The opening acts were a classic rock revue- not the shit that classic rock stations play now. Van Halen is not classic rock; Eddie learned his moves from these guys. Steppenwolf, The Who, and The Guess Who played back-to-back short sets, reminding all that you can still rock without auto-tune or makeup. I was in high school, but these guys wrote these songs decades earlier. Once the drums had exploded, the roadies dragged them offstage and brought out the evening’s first headlining act.

Like a curveball nailing a batter smack in the ear, the concert shifted to Contemporary Christian music. I shit you not, Jars of Clay started off with that one song that got played everywhere. At this point I was in college and the popcorn was already half empty. Dan said thank you and made his exit, just as the man himself walked on with a guitar. He was three feet tall and smiling like some kind of weird celtic punk-folk pixie. The rest of the band took their places and Caedmon’s Call started their set.

They didn’t just play a few songs, they performed a strange drama right in front of me. The beginning of the set did something Christian music’s not supposed to do: it made me think. And it made me dance (I must have looked weird, all alone in that front row). The band realized their mistake, I guess, and started playing the typical praise-and-worship crap. Only the diminutive one seemed as disappointed as I by the change in mood. By the end of their set, the house was silent and unmoving. The band quietly disassembled their gear and walked off stage right, but Derek Webb exited alone, stage left. He’d be back later.

For a long time there was nothing. It was as though the stage manager realized they’d booked the wrong lineup and was scrambling to put together another show right then and there. When finally the stage lights went up again there was a tall skinny guy like me standing at the mic. Train played three whole albums worth of material while I watched. I didn’t mind, I was out of college and hated my job; I had nothing better to do. With Pat’s voice still ringing out in the theater, they performed a no-huddle play and switched to Jason Mraz. I got out a notepad so I could keep on top of the linguistic swordplay.

Then the strangest thing happened. Usually the independent acts are the first on stage so the real performers can make you forget all about them. At this show, though, the indies made up the heart of the event. Laura Clapp banged out a white-hot rendition of Joplin’s Bobby McGee. In a surprise twist The Peter Moon Band called me up on stage with them. The set was like a roller coaster off its tracks: fast, exhilarating, but probably going to kill me in the end.

Two men jumped up to save me: Kevin Reeves and Geoff Smith. Surrounding me with a defensive wall of pianos, they got me on my feet and back in the front row to enjoy the closers. By this time I was running my own business, so I didn’t have money for another bag of popcorn. As promised, Derek came back and played a single song without his old band. It made sense and reminded me why I loved his writing, but I had already moved on. All that remained was the final set as the weather got colder outside.

Two pianos appeared under hot lights, one real and one purple with flowers on it. The last two performers both played keys, just like me, and both hit the stage at the same time. Ben Folds stationed himself at a rickety old upright while Amanda Palmer perched behind her Kurtweil PC88. They were like the SWAT team of piano music- fast, efficient, and effective to the point of knocking me over backwards. My jaw wouldn’t close, nor would my ears. They played dueling pianos in front of me like two pirate ships trading volleys of cannon fire. Each song tried to out-wow the last.

Then Amanda died and no one could figure out who did it.

Their set ended at that point while the police crowded the stage. The house lights still haven’t come up yet, though. I’m still in that seat waiting to see who’s on next. Maybe by the end of the night I’ll play a set of my own tunes and someone else will be front-and-center, staring at me.

(If you hadn’t already noticed, every one of these links is an affiliate link to iTunes. If you want to hear the music that made me who I am, buy some of it and I’ll get a teeny-tiny kickback from the fruit company.)

