The important thing is that I now have two little buttons at the bottom of every blog post. See? They’re right there at the bottom. One’s from our favorite new method of saying very little, Twitter, and one’s from our benevolent overlords at Facebook. If you like something I’ve got to say, or if you just want to share it with your friends, please hit the buttons!

Futureproofing: Can’t see the buttons? It probably means both of those services have gone the way of MySpace and AOL. Don’t worry, there are probably other buttons already replacing them. Why are you reading a 6-month-old blog post anyway?

How can I get to your town without going broke?

I really want to tour in 2010, but if I go broke trying there will be no more music from me. I’m hoping none of you want that, so I’d love to see what you guys can collaborate on to make some performances possible (especially the far-out ones like California or Canada)

What conventions and festivals should I hit?

Yeah, I’ve played tech conventions and Furry conventions, but I’d love to see what other mass events I can bring my music to where it would be appreciated. If you folks can help me get to more of these big events and get onstage, I’ll be able to see a lot more of you in person!

Yeah, I started these two topics, but this is a discussion board… so discuss! Add your own topics to the board if you like, I just want to see what you guys can come up with. I really need your help on those two topics, tho, so talk to each other and let’s see how powerful the Robot Army can be!

Photo by Easternblot

To be honest, most music sites are a waste of time. Unless it’s iTunes, Facebook, or Amazon, the only people that visit the site are other musicians. Not fans, other musicians. If you’ve ever played an open mic night, you know how this works: You’re onstage baring your heart and soul for a crowd of people who are disinterested and just waiting for their turn to do the same. Posting your music to these sites would be like trying to sell time-share condos at a telemarketing convention.

My advice, for the curious, is simple: Go where your fans are. I say “your” fans, not “the” fans because there are so few “music fans” and so many “songs about robots” fans or “electric bluegrass” fans. If your fans are into manga comics, go post your music on art sites that feature manga comics. Are you an activist? Go post your music where people are supporting the cause. If you don’t know what your fans are interested in, that should be your first step: ask them.

It’s so much easier (and effective) to spread the word in communities you’re already a part of, rather than trying to build a taller billboard than the band next to you.

Behold, the Myxercycle

We do tend to trap ourselves, don’t we? We build walls of technology so that we can make ingenious little windows like Facebook and Twitter and look out at the world.

Yesterday I was riding through the world at 25-30mph (40-50 kph) on my electric bike, the Myxercycle. It looked a lot bigger than it has for the past 5 months. Here I am, Monday morning, typing into my little window again, but at least now I know the front door leads to a warmer world again. Forget the economy, things are looking brighter simply because I can bike again.

However, the wider net serves a broader purpose. If you’re reading this in a web browser, it means that matthewebel.com is up and operational. One of these days, though, it might disappear. My hosting service might go broke, my domain registrar could screw things up, hackers could plunder the servers… Any number of things might go wrong, but I still want to be able to reach you. I don’t ever want to lose touch with the fans that keep me going.

This is why I am everywhere. If you’re only following me in one place (website, Facebook, email, etc.), that bond could easily be broken. Check out some of the other options at matthewebel.com/contact and see where else you can find me online. Even if it’s someplace I rarely visit, in an emergency I’ll be heading to all of these other places to stay in touch with my fans.

Message me on Facebook. Bump me on The Sixty-One. If you’re slumming, friend me on MySpace. I always love hearing back from you, so please keep your options open if you haven’t already!

Photo by Pelódia