ASCAP 2011 and Ass Punching Buzz Lightyear

Last Tuesday was the longest day ever. We were getting ready to drive our new road trip car to Los Angeles for the ASCAP Expo, a 3 day music conference put on by The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) which is a membership association of more than 400,000 U.S. composers, songwriters, lyricists, and music publishers of every kind of music. (ASCAP protects the rights of its members by licensing and distributing royalties for the non-dramatic public performances of their copyrighted works.)
We went to this last year, but it was our virgin attendance and we were so overwhelmed we missed out on a lot. This year, we knew exactly what we wanted out of it and took it by the tail.
We left Wednesday morning and drove strait through on I15 getting there and going to bed. We got up early Thursday morning and headed over the The Hollywood Rennaissance Hotel where the event was held which is attached to a super cool outdoor mall with several levels and arranged with a courtyard area and fountain in the middle and the shops working their way around. It was right on the walk of fame and attached to the Grauman Chinese Theater.


There are restaurants, shops, theaters, and bars as well as a few bridges going across to let you look across to the Hollywood sign, and the street where the stars are marking the walk of fame. It really is a cool sight.
We attended only 2 classes the first day because we met so many people and got to hang with Coop talking about our plans etc. where we found out one of our friends Shelly Riff (http://shellyriff.com/home.cfm) has been fortunate to get some placement deals (its the way to go kids to get music on TV, Movies, etc). It was exciting to hear that a good person like him has Kharma smiling on him! We met a cool guy through Shelly named Tim who invented a cool ball that doesn't deflate for kids in third world conntries who is organizing a large concert for this ball with U2 and with Sting backing the product. I though it was such a beautifully selfless cause. He was a very nice man and I honestly dont believe he is full of shit like many people with claims such as those. We saw the ball too. Its pretty damn cool!
Friday we woke up to a 70$ ticket on the car because I guess you can't park on one side of the street on Fridays because of the street sweepers. We are contesting it with no real hope of winning lol. Good start to the day lol. We attended more classes including the "Road Warriors" Class about touring which I will talk about later. Saturday was more of the same and then a night of fun....which I will also talk about later..
There are classes at this thing taught by many behind the scenes big wigs, stars, and not so stars but they ALL know their shit. There are thousands of musicians, writers, managers etc there and all sorts of booths with stuff to help you in your craft. There are also crazy people singing in the hallways and stairs as well as when they are given the opportunity to ask questions, some stand up and sing because they think it will get them discovered. Now, this is frustrating at times but really more entertaining.
But then, there are talented people who take opportunities correctly and get to perform for guitar sponsors and camera men like Valerie Mize. She was a nice girl with a great voice and catchy songs who humbly asked to play his guitar and because she wasn't a crazy person he said yes. She was beautiful and very nice.


We met some very nice people. A few from last year, a few from this year. We found that Twitter is the best for that. (tip: If you are attending something with a "Hashtag" (if you dont know what that is, you need to start from scratch and thats perfectly fine) find that tag and follow other people using it. You gain followers with the same interests, and they you and get the chance to set up face to face meeting with them as opposed to random followers in different places than you) We met 4 people face to face this year due soley to Twitter including Brandon Liss (http://www.brandonliss.com twitter= brandonliss) Ruby Castillo (http://www.youtube.com/user/MlSSRuBy twitter= MISSRuBy) Brian Franke (http://www.brianfranke.com twitter= bfrankemusic) & Antwoinne (http://www.penmeetspad.com twitter= antwoinne). Each of these people are awesome and very talented! Not only that, but they really made this experience so much better in their ways.


Melody, Brian, Mike

Ty, Brian, Mike

There were classes on everything from songwriting, publishing, composing, social media (twitter Cyberpr for a great person to listen to on Social Media), even a class on touring with someone I looked up to before, Matt Nathanson (his song "Come on Get Higher" was a big hit not too long ago and his other songs are awesome http://www.mattnathanson.com). I liked him before but he has a truckers mouth and I LOVED that lol. Now I am a forever fan. He made the biggest impact on me because he wasn't about bull shit. Mainly he was just flat out honest. He basically said what everyone needs to hear including me...You can't skip steps. There is no magic equasion or solution to the music business and breaking in. You have to work your way up just like anything else, it just takes longer. If you skip those steps they're going to shit you right out. I also got to meet Jonatha Brooke (http://www.jonathabrooke.com) who is a fantastic singer/songwriter and so beautiful in person!!!
Ty's favorite class was an interview with Bernie Worrell by Will Calhoon followed by some cool jammin. Ty really loved this class as he looks up to Bernie.


