Online Diary (October 2010)
Nov 21, 2010 Latest News
Posted by
ryan
29/10/10
Good morning everyone. Here is a remix of a new track called ‘Because We Are’ by 7quidstudios (my friend Mr Dimmick) The vocal was originally recorded for Monkey Beats but 7quid picked up on it and worked on his own version 
Working on Footprint stuff today as we now have only a month to organize and arrange our event for December. Also it has become apparent that the CD I recorded for my friend Jo Merry (Spiritual Destiny) is rather popular and they would like some more made. Gonna record a few bits from home and hopefully have something by next week – a mini album of chillout tracks which gives me great excuse to practice with my piano.
Visited Karl G (Here is his MYSPACE) today for some ideas on a new track as well as the possibility of making a radio edit of his ‘HOW THINGS CHANGE‘ remix – currently at 7 minutes long it could do with some slight scaling down for the forth coming remix album (SHUFFLE) here is something Karl rustled up today… also a screenshot for something to look at Personally I think he’s a genius
Sea Of Tranquility (Remix Idea)
27/10/10
On today’s agenda is create a business account for STP money to go through. Get beer mats finally printed,Record a LOAD of my guitar ideas to film and then see if I can get a vlog together in the next couple of days… Grrr I really want to go out and buy something I can just do myself daily. Why is it there is never enough money! Acoustic night to run tonight at the London Inn would be good to chuck in a few newer songs tonight for my own sanity so will learn a couple of bits later (usually 5 mins before I leave the house)
Oh currently listening to MACHINE OEM’s album. They are a previously financed STP band. The album is $6.99 from HERE so go ahead and spend a few quid
26/10/10
Yesterday was slob day and I really needed it! spent the whole time watching QI and American Dad with the odd game of Scrabble in between. Today I am currently sat in STP headquarters after a meeting with Danny and Grace… Business development/artists liason and communications managers respectively. A few points were raised that I needed advice on such as where to start working first and it was suggested that I should take things one step at a time rather that pile too much on my plate at any given time. It has also become very clear that it would be a good idea to start work on one track and build the rest of the album around it… makes sense to get a starting point with which to base the next work on.
I’m gonna write more when I get home and start making some moves towards recording. I am thinking that ‘Secret’ would be a good place to start since it scored very highly in SoundOut/STP and I think it could very well be a signature track on the album. Myself and the band worked on it in rehearsals the other day and so I feel confident we could get somewhere with it pretty quickly.
24/10/10
Just catching up on the last couple of days… got home from tonight’s gig on the seafront for a private party. Was a nice venue (The Pavilion) and a good crowd enjoying themselves. It was great playing some songs with Jo (Williams) and we played a few new covers
Last night was my friends 30th birthday party, some pictures will be up soon as the theme was movie character fancy dress. I went as clockwork orange since I already had most of the costume from the VTKTM video shoot a few months ago. My housemate Kate ‘Spinklesparks’ Dean provided some body paint for my friend Naomi Male (Avatar) and she looked awesome!
Got to get round to editing the video footage over the past few days too. Tomorrow I am performing two gigs for OXJAM. One at Loves Cafe in Weston at 2pm and then another at the Folkhouse in Bristol at about 4pm. Monday daytime I am gonna try to allocate myself some recording time for some new demos… a look over the bits I have at the moment there is a whole new album waiting to be polished off. I feel like I have been failing miserably on the songwriting front in general; I find it so hard to come up with ideas that I think don’t suck and then the lyrics is another issue… I take months going over them again and again to get the wording right so I’m saying what I need to say without giving too much personal information away and to make the songs a little more open to interpretation. But when I look at what I have in the pipeline I am hoping that they will all finish at about the same time maybe giving me a whole new fresh set of original material. I totally envy songwriters that can churn 100′s out in a few years or even less in some cases.
After Tuesdays meeting with STP I feel that I will regain my sense of focus and have a goal in sight; I can lose faith in where I’m headed all too easily. Also just realised that today is a certain anniversary that holds specific importance… won’t go into details but things can really be into perspective when you remember those who are no longer here.
Any take care all, catch you later with hopefully something new to look at/listen to/read perhaps?
21/10/10
Just finished working on my friends CD that she is using to promote her business and now just making a quick update… I really wish these entries were more visual (yeah so do I, I hear you say,,,) I will be getting some more video’s up soon but I think due to the difficulties of regular updates they might need to be weekly?
