Paper versus iPad

As a song-writer I'm constantly looking for ideas, and when I find one, I need to be able to jot it down immediately before it fades away. So I’ve always carried a notebook around with me.

I have notebooks scattered around my living spaces, each full of songs in various stages of completion. Sometimes when I page through them, old ideas jump up off the pages and spark a series of new ideas. A song that I spent months trying to perfect unsuccessfully, can suddenly fall into place. My notebooks are full of words, waiting to be fitted snugly together like pieces of an intricate puzzle.

But the notebooks aren't just filled with words. They are filled with thought processes - words crossed out and replaced with new words; arrows linking sentences from one paragraph to another; circled words that rhyme; notes on on an elusive emotion that I'm trying to pinpoint; a melody scribbled on a hand-drawn staff.

For years I considered getting a laptop to jot down my ideas so that they will be in one place, easy to access, easy to edit, with spellcheck, encyclopaedias  and rhyming dictionaries close at hand. Then came the release of the iPad. I'm a sucker for gadgets and I thought that aside from being a lovely (if somewhat expensive) toy, this was the portable electronic notebook I've needed all my life. I took the plunge and got a friend to buy one in the States for me.

So I took my shiny new iPad to one of my usual song-writing coffee shop/restaurant/park hangouts with the intention of doing some writing. Only this time I chose my venue based on whether or not they have a WiFi connection. 

Comfortably seated on a couch at the coffee shop, an hour or two passed, along with much caffeine, & I was yet to write a single word. Every time the creative juices started to flow, the iPad beeped an email alert. And then I "quickly" checked what was happening on Twitter. Some tweeter posted a link to a very interesting article. Which led me to another article....then "ping" another email announced....DISTRACTION!

Next time I ventured out to write songs, I purposefully chose a venue without WiFi, and therefore without the temptation of email and internet to distract me. I wrote for a while and then read what I’d written. It was going nowhere, so I deleted everything and started again. I repeated the process, writing, reading, deleting. This happened a few times, and in the end all I was left with was a blank screen.  I began to miss the real pages where lines get crossed out, words are replaced, ideas linked; but nothing gets deleted.

The process is the important part.

So out came the old notebooks again. And once again I spend 20 minutes a day searching my flat for pens (there must be a place somewhere in the world where lost pens, socks and plectrums end up). Perhaps someone will develop an app that mimics/replaces a notebook. I've tried out quite a few so far without success. Until then my iPad has been relegated to a fantastic, exiting & fun toy, ebook reader, dictionary, calculator, radio, video player, iPod, news reader, Internet browser, picture frame, metronome.....but not a notebook.

 

 

 

P.S. this piece was written almost entirely on my iPad.

SAMA weekend

 

So the SAMAs have come & gone. We didn’t win, but I had a great weekend.

Some thoughts on the weekend:
I loved the fact that while the newspapers have recently been full of fears and racial polarization, musicians on stage at the awards ceremony showed a different side. Die Heuwels Fantasties performed with the Soweto Gospel Choir. Jabu Khanyile and Karike Keuzenkamp were given lifetime achievement awards and a medley of their songs was performed in their honour. The show was slick and entertaining, and the host Trevor Noah did a great job.

While watching the show I was aware of how few of the artists I had heard of and how much new music is being produced in South Africa. I’m definitely going to buy more local music!

This was also a great networking opportunity and a chance to meet people from various parts of the music industry. I chatted to people in retail, record company executives, journalists and of course musicians. Much of the conversations revolved around the future of the music industry and how long we’ll be able to sell CDs. For once, the fact that South Africa is a little slower than Europe & the U.S. may be to our benefit. One retailer told me that they are still opening new CD stores around the country.

It was a real treat to have been a part of this event (see previous blog entry for more info on that!) and with two more kids CDs currently in production (and more in the planning stages) we hope to be back next year!

Awards and retribution

 

Some years back I was booked for a three month contract, playing background jazz, five nights a week, in a restaurant at a popular holiday resort. Seemed like a great opportunity to earn some money and do some wood-shedding. My partner & I readily accepted and we were soon playing soft bossa novas and jazz standards between fake palm trees to empty tables.

The first couple of nights were great. The enormous restaurant was almost totally empty, but the hotel manager and the food & beverage manger both came to say how much they liked the music, and told to us help ourselves to food from the buffet when we were done. The week progressed and the hotel (and therefore the restaurant) remained empty.

Then things began to unravel. We spent the first week staying in a hotel room while we waited for staff accommodation to become available. Eventually we were relocated to a tiny one roomed apartment. We had been promised two furnished apartments. The place was dark & musty, covered in a layer of dust and teeming with cockroaches. The flat contained a moth-eaten couch and a bed. No cutlery or crockery. No TV. Not even a kettle.

We spent the day cleaning up the flat, and later after the gig, helped ourselves to food from the buffet as usual, a little disheartened at the thought of going back to our dingy room.

The next evening we arrived at the gig and sensed something odd was going on. None of the staff greeted us. They all appeared to be avoiding us. I called the F & B manager and asked him if something was wrong. He sat me down and gave me a lecture, telling me that the staff were pissed off that we were eating from the buffet every night. He said that it was a “privilege & not a right” and that if we asked once in a while he would probably say yes since “the food gets thrown away every night anyway”. I felt the rage build up inside of me, but managed to keep my cool. I told him that we had been under the impression that we were allowed to eat the food, but would never touch it again now that he had told us. I then took out my wallet and said that I’d like to pay for all the meals we had eaten.

Then trouble started from the hotel manager. He’d come to us in the middle of our set and say things like “The previous band played the Titanic song and the Spice  Girls”. We tried to explain to him that we’d been booked to play soft, background jazz, that there were only two of us (a guitarist and vocalist) without backing tracks, and that he should perhaps take the matter up with our agent. The hotel remained empty, and the manger & staff continued to treat us like second-class citizens.