You can't see this but Bernie has a plate of food he was trying to sneak to his room to eat but I cut it off lol. Aaah stars...
Sara Bereilles came and interviewed Lindsay Buchingham from Fleetwood Mac. He seemed so down to earth and cool. But....I am betting that guy partied the shit out of his rockstar years! I was surprised that this talented songwriter said he hated it and liked performing and producing much better. He also said he liked bands today like Arcade Fire, Phoenix, Vampire Weekend, and Dirty Projectors.

SHIT it was beautiful there too. I didnt want to leave I swear. I heard it snowed back here in Utah while we were gone. Sorry bout that SUCKAS!
Another of my favorite things about LA are some of the little quirks.


(right) This was a crazy manaquen in a costume shop...fucking wierd!!!; (left)I posted this one day with "I wonder the nutritional value of Love"
Saturday we finished classes and found that the place we did dinner last year was closed down. That place was BADASS! We were pretty dissappointed so we went to The Hardrock Cafe with Coop, Brandon, Brian, Mike, Brandon. Amy, Shelly, Brandolyn, and of course Ty and I and ate and drank a bunch lol. During this time, Ty and I went to smoke with Brandon and some street performers came and talked to us. Then a bum they knew joined in. He suddenly looked at me, asked me to hold his stuff, (which consisted of a partially consumed Sierra Mist, and what looked like a cat bowl with money in it) which was more handed to me than asked so I did. Now, in case you dont know this..... The walk of fame is a place where people are dressed up like almost any character and actor you can think of. Some are in full suits, some are in clothes with wigs and make up. One we saw on Friday looked like RuPaul and then he/she walked into the makeup shop next to us and started working behind the counter. We were really glad we didnt ask for a picture lol. Seriously...looked just like RuPaul. Sooo...the bum hands me his shit, and walks over to a very plush Buzz Lightyear character and ass punches him!!! No. Seriously!!! So Plush Buzz, walks up and gets all up in the bums face and they do the I'm in your face' dance for a bit and the Buzz walks away. The bum gets his stuff from me and walks back over to give the stink eye to Plushy Lightyear and they do the dance again as you can see part of in this epic youtube film but Tyler Forsberg lol...( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjcTm4rvre4 )
It was nutso. WHO ASS PUNCHES BUZZ LIGHTYEAR!!??
We drank our fill, continued on the night to getting kicked out of Brian's room because we were jamming too loud, walking back to our room a few blocks away which was sad because there were all these people waiting in line wearing extrememly nice clothes to dance in a club and not more than 15 feet away were 2 people sleeping in a doorway. It made me realize that someday when we have money, my foundaton will be for the homeless in our country. There are far too many and no one should have to sleep in a doorway while people ignore you and go dancing. Its wrong people. Its wrong.
We made it back to our room and the drunkness took over. I vaguely remember Ty ordering a pizza which I literally woke up to eat and passed back out.
We left early Sunday morning and drove home in a daze. I didnt want to leave. I wanted to come home, get our guitars, and start our travels. Anyone who says ASCAP expo is a waste of time doesn't understand how inspiring it is to be in that atmosphere.
This weekend made me want to roll up our foam mattress, sell our shit, and just drive and book, drive and book. I realized that I want to be a musician yes. But I want to travel and meet new people. I want to see the strange, sad, messed up, and exciting. I want to be cold, hot, and comfortable all in the same day. I want to sit down in a place I have never been and play what ever I think people will like as long as I am feeling it. I want to get up early, nap in my car, and perform late. I want to do something so uncomfortable and so out of the norm that we can't help but feel like that is where we are supposed to be and all the people we meet along the way will make the road our home.