Here is an article from the Weston Mercury that went online today LINK.
Going to work on possibly gaining further investment from local businesses very soon. It seems that a lot of the important aspects of promotion cost a hell of a lot of money and if something is worth doing it is worth doing with a lot of money in your pocket just from talking to an experienced band manager, pluggers alone can charge around $1000 a month at the lowest level of radio (This conversation took place whilst having a drink in the bar so I do not remember all the details) I will get in touch with the guy and get his advice and knowledge in writing so I can convey it to those of you who are reading this… is anyone reading this? who knows?!
Got a reply from Tunecore with regards to chart success and this is what she sent:
Hey Ryan,
Nice to hear from you. It would actually depend on which type of charts you’re talking about. If you’re referring to the internal store charts, you’d definitely show up on those with the number of sales you gave as an example. The stores will use the SONG ID, along with the UPC that’s in there to track your sales. These codes allow the stores to then send us your accounting statement and royalties.
To give you an example, the rap artist Sam Adams who distributed his music through TuneCore had so many sales he made the iTunes top 10 list! If you’re referring to chart tracking like for Billboard, this is all tracked by Nielsen Soundscan so you’d really need to speak with them directly at how to be eligible for their charts. Hope that helps!
Best,
Jacqueline
Artist Support and Label Relations
www.TuneCore.com
20/10/10
Worked on some music for a friends business today and gonna do a bit more tomorrow. It’s for a healing CD of sorts so just mellow string and piano sounds recorded into ProTools are. I like writing music to suit a certain purpose. In some cases it makes writing a lot easier; knowing what your trying to express or what your boundaries are. There’s no point writing something with diminished chords for example if it is meant to relax the listener! I have some work that I did for college a few years ago that we’re the first time I’d worked on specific briefs… haven’t done it very much since but it is good fun though… Will have to dig them out and upload them.
Learned a few covers today for guitar lesson purposes as well as upcoming gigs. Forgot how much of a tune ‘Late In The Day’ by Supergrass is as well as ‘Man In The Mirror‘ – Michael Jackson and ‘Running Away’ by Hoobastank. Acoustic night at The London tonight so gonna pack up the PA and head over there later.
I am really itching to get in the studio to start working on this album but I know there is so much to consider first; I do not want to waste a single penny having to re-record something or find out later down the line that I missed something. Until the meeting with STP next week I am a bit in limbo – got some guitar parts to film for the next couple of vlogs for you to check out and I could possibly do with arranging a live rehearsal that we can record (get some band demos up)
Sent off for the promotional beer mats to get printed today from KallKwik so they should be done in time for my next few gigs next weekend, this weekend will mostly be spend in and around Chard with some friends I have there. Most notably Matthew Aston who is having his 30th birthday.
19/10/10
Right, today in a nutshell.. got very little time before I head out for rehearsal and been out all day. Went to retrieve a nice camera from Yate courtesy of Richard Browne, went to buy some facepaint for my amazingly talented housemate Kate ‘Spinklesparks’ Dean (check out her website HERE) went into TK MAXX and somehow came out with a lot less money and a car full of stuff, bought something for tea, waited in traffic due to an accident at the junction 21 roundabout and now about to eat and then head straight out… well no one said these daily things were gonna be exciting all the time!! Gonna record some of the rehearsal tonight and get these vlogs up and running again. Laters
18/10/10
Today I will be researching what one must do to get into the charts… does it need to be a ‘paid for’ download or can it be free? do I have to use iTunes or a set list of distributors? Could I download from my website? The idea is basically with the documentary I am planning to do I also want to run a Facebook campaign which will hopefully attract people to the idea of getting one of my songs into the charts. There is already a page called ‘Let’s get a slicethepie funded artist into the charts’ so there might be a good place to start the ball rolling. For this to work I will need to make the process as simple as possible… nobody likes seeing a 10 step process to doing something; it will basically need to be a click once and everything is done for you type of thing. If the track is free there is also a massive incentive for people to get involved. (EDIT: for the song to be eligible it must meet the minimum dealer price so FREE would not work) here is the wikepedia article on ‘In Rainbows‘ by Radiohead which famously was the first worldwide digital download that could be obtained for any price the customer saw fit. Mot sure how they got around the minimum dealer price issue but assuming it had to be bought from a minimum of 1p it was never free (unless you count illegal downloads of course)
Will be meeting daily with Richard Browne of www.eventcastmedia.com to discuss how things are progressing. He will be loaning a HD handheld video camera to me tomorrow so I can continue the daily vlogs and has made a few steps towards the documentary already. We have hopefully secured the technical equipment we require for next to no cost which is ideal, almost anything we require will need to be on a loan or sponsored basis to keep this $15,000 going as far as possible. Meeting with Slicethepie headquarters on Tuesday 26th to get some advice from them and also see what contacts they have to offer.
