It’s that time again… it’s LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we adore to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week’s LETTERS FROM THE ROAD guest author is a dear friend and wonderful singer-songwriter, Decker Sachse:
Dear Mr. T,
Not you “pity the fool”, super-badass, A-Team Mr. T…. I’m talking to the other Mr. T… .Mr. Townsend, my music teacher from Barnard Elementary. Not that you weren’t a bad-ass in your own right; you were equally as scary as the guy that beat up Rocky.
I know it was 1983 and you’ve heard plenty of struggling voices since then but maybe you’ll remember me. I was the kid in your choir with the chili-bowl haircut, who you liked to refer to as “a lost gosling in the high weeds.” I think that was a reference to the way I would streeeeeeetch my neck, trying to find my voice. The notes often escaped me and I thought that if I craned my head out, as high as possible, I might reach those notes, find my way out of the weeds, and maybe you wouldn’t tell me how I looked like a baby goose in front of twenty other 4th graders.
Music was the only class I struggled with back then. I could add things up, run a mile (I think I was pretty fast), write poems, even make an almost bowl-shaped ceramic bowl in art… but I think I gave up on looking for those notes for a while. In middle school, I wanted nothing to do with playing music. I want you know though, I didn’t give up completely. I always listened and when I was ready, I learned to play the guitar and went on to study music theory in high school. Finding my voice was the toughest part though. I’m still doing it. At some point, I started listening to Chet Baker’s vocal albums (Chet Baker Sings), which I think showed me that everybody has a voice and sometimes the quiet ones can hit you as hard as the bellowing ones that I was stretching my 4th grade neck out, but never quite reached.
So now, I’ve got a quiet voice and I recorded some things with it. If you look on iTunes this Tuesday, you can find me. I play under the name Mission to the Sea and will be releasing an album, called Tranquilo. If you listen to it, maybe you’ll hear nods to Chet, possibly Joao and Astrud (Gilberto), mixed with hints of Feist and The Sea and Cake (not sure if you’ve heard of them, but you should check them out too). Anyway, I just wanted to give you a heads up. HA! Baby goose … heads up … nevermind….
Decker Sachse
Mission to the Sea
Tranquilo is the first full length album by Mission to the Sea. You can get it on iTunes or here.
10/4/10 | Comments (0)Tags: Chet Baker, Decker Sachse, Letters to the Road, Mission to the Sea, Tranquilo —
Perhaps one of my favorite editions this week… it’s LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we adore to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week’s LETTERS FROM THE ROAD guest author is a friend and brilliant singer-songwriter, Ben Arnold:
Dear (Insert Financial Institution of Choice Here),
I realize you have been trying to contact me lately. I apologize for the delay. I believe you were attempting to reach me concerning some checks that may have been “underfunded.” I have every intention of covering these. In fact, I am sure this account will be taken care of soon, as I am patiently waiting for a few things to come through.
You must be aware I am an artist. Surely you’ve heard me on Non-Comm radio or seen me on local TV. Maybe even in the regional papers or on YouTube. Is it possible we may even be Facebook friends? Of course you must feel secure, knowing the full scope of my career, that the money is about to roll in any day now.
To ease your mind, I thought I would offer just a few examples of the money streams my music has been generating for me. For instance, MUSIC REPORTS Inc. has sent me countless letters informing me that my songs have been licensed by a litany of music service providers. I am under the impression that alone should be good for about twelve cents per song x… about 40 or so…well… I’ve never been great at math, as you know.
I have also received a multitude of personalized offers through MySpace by several agencies to “…directly place my music into the hands of programmers, music supervisors and producers” who are eager to use some of my original songs in their upcoming films and commercials.
Because, of course, everyone knows the only way to achieve commercial success, get noticed and heard is through advertisement sound tracks. Even my mother says “that’s how to get your career off the ground these days! You gotta get your songs in a commercial!” I’m positive that shortly after cashing my check for “a one time service fee of only $400” we’ll be splitting those 50/50 royalty deals like gangsters. After all, the going sync rate for an indie artist in a film or commercial is like $250!! As soon as I land even a hundred of those contracts, I’ll buy a small house and future financial security will be mine.