One night we arrived at the gig & the hotel was busy and bustling for the first time. Glamorous people were walking past in evening gowns, tuxedos, Italian leather shoes, wild outrageous hats, dark glasses and various forms of glitzy celebrity attire.

During a break I asked a waiter if there was a function on and he replied that it was the SAMAs. I turned to my partner & said “This is all wrong! We’re sitting playing to two palm trees and 50 empty tables, while the rest of the music industry is being wined and dined and receiving awards. We need to change this situation!”

Shortly after that night, our contract was abruptly cancelled. On enquiring about whether or not we would get a cancellation fee as stipulated in the agreement, our agent told us to “write it off to experience”. Reasons given for our contract being terminated included “playing out of tune, and dragging”! I was terribly depressed by all of this. We were both experienced musicians and had been gigging for years, but it was still a big blow to my ego and self esteem to go through an experience like this.

We sued, and eventually were awarded an out-of-court settlement, but the incident has always left a bad taste in my mouth.

And now fast-forward ten years… We have received two SAMA nominations!
This time I’ll be wined and dined instead of playing to palm trees and empty tables. This time I don’t have to ask permission to eat from the buffet. This time I get to stay in a clean hotel room.

Music isn’t a competitive sport and winning awards doesn’t mean that you’re faster, stronger or in any way better than someone else. For me these nominations are just a reminder of where I once was and where I am now.

 

Our two nominations:

             

Both CDs are available from Look & Listen stores and http://www.kalahari.net/

More info: http://www.africantreehouse.com  http://www.goggatjie.com/

Tradition

I have a great idea!

Let’s do things our forefathers did without giving any thought as to why they did them (or why we’re doing them). We’ll do it just because they did. Our parents did it. Their parents did it. No need to question. If generations of people have done it then it must be sacred. And of course, no one is allowed to question anything if it’s sacred.

Well, in theory we have a constitution that upholds freedom of speech, so you can actually question tradition. But you’ll be shouted down:
“How dare anyone question my tradition? It’s been passed down to me from my father, and my father’s father, and my father’s father's father…
You are insulting my family, my heritage, my culture! You don’t understand!”

Some traditions are harmless and fun. Some are chauvinistic. Some traditions cause pain and suffering to animals. Some traditions mutilate children. Some result in death.

But it’s a part of our culture. So it’s OK?

How do you know if it’s good or not?

I spend anywhere between six months to a year working on a album. If you include the fact that I’m continuously jotting down song ideas, some of which take years to grow into album-worthy material, an album takes a lifetime to make. And it is a solitary affair. Well, I do work with a partner, but it’s just the two of us.

I sometimes play snippets of the work in progress to friends/colleagues. But I have to take most peoples’ comments with a pinch of salt. The vast majority will tell you they love it, because that’s what they think you want to hear (and quite frankly I do!). I do have a couple of friends who’s judgement I value, and I always call on them to listen. They usually give constructive criticism, sometimes it’s like turning on a light switch. A little tweak & the album springs to life. Sometimes it’s like being punched in the stomach and having the wind knocked out of you.

But ultimately, the final decision rests with the creators of the content. There comes a time when we have to decide that the album is done. This moment (usually right after it has been mastered) brings with it mixed emotions. Relief, excitement, anticipation. And nervous fear. What if it sucks? What if we can’t see the forest for the trees (or the song for the notes)?

My only solace is that I’m pretty sure most creatives experience this insecurity on completion of a project. There is no "department of creative standards” to put your work through a series of stringent tests, and supply you with a detailed analysis.

So we release the CD and wait…

New site is live!

The new site for the African Alphabet CD is now live.

New name, new logo...

...and soon a new CD 'Stories from the Alphabet Tree Vol 01' which is now in the final stages of completion. (Which means approximately 2 weeks to launch) (really!)

You can view the site here:

http://www.africantreehouse.com/

Moshito: Some useful links/resources that were discussed

Moshito is an annual music conference held in Johannesburg “focused [on] broadening the business intelligence of music industry professionals in South African and the continent, strengthening business networks for participants and informing delegates, traders and the public about the multifaceted and dynamic nature of the global music industry.”

Here are a few sites that were discussed at the conference that I found interesting:

South African Sites:

www.speakerbox.co.za (Sort of a MYSpace for S.A. bands)

www.overtone.co.za “Overtone is a band bookings agency, music industry administration service provider and an events management company.”

http://www.entertainmentafrica.co.za/ (news site)

http://www.rhythmmusicstore.com/ (South African MP3 download store)

http://www.tunegum.com Gig guide & tickets for events

 

International Sites:

http://www.bandcentral.com/ “In a nutshell, BandCentral is an online band manager with all the tools you and your band members need to manage your band.”

http://themusic.com.au/ All things to do with Australian music. But also has great music business and news articles.

http://www.mediafuturist.com/about.html A lot of great information about the music industry & where it is headed

http://hypem.com/ “To put it simply, the Hype Machine keeps track of what music bloggers write about”

http://www.99dollarmusicvideos.com/ “independent music network dedicated to merging low-fi, cutting-edge videos [made for less than $99]with the best of today's music scene”

http://microfundo.mymondomix.com/ “MICROFUNDO will help you fund your music career. Need capital for your next recording? Looking for financial support for your next tour? We can help you raise funding directly from your fans and develop a core fan base from across the globe”

http://www.radarmusicvideos.com/ Post a brief for a music video, and music video directors will bid on the job.

http://www.songlink.com/ Tip sheet of producers/artists etc looking for songs