Got a call from Pippa Chambers today from The Weston Mercury (local newspaper) They will be running a story about my recent good fortune and what I am planning to do. Will hopefully see the story move around the Bristol & Weston area but will need to get national coverage at some point.. Think big and all that eh?!
Got this link from a Facebook friend Kyle Selman LINK so gonna read through this now. Will post anything relevant I come across today and if anyone out there is reading this that has any advice or opinions feel free to get in contact.
Found this page with some great advice LINK and looking at different ways to get your music onto iTunes etc… Wondering if there is a way that is quicker than waiting a month for an album or single to process via Tunecore.com which is where I uploaded the acoustic album to and from where I could distribute to a number of different stores:
iTunes, Amazon, Spotify, Myspace Music, MediaNet, eMusic, Zune, Rhapsody, Nokia, Shockhound, Napster, Thumbplay, IMVU & Amzon on Demand. Other stores to investigate are: Vodafone, Eircom, Sony, Connect, Wippit and Bleep and also just read about CDBaby which I have heard of before but may be better in some ways to Tunecore. Also MDMARecords was mentioned somewhere.
Right I have just sent an email to a contact at Tunecore called Jacqueline, she has been very helpful making some recent changes to my tunecore account such as getting me on Spotify and also changing the genre that my music appears under… here is what I sent today:
“Hi Jacqueline, thanks for making those changes I noticed they were sorted today I hope you don’t mind me pestering you but I have another question. If I was to (hypothetically) get 50,000 downloads of one of my tracks in one day or within a week would it be eligible for the charts? Does the song ID (USTC70839242 for example) mean that the single is tracked and logged in the same way if I had got a UPC code or a barcode for it? I’m currently looking at the best way to get into the charts and have read lots about it today. Do you have access to the best place to read any information? It says the track needs to be in more than 1 format and also since it is part of an album would that mean it technically doesn’t count?
I hope you can help. Thanks
Ryan Inglis
17/10/10
Happy Sunday everyone! I would firstly like to point you in the direction of a remix of ‘Secret’ by Karl G CLICK HERE. I’m really looking forward to a few collaborations that are in the pipeline with Paul C, Karl G & Stu M from Monkey Beats. Tomorrow will be a continuation of my meeting with Richard Browne as well as a meeting with Kate Lee of KLEE Photography to discuss a photoshoot with a bit of a difference – I want to think of something interesting and unique, maybe a set of photos around one theme. KLEE has already taken loads of the photos that are in the ARTWORK section of this site have a look HERE and she has an amazing style all of her own.
My acoustic album is now available to listen to on Spotify and I’m not sure but I believe I get payed a small amount for every play from them… it doesn’t cost you anything to listen to but if you haven’t already done so why not buy a copy from iTunes? 
If you have a physical copy of the album take a picture of yourself holding it as I want to make a mosaic picture in the next album sleeve with them. Already had some but would probably need a few hundred for it to work… CLICK HERE to see whos posed for a pic already
Been working on FOOTPRINT again today too. The Charlie Derrick Bursary is a registered charity (XT20778) and currently we are looking for patrons to raise the profile of what we do. Organising a competition on December and we have already got some amazing prizes (2 tickets to see Papa Roach on 8th December at Wembley Arena, Tickets to see Jason Derulo, a signed Deftones album as well as 250 squids from the bursary to spend on anything music related) If you want to be kept up to date with whats going on then add FOOTPRINT MUSICIANS CHARITY as a friend on Facebook
15/10/10
Well what a great way to start the day; had a meeting with Richard Browne of www.eventcastmedia.com. We discussed the possibility of recording a documentary and brainstormed some ideas, mentioned some contacts worth considering, sponsorship possibilities, available technologies (bonded 3G video equipment) locations, timescales etc… will go into more detail once things move to the next level… I found myself getting quite excited about the possibilities and hope things can move forward quite soon. I have to bring forward my STP meeting to next week and Richard is gonna have a think over the weekend about some marketing plan ideas. Just about to send him all my links and current media to look through – He may also lend me a portable camera to be able to continue the vlogging – All in all I’m excited.
