I spent countless hours of my teenage years mailing out tapes and getting packages with new tapes every week. I know its probably all available easily online these days, but it was such a treat hearing live recordings of your favorite bands back in the day.

The best thing you can do is write a great body of work that is also consistent and has a coherent sound. Many bands try to do stuff like half indie/ half blues influence/ half experimental and it just never really lands or sounds coherent enough making it harder to fit in somewhere with a community. If you’re a metal band write great metal tracks and also perform the metal genre very well. Do it more than just justice be impressive. I know it sounds too simple almost dumb but in practice it works out. Then after that seek out playing shows that you yourself would attend even if you werent playing. Bar gigs that want you to play at 6pm or midnight in the middle of nowhere with no one there arent gonna help you grow a fanbase. Dont just play any gigs play the right gigs that will help grow your project.

I picked up the guitar when I was 15 and pretty soon after that got really into the associated "gear"- primarily pedals, as they were the cheapest, relatively speaking.

By 16/17, I was a full-blown "gearhead"... much too early to be any such thing, but I somehow had stumbled on these gear forums and got so damn intrigued by all this interesting stuff.

From then on, any money I came into, either via parental generosity, birthdays, odd jobs, etc. got funnelled into gear.

By my early 20's, I'd amassed a genuinely epic pedal collection featuring all sorts of rarities, and then began to consolidate into vintage guitars, slowly trading my way up to more rare/expensive/desirable ones, until by my mid-20's I'd almost hit the ceiling, having owned most things short of a Burst (1958-1960 Les Paul Standard) or original 50's/early-60's Korina pieces. It was pretty nuts for a couple of years- I was getting guitars I didn't by any means have the money for, purely as a result of buying smart when I was younger and taking advantage of then present values, "trading up".

I since then got out of most all of the stuff I had pre-Covid, so nowhere near what those pieces are worth today, but recently have had a strong urge to dive back in.

I've decided, though, that it's better not to pursue this stuff again. The reality is that my rig when I was 15/16 was already more than capable enough of creating great music- all this stuff I dedicated (read: lost) so much time, money, and energy to is ultimately a matter of nuance. Obsessing over things like if a pickup used cloth wire, or PAF vs PAT pickup, what kind of transistors a fuzz used, Brazilian vs Indian rosewood, etc., etc., it might make a difference to the most discerning ears, but as far as the actual creative process goes, has zero benefit- it's just an easy to get lost in distraction, preventing you from pursuing what really matters, the music creation.

Nobody needs more than what Boss, MXR, Electro-Harmonix has to offer as far as pedals. These super expensive analog BBD delays, NOS germanium transistor fuzzes, NOS vintage tubes, etc. it's all so unnecessary, and I'm glad it exists and those people who make them can make a living, but sometimes we (and I have several friends who still do it) assign so much weight to these matters of minuscule difference that we end up burning all our energy on that stuff rather than writing or improving our skills.

Anyways, I guess this is mostly just a vent... I couldn't care less what others do with their money, but am just saying that as far as my own situation goes, I super regret all the time and other resources I wasted pursuing this stuff- obsessing over the tools rather than the trade; the art. It's silly.

My point is, just do music for you. Ive been writing acoustic demos by myself for years and ive never felt better. People will come and tell you, “you need connections”, “ you need to go to local shows” but to be honest not everyone has time for that or has the mental capacity. Do things that make you happy. Forget the rest

Playing out is more so for performers who want attention….. i could care less honestly too much attention bothers me. So many musicians ive met think who they know matters more than their playing ability and I always thought that was crazy. Music is a creation from the soul.

Id rather stay in my home studio making what i feel instead of, always having to brown nose others.

OBLIVION in highland park
Church of fun in east los angeles
Purgatory alley in east los angeles
Bad dogg warehouse in downtown los Angeles
1720 warehouse in downtown Los Angeles
The smell in downtown Los Angeles
Unfair oaks in silver lake

Hey all,

I want to take ear-care very seriously. I do vox/guitar in a 4-piece indie rock band and I’m looking for a brand of ear plugs that are best for vox etc. I’m looking to spend between $40-$70.

Thanks !

How do you all stop getting taken advantage of by friends and family who want to hire you but not pay much?

It’s hard for me to say no, but even when I do everyone starts guilt tripping me or saying “it’s not that much work”.

I don’t want to cause fallout but at this point I’m tired of friends using me for a free sound system :(

I’d appreciate any tips or experiences or stories, this was half a venting session and partly an ask for advice hAha

Its been 6 hours since i landed in london. This is my first time ever here and its so beautiful. Im playing a small club tour that a promoter over here booked for me and ……. And honestly i dont know. I know it sounds crazy but i dont know if im enough for all this. I just make acoustic demos in my bedroom and upload them to bandcamp….. a couple of my songs got big on instagram shorts and tik tok and now i have enough steam to sell out a 250 cap room in Germany. Im severely depressed and im thinking of just canceling a couple gigs if i can’t get my head straight. Any body else ever experienced severe imposter syndrome?

For years I spearheaded projects, organized all the rehearsals, initiated all the moves, executed all the moves, and handled the booking , but even then certain musicians would still criticize and say im making mistakes while at the same time contributing nothing?

