SLMC

Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

It isn't even really the possibility of a success story. But it's kinda related to that, perhaps, and before I throw out any more cautious qualifiers, I might as well just spit it out.

I've been asked to be a guest on a radio program... but not because I'm some shit-hot songwriter/musician. Basically, the program seems to be about people who work in the music industry who are not primarily known as musicians, but do music anyway. That, in a backhanded complimentary way, fits my description very well.

Would I rather be interviewed purely on the merit of my music? You betcha. But we can't always pick and choose these things. In fact, almost no one can pick and choose them, ever.

So, I'll be using the time to help promote the SL music scene. They've requested three of my songs to play during the show, and the show will be available in archives on their web site. So that's cool. I intend on talking about how SL represents one of the best relatively untapped vehicles for both new and established artists to gain recognition and potentially develop an audience of fans. According to what I've been told, there are 200,000 people who listen to this particular program, so it's not a small thing. I'm pretty happy about it, but I've learned not to count chickens before they hatch, so I'll let you know more after it's a done deal.

No other info for now; I have yet to even schedule the date of the interview. I'll keep you folks in the loop, as I tend to do.
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BabbleGrabble · Joined: 21 Nov 2007 Posts: 590 Location: San Francisco

Rock and roll, that's great news! No need to play that puppy down - that kicks ass, man.
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Doubledown Tandino · Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 5:37 pm Post subject:

Congrats Zak! I hope you survive Howard Stern's tickle chair so he'll pay for your boob job!
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elvisduffy · Joined: 31 Mar 2008 Posts: 192

Ya dood. Zak knows how to work the media jungle. Any chance of gettin your cd done before airtime?
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vonjohin · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 458 Location: Nashville, TN

Most folks don't know this, but Zak is one of my "AES/NAMM friends' that I've known probably 12 years now, since I was at Mix Magazine launching their book publishing business (which I bought, turned into ArtistPro, then sold off in '04). Our meeting up in SL happened when running into each other at AES last fall, a story I've already shared.

I say all this to illustrate the beauty of working in the "industry" like he and I do. We see each other probably twice, or three times a year at conventions. We work in the business, and for varying reasons, like most of our colleagues and other AES/NAMM friends, we started out as musicians. Most of us played professionally at some levels, low, mid or high, before deciding that tour buses, endless club and concert hall dates, and the instability of the paycheck coupled with the lack of benefits was no way to live the long term life.

But we never stopped being musicians, never stopped making music, never stopped doing shows even while doing our music industry day jobs, even though some of us, myself included, decided we'd lost interest in "making it" (whatever that means) and were just happy to do what we do as musicians, songwriters, engineers, producers, etc., while enjoying the ability to work in the industry we love at the same time, supporting people who still want to "make it."

I'm not sure if that's a back-handed compliment or not Zak, but I am sure you'll inject to them that our industry is filled with guys like you and me who've done some pretty cool things before and during our "industry jobs" and that we never stopped being musicians because we took a gig so our kids could have health insurance, or a steady paycheck to feed them with.

I worked my ass off touring for ten solid years from my mid-teens working with Top 40 bands in the 80's into my mid 20's doing all kinds of music from my own, to cover bands to working for original touring acts. Played on records, released my own album on Sumertone/Koch, toured in buses, played the festivals, the clubs, the halls, the arenas with various acts, worked as a FOH guy and road manager, whatever it took to keep from getting a real job.

When I had my first kid, that changed it all, and I decided he wasn't going to suffer for my art. I never stopped being what I was, though. I wasn't going to pack away the guitars and say "Oh well, time for that to stop." I decided that, if I had to work a day job to keep things stable, it would be in the industry I loved.

That's the common story on the floor of every NAMM and AES. We don't "work in the industry but still make music anyway." We make music, and work in the industry anyway.

Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

Silas Scarborough · Joined: 04 Sep 2007 Posts: 1224 Location: Rhode Island

Congrats on this gig. Whether the compliment is served back-handed, under-handed, or via a lateral pass play doesn't seem like it matters too much so long as your thoughts and your jams are going out across the waves.
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Ever vigilant for da gooses overhead.

- Silas

My Web site is at myducksoup.com

Zak Claxton · Joined: 16 Oct 2007 Posts: 2008 Location: Podul/33/243/154/

Sure, Silas, I agree with that. If I didn't want people to hear my music, I'd play in a hermetically-sealed soundproof bubble somewhere. Laughing

On a bigger picture, it's another opportunity to let more of my fellow musicians know about SL and my experience with it. Like Keiko mentions in another thread, any opportunity to show folks that SL isn't a giant orgy / terrorist recruiting platform is a good thing. Very Happy

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Doubledown Tandino · Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 10:08 pm Post subject: Re: This isn't a success story