Had my tarot cards done today by my good friend Jo Merry. Although I do treat tarot and other such ‘spiritual’ topics with some degree of healthy skepticism I think it would be too closed minded to ignore it completely. Most notably Jo did a reading for my friend Peter Fealey (he designed this website) a few years ago which mentioned a few things that made him change his outlook on certain matters. He ended up taking the cards advice and is now happily married due to the outcome. Some might say “coincidence” or “what does that prove” but I believe that to even the simplest level a card reading although not directly linked to an outcome of a decision could at least change your paradigm or encourage you to think differently. What I am trying to say is that the reading today came up with some things that I need to think about and given the glowing future that was portrayed via the randomly selected cards I am in a better frame of mind to be able to tackle these issues and move forward with perhaps more confidence… it’s like someone giving you encouraging words that tells you everything is going to be OK – even if it is not strictly the truth you can at least suck your chest in and give it a good try and maybe succeed (I hope that makes sense) It also transpires that some of my chakras are blocked which may be responsible for my lack of creativity at the moment… either way what’s the harm in giving something a go? who knows having some crystal healing might do something… better than not trying at all eh?!
Playing in Lympstone, Exmouth tonight (The Saddlers Arms) not been there before so looking forward to playing to a new audience. Not looking forward to the long drive however but it’s definitely nice to get out and about to somewhere new. Last night I had two musicians from Bristol play at my Yates acoustic night; Sam Powell and Tom Montgomery. These guys are currently doing a course at BIMM in Bristol and are both very talented performers. Had a great time afterwards playing some pool and a few drinks. I look forward to meeting up with them again soon.
Working on getting my contact at ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS to sort a possible date and budget for a couple of days recording. I think if the band is rehearsed fully we can get 10 songs recorded in two evenings and spend some time mixing elsewhere. Also would like to get the mastering done there too. Got a rehearsal on Tuesday (will hopefully have a working camera by then too) so will record some of that.
Was played on online radio show THE MO & BEK SHOW today. They used How Things Change and they contacted me because they saw me on TalentWatch.com. If you fancy rating my videos or leaving a comment on there follow this link>> LINK! Currently all 5 of my uploaded videos are in the top 20 which kicks ass!!
14/10/10
Well I have been up since 9 (which is rare) and after replying to a few emails and having a spot of lunch I am now ready to do something about my little music project thingy. Added a few more gigs to my OCTOBER gigs list on Facebook and I found out yesterday that the new videos I recorded at the college have been deleted from the computer:( Will have to redo some more soon then. I completed my first ever online tax return yesterday which might sound boring but I cannot convey the amount of relief it gives me to know that I can be a bit more self sufficient with my finances. I had some help that was absolutely appreciated and it has lifted a bit weight off my shoulders… I love that feeling.
My phone camera seems to still be non functioning but I will try again later. If not I will get myself down to Argos to pick up something to keep making these vlogs. It was John Tayles (previously financed artist on STP) that said he wished he could have made a regular video diary and so I will do my best to record at least something once a day. It keeps you guys in the loop and seeing Joe Brooks (met him when he was recording in Weston with my friend and producer Tony Hobden) success from his video updates it seems foolish not to take such advice.
Got two performances coming up for OXJAM on the 24th October: One at LOVES CAFE in Weston (2pm) and another at THE FOLKHOUSE in Bristol (4pm) I think this will be like my 4th Oxjam in as many years and I believe it’s a good thing to be involved with. Tonight I have YATES’S ACOUSTIC NIGHT to run with appearances from TOM MONTGOMERY and SAMUEL POWELL so looking forward to that. Gonna need to learn some covers this afternoon in preparation for tonight. So far learned Since You’ve Been Gone – Rainbow, Hot Stuff – Donna Summer, Stayin’ Alive – The Bee Gees.
Sent off a vocal recording to MONKEY BEATS (based in Birmingham) for a Belgium based songwriting partnership. It’s called Because We Are (listen to a short section) hopefully they will like it and use it for their track which may end up getting released somewhere in Europe and do quite well… who knows. It’s worth noting that I haven’t signed any contracts for this recording so it could easily just fly off the shelves make a million euros and I might never see a penny but I will not be doing any more work until an agreement is setup for royalties etc… something all musicians should consider.