• Start with an engaged crowd. Even if it’s just the first row or two, a well-timed “Hallelujah!” now and again will get the cold crowd to warm up a little.
• Appeal to all five senses. Studies have shown that we remember events better if all of our senses are engaged. The Church, in its various forms throughout the millennia, has evolved to adopt this level of impact.
  1. Sight: Robes, banners, crosses, flowers, statues, you name it. Stained-glass windows and flying buttresses were designed specifically to catch your eye.
  2. Sound: Obviously, a church service involves talking and music. If your shows don’t have either, you’re reading the wrong article.
  3. Touch: At some point in most services there’s a moment to shake the hands of people around you. Perhaps there’s a laying on of hands while a blessing is read. In a world where we’re naturally suspicious of everyone else, a gentle touch from someone with a good message can leave a lasting impression.
  4. Smell: Roman Catholics nailed this one by swinging balls of incense. Mine would hang evergreen boughs in the sanctuary during Christmastime. Maybe your church bakes fresh bread for communion. Maybe it’s just the smell of coffee before and after the service… One way or another, your nose is being spoken to.
  5. Taste: In my religion, this one dates back to the guy that started it. The tradition of a little wine and bread was coupled with a very specific statement: “Do this for the remembrance of me.” Not bad advice.
• Audience Participation! This one deserves its own exclamation point. The reformation introduced many concepts into the Christian church, one of which was the involvement of laypeople in the worship service. People are more likely to pay attention if they’re a part of the experience.
• Speak their language. Again, another gift from the Reformation. If the people speak German, why are the services in Latin? Sure, you can prepare your talking points before a show, but pay attention to your audience and converse with them on a level that they will understand.
• Give them a mission. If you’ve reached someone, they won’t want the experience to end. Give them something they can do after the concert is over- even if it’s as simple as “give this download card to a friend who’s never heard of us”.

I’m not suggesting for one second that you train your fans to worship you… but you can certainly harness the power of thousands of years of effective organization to spread the word about your band.

Video courtesy of Steve Garfield

Image by Imagaday

When I announced on August 1 that my next project would be The Lives of Dexter Peterson, all I was thinking about was the story. I suppose that’s a good thing- thinking about the world of the creation rather than the logistics behind it. We didn’t get to the moon by planning on orbit, rendezvous, docking, and long-term health effects, we got there by pointing up into space and saying “let’s go there.”

But now I’m into that part of the project. There’s a reason they say the devil’s in the details. If creativity is heaven, project planning is the fifth level of hell. This is becoming the biggest project I’ve ever undertaken, way more complicated than Goodbye Planet Earth. When all the dust has settled, I need to end up with:

• A full-length story about The Lives of Dexter Peterson
• A music album based on that story
• A graphic novel based on that story
• Either an audiobook or a radio drama rendition of the story

Suddenly I’m not working on one project, I’m working on four. Gen Whitmore is handling the graphic side of things and my friend Calindy is trying to book convention shows so I’m not doing everything myself, but I’m doing pretty much everything else. Those four projects alone are ambitious enough for the one year deadline I’ve set, but there are always more details. Albums don’t sell themselves, even if you’re U2. On top of creating four finished works by next August, I have to manage all the support projects involved:

• Re-design www.matthewebel.com to better represent what I’m trying to do now
• Figure out where I can get a graphic novel printed in short runs
• Promote the project online. Somehow.
• Spread the word about the nature of the project itself
• Book some concerts so I don’t starve to death

If ever there was a time I needed a management team, it’s now. I pulled off the last major album by myself, but I don’t know how I’m going to create all this stuff, promote it properly, and still perform on stage without more help. The DIY mentality has sex appeal, sure, but there are just some projects that take a real team.

Right now we’re a team of 3. Hopefully that will grow soon!

Get More Every Month…

I am twenty-six years old and I live in New York City. In the last seven years I have lived as 201,573 different people.

I watched another man die today, this one a pirate who personally disrupted shipping around Jamaica for the past year. He targeted my company’s tea shipments almost exclusively, though I can’t imagine what offense this cretin would begrudge me. It’s not easy being wealthy.

I received grave news from the expedition I dispatched to what we’ll call “Colombia” in another hundred and fifty years. All but one man has vanished and I fear the last soul that entered that temple may have disappeared shortly after sending the letter.

God, I wish they’d discover coffee already.

The Lives of Dexter Peterson is Matthew Ebel’s upcoming album, book, and graphic novel scheduled for release in 2011. If you want to know more about Dexter and who he is at any given moment, grab an All-Access or higher pass at www.matthewebel.net

Buy This Album!

Here are a few places to grab this album (all of them affiliate links, just FYI):

• CD Baby (Round Plastic or MP3)
• iTunes (DRM-Free AAC)
• Amazon (MP3)

And here’s the video for the title track:

The Lives of Dexter Peterson

A few years back I wrote a 120-page book for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. In thirty days I pounded out over 50,000 words and won the challenge on my first attempt. I was so proud of myself, I didn’t know I could produce anything that big in such a short period of time. The Lives of Dexter Peterson, draft one, had been born.

