To Martin and Kate ,

Pinky and I had a blast last night meeting and hanging out with you guys!  Your story is inspiring and I hope to be able to do something similar someday.  I look forward to hearing about your further adventures.  Maybe I'll write a song about it. 

Enjoy the big apple! 

Saturn.

Two nights ago I went to an event at a venue here in SF called Mezzanine.  It was a very cool space, great energy, i would LOVE to perform there, though it's way too big for my CD release show.  I don't have that kind of draw here as an unknown unfortunately ,,, but in time that will change ... hopefully. 

Anyhoo, I really enjoyed the acts that played.  The first act I saw was a band, and I think it was mainly the front singers' projects and her backing band as she mentioned several times that she had just dropped a CD that very day.  She even had someone in the audience with a clipboard getting email addresses, which was cool.  But the odd thing was ... she never said who she was!!  I kept waiting for it ... and it never came.  This is starkly contrasted to the hip hop act that followed, you KNEW who they were before they hit the stage and after every song. 

So, my lesson in all this?  Destiny's Child said it best, "Say my name, say my name ..."  I have to constantly be putting it out there who I am when I'm performing.  I don't want someone to have my experience where I really liked the band but have no idea who they are, what the new cd is called or how to find it online.  After all that work!

 

So, I haven't fallen off track with the Music Blog Challenge ... well, kinda.  I've been keeping up with reading the weekly chapters and doing "some" of it, but I'm a bit behind in some of the Action Lists.  There's just SOOO much to do!  But even if I can't accomplish it all, I am making progress.  I love the 5 daily tasks thing.  I'm not always successful, but I feel great when I am! 

So, the day of the week I have time to actually do stuff is Sunday.  Ironically, that's the day I get the least done.  It's almost like I need it to recover.  I always get more done when I'm busy.  I wish I could turn that switch on whenever I need it.  I need a trigger!  Well, next Sunday at least I'll be back in the studio working on a new "Junkyard" release.

So, I'm planning my CD Release Party, aiming for a February date in San Francisco.  I'm checking out this cool spot called the "Mezzanine" tomorrow night.  They're hosting the RootMusic Launch Party and I should be able to network and meet some really awesome people.  I'm excited.  If you're in SF and want to go, hit me up! 

I thinking I'm going to have to repeat this 9 Week Challenge just to really absorb and soak it all in.  I need to find out if  there are any really successfuly indie artists out there who ALSO have very demanding (and fulfilling) full time jobs simultaneously.  Maybe I'm just expecting too much of myself.

On a completely unrelated note:  I've now seen Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part I two times now.  I could write an entire essay on my thoughts, but suffice it to say, I thought it was AMAZING!!  I've seen it twice and I'll probably see it again.  Can't believe this saga is almost over.  I was thinking about it the other day and this story, these books, this world and these characters have been a part of my life for a DECADE.   That's pretty awesome.  It's funny how art ... whether it's visual, movies, and especially music, help to define so many of the moments of our lives.  I hope something that I create can reflect a moment in others lives someday.  Then you know you've really done something special.

Anyhoo, so much to do, so little time to do it in ....

So, I finished Chapter 5 of Music Success in 9 weeks which is all about blogging.  Not necessarily the content, but how to autofeed, self promote, find blogs that are relevant to you, etc.  Once again I have a lot to do.  It's kind of funny though cuz years ago I had a blog that I ran separate from my website that incorprated a lot of what Ariel is talking about.  Unfortunately, I don't believe Bandzoogle has a lot of that functionality.  Then again, that might not be a bad thing.  I had quite a few readers but those readers did not translate into sales, mostly because my blog was about more than just my music, it was about my life.  I really held nothing back.  It held my frustrations, love lost, love found, sex, sex and more sex ... the point is I shut it down after a while because it just became too personal.  But without being personal, who's really going to be interested in what I have to write?  So the question is ... what to blog about?  Also, twitter being the case and point, my life these days just isn't that interesting.  I work A LOT, hang with the too few friends I've been able to make while in SF, and in the hours I can spare, I work on all things related to my music.  BORIINNGG!  :-) 

Anyhoo, I have to decide what direction I'm going to take here.  Should i resurrect  my old blog and just lay it all out there or should I stay more reserved and only blog about music?  What do you think?