My acoustic album ’7 Blank Tiles’ was listed as ‘Christian/Gospel music on iTunes… I have just managed to get that changed; seems all you need to do is email TuneCore and ask. Let’s hope people decide to check it out now without potentially being put off if they are not religious.
Just seen something posted by my friend Stewart (STP users know him as Kinetix X and he also remixed a couple of my tracks) It would seem you can spend a couple of thousand pounds getting advertising via the viral video phenomenon of internet celebrities. Maybe worth considering perhaps. Here is a guy called Toby Turner who might be worth contacting. Cheers Stew!
13/10/10
Vlog 13/10/10 (Missing audio after 6:30)
Started today with a meeting with Paul Raymond from Weston College. He has been the head of the music department for many years and has extensive experience in both the industry and performing side of the business; His band Doctor Sax just had an album at the top of the jazz charts and he has influenced numerous amounts of young musicians including myself since he founded the music course. Many other musicians who are currently doing very well went to the same college including Alex Lipinski, Lenny Savage, Emily Grist, Tony Hobden and Aaron Sayers to name but a few. I could mention a whole host of others…
The meeting today was very fruitful with regards to contacts I can start approaching. TV production companies are going to be my first port of call as I would very much like to turn this experience into a documentary – this would both get me and my music to a much wider audience but it might also benefit other musicians who are doing most of the recording and promotion themselves, I want to be as comprehensive as I can be and it would be great to have something to show for what I am preparing to undertake. I would like to have my own camera to keep a daily record of ideas but feel it would not be fair to use STP money to fund such a thing. I will see what I can get my hands on for a reasonable price but I do feel it would be a sound investment. Maybe I could persuade someone/local company to give me one in return for advertisment? worth a try maybe? I’ll see if I can get Currys to agree…just found out that the vlog I made today has audio issues at about 6 minutes in so I have to re-do the tail end of it! VERY ANNOYING!!!
…Turns out my camera phone will no longer attach to my laptop so it is out of service for the meantime. Just got off the phone to someone with regards to making a documentary and booked a meeting for Friday afternoon. Will let you know the outcome.
Paul mentioned a site called Record Of The Day which is “the music industry’s favourite daily digest’ and is a great place to see what is hot right now and if somehow I could get my music on there it would go out to all the right people. You can get a months free subscription so I will hang fire until I need the resource but it also has loads of contact names that is practically like gold dust if you can speak to the right person.
Paul mentioned the best place to get noticed in London would be a venue called Ginglik and that playing out there would generally be the best move. “Have you thought about going to university there?” he said… “um… It hadn’t crossed my mind” It came into conversation that it might not be impossible to get accepted to Westminster University. This would mean I would be meeting the right sorts of people and would be where all the action is as well as being somewhat more affordable than trying to find work out there and enough paid gigs. Something to think about… I know Alex Lipinski went there and has done well from it so maybe I will ask him his advice..
12/10/10
You’ll see from the vlog that I had a lot of time on my hands today. It’s good to have a day off though and catch up on some family guy and the odd movie
First thing today is to work on Footprint stuff… made a donate button for a just giving page for the bursary.
Here is a statement to explain what we do and why we do it.
“To raise money for our Charity, The Charlie Derrick Music Bursary, this helps local, young dedicated musicians achieve their aims in music, whatever this may be. Music is an integral part of our culture whether we sing, play or simply listen. We want to encourage young people to sing and play and give us something to listen to, but this process not only takes dedication, commitment and sacrifice but also resources, including instruments, technical support and performing expenditure. We want to help more talented young musicians to reach their full potential through the diverse language of music”
You can donate here if you so wish, we are a registered charity (XT20778) and here is the DONATE button.
Check out RUTH ROYALL & EMILY GRIST they played last night at No. 51 and are both very awesome songwriters/performers (http://www.myspace.com/ruthroyall) (http://www.myspace.com/emilygrist)
Sent a message to 3 different contacts provided by my friend Brett Parker who are involved with video production. I wanted to see if anyone would think doing a ‘how to make your album and promote it yourself’ video would be a good idea. To my knowledge there is nothing like it in the mainstream so might make a good documentary especially since the modern songwriter can pretty much do everything for themselves… Maybe signing to a big label isn’t the be all and end all?
