Andrew Ferris

I’ve finally updated the studio. I’ve doubled the amount of acoustic treatment in the room and turned everything around to facilitate a better working space.

I took the guitars off the wall too. They looked lovely up there but it’s about time things stopped looking like I have a studio and actually have a studio.

I’ve been watching a lot of videos from Pomplamoose and Jack Conte and his wonderful group of friends. They really seem to have the “Internet Musician” thing down well.

It seems I have an even longer road in front of me than I thought! Better than signing to a label though.

People often ask me what kind of music I make and it’s affected what I do creatively. I sometimes only write songs that I could play in a cafe or more dangerously, I throw away songs that I could not play live as a solo act. When I do play live, I seem to have all manner of percussion at my feet and attached to my hands and finding all kinds of play them along with the guitar and sing at the same time. It’s not easy.

It’s only natural for people to want to know what kind of music I play so that they can picture (or hear) it in their heads and make an assessment. I’m still not sure how I’ll define the songs to come but I’ll start with this

Today marks the day I became a videosong maker. By which I mean that I’ll be recording something today (and for the next few days) and edit it into a videosong.

VideoSong

A new artistic visual and auditory medium with 2 rules:
1. What you see is what you hear (no lip-syncing for instruments or voice).
2. If you hear it, at some point you see it (no hidden sounds).

Bring on the fun!

Yes, it’s almost May. Sorry!

I’ve been working on a lot of things recently and the new EP will be out soon followed by a tour to promote it.

All those things sound very rock n roll but the truth is, I spent today mainly cleaning my garden and eating cake whilst watching “Doctor Who”. I like cake, I like “Doctor Who” and I like having a clean garden.

I also like having new songs and there are SO many coming soon. I’ve been reading a lot about music marketing and how to promote stuff on the internet. In my readings, I’ve discovered a whole lot of new artists, Jonathan Coulton and David Philips to name but two. I looked at their simple websites and thought hmm, mine looks a bit snazzy compared to theirs. I then noticed that their discography and their gig lists are a lot longer than mine. I was asking myself what these other artists have that I don’t and it turns out that the answer is songs!

I have  a large collection of “unfinished symphonies” that only require a small amount of work to become fully fledged songs. My pledge is to have that digital and physical pile of notes and words organised and on the way to full song-ness by the end of the week!

I’m considering licensing all my music using the “Creative Commons” method. This would mean giving away my music for free and encouraging sharing. It was and is backed by Jonathan Coulton and more info can be found here. I don’t know a lot about it myself yet but when I do, I’ll be sure to be blogging more about it.

Maybe this is the right move for me, maybe it’s not. I might be looking at this post in a few months time and wonder what I was thinking. All I can do is quote from JoCo -

I give away music because I want to make music, and I can’t make music unless I make money, and I won’t make any money unless I get heard, and I won’t get heard unless I give away music. – Jonathan Coulton

I’ve been giving my music away on bandcamp for a while now, letting you choose to either pay what you want or download for free. This move forward into creative commons is a scary one for me but it excites me so it can only be good.

So expect to see a) some changes around here, b) some free music available to you and c). the opportunity to pay for it if you wish

Yes, it’s official. The Red Lorry EP is now available on iTunes.

Over the next few weeks, it will be made available on other platforms (namely Amazon and Spotify) and let’s hope the word is spread.

To see my iTunes store, just click the picture below.

Itunes Link

I’ve been posting a little about my EP release on iTunes.
The truth is, it feels weird.

I hate asking people for money for what I do. Something inside me thinks it’s wrong. Like begging. As a street performer and musician who often only gets paid by passing the hat around at gigs and barely breaking even to get home I rely mainly on others making the choice. This is something I need to get over and realise that if I want to do what I do, then I need to ask.

I’m not as easily influenced as I may sometimes make out but occasionally  I hear or see something that just makes me stop and re-evaluate what I’m doing. I’ve just watched quite an amazing TED talk that has changed a few things for me. The power of asking for something. I’ll get to that in a moment….

I’ve always said that if you don’t ask, you don’t get and I am always amazed when people put money in my guitar case. Some people like to talk to me (even though we often don’t share the same language) and some people scurry away. My favourite moment is when I make eye con tact with someone and nothing is said but everything is understood. There are times when this touches me so deeply that my knees go weak and I find it difficult to continue singing and playing.

This very experience is why I do what I do. I can’t hold down a regular job as it just doesn’t make me feel the way it does when I sing with everything I have and a stranger looks into my eyes and understands me. The very idea of “celebrity” makes me sick. This has never been something i’ve searched for. All I want is to play music and connect with a few people. As you’re reading this, I guess that we share a connection. If you feel the desire. Send me a message and confirm that connection. It means more to me than buying an album or viewing a video (although you can do that too, please).

I’ve had some amazing people help me recently and I cannot thank them (possibly you) enough. I want to remind you that we are at the beginning of something big. I will succeed, not because I believe I deserve success  but because I’m working towards it, every day and meeting wonderful people along the way.

Here’s the Ted talk by the inspirational Amanda Palmer. May I suggest you don’t want half of that “reality” Show tonight and watch this 13 minute life changer.