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!

I’m a musician, so I have to think long-term. The entry-level position for most business is either mail room, receptionist, or dishwasher. For musicians it’s playing hours of classic rock tunes in bars where people are annoyed that you’re interrupting the football game. It’s spending thousands on an album that might just sell 50 copies, if you’re lucky. It’s setting up message boards on your website and talking to the same 3 friends who are bored at their day jobs playing Farmville.

If musicians only thought short-term, nobody would go into this business.

Apple’s new iPad is a lot like a new indie band. Right now the only people who will buy it are the hardcore fans, just like the people that bought my shitty first album when I was 19. If those people thought that was all I planned to release, they wouldn’t have stuck around for the next five albums that followed it. Those hardcore fans saw potential in me and invested in my future. Some of those fans saw potential in my latest project, Matthew Ebel dot net, and signed up early, before I had even released a single live recording.

Just like the iPad, I faced a lot of doubt and hate from people who lacked vision. For example:

It’s success if that’s what he wanted, definitely. If not…then no, he’s still got more work to do.

My guess? Dude still has a lot more work to do.
Hypebot commenter

Social networking provides a tiny, infinitesimal contribution to a musicians success, with all due respect to the Ariel’s and Matts of the world.
Music Think Tank commenter

And yet, more people sign up for Matthew Ebel dot net every month. My workload does not grow with the subscribers, so the new folks only make the music better: With more income, I can afford better equipment and make better recordings. I can go on tour and not worry about paying bills. I can hire a real drummer or an engineer with great ears. The same is true for the iPad- once the überfans start buying, Apple can start using economy of scale to its advantage, maybe add a few features that were too expensive for round one.

But it doesn’t have Flash or a camera or… So what? I don’t have a drummer. Hopefully someday I will, but right now there are enough people who are content to hear me as a piano-only act that I can keep paying rent. I can’t do everything I’d like to for my fans, but enough of them support me for what I can do. Once I find enough of them to take that next step, I’ll be able to reach those who give a shit about having a live drummer.

If I tried to start my career by putting on huge shows like U2, I’d be broke and back behind a desk playing some stupid Facebook game. Long-term strategy, at least for me, has always depended on starting with my core fans and working outward from there. Instead of pointing, laughing, and eating your words once iPad (or maybe me) becomes a household name, try to look at the road ahead. For some of us, it’s the only way we can stay alive.