11/10/10
Well it is 12:58am and I have been working on a few little bits and pieces as I don’t really feel like sleeping. Wednesday is going to be a busy day… got a meeting with regards to PRS/PPL and also with Paul Raymond (I am going to prepare some questions for him and film part of it for you to see) from the college as well as editing the new videos and guitar lessons then acoustic night. I have made a little logo for my website button (the little logos on your bookmarks toolbar)
Some of you may have noticed the audio quality of my Vlogs aren’t very good so I have to get something a bit more useful; something with at least a decent mic attachment (Get an iPhone I hear you shout!) Also a friend of mine Brett Parker has offered me some contacts that might either be interested in helping document my actions or at least be able to point me in the right direction. I will be making a press pack to send off to venues and festivals and will also need to get my new beer mats laminated and cut within the week. Handed out a fair amount of business cards on Saturday night – was nice to finally be proud to hand over a card instead of slightly squirming at the really bad ones I had before… got some live recordings to edit at some point today and I REALLY need to record all my newest guitar idea too… will post some mp3′s by end of the day so you can hear what I got going on.
I’m playing at what used to be called the Junction tonight in Stokes Croft – Bristol. Just found out that Emily Grist from Emily & The Whispers is playing too and I like her music so that’s a bonus. Theses nights are run by Ruth Royall who is also a really awesome musician. We first met when we were both guest artists on the Jelli Records label in Bristol run by Steve Parkhouse. Will post a photo later.
Started uploading the demo tracks to the VTKTM album, as we as a band have not got a great deal of free time to rehearse and promote via gigs we are hoping to get somewhere with online promotion for the meantime… this is where I come in to my element first of all I’m gonna upload all the tracks eventually to STP to let Soundout do it’s job at finding what the potential singles would be and get some reviews and see if maybe we could get into a showcase?! well it’s worth a go anyway. I recommend any musician to use Slicethepie if only to get some ears listening to your material. The reviews are there to be taken with a pinch of salt in some cases but generally you get real music lovers searching for something new and it could gain you some new fans from anywhere in the world.
Had a meeting today with Julie Derrick about our upcoming Footprint event here in Weston to raise some money and also showcase the local musicians… looks like 12th Dec is a possible date. More details need finalizing though and the prizes are still increasing as local sponsors chip in to help. I do enjoy being part of this local charity; it’s involved in something I love myself and it really does benefit and change some peoples lives for the better somewhere down the line. Add FOOTPRINT MUSICIANS CHARITY as a friend on Facebook to keep up to date with what’s going on.
10/10/10
After a really great gig last night in Dartmouth I went for breakfast with the band and met up with my friend Mark Ely who has been a songwriter for years and has spent money in the studio on many occasion. He had some great advice for me and offered some contacts to get in touch with (he will send details in an email soon then I can share the info with you more accurately – can’t remember the entire conversation we had) He mentioned a violinist he recommended called Stuart Gordan as well as a studio in Bristol called Jay Jays, so I will follow this lot up when the email comes through. Also more than anything he emphasised the fact that whatever you do in the studio be true to yourself and do what you think is right. This advice pretty much conflicts with Chet and Shanes from yesterday but I do think it is important to be yourself and not copy a sound because it is popular BBBBuuuuttt it is about selling records at the same time of course so comprimises must be made somewhere. The two words that stand out from our chat was ‘Timeless’ and ‘Tasteful’ – something I should be aiming for with my album.
09/10/10
Most of today was spent in preparation for the Dartmouth gig as well as replying to emails and applying for festivals. Sent off to the Bimble Inn, Sugarhill Festival as well as talking to Rich Evans from local band SKANK TANK who performed at lots of festivals in the summer and MARK REARDON who has many contacts that might help towards securing festival slots. Gonna do my Vlog on the move as I have to start driving to Dartmouth now. The press release I made was sent off to all local and Bristol based publications so if I don’t hear anything in the next few days I’ll follow that up – here is the press release I made (by searching ‘how to write a press release’ in Google)
For Immediate Release
“Ryan Inglis Wins Big On Slicethepie.com”
“On October 1st 2010 Ryan Inglis, currently of Bleadon in North Somerset, was awarded with $15,000 from music site slicethepie.com from investors and fans to record and promote an album. Ryan used to live in Ilminster, Milborne Port & Taunton – went to school in Crewkerne; Wadham and performs his music all over the southwest.
