Tempted and Future Excess: Post-CP-Article

I was recently written about in our local newspaper, and wanted to follow the article up with (a little more) discussion on the new release.

Tempted and Future Excess was conceived not only to rekindle something believed to be psychologically important (a catharsis, perhaps), but to also try to generate revenue. The idea was to try out Tunecore, a great service for musicians to distribute their works, and see if it would be viable.

Honestly, all I really care about is getting the name out. I'm glad the new E.P. is up on eMusic and Amazon, but the big one I'm waiting for is iTunes (they are still processing it, as far as I know). I personally prefer Amazon's service, and eMusic is great as well (yes, I have used both), but iTunes has the market, and being able to tell people "Yes, I'm on iTunes," is a great boon in my opinion. The real question is how quickly people will notice - and buy - my music on such services.

I think my best crowd will be on eMusic, given that it seems to receive avantgarde artists such as myself well. Beyond that, it is a haven for great independently produced music.

Anyway, enough with the marketing. Lets do some responses to the article itself.

"Will Leffert moves to the beat of his own drummers. His favorite drummers just happen to be, as he put, 'angry Germans banging on things.'"

Of course, I'm refering to Einsturzende Neubauten, the grandfathers of Industrial music. While I've heard a number of people use the above quote in a condecending context, I firmly believe that their style has revolutionized Industrial music and created something truly unique within a genre that tends to draw a lot of stagnation in tone and musicality. I personally remember being #1 on Christianmp3.com - which used to be a great resource for artists to reach the niche market in Industrial/Goth music - but finding the artists mimicing a poorly conceived variation on Front 242 and Ministry using pirated software and doing covers without copyright permission were right on my tails.

That same artist I refer to also signed to a small label, if I understand correctly. I have no idea if they have managed to sustain the fanbase they had.. well, wait, lets check their MySpace.

Nope, they've fallen to quite a small number.

Anyway, it is somewhat depressing to me, as an artist who cares about his works, to see poor quality creations make it to such lengths.

Not that I actually want to sign to a label myself. I like my freedom, honestly.

I'm rambling, aren't I? Oh well, next quote..

"With influences like those, it may seem like a bit of a shock to discover Leffert also pulls from classic composers like Holst and Vivaldi."

My classical influences may not be 100% apparent. In all actuality, I pull from Korsakov more than Holst, and perhaps Sibelius more than Vivaldi (however, if you listen to Nine Inch Nails, you'll definitely catch a rhythmic similarity to Vivaldi). However, the two composers mentioned in the article are well known, and I chose that as a bridge to people who may not be deeply familiar (or interested) in classical music.

"..he actually encourages fans to pirate his works and share them.."

I've been singing that song for a while. Artists like myself should really consider more creative means of promotion, considering our limited budget. I myself have known people to search various P2P networks for a genre to check out new bands, and I myself have been turned onto a few through such methods, too. You may think you are losing money through it, but remember - most of those people won't buy your music otherwise. I found Juggernautz from a friend who handed me a burned copy of their sole album, and I went out and bought it immediately afterwards. I was that impressed.

"For all of the things that set him apart, however, Leffert said he finds enjoyment in getting back to the basics and jamming with other musicians off the cuff."

If you love music, and love to create, learn your scales on a portable instrument. I can't tell you how much fun it is to just sit with another musician and improvise. I usually play with a couple older Hannibal residents - while they play chord structures from known classic songs or their own works - and make it up as I go along. If I know the song, I'll usually try to tie in the chorus theme somewhere, but otherwise, I just let my heart and fingers do the talking. Don't knock it till you've tried it.

That's all I wanted to touch on. For those of you looking for more technically focused blogs, I'll come up with something soon enough. Patience is a virtue.

-WFL