it and i know that i have tons more to contribute to the electronic music scene locally if not globally as it had been in the past.
in some ways i kind of feel that being in a band is really not necessary for what i am doing.
ugggh. i hate this point where you can feel the shark has been jumped within a project. this one had been shapping up nicely.
i think tho when i really think about it i dont owe these people anything really. i mean i worked very hard on this project.
if i do decide to hit the reset button on the work station that its my choice to do it. i just dont like wasting time. i mean i also dont feel like giving someone a extremely cool body of work they can use as a demo when really they didnt have much to do with the production of the music on that recording.
i mean i have been seriously thinking of selling every last bit of gear i own over the last couple of days putting a down payment on a condo and just saying screw it music is something i did and had fun doing it,and just going to work driving a lift truck again. i think the guy below might be knocking on my music making days.
:grim: :grim: :grim:
i mean for all the cool stuff i did getting to be on a compilation of future pop bands put out by sony in europe being in a band that some of the biggest bands to come out of vancouver loved and listened to was also cool.
i think tho that i have maybe just run out of time.
i think i am going to give it to the end of the week and then decide what i am going to do.

 

[Fatdog]

Dude, I say stick with it. There are a lot of singers out there; you just have to find the right one for your band. You could always do instrumental things too. You get more of the money that way.

But...

If you decide to sell any gear, let me know what you have.

 

[redbenjoe]

i say stick around --

 

[ahardb0dy]

If you decide to sell any gear, let me know what you have. [/quote]

you should just do like Ira and call "dibbs"

 

[redbenjoe]

you spellld dibs rong :sin:

 

[bill]

yeah there is lots of stuff in there to sell. hehehe.

lets see

roland jupiter6
roland juno60
roland jx8p
roland mc505
yamaha dx7
emax se sampler with new hd.
korg dw8000
korg em1x
korg es1x
emu 6400 ultra
waldorf wave micro a real one not the reissue with the wave slave
alesis quadra synth
kawai k1 mk2
kawai sx240
kawai k3
emu audity 2000
moog analog delay
moog low pass filter
electrix mofox rack
electrix eq killer
electrix filter gueen
few other rack delays
hmm
one of the roger linn adrenalinn is also in my studio,it actually came from the guy who did the original custom software for it.
tons of guitar stomp boxes
dozens of really old mini casio keyboards some really rare ones
a few cool yamaha minis including a really hard to find vss30 sampler
thats about it.
i havent decided to bail yet but it is for sure in my head the last couple days.
your right fatdog i could go on my own i have done it before and since then i have gotten even better since then too.
i have to be really honest i would love to do a show solo at the old planetarium here and bring all the stuff out and really let loose george duke solo style.
i mean i use my gear constantly and treat them like the rarities they are now.
i also confess that my twenty dollar rule dosent apply to them.

 

[monchito]

bill i am a musian for many years and i understand how you feel i play in our church,, the last church i played i was there for 17 years and musician and singers come and go , you start getting use to your new fellow muscian or singer then bam they got to go i have been though this for many years even when our group recorded our first album our lead singer in the middle of the recording singing session left us so we had to continue with the directors wife to sing so all in all it turned out to be pretty good so my advice is to continue your work there is bound to be other people that will love to help you guys out even if you have to make a american idol selection buts its all worth it you will never know until you try

 

[jaetee]

Dude.... stick with it... Don't throw away all that effort. You will surely regret it if you hit that reset button.

I recommend you go onto http://www.beatport.com and listen to some of the underground electronica being sold for anywhere from $1.49~$2.49 per track there...

Find a genre you can really sink your teeth into and start producing some late night no-vocal dance tracks, just make sure it is DJ friendly for mixing. Its actually a simple formula, I have friends who sell music on there regularly, and they do all of their production using Reason4 on their computer. With the gear and apparent knowledge & talent you have, you could surely produce differentiated, quality tracks that would sell. The cream rises to the top.

I don't know how the late night house music scene is where you live, but go out of your way to check out some good international top-shelf DJs and you'll surely see/hear that there is more to dance music than just basslines. And the "fun" vibe at a good house music event surpasses 90% of all concerts I've ever been to, and I've been to some good ones.

 

[bill]

thats the ting in vancouver. there is really no places left that are featuring live music any more. i mean theres a couple of hardcore venues but thats about it.
vancouver is so weird when it comes to the music scene. i mean theres the hardcore kids and then there is the noise community . i dont have anything against either of those scenes but its not anything i want to do.
your right man i decided last night i am not going to del all my tracks out of my gear. i mean i worked hard on them and well i am keeping them.
i honestly dont think i will ever completely bail at the same time tho i might have to change gears.
i mean i think i would like to see what is involved in actually teaching about electronic music now than just peforming it.

 

[jaetee]

I've been DJing house music for the past decade and a half and made some good money on the side doing it... Unfortunately, I never got into music production because I have a day job that pays well enough and I don't have the time to overcome that initial learning curve. Now, I have a wife and kid, too.

I'd love to hook up with someone like you who could teach me the ropes, so to speak as that is really the only way to take DJing to the next level (regional or national). You have to produce some noteworthy tracks that other DJs want to play. Otherwise, a DJ is destined to be a local name only. I'm not into it that much anymore.

But, you really don't have to be a DJ to produce good dance tracks.

I know two-man teams where one is the brains behind the music and prefers to stay anchored to the studio and the other is the DJ putting on the "public face" that represents them. They share DJ revenue & production revenue. Classic examples are Timo Maas, who's studio partner was Martin Buttrich. Or General Midi / Starecase... where the DJ is Paul Crossman and the studio partner is Al Watson.

Just a thought here, but if you hook up with some DJ's in your area, you could find a new creative outlet and maybe find some studio partners. Problem is, many DJs are punks with crappy attitudes and in it for the wrong reasons (drugs, girls) so you got to be careful who you decide to work with. But, many are good, honest people who are really in it for the music. You may also find some people with whom you can explore a new avenue.

Good luck whichever path you take. Too bad you're across the continent!

 

[bill]

yeah man its hard here to find people who are good to work with.
this is kinda why i think of just going on my own again.
i think what i really need to do is to move to victoria they have a pretty good electronic music scene there and i think it would be cool to work over there.
your right too man i mean when the moneys there its pretty great and its pretty cool that i have been able to make some money doing music.
its not all about the money for sure but when it comes it is nice.
time will tell what i decide to do. right now its one of those deals tho were you see a huge ammount of gear staring you in the eye lots of it really valuable and well also at the same time a ticking time bomb of maintenance madness.
i am not someone who has gone into the world of soft synths all the synths i have are hardware thats just how i work.
we shall see what direction i shall go in next but i never like to take steps backwards i hate that.

 

[oldskool69]

Dude, I would stick with it. Vocalists come and go. You have some great working relationships. She may not have been "the one" to really put the band over the top. There is a reason this is happening. And as long as you've been in the biz you know this. I say see it as an oppotunity to evaluate her weakenesses to find another singer that can perform as well, and get past those weaknesses you identified.

Don't give up on a dream or you'll find yourself trapped on that lift truck...

 

[bill]

your right man. i mean i dont think i could give it up if i wanted too.
i do think that this might be a message to work on my own.
i mean thats always been my most productive time.
today i spent some time in the studio and actually broke some new ground and made some sound in a way i have not before. that is cool when that happens.