Throwback Thursday (video edition): Harem Scarem "No Justice"

Business Lessons From Mötley Crüe

As many of you know, one of my biggest influences both as a musician  and music industry professional is Nikki Sixx from Mötley Crüe. 

What some of you also know, especially those who have worked with me, I'm a firm believer that musicians need to take the time to not only get a better sense of the business side of the music business, but actually treat what they do like a business. 

Today, Nikki Sixx shared a link to an article/interview with him and Mötley Crüe s manager Allen Kovac that discusses how Mötley Crüe went from being a notoriously messy metal band to a business powerhouse. 

Looking to Mötley Crüe for advice about business might sound a little like asking Warren Buffett for tips on headbanging. Are there really lessons to be learned from the band who, in their 1980s heyday, were as well known for their over-the-top debauchery as for their music? “Looking from the outside,” says bassist and co-founder Nikki Sixx, “I totally understand why people would think there’s no way this band should even still be here.” 

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Where are they now Wednesday - Damon Johnson from Brother Cane

This week we share with you what Damon Johnson from Brother Cane is up to these days.

First, as a little reminder here's a video from Brother Cane.


So what is Damon Johnson up to now? He's in a new band called Black Star Riders. Black Star Riders also features members of Thin Lizzy, Whitesnake, Alice Cooper, and Megadeth.

Have the courage to ask.

A pet peeve I have is people who obviously want to but can’t seem to just simply ask me a question. Some people are worse than others. They will talk around the subject to the point where I actually have a good sense, maybe even know what they want to ask, but they will never actually ask the question. There are times where I know I could easily put them out of their misery and ask myself the question for them, but I rarely do. 

In my opinion, especially if you are an artist or playing in a band you need to learn how to get over this aversion and learn how to be a little more direct. Chance are, even if you think you are being obvious, you’re not. If you want me to work with you, you need to be specific and tell me what you would like me to do for you. I’m not a mind reader. I can’t determine what help you need or where I can help you by the unnecessary small talk you are trying to initiate a conversation with. If you unsure of what I do or how I could help you, then that's your first question to get the discussion going. Don't assume I'll just offer that up if you initiate small talk with me.  It scares me to think an artist could potentially be using the same approach to talk to promoters, booking agents about shows and other branches within the music industry.

Am I intimidating? Are you afraid the answer will be something you don't want to hear? Do you think your music will speak for you? Are you assuming that once I listen to the track I will over you the world? (Obviously, I don't have any reservations about asking questions.)

There has been a number of times where I have received music from bands and then when I talk to them, they literally talk about everything else. Most to the time it's usually the smallest of small talk not even music related. Sometimes it even feels like they are almost avoiding asking me what I think of their music. Are you content in simply knowing I listened to it? Is that the only reason you sent it to me was to listen to it? I'd like to think I could potentially offer more than just listening to your music. 

Sadly there are probably some of you reading this blog who are guilty of 'question avoidance' who will probably be even worse now, worried that you’re not being direct enough with your questions.

Have the courage to ask. We both benefit from you asking the question. You will get your answer and I don’t have to listen to you dance around the subject hoping I’ll answer the question without you asking it. Even if the answer to your question is not what you wanted to hear or where expecting, at least the conversation and even the relationship is moving forward. If you continue with the random, unnecessary small talk we don’t move forward. If anything, you make me want to end the conversation even quicker by doing that. Treading water can be great skill to have, but for the most part regardless of how long you do it, you don’t tend to go anywhere.

You never know what can happen if you ask, but you do know what will happen if you don't ask...nothing.

So please…have the courage to ask the question. Give me the opportunity to tell you “You suck!” Haha.

Final side note...if you're reading this and thinking "is this about me?"...there's only one way to find out...ask me. 

A passion for music

This morning on CBC radio they were talking to an individual who is in her 80’s and was going to be attending tonight’s Lady Gaga concert in Edmonton. 

What blew me away by the interview was not the fact that this 80 year old lady was going to a Lady Gaga concert, it was the way in which the lady talked about Lady Gaga and her music. I can’t even think of the right words to use to do justice to the level of which this lady expressed her complete and totally respect and love for Lady Gage and her music. You could hear the enthusiasm and genuine love for Lady Gaga and her music in how she describe why she was a fan of Lady Gaga.  Her passion was so strong, it got me rethinking my own personal views one Lady Gaga and her music. 

Listening to this individual talk about her love of Lady Gaga reminded me of similar conversations I’ve had over the years with some of our "prior generations" about music. Music consumption is supposedly at an all-time high. People listen to music a lot more than they used to, simply because they can access it in many different ways easily where ever they are. Regardless of how high usage rates are what I’m noticing is disappearing is that true passion for music which I heard from the Lady Gaga fan today. That unwavering engagement that touches individuals on an entirely different level than today’s generation who tend to treat music as a disposable commodity and conveniences.