I did it!  I completed Chapter Four before the week was even out ... and there was a lot to do this week!  So, here's the rundown following Ariel Hyatt's 9 Week Plan:

1. Twitter - yes, I've had it for a while, but I really didn't understand why it was so popular.  I'm starting to get it and I understand it a lot more now.  My page is updated and I'm ready to jump on the wagon.  Follow me! twitter.com/iamsaturn.

2. Facebook - I STILL think Facebook for Music sucks.  I tried to create another page, but it won't let me use any variation of Saturn or iamsaturn to create an artist profile.  This was the whole reason I even started a personal profile on Facebook, just so I could have a music page.  So, there it lives still.   There are a ton of apps Ariel mentioned, but I haven't checked them all yet.

3. Flickr - very cool tool.  Created a profile and uploaded a bunch of pics from different "eras".  Really, I just assembled some pics from each CD together and made sets.  Pretty cool.  I also updated my homepage here with the link:  flickr.com/iamsaturn

4. Music Alley - I created a page and uploaded some songs for podcasters.  This is also something I knew nothing of.

AND on top of that I'm back to using this really cool spreadsheet I created a while ago to lay out my goals and help me get on task.  Two big goals were accomplished before the deadline of tomorrow.  I'm back online (sorta) and can make music again, thank God!  And I had someone fix my artwork and got Plastic/Box in the mail to be pressed.  I hope when it comes back it looks alright.  I'm never using Elance again!

AND I've been bugging ... about my video ... it's 3 months over the original time he said it would be ready and I can't even get a return call or text just to get the status.  This is really starting to annoy me.  I'm going to patient just a bit longer, but I'm a Scorpio, and patience is not one of our strong suits.  I think I've been doing pretty well considering ...

So, there it is.  Now I'm off to enjoy my Saturday night!  Hope you enjoy yours!  :-)

Well, this was the easiest week so far.  Fortunately, most of the things we had to do this week I'd already done.  That's great news cuz that means I at least was doing something right!  ;-)  Looking forward to the challenge next week - Social Media - I need a LOT of help with that!

Happy Halloween, everyone! It was a great weekend.  I dressed up as Lafayette from "True Blood" AND SF Giants just won again tonight!  Only 1 more to go ...

Time keeps on slippin ...

So, here it is halfway through Week 3 of the Challenge and I'm still stuck in week 2 with the pitch!  Granted, I've been traveling and come down with a nasty cold but NO EXCUSES!  With the help of some clever folks at Ariel Hyatt's Mastermind, I now have a pitch that I'm going to stick with for now so that I can complete Week 2 and move on to Week 3 before I get left behind.

Here it is:

"Prince and David Bowie host a Dance Party at your favorite Nightclub."

Well ... it's getting there.

Well, it finally came to me!  I don't know if it's "perfect", but I think it definitely describes my sound:

SATURN – A little 80s Prince and a bit of 90s Depeche Mode come together with a whole lot of naughty for some dark new wave pop jams.

What do you think?

These are my top five picks.  What do you think?  Like one of em or should I go back to the drawing board?  The pitch should, in a nutshell, descibe my "sound".

1. Prince meets Depeche Mode in a gay club.

2. Alternative Urban Pop

3. If Madonna had a lovechild with Prince and David Gahan, it would be me.

4. Dark and sexy retro 80s/90s Urban Pop

5. A recipe for Alternative Urban Pop - Lightly fold Prince with Depeche Mode, add a couple of dashes of Bowie and sprinkle around the edges with gay hip hop, pop in your CD player and out your speakers comes Saturn!

I don't know.  Nothing clicks yet, but I think they all pretty much describe my overall sound. 

Originally, my fifth goal was going to be Promotion, but I’ve decided I needed to make sure I don’t forget my own personal development. So, that’s my fifth and final Section:

1. Work out 3 – 4 times a week starting now. This has always been a struggle, but even more so once I started traveling. I have to quit with the excuses though. I want to bulk up a bit, improve my endurance and also working out is great for energy and clarity.

2. Start regular lessons of some kind by March 1, 2011 – I’ve never been trained in music or singing. It’s just something that came naturally to me. To that end, I’m not really one for practicing either. I’ve always wanted to be so much more proficient musically than I am, but life and work always get in the way because I never make it a priority. So, now I’m making it a priority! Since keys are what I feel most comfortable on, I should probably start there.

Whew! That concludes Week One of the Nine Week Challenge. I SERIOUSLY have my work cut out for me, but I know it will all be worth it.