You’ll be glad to know I have been very productive. I have put out 7 or 8 critically received records over the last 15 or so years. A while ago I even had a (minor) major label deal. Funny thing is, the day after we had a festive signing party in a local bar, I was told I wouldn’t really see any money from it because we needed it for the producer and mixing and marketing and that if I needed to make some quick cash, the record companies brand new recording studio needed painted and I was welcome to come in and roll high gloss for $10/hour for a couple weeks. After all, Urge Overkill was coming in soon and they wanted it to be just right!
My other projects were completed with the help of some great, small indie labels. Some I have done on my own with the help of talented and generous friends or business partners who I have made private deals with, to, of course, return their money first, off the top, as the sales cash comes in. As we speak, I’ve just recently about $4,000 (frugal by any standards) to produce, record and package my latest record. Everyone says it’s “my best yet!” At each gig I sell about maybe 10-15 copies for $10 each. Which, by the way, is about 10-15% of those in attendance. I used to be able to sell them for $15 but that whole iTunes thing kinda lowered the market value of hard copy cd’s too. Thankfully, some people still like to see some nice art inside or a recent picture of me where only my sideburns are going gray. Most of them don’t have satellite radio or digital players in their cars yet either so they still like to have something to shove in the ‘ole slot.
Anyway, at that rate as soon as I play about 40 shows, I will have paid my loan back and will reap 70% of all the future sales. On gigs alone, with the exception of New York and LA, I make at least $50 after splitting up the money. Sometimes it’s as good as a couple $100! So, you can see, you really needn’t worry. I will be rolling in the dough in no time at all.
On some solid advice I realized how merchandise sales can offer a huge well of money-making possibilities. Recently, in order to capitalize on this and save money in the process, I had shirts designed by a friend. I had a great idea for a graphic design. He sort-of-almost got it right and it will look fine on the Beefy T’s I can afford to buy in advance instead of the cool, nice feeling American Apparel shirts. And as soon as I give away one to each of my band mates, all of the sound engineers we work with, the people at my management agency, the club owners, my niece and my sister, I will be pulling in probably a dollar a piece! I did it a couple of times before and it worked out great. Mostly for the untold marketing value I received from all of the people who saw my shirts in the Salvation Army Thrift store racks. I can over hear them now…”Wow, great shirt. That guy should be famous!” I should make a note to speak with them about my commission btw.
I should mention I applied for and received a privately funded grant this year. It helped me to live a short while as I worked regularly passionately with low-income kids to help them to realize a future career as musical artists as well. I think the government taxed it pretty hard which was a surprise. But you know how no good deed goes unpunished.
So, just so you know, I have been working hard at this thing for a long time now. I put thousands of hours of into it and thousands of dollars too. I realize it’s MY dream and MY life, not yours, so I’m not really bitching. I have had more fun doing this than anyone deserves, made great friends, and most importantly grown consistently as an artist and musician. I will be covering those checks ASAP and repaying any institution or person who may have helped to support my life long ego trip (as some “family friend” genuinely referred to it, thanks for your support). But, please understand that not only is it ridiculously hard work to do this with any real commitment, in solvency, with no family trust fund or early 90’s era mega-record-Clive Davis-loves-your-act-label-deal. But, to keep pride intact, to keep the car that takes me to gigs on the road, the roof over head where I write and create and rehearse and the food to keep me alive to do all of the above… about 10 years ago I realized something needed to change in order to balance it all out. I have even been surprised by the great inspiration I get in return, the few less bounced checks, the humility and the desire to make the most of every hour in every single day……you’ll be glad to know, I GOT A JOB.
Thanks for your time, patience and continued support of my career.
I’m sure we’ll see each other in the clubs. Hopefully next time I’ll be signing your CD, not another bad check.
