I'll have a good time, but I'm stressed. There are a few things that are bumming me out.

I can't even PAY people to rehearse.
We haven't had one rehearsal with everyone and the gig is wednesday.
When we do rehearse, it sounds awesome. With just one good rehearsal with full attendance it could have been exceptional.
I bust my ass to make everyone else's rehearsals, and the lack of reciprocation feels... disrespectful, especially since I was asking for so few rehearsals and we didn't even really get one.
Which makes me wonder, do they not enjoy the music? I know it isn't true, but listeners seem to like it, so why can't I get the musicians to have one full rehearsal over a 7 week period?

If it stresses you that hard, do the solo/acoustic thing.
I know that it's not the same sound. But, NOBODY is going to be as committed as you and sometimes the shit just isn't worth it.

I'm sure there'll be a lot of those too.

I'm hoping that the gig will inspire the band to rehearse every now and again.

Great advice, Todd.

ah…yes. It's coming back to me. There were a bunch of people, but I remember now he had a girl with him. She indeed works for the same co, but a different department.



Cool. I'm supposed to entertain a friend from out of town Wed night that I haven't seen in probably 10 years. I'm not certain what he'll want to do, but that's something I can throw out there. Hope it goes well for you regardless.

Hey Phil, is there really a vinyl version of your album?

not yet but hopefully by may or june. The whole process is enough to age you twice as fast.

For Sale digitally

https://philajjarapu.bandcamp.com/

next step... vinyl.

Phil:
I already have my tracks in my iTunes, but they didn't come with the art work. I like having the artwork. Is there any way that I can get it?
(The WAV files that I have won't let me edit them to add it.)

Anyone out there have an idea shy of him deleting it and me sending him a bandcamp download?

-P

That's what I was thinking might have to be done.
Hope it's not necessary, but…

I mean, I suppose that I could make mp3 versions of the files to listen to. And I know that I could attach the artwork to those, but then, I would be sacrificing sound quality.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking. So now I'm trying to figure out how to get my artwork into gracenote which used to be cddb

I'm totally lost.

At least, for the moment.

There's no rush. I can wait.

i have to figure out this gracenote thing, huh. Seems pretty important for a lot of reasons.

Todd, you can set pretty much any image file as your album art in iTunes, I think. Just edit the tags. You could grab the artwork off of Phil's FB page or the bandcamp page, I guess.

With mp3 and m4a files, sure, but not with WAV files.

re: the band rehearsing (I realize this is from a month ago now, lol)

Hang in there, Phil.

It's definitely rough to have people constantly distracted from committing even the smallest amount of time to your project, because they are talented and undoubtedly have tons of other things they are overscheduled with, but if you make the project YOUR top priority, and continue to pour all of the resources you can, and if you can continue to have a positive attitude and keep supporting others even when they aren't supporting you, PEOPLE WILL COME. Not just fans, but collaborators, press, media, radio, everyone. It might be one or two more people at first, but they WILL come if you keep hanging in there. That's been my experience, at least, especially over the last 5 years - when I've put a lot more resources and time into my own project.

An effective project lots of time to build, when you consider all you have to do along the way to make it successful. All the internet infrastructure, videos, recordings, different format releases, rehearsals, band building, networking, touring....it's enough to make your head spin. You'll get there. Just keep doing what you're doing. You have a great product and a great aesthetic - you just need to let the soup cook.

Well i think I figured out why bandcamp recommends that you sell your album for 7. It's because amazon just priced my album at 7.99

I haven't figured out the words as to why that's aggravating.

do you feel manipulated?

Maybe.

In other news, playing L.A. IPO in late July and going to a wedding in Chicago July 12th. Might have a gig in Cleveland.

Anyone out there know any musicians who might want/need this dude as an opener?

Also, on rdio, google play, but not itunes yet, which distrokid markets itself as making happen very quickly.

anyone use beats music? I don't quite get it. I mean, i get it, but I don't know how anyone's going to find my music. Like me, I can't find my music on it.

Or anyone's music in particular.

Is the wedding on the 12th itself? What is your timeframe for being in town?

Wedding on twelfth. I'm assuming drinking on the eleventh. Gig in Austin on the seventh. Probably play Maxine's the 8th, and shoot for stl on the ninth.

If I listen a bunch on Google Play, does that make you money?

Because I'll just put that shit on repeat all damn day.

You know, I don't know. It should be on spotify soon, and that will.

The local showcase at Fitzgerald's is still on either the 2nd or 3rd Thurs. Don't know when that date is finalized, but I can put you in touch with the powers that be there if you want to see if you can land a gig on the 10th.