Ryan got ahead of literally thousands of other bands and artists from all over the world to win this award from investors and fans who believe in his music and his potential to make it in the industry Performing around 200 shows a year Ryan is very busy and in demand as an artist and will be performing at a number of festivals next year which as an unsigned, self managed/motivated artist is no mean feat and his first acoustic album sold over 1000 copies (available on iTunes also)
Visit www.ryaninglis.com for further details or contact him directly at me@ryaninglis.com”
Advice from Chet and Shane (from VTKTM) was to go in a direction that is very modern and to follow the trends of the moment. Find bands that have literally just been signed and see what sound they are producing. Maybe would be better to record 1 single that might get the attention of record label bosses than spend all on a album for now.
08/10/10
Ok so as you may get from the video log today has been all about odd jobs and those little things in life that take up more time than you might think… Organising rehearsals, collecting equipment, video editing, keeping healthy, re-stringing instruments, creating setlists and organising your band members – providing/gaining information on gigs, writing a press release to send out to gain media coverage, contracts, bank runs, business accounts, recording a short video of myself moaning… the list goes on. It is important, as a friend told me earlier, that all these things are just as important to mention as the cool stuff that most people associate with being a musician or in extreme cases a ‘rockstar’… Sometime a manager will take care of most of these things or a personal assisitant but I am happy and willing to both do the work, and by learning from my mistakes, the best way in which to do it. Which I hope in turn will be useful to someone else who may find themselves in my position.
I have also decided today to give each vlog a funny little title to spice things up a bit… it’s all in the presentation as they say. I will post some more content later once I have done a few more little jobs. Cheers all
07/10/10
Hello there! today started with a trip to the gym to keep myself fit and healthy, did 100 sit ups and loads of cardio then some ‘t-shirt fillers’ (weights that are supposed to make your shirts rip at the seams from too much muscle!) Aaaannyway… I have arranged a meeting with Paul Raymond from Weston College on Wedsnesday morning, he will be a great help since he has spent years in various areas of the music industry. I did my BTEC Music Tech Diploma (got a triple distinction) under his wing and also worked at the college as a lecturer myself. I contacted all previously financed artists and have so far had replies from John Tayles, Jamie George, Edward Bell,Robin Young from The Keyz and Elle Stevenson. Their advice will no doubt be very useful.
My business cards arrived today so I can start handing them out wherever I go and also had another gig come in for November. Also been speaking to my friend Paul C (he remixed Destiny and Look FWD – Destiny just appeared in future music as demo of the week) we are gonna work on some new remix tracks as another string to my bow at least and he just informed me that his Linkin Park remix might be going somewhere good… also been in touch with Karl G about doing something similar (Karl is getting regular airplay on Radio 1 via Judge Jules’ shows and is also local to Weston-super-Mare)
Apart from all that it’s a bit of rehearsal today for tonight’s gig, a meal with my friend Will and then gig time. Catch you all tomo for the next exciting installment of ‘the making of Ryan Inglis’s platinum selling album’
06/10/10
Good afternoon everyone. Tonight I have band rehearsal so will film a bit of that and introduce you to Adam & Steve. Basically been rehearsing for upcoming gigs and recovering from last night; I had a bit of a celebration with the combination of jager bombs and green goblin cider!! lovely stuff. Got a NINTEN(DUO) gig on Thursday (80′s acoustic covers) then VTKTM gig on Friday at DB’s in Weston-super-Mare… gonna be the last gig for VTKTM for a while as everyone in the band has a lot going on individually. Tracks will be uploaded to the VTKTM YouTube channel soon so you can all hear what we have recorded. Playing at a wedding in Dartmouth on Saturday which I am very much looking forward to then I have Sunday off to work some more on my new songs and arranging some more meetings. Getting latest live videos on Friday from the college where they were filmed too. now it’s time to have some food and prepare for my guitar students before I venture out to the dazzling and exciting Nailsea to meet Steve (bass player) Video will be up a bit later. Apart from all that music rubbish I have been watching the new INTO THE UNIVERSE with STEPHEN HAWKING which I highly recommend.
Oh and also I am in 2nd place on this website called TalentWatch if you have a spare minute to rate my videos the nudge to 1st place would help gain added exposure. Hope you all have had a good day and that you have something fun to do tonight, just promise me you won’t watch any Emmerdale cause I saw a bit the other day and nearly fell into a coma.