“Come to me my pretties”

It seems that no matter what you’re taking about, keeping with and ahead of trends can turn anything into gold. But have you ever heard the phrase ‘All that shimmers is not gold’? I sure have. So what means “Gold” to you I wonder? Now, I know Ty and I are musicians and talk more about the music biz than anything else, but I think a lot of us forget that music IS a business. Therefore, why can’t some of our blogs include everyone? Well, they can but I don’t know if they will because I have never owned a restaurant, or a law firm, or anything else for that matter. I owned a car once…. I don’t think that counts.
I digress.
Today, I hear more about the glories of Social Media than anything else. I agree that it has its power, for one who not only knows how to use it, but uses it religiously. Lives for it. Those people can do anything with it, and when I say anything, I believe ANYTHING. Ty and I do not lol. This is why I feel a sense of relief when I see articles posted by gregdowns.com like this: http://www.musicthinktank.com/blog/eight-recent-social-and-technical-phenomena-that-are-making.(copy and paste url) Bruce Warila essentially says you CAN succeed without being deeply committed to social media sites if you know how to play to your audience. If you can peak an interest in your fans ….wait…..Lets start from the beginning. I have no fans. I have no product that is worthwhile. If I have a way to make a product that people will like (= LOTS OF HARD WORK), if they see/hear it at a trade show, concert, etc., I only need a few things to happen. One or two people who like it can and probably will post something on THEIR social media site. If I have something people want to see, they will tell their friends, and their friends will show up. If I have people show up, guess what… we look cooler… and cool is and always will be ‘In’. Suddenly, someone posts a video of us performing…YouTube…check. Every time someone likes that video or post that a fan put up, we gain credibility (I heard all about this last night at a conference and will touch briefly on it later) as well as coolness. Remember? Always in. Now we have a brand, a product, and guess what, we didn’t have a website, a YouTube, a twitter, a Facebook, a MySpace, a reverbnation, a Flickr, or any other of the thousands of sites out there. Do I recommend this? No! Why not? Because making a product into ‘Gold’ is a slow process WITH those things. Imagine not having them. But… *Whew…sigh of relief* Can I just say it? I HATE social media! I have felt it’s a necessary evil! And yet, here I am, writing a blog… about social media… saying I hate it…and referencing websites, Facebook’s, twitters, etc. So, CAN it be done? Yes. But I don’t recommend it. Besides, if you think about it, WE may not have a webpage or those other sites in this story, but we are still using them through other people. I mean, before Newspapers, radio, and TV, (the ORIGINAL social medias) there were NO megabands, or were there? I mean, without some sort of circulation, how would there be? I would LOVE to hear some input about this if anyone knows anything about it. I googled it but couldn’t find any info.
It seems to me that we as earth (ha ha) are breeding a new sort of artist. An artist with an ego larger than life. To have access to people in other states, countries, MAYBE planets lol, seems quite the accomplishment. No wonder so many crash and burn and become total monsters! Suddenly we have access to EVERYTHING at the snap of a finger. This brings me to the next point. http://music-promotion-blog.blogspot.com/2010/06/do-you-use-marketing-match-or.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+MusicPromotionBlog+%28Bob+Baker%27s+Indie+Music+Promotion+Blog%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher
We are in the flamethrower age. We are all throwing shit at the wall and seeing what sticks when in fact we should be nicely wrapping that shit in a box and tossing it to a few people here and there…wait lol. Read this article for realzies! I just don’t know how to better paraphrase it and it’s short.
The last thing I am going to talk about is credibility. Someone brought this up at a social media conference last night and I apologize for anything that may be misconstrued or taken as a bash. I am not going for that. See, what is ok for one person may not be ok for another. When building your credibility, you are deciding what you will put up with, what you will be known for, how reliable you are, if your fans, friends, and tweeps can trust you. (Why don’t Facebook fans have a cool name? Like, Friendbookers or Facebros/Facebitches? I like the latter.) Don’t fall prey to those companies that tweet for you, that message people for your, that take over your whole social media persona for you, and I’m sorry, but autoreplies are just as bad to me. Now, a great point was made. If you are honest and tell your fans etc. that you’re busy and keep them engaged and let them know what you’re doing that you can’t reply to everyone then you don’t have to worry about that. But ALSO, if you don’t follow someone on twitter, they can’t direct message you so DON’T follow EVERYONE on twitter. Simple.
To come full circle, we are in a mirage of a simpler time. With access to anything we need, we forget that bands played, toured, performed, and made a living BEFORE these sites. Don’t get me wrong. I know people who I believe will be very successful either at these sites or because of them, but successful none the less. But there is such a strong focus on these sites that we forget that we just need a great product. What does that say about Ty and me? We need to work harder to have a better product. We need to be more engaging, more exciting, and more fun. If you’re not a successful musician (remember? What is ‘Gold’ to you?) So do you. How? That’s only something YOU can decide. We are all in a creative right brain business. Don’t limit yourself to music. It can be done. Will it?