Intro

A recent photo of that guy S. Estates.

I’m a serious person. I don’t mean that I don’t have a sense of humor, or that I don’t get your jokes, or that I can’t laugh at myself when I get tongue tied. I mean that if I’m going to force myself to do something (and believe me, making myself “do things” can be a real struggle), then I’m going to be way too intense about it. If I’m going to make a music video, or record a song, or play a live show, I’m going to do it until I hate it, and then I’m going to keep doing it. I take my work seriously. If I care about something, I take it seriously. I’m a serious person.

For that reason, I feel like you should be warned going into this blog that I’m going to write about the music industry, social media, artists, and strategies for musicians like I know exactly what I’m talking about a lot of the time, but the reality is that I really only know one thing about “making it” in the music industry: it is all about luck and who you know, but mostly about luck. Despite my seriousness and my pretension, I am also a struggling musician who is trying to find the answers to success like any other nobody out there. I’m going to make observations about the industry and about artists. I’m going to examine methods for expanding your fan base as well as how to behave on social media so you don’t scare them all away. But it is important that you look at this blog as a personal commentary on my own journey, whether it be to success or to failure. I’m writing about these observations while I’m acting them out myself, not expounding on my own experience (for the most part).

With that said, here is a little about me. I am a “local musician.” I make music with my friends or by myself and I play that music in bars, cafes, clubs, and art galleries in my area, and sometimes I tour to the Bay or to Sacramento. I’ve enjoyed a bit of success locally, which is really, super nice, but I also think that local success has a way of blinding people to the flaws that will ultimately cause them to fail with a larger audience. I’ve never been comfortable with the idea of just being a “local musician.” I want more than that. So earlier this year I quit my locally successful band and decided to start a new project: Solar Estates. I’m about to finish up the debut EP, and let me tell you, there is nothing scarier than a new project and new sounds. Despite feeling reasonably confident, I don’t know if anyone will like it or even care, but I’ll be sure to update this blog when the results are in.