Then I sat on the manuscript. It’s actually been in a box in my basement since then. I didn’t see it or think about it until we moved from Boston to New Hampshire, but like buried treasure it surfaced during the boxing process. I’d forgotten how much fun I’d had with that story, especially given the ADD nature of the plot. I’ll save the details for later as the editing process heats up, but I will tell you that finding this book inspired me to write again.

I’ll be writing an album’s worth of music to accompany the story. One part companion disc, one part outright soundtrack, we’ll see how this turns out in a year. Oh yeah, and Genesis Whitmore will be making a full-length graphic novel to go with all of this.

How To Pre-Order

Isn’t it a bit early to talk about pre-ordering when I haven’t written a single note or lyric for the album? Not exactly. Again, as my Matthew Ebel dot net subscribers learned at the Beer Bash, any All-Access or higher membership is good for a copy of the album when it’s ready. A real, physical CD. Heck, the VIP’s and higher get the full package- album, printed material, audiobook, everything.

In addition, they’ll be getting updates throughout the project, from Gen’s sketches to my song ideas to behind-the-scenes videos from the studio. It’s going to be a heck of a project, so this is what my entire focus will be for the next year.

If you’re interested in getting on board, just grab a subscription at www.matthewebel.net/subscribe – and watch for my announcement “Introducing Dexter Peterson” soon!

1. Get your own damn domain name. If you haven’t done this yet, stop reading. Go to a domain registrar and register [your band name].com right now. If your band name is already taken, get a new band name. I’m serious. The first place anyone is going to look for your band, if they ever look for your band, is [your band name].com. Don’t make them hunt, ’cause most people won’t.

   And for God’s sake, don’t use any punctuation or weird spellings. If your band is called “The Fuzzy Ass Cookeez”, don’t register fuzzy-ass-cookeez.com. What are you going to say onstage (better yet, what are they going to remember)? “Fuzzy Ass Cookies dot com” or “Fuzzy dash Ass dash Cookies spelled with an ee ee zee dot com”? Change your band name if you have to, or make sure you can forward the easy-to-say version to your real band name. (Case in point: www.matthewevil.com).

2. Get your own damn website, too. Sure, a MySpace page used to cut it, but in case you hadn’t noticed MySpace now sucks. Facebook is starting to suck too. In fact, every major music spot online follows the same pattern: Nobody knows about them, everybody knows about them, someone buys the site, ads and marketers invade, suckage. If your website’s going to suck, at least make it suck on your terms, not someone else’s. The ads on my website are earning me money, not Rupert Murdoch.

   Get yourself a cheap web hosting account; I recommend Bluehost (and yes that’s an affiliate link). Even if all you’ve got up there is a single page with a link to your stuff on iTunes, you’re still better off than sending your fans elsewhere to watch someone else’s annoying popover ads.

3. Use the one tool that uses all the other tools. It’s called an Aggregator. Are you on Twitter? Facebook? Livejournal? Myspace? How about your own blog? If you need to send out an update to one site, you need to send an update to all of them and that takes time. Your three options are do it yourself, hire someone to do it, or just find the tools to do it all for you. My three favorite aggregators are:

   WordPress – www.wordpress.org

   Aside from running this entire site, there are tons of free plugins that will cross-post my entries to other services. Currently I post to Facebook, Livejournal, Twitter, and LinkedIn every time I write a blog post. I’m sure there are more cross-posting plugins available, I just haven’t looked in a while.

   CD Baby – www.cdbaby.net

   I’m not just talking about blog entries and calendar updates, I mean selling your music too. New online stores and streaming services come and go almost weekly. I could waste as much time signing up for them all as I could playing Plants vs. Zombies, or I could let the folks at CD Baby do it all for me. They take a percentage, but it’s worth it to have my time back. Those zombies aren’t going to kill themselves.

   ArtistData – www.artistdata.com

   Calendar cross-posting is a pain in the ass. Fortunately, the folks at ArtistData know this and started a site just to make my life easier. The basic services, like calendar and blog synching, are free, but there are “apps” you can buy to expand the reach and function of the site.

4. Don’t go where the musicians are unless you want to meet other musicians. Every ten minutes, a new Indie Music site is born. You know why? Because idiots like me will waste time uploading our music and info there giving them a ton of free content to use as an advertising vehicle. You know who visits these sites? Idiots like me. Once. Just to upload our own crap and leave. It’s a digital circle-jerk that’s only good for finding other indie musicians- not a bad goal, but make sure that’s why you set up shop there.