We need to recapture that feeling, revive what it means to experience music. Thanks to the individual on the radio this morning, I see why Lady Gaga reaches her audience on a different level than a lot of other artists today. Take away her extreme behaviour and antics and the musician, the showman, the entertainer is still there reaching audiences members on a level that many believe is lost on the disposable music generation. Prior generations excepted more from our entertainers, they held them to a strict level that many of today’s artists cannot even come close to attaining.

We need to reignite that passion for music, hold our artist to a standard that can't be reached by buying the latest piece of recording equipment. Take some time and talk to an 'older' generation about music. Ask them what they love about music, about the music they grew up with and the impact it had on their lives.  Their stories alone will probably have the potential to fire up your own engagement for music and maybe even influence your next music purchase.  

Patience

It is hard to be patient in the music industry. I often see artists get frustrated when a single they released doesn't have an instant reaction or just isn't taking off as quickly as they want it to. This is a natural reaction, but a lot of times I feel an artist doesn't really give their own song a chance.

Music and Program Directors I interact with will tell you it can sometimes take them a month or two before they 'put some proper ears on a track'. There are always some exceptions, but even the ones who listen to stuff right as soon as they get it will tell you they sometimes get overwhelmed with the amount of new music they receive.

For the artist it can be hard sitting, wondering and waiting. Over the years I've tried explaining to some of these frustrated artists that they have to try and be patient, but have found it hard to be convincing without a concrete example of a song taking a while before breaking at radio.

I now have that example.

KONGOS "Come With Me Now"

This single recently jumped to #54 on Billboards Top 100 chart.

The single was released in 2011 (video was posted on YouTube on July 31,2012)
Now I'm not saying you have to wait 2-3 years for a single to take off, but I am saying its worth giving the single more than 2-3 months at radio before giving up and thinking you need to change tactics and release a new single. If you believe in the song, push that song and give others an opportunity to believe in it too. 

Throwback Thursday (video edition) - Galactic Cowboys

One song that is considered one of the hardest tracks to find is by Sons Of Thunder called "Don't Hate Me Because I'm Beautiful" (I couldn't even find a clip to share in this post)

Who's Sons Of Thunder? They briefly appeared in the movie Airheads, in which they performed the above mentioned track, but what many don't know is that the band was actually a real band called Galactic Cowboys. 

There was a time around 1994-5 where Galactic Cowboys were one of my favourite bands. During an era where 'alternative' was dominating the airwaves, these guys were still doing metal. 

Where Are They Now Wednesday - Nick Walsh from Slik Toxic

Where is Nick Walsh from Slik Toxic?


Nick Walsh was at Canadian Music Week last week in Toronto, performing as part of the Metal On Ice show. A show featuring a variety of Canadian Metal singers, including Lee Aaron, Darby Mills (Headpins), Brian Vollmer (Helix) and Carl Dixon (Coney Hatch).

Nick is also fairly active with his band Famous Underground. 

SoundCloud Changes

So SoundCloud is making some changes. 

I've always been a fan of SoundCloud and like all things, sooner or later you have to update things and change things up. Will this have any major impact on the users? Probably  a lot of complaining from those who don't like change, but sadly to there is probably a large handful of artists with music on SoundCloud that won't even notice the changes because they uploaded their music and have not gone back to SoundCloud since. If anything, I think SoundCloud should go through and clean out old band profiles from artists who haven't logged in, in the past year. 

Wondering what I'm talking about? CLICK HERE to see the article on some changes SoundCloud will be implementing. 

American Woman went #1 today in 1970

Today in1970, The Guess Who was #1 in the US with American Woman 

Here's The Muppets' version: 

Throwback Thursday (video edition): Fight "A Little Crazy"

Throwback Thursday Video Edition: Fight "Just A Little Crazy"



It's kind of hard to tell in this video, but if you look closely you will see Steel Panther's Satchel (AKA Russ Parrish while in Fight).

The band actually performer this song acoustically on Headbangers Ball. If you listen carefully you can hear the host say at the beginning of the video that they're going to "try and start having live performances on the show and what better way to start that than with Fight!" Playing acoustically? You want to start having bands play on Headbangers Ball and the first one you have on you have them do an acoustic version of the song...

How often do you skip?

I was actually wondering about this the other day. While listening to Slacker Radio I noticed how frequently I was skipping songs that were supposed to be part of my favourites list. That got me thinking about how often others might be skipping stuff on streaming sites. Turns out someone else was wondering the same thing and did some research.

Check out both Alan Cross's article

When You Stream Music, There’s a 24% Chance You’ll Skip a Song Within the First Five Seconds. This Isn’t Good.

As well as the source for the graph he shares, which comes from

Avoiding music: The amazing metrics of song-skipping

Feature Fridays: The Virgin Mary's

Feature Fridays: The Virgin Mary's "Just A Ride"

First heard these guys on Slacker Radio. They remind me of Eve 6 with a bit more of a harder edge.


For some reason there's two videos for this song...

Throwback Thursday (video edition): Extreme "Decadence Dance"

Throwback Thursday (the video edition): Extreme "Decadence Dance" - People tend to forget this band had more songs than just "More Than Words"