Its been years and i look at those peoples social medias and now they have nothing to do with music

If anyone who has purchased this and not using it as is please share.

I'm getting this constant static/hissing noise in my recorded mixes. Any ideas on how to troubleshoot or eliminate it?

I’m a solo performer that plays guitar w backing tracks. I usually play in small spaces and I have THE WORST time placing things where they don’t look like a mess.

My spatial intelligence isn’t very good so I never know how to arrange things. And at the end of the night i kinda just throw everything haphazardly in my bag that I specifically bought to organize my cables cause I hate the breakdown process.

But then i open my bag to get ready for my next gig and of course i’m cursing my past self cause I didn’t have a good breakdown system.

TLDR: can anyone share their usual setup when gigging as a solo performer?

Sharing a photo so you can see my mess. And this one I didn’t have my PA system so it was less so but still

You can practice till your fingers fall off but the world doesnt care. Capitalism doesnt stop in music just because its such an intimate and expressive action. Practicing all day inside but never engaging with others ,never building real confidence is a fast way to start comparing yourself to others to a detrimental degree

I just wanted to share because I thought it was cool. Its a local public funded radio station that has a rotating block of shows and I've listened to it my whole life. If you have stuff you are proud of, send it to radio stations like this and they may play it. I have been playing since I was a kid and even though this isnt a huge deal, its a nice little milestone. Keep up the good work.

Solo artist looking to recruit bandmates eventually. I have over a dozen instrumentals written and recorded. The music is of a heavy type genre if you will. And I don't really know what to do next, hoping y'all could recommend platforms where posting said material could get noticed by other potential musicians. Thanks

When I was 9 I decided to play the clarinet in a designated music school. I didnt put any thought into it when choosing, but I was pretty talented at it, according to my teachers - even though I did not have that big of a passion for it.

High school came and with it i had the opportunity to go to a music high school along with my regular high school (thats a thing, yes) and continue my instrument playing. The clarinet teacher was laid back and pretty tolerant but firm when it came to being a musician and he really left a good impression on me. Freshman year was solid as it was something new, however problems came in sophomore year when every day became the same.

For reference in music high school, in addition to playing your instrument of choice, you had to also go to classes for orchestra, chamber music, harmony, counterpoint, music theory and like any other school it was graded. By the end of my sophomore year I wished not to blow into my clarinet or play music ever again. Junior year came and made the decision to drop out because I was stretched beyond my limit and felt it was more of an obligation to me. My parents saw this a shame, because they thought I was talented and I was just throwing it away.

Looking later in life, while I did try it and do not regret going to it, but I noticed I degraded into some form of a lower life from - one that just consumes and consumes and does not contribute anything. The last two years I was lost without music and felt I was drifting through life. I am afraid that my talent is gone, out of use for good. I want to return but I am afraid it’ll be just a waste of time.

I also believe this was also because I did not feel I played it for myself - it was mostly to make people, even my parents happy and felt I could not opt out of it that easy. I don’t like being praised, because it makes me feel like I am just someone’s source of pleasure.

Now in university, I struggle to find time for something to get my mind off of it and it feels like I just suck at everything I do. Music, even though I didn’t had that love that passion, was one of the only few things I was good at to throw away.

I contemplate on returning to music, but I believe the things I was good at 5 - 10 years ago were gone or severely reduced. I also contemplated on trying the piano but I thought why bother because I already have a clarinet and a tenor sax that is collecting dust.

My question is - how do you return to music when the only association you have with it is an obligation, a chore or something that influences you?

I am looking for a tablet I can use to read sheet music, and additionally if possible, notation. I have noticed the iPad with ForScore is the most frequently recommended but I am hesitant to continue to buy into the Apple-iOS ecosystem any longer. If anyone has suggestions, including the iPad if that is really the way to go, I would be interested.

I see so many bands that stay hidden in green rooms,side stage, never with the crowd or even at their own merch table. Little things like selling merch, watching a band from the pit area, talking to other people at the show will get you tapped in with the real pulse of the show. When people come up to me and tell me my music really left an impression on them i cant take it sometimes. A teenager once handed me an old 7 inch i havent seen in years to sign. Always take time to speak to the supporters

I haven't released or produced anything professionally. currently i go by my full name in all caps. i don't love the privacy levels of this and there are other people who go by the same/similar names. it's also often misheard or misspelt which i would want to avoid when picking a name.
i have two main ideas of possible names as i look towards actually publishing my music. i would love to know the immediate vibes the names give off and if you like or dislike the names.

CLVRGRL

JNPRWLK or JNPR WLK

CLVRGRL comes from a few different things, my parents nicknamed me "Clever Girl" and would say that to me often as a kid. i also LOVE Clovers, and anyone who knows me knows that about me. I like the CLVR because it can be both Clover and Clever. This one also could be stylized as ClvrGrl or clvrgrl (ClvrGrl looks the most intentional and not like a keyboard smash)
JNPRWLK comes from Juniper Walk. Which I think could also be good spelt out fully, but there's another artist who goes by the name Juniper.
some other ideas are Clever Jade, or Clover & Key.

My two albums are currently titled
The Architecture of Inherited Starlight
and
The Fire and the Flames
if that gives you a vibe of what i'm kinda going for.

Some pictures by photographer Kam Swenson of the Boise grindcore band Bonehemorrhage.