   Unless the site’s doing something truly groundbreaking or you know there’s a crowd of non-musicians flooding the site, don’t waste too much time on it. Make sure the site emails you if someone tries to message you there; if you make one fan from that site, it’s worth the 10-minute setup, but typically the site dies before that happens. Upload your usual demo material you’re giving away for free and post tons of links back to your website.

5. Give away free music on your website. If you’re like me, nobody knows who you are. They’re not going to buy your music based off a badly-times 30-second sample on iTunes unless you’re either extremely lucky or the Hypnotoad. I give away 5 Free Songs to anyone who joins my email list and people seem to consider that a fair trade. Give people a chance to listen to your music without commercials or fade-outs for as long as they like. It took me weeks of hearing Josh Fix for free on Pandora to finally decide to buy his EP.
6. Screw radio. When you’re famous enough to get real radio coverage (not college radio, not local artist spotlight at 11pm on Sunday night), you’ll have people working 8 hours a day trying to get you airplay. I worked at a record label, I saw it happen. Every record label has a person or a whole department calling program directors around the clock to push the new singles. Can you compete with that?

   Online radio is nothing new, but its implementation is finally reaching far beyond the desktop PC. Services like Pandora are available on phones, in cars, on the iPad, you name it. And they don’t rely on a guy in a suit to create the set list for all the stations in the midwest, they rely on a matching algorithm. If you like Ben Folds, you’re going to hear me on your Pandora station.

   Go to submitmusic.pandora.com to get started. The best part? Pandora pays performance and songwriting royalties. Get all your albums on there, spread the word, and wait for latté money to come to you. Wait, you’re not hooked up with a service to receive royalties yet?

7. Get paid for internet radio play. Performing Rights Organizations are how songwriters have been receiving money for decades and it doesn’t cost you a dime to sign up. Recently the performers themselves have started receiving royalties as well, whether they wrote the songs or not. If you write your own music, join a PRO like BMI or ASCAP and register your works there. No matter which one you choose, you should also join SoundExchange if you want to receive royalties for your performance of those songs. It’s a lot of paperwork and sometimes a long wait, but when the checks start coming in you’ll be glad you did it.
8. Sell CD’s without going broke. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Guys like Leo Laporte like to say that “CD’s are dead”, but the fact is that people still buy them. Lots of them. Fortunately, Kunaki.com will create print-on-demand CD’s with full-color artwork and free UPC bar codes so you don’t have to order them until the fans have already paid for them. One at a time they cost about $5.20 shipped. If you buy more, of course, the shipping is significantly less. Rather than ordering 1,000 units to get the prices down to $2 per CD, you can order 10 at a time and get them for $1.80 per CD. Yeah, the options are few and pressed CD’s are still more durable than duplicated, but you don’t need to go the 1,000-disc route until you know you can sell that many.
9. Don’t waste time building a ghost town. How many times have you been to someone’s website with their very own “discussion forum”? I’m willing to bet that 90% of those fora don’t have any real discussion happening. Until you reach a threshold where you’re really interesting enough for people to gather and talk just about YOU, setting up an on-site discussion forum is a good way to advertise that nobody is interested in you.

   Online interaction is all about people. People. Yeah, those fans are actually people with lives and kids and fears and prejudices and favorite foods. They’re going to congregate where their interests are, not on your website. If you’ve got the time, go where they’re going and join the discussions as an interested person, not as someone trying to sell CD’s.

   If you don’t have the time, at the very least you can make their comments and feedback come to you, wherever the fans are.

10. Google doesn’t sleep, but you can. People are mentioning your name online right now. Did you know that? No? Is it because you’re not reading every website known to mankind? Hell no. It’s because you’re not asking Google to do that for you.

    Go to google.com/alerts and look for your name. Or look for your genre, like “piano rock”. Look for artists that are similar to you. Look for key phrases that relate to your songs, like “robot ninja”. Google Alerts will email them to you or create an RSS feed you can read daily, weekly, whatever.

    You’d be surprised how fast you can turn someone into a lifelong fan with a simple blog comment. I’ve landed VIP Subscribers just by saying thank you when someone mentions they liked hearing “Drive Away” on Pandora.