EDIT: Check out this video of Will Hardiman from the 2009 Footprint event. I have been uploading all the live performances from the show, the filming and editing was done for free (as Footprint is a charity we couldn’t turn down the kind gesture) and the sound quality isn’t quite as good as it could be unfortunately but they do showcase some of the local talent that performed that night. If you are interested in knowing more about Footprint than click the word Footprint above which will take you to the Footprint Musicians Charity facebook page where you can add us as a friend. Alternatively you can read what I said about it in my interview with PieWatch back in January.
05/10/10
Good afternoon one and all. I have been working on tweaking two new songs today ‘These Few Days‘ & ‘One Step At A Time‘ I seem to have more luck when I write more than one simultaneously (first time I did was with Footprint & Destiny – also these songs were the first time I finished lyrics before writing any music) You may notice that the web banner at the top of the page has changed; It has a logo now and a tagline… the tagline was from a poster that I was on at a gig in Bristol Folk House sometime ago. I really liked it so thought I would go with it.
Gonna work on nailing my PRS & PPL situation today too. I am registered with both but have no idea what the claiming process is… hopefully will have a better idea by tomorrow. I was saying to a friend last night how many different things there are to worry about when managing your own career, she asked if it would be better to just get a manager and although I’m not saying it wouldn’t be easier I actually enjoy the challenge and it means I will be much more self sufficient and may gain a clear understanding of all sides of the music industry and anyway, there’s not too much point in paying someone to do something I am capable of for the meantime.
I have organised a band meeting to decide on a few factors together. I’m pretty certain what direction I want to go in and my acoustic guitar will still hold centre stage for much of what is going on (*I can actually hear gazzam sigh some relief) It would be a shame to hide it under too much distorted guitar. I have violins/cellos/keys in mind as well but I’m not wanting to go too Damien Rice either; I want to keep things upbeat (I have Incubus – Drive in my mind as a kind of example) Also I have pretty much banned Adam Chetland (lead guitarist) to play any chords… I’m thinking nice complimentary lead lines think Shiver – Coldplay or Let Down – Radiohead.
Right back to work, be sure to pass the free recordings about and invite people to my facebook group and all that jazz. I have some more live videos coming soon too so will post them on Youtube as soon as they are ready. Redesigning my Myspace page is on my list somewhere, it’s the last thing to link in with all my other online pages… anyone know of a good myspace editor?
Oh and quote of the day from Regress on STP “make some better songs inglis, make some upbeat up tempo songs, make sure this sells i got a lot riding on it. dont let me down” – Now that’s pressure for you 
EDIT: Also making some progress with a song called ‘Senses‘; I’m actually happy with some of the melody lines for a change on this track.
EDIT2: I have also contacted my local newspaper (Weston Mercury) to inform them of the good news… will send off details to all local publications and see how much coverage I can get.
04/10/10
Hello everyone. This is the first time I have sat down at the computer long enough to write something since getting financed on Friday night… Firstly a massive thankyou to everyone for their support and the speed in which the last of the money went in was amazing. Secondly this is where all info regarding the whole recording process is gonna be put… I am going to buy a camera and keep a regular video diary of everything that is going on. Ok so this weekend has been a busy yet fairly typical one. On Friday I played in Yeovil supporting the guys from the band Reef who are now performing under the name Stringer/Bessant and it was a pleasure to share a stage with them and meet them. Saturday I was in a village pub called The Royal Oak in my old hometown of Ilminster,, saw some old friends and had a good little evening. Yesterday was my friend Terri’s birthday party which, since she organised mine it was my turn to return the favour… a great night was had by all and now I need some hangover breakfast! Thanks again to you all.
Today I will be working through my ‘TO DO’ list (of which I make many) and sorting a date to go to STP headquarters. Also I am due to play at the Bristol Folkhouse this afternoon for OXJAM
EDIT: have been asked by several people whether they can still invest… the only option I can think of is to add your amount to my paypal (ryanjingles@hotmail.com) where I can see who has put it there and it all stays in one place. I’m not by any means asking for further investment but if it is offered then the incentives are the same across the board and of course any extra money will always come in handy… I will be drawing up a budget list as soon as I have had some meetings (including with STP of course) to define what would be the best way to use the money.
EDIT 2: I have been working on artwork for promotional purposes with my friend Jo O’Donoghue and thought I would show you what has been done. I already have the business cards on order and will be printing off some new beer mats and posters soon…
Tags: ryan inglis online diary blog slicethepie investment progress october 2010
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