one of the main purposes that facebook serves me is to promote my music and make it available to people that may want to hear it. i am constantly torn, though, between trying to gain intrest around my projects (which i believe are good) and really not wanting to bother people or invest too much of myself in these time-sapping networks!
i make music - that's what i enjoy doing and i feel that after 15 years of making mistakes and fine-tuning, i've got pretty good at it! it's a long solitary process capped with very special moments that i'm lucky enough to be able to share with good people when we put together arrangements and play concerts. i enjoy sharing that music with people whose presence i'm in, and given half a chance, a guitar and an audience of at least one, that's what i do! i especially enjoy it when i have the opportunity to present this music with my friends (the italian weather ladies).
i subscribe to the belief that it takes at least two people to make art - the creator and the appreciator! i find it hard when i'm playing a concert to open my eyes and see how people are reacting, prefering to try and vibe off the energy they are feeding back to us. i can't get to grips with the idea that behind the flickering computer-screen are people that could appreciate our music as much as those who come to see a show, even if i am one of those people myself, so i find myself constantly in conflict as to whether i should do mailing lists (which i consider spam!) and advertising (i don't do well selling myself - and i feel my music is a large part of myself) or not. promotion distracts me terribly from my principal occupation of writing and playing music.
because of this conflict, we find ourselves with very few people who follow what we do (on facebook, or whatever) and a complete blank as to how to proceed once the recordings are finished... my desire is to move on to the next project while an amazing team of people, who get off on getting things moving, turn the cogs to make what needs to happen happen (to make the project progress and reach new ears), but if i don't get things happenning myself, well then, who else will? so i end up trying to spread the word in bursts - a few concerts, a low-budget release, loads of emails, no responses, an enormous lack of confidence and i'm back to square one: sitting in front of my multitrack, broke (after spending all my money on the previous set of recording/gigging) with a litter of instruments around me, trying to forget about what's on the radio and concentrate on what i want to say, what i wish the radio played.
i have no idea how to approach selling music, i end up going around in circles and spending all my money! we are now nearly finished a new studio album and are looking wherever we can think of, for people who want to see us continue making music, to help us get it out there!
so if you, dear reader, have been directed here familiar with our music, please spread the word far and wide, and if you don't know what we do, please take the time to visit www.floatinghome.org or www.facebook.com/floatinghomemusic. if you like what you hear and see, don't be a stranger! tell us how it makes you feel; what it makes you think of; what you do when you listen to it; tell us where you think we should play; who you think we should contact; and we'll add them to our list with bremen! we want to get on the road but have lost our gps (maps are so 1998!) - get your pointing finger out!!!