Sincerely,
Ben Arnold
http://www.benarnoldmusic.com/
Tags: Ben Arnold, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD —
Welcome back to our guest post series, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, where we invite artists we freak over to takeover. The deal is, they can write whatever they like, only 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week, featuring the musings of Pablo Cubrale, the brains behind Contramano, easily one of our favorite new bands (or at least, new to us). Think Argentine Clash with a whole lot of cello. Weird? Perhaps. But also woooooooooonderful. Like the below.
I mean seriously, how brilliant is this? Buy every record Contramano has ever made.
LETTERS FROM THE ROAD: Pablo Cubrale/Contramano
Dear Lou and Laurie,
Did you ever get my e-mail about the BBQ at home?
Man it was a real Argentine asado! And you were the only ones that didn’t make it. I guess it’s because you don’t read e-mails? Or maybe just my e-mails.
I mean, I understand if you don’t like computers, Lou, but come on, Laurie, I know that you’re pretty good with the knobs…
I really wanted you to come and talk about your song we are playing. That’s right, Small Town. I couldn’t figure out the piano part so I replaced it with the drums. I know, you might think that’s weird but it really works. Trust me. Now the song sounds more like Argentine Punk 
. Can’t wait to show you.
On a side note, I wanted to tell you that I changed a few words. For example when you say “Pittsburgh” because Warhol was from there, I say “Cordoba,” because, well, you know… that’s where I’m from. Also, when you say “Capote my hero,” he wasn’t really my hero, in fact I just learned about him when I saw the movie a few years ago. So, what I did was to change it to Lou and Laurie
You know, when I was in Argentina I used to listen to the song and with the dictionary and try to figure out what you were saying. I couldn’t find the meaning of Capote. A plant, an animal? I was confused. And also because I used to see Home of the Brave all the time (I recorded it on my VCR) and you, Laurie, would talk about the differences between being a 0 and a 1, and I thought the two songs were very connected somehow…. Anyway. I hope you guys like it.
Oh, one more thing. I also did the song in Spanish… But dude, it really sounds cool! I have both versions so you can tell me which one you like best.
Oh man, I miss you both
Even though you didn’t make the BBQ, I hope you can come to the show. It’ll be really great, I promise. I even put some footage of you at the end of Small Town when you say: “you hate it, and you know you have to leave” because… my voice, you know, it’s a bit higher than yours, and I can’t reach those looooow notes. Jaja.
Ok. Take care and call me!
Abrazos,
Pablo
8/2/10 | Comments (0)Tags: Contramano, Laurie Anderson, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, Lou Reed, Pablo Cubrale —
Here we go with another edition of LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we love love love to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. This week featuring Daniel Tashian, lead singer of The Silver Seas, literally my favorite band in the world (next to The Police). I’m totally serious. We featured them like gangbusters on the DAILY DOSE a few months back. Perhaps that’s because I’m a shameless superfan. You think?
FYI, the new record, Château Revenge, drops today.
Take it away Daniel…
Dear Bob Marley,
Well you’ve been gone for a while.
I heard you used to get your news from the radio — you and your homeboys in soccer shoes, huddled around a Jamaican transistor, listening to the BBC world service, strains of R & B from New Orleans.
I don’t know why that matters to me — I guess because I don’t watch much TV (the bullshit hype of CNN adds more static to the overcrowded airwaves now). But brother, there’s a lot of stuff you would dig:
• The Wire; you would like some of the technology.
• Sampling; you would probably do something really cool with it, sample some oppositional politician and make a song out of him.
• The Black Eyed Peas; I think you would dig them.
I remember seeing a photo of you (I think it was in South Africa) bringing white and black leaders together on stage, makin’ ‘em shake hands. I don’t think, in the end, it really did all you hoped it would but shit, you knew that. But the thing it DID do was to let everybody see that strange things happen. Me, I’m like a little lion cub…tugging on your mane. You are a big, beautiful, stately creature. There’s no comparison, I’m not even in the same profession as you, in a way.
But one thing we do share is we both like love songs. The pop stuff, when everybody said you “sold out” (Could You Be Loved, Satisfy My Soul, Waiting In Vain). That’s fantastic music. And, it’s where the Marvin Gaye creeps in. The Romantic Lion. I don’t know, maybe you prefer Duppy Conqueror and I would understand.
