Possible indie music interviews
I’ll keep this short. Through communicating back and forth these musicians have agreed (in principal/theory) to do an interview with me. It doesn’t matter to me if it’s in person or by phone b/c. in this cases, the bands are a far distance away. The trick is trying to schedule it when their tours arrive in Toronto.
For example, in the summer I got in contact with Vancouver artist, Leah West & she agreed to do an interview when she came to Toronto, however, she wasn’t scheduled to come for a few months. When I realized it, she was gone in other cities on her tour. My bad mistake.
Leah West - alternative/pop/folk rock
1. Eternia (Toronto/NYC)
Eternia's going worldwide! (Congrats on the record deal!)
2. Papermoon (Winnipeg/Manitoba)
Indie pop rock band - so underrated...
3. The Mountain & the Trees (St. Johns/Newfoundland)
Coming to Toronto for Canadian Music Fest 2010
4. Fields of Green (Vancouver/B.C.)
New album "Blanktown" out now...
We’ll see if I can organize this all & do it properly. We’ll find out, however, I’ll get trying to set these up in the next few weeks. Right now, I want to throw up as many articles & content on the Examiner page, and some on NxEW. Check you later…
Interviewing indie music artists
I’m writing this to help me remember, but also as a guide for you to get some ideas on interviewing musicians.
1) Most indie musicians love writers b/c. it gives them more exposure, attention, contacts, etc. Knowing this will give you some confidence, be patient, positive, brief (don’t waste their time) – meaning, be direct and clear when you ask them for an interview.
2) You’re already at the show, you see the singer. Be proactive! You have to create your own breaks, stories…so go find them. Don’t waste a chance if your gut says go talk to THAT band.
3) At a show, you can approach in many ways, but always be respectful & handing over a nice looking business card, always looks good. State that you are writer, right off the bat, so they’ll probably get that you are there wanting to interview or get a quote for an article.
4) Nowadays, contacting a band through a website is actually a decent way to go. I have scored most of my interviews writing a direct e-mail to their official website, Myspace, Twitter, even Facebook. Social media does work for writers to connect with the artist….really!!
At first I would write comments & stuff on their site, and then the artists sometimes would comment back..huh? So, the more it happened, I thought, why not? E-mail directly and see if they want to talk, the worst they can do is say no or ignore your message. For example, if I get a response, I usually either try to meet when they next come to town, or I try to do a phone interview & set it up.
*The hardest thing about doing an interview is setting a suitable day & time. It can be frustrating if they have to re-schedule, etc., however, this comes back to the patience thing. If you want to interview an artist, it’s still awesome to have to interview, even if you have to wait a long time. But be persistent and patient. Remind yourself that musicians are busy, practicing, recording new stuff, so be prepared for example, if they say come to show I’ll talk with you after the show, and the show ends at 2am…you stay till 2am happily & do that interview to your best.
Now, I’m not saying you shouldn’t go through their indie record label reps, & that’s fine. You will probably have to go that route if they’re a big “indie artist”.
O.K. this blog is getting horrendously long, I could tell you a lot more things, so I might in a continuation blog.
~Jason
Figured it out!
For last few months I have been working hard at writing quality articles on Canadian indie music at ‘The Examiner’. The thing is, when I sign into the publishing part of the website, they show all the analytics/statistics of your articles (i.e. views, # articles, which examiners get the most views). So everyone has a good idea of how their own work is doing.
The last category bothered me because I thought I had done everything in my power for my views to be in the top 5 in Canada. I learned the tricks like: adding picture slideshows, linking articles back to previous ones, embedding videos, and to publish often (well I tried). Some people told me it’s the subject matter – Canadian indie music. They thought that there would be little interest in it compared to articles on mainstream popular items.
Although I could see that logic, I didn’t want to believe that, and I knew there was more I could try to improve my ratings/views. Today I think I have figured it out. First and foremost I need to post new content often, but also to post “events” for indie concert listings for the month…that would get me more views too! If someone clicks on an event I put up, that’s another view for my statistics. So, I’m gonna try this out, and put up lots of indie music events & see if that increases my daily views/rate.
It was tricky to figure out how to post events (lots of info to type in), but it was worth the perseverance. So, if I post local indie music events – I should get more views/viewers.
I’ll let you know if it works, when more stats come in (but I gotta input all those events first!). It’s a slow process improving at your craft, but I am learning and making adjustments to make my sites better.
~Jason
The past week…
This past week has been tough. First time I’ve touched touched my laptop in 5 days. Am I physically better? Maybe a little. To be in constant pain/discomfort wears you down. Pain aches in from knees, lower back, right shoulder, kink in my neck, etc… I tried to sleep it off, but it didn’t go away.
Some stuff helped. Talking with close friends, sleeping a lot, seeing my doctor today, and have some fun chilling with close friends. These all help boost morale when you can’t really do much. Basically, I avoided using my laptop b/c. of the discomfort in the wrists, elbows, & back mainly.
Funny thing, is that I found it healthy to take a break from the internet b/c. I think sometimes I get too sucked into online stuff. I missed writing b/c. although my body felt like crap, my mind was sound & had many drafts on the go.
The physical ailments are still mostly there, however, it became clear that I need to bring my fitness & strength to at least previous levels (haven’t exercised very much in the last while). So, I’m gonna try to do more for health & fitness, as well as not being so much of a hermit. Try to spend less time online.
Mind & body both strong…that’s what I’m aiming for.
Misuse Abuse 