But I think we need somebody. The world is probably no more crazy now than it was then but it seems like it is. But there’s nobody like you, to cut through the static. There’s a bunch of cubs but not many lions. Well, maybe Bono. Everybody’s got to make a living I guess. Plus, you know, now, the emphasis is more on the party. At least as far as I can tell. There’s this chick called Ke$ha, and her songs are about getting fucked up and giving guys head. She’s real popular. Lady GaGa is kind of a “performance” artist. Sort of like Fame on steroids. Seems to be building a mythology — “GaGa-ism” — but what’s at the core of it? A “don’t be afraid to dream big” kind of message maybe.
Well. I guess I should let you go. I miss you. I heard you got real serious before you died. Real quiet and didn’t want to talk to anyone much. I get that. And I hate hospitals too.
Main thing is, there’s never been anybody that had it all like that before… Soul, Politics, Rock, Jazz, Funk. Maybe Femi Kuti, nowadays, but he’s not as good a singer as you were. Well I guess we just got to keep going. I mean what are the options? I didn’t write you to bitch, that’s boring. I guess, I’m just conscious of the fact that I feel the emptiness sometimes. And I want to hear that battle cry, that roar for peace in the jungle. I bet you had a lot of anger. I’m sure of it and who could blame you? You used it as an energy, though. I guess your candle still burns. It still inspires, and lights the way. Problem is, nobody wants to go down that path because you were so fucking great.
“Who do I think I am?” Well. I’ll try not to be intimidated by your massive paw prints. I put my paw inside it and realize I could put twenty of mine in one of yours. But at least I’m here. Peace be with you wherever you are. Soul brother, big brother.
Love,
Daniel
www.thesilverseas.net
Tags: Bob Marley, château revenge, daniel tashian, ke$ha, lady gaga, the black eyed peas, The Silver Seas —
You guessed it, another edition of LETTERS FROM THE ROAD, our guest post series where we invite musicians we are FREAKING nuts about to take over and write whatever they like. 2 rules: it has to be in the form of a letter, it has to have something to do with music. Introducing my new sonic crush, Leo Blais, Buy everything he’s ever made… seriously. FYI, we featured him on THE DAILY DOSE not too long ago
Dear vocal cords,
I wanted to write you and say how disappointed I am with you and how you let me down during my performance of ‘O Holy Night’ during the Christmas Mass when I was 12. I practiced my ass off the whole month leading up to it and you failed me! Not to mention, you teased me with your beautiful sounds of song and then, unlike most kids on Christmas, you took back your gift and left me with no vocal cords at all.
I was alone. I was confused. Shaken. We tried everything to coax you back. I even made your favorite, but even tea and lemon juice couldn’t stop this train wreck of a rendition. My little brother had the 1st verse and nailed it like a champ. You, on the other hand, hit the high register like Don Flamenco taunting Little Mac in Mike Tyson’s punch out.
Lets just say, you were not up to snuff.
I liken you to a deadbeat vocal cord. You promise to be there and then you never show up. I don’t know why you decided to take the day off, which led to 4 years of not trusting you whatsoever. You let me down so badly that day. I was no longer recognized as the kid who delivers newspapers in the neighborhood. I was that kid who ruined ‘O Holy Night!’ That kid who didn’t know when to quit. That kid who probably should have let his brother sing for him.
They didn’t know that you had changed on me. How could they know? There were moments when I thought about giving you the opportunity to explain the situation to people. I wanted you to tell them. However, you’d probably just let me down again and not even show up.
You did come back to me though. But I’ll never forgive you for that day. Never. At least this note gives me some form of satisfaction. There’s a healing in doing this. Besides, whenever I try to tell people you never cooperate. You always bail on me in protest again, which exactly why I can’t trust you to tell the story. I just wouldn’t be able to get a word out.
Vocally yours,
Leo Blais
http://www.leoblais.com/
Tags: Christmas, Leo Blais, LETTERS FROM THE ROAD —
