so it goes, and there it went…
I have been somewhat unforgivably absent as of late, and for I apologize. What can I say other then I was too busy with life to write about it? It happens to the best of us so its positively expected when it come to the worst.
As it happens, oh dear and gentle reader, I found myself in sort of a day job jamboree. Part of what I do for living, the part that I can talk about publicly is I am a producer. Unlike a lot of producers I don’t function in one medium. Which makes me an oddball amongst the odd balls. I move freely from music to TV, to film, theater, and the odd corporate spectacle. Though as of late I tend to avoid theater, mostly because it is too fleeting- I have been enjoying art that is more permanent, and that provides an ongoing revenue stream.
You would think that I would take these valuable pixels to hype these various and sundry projects, but not so much. For the most part I have to many other topics to cover here. However in case your curious over the past year I have: produced a pilot for TV called Conversation-set to air in the fall, God and various and sundry executives willing, Produced a record for the Revolutionary Snake Ensemble (out in May on Cuneiform)(with Brian Jacoby), produced a record by the Vibro Champs (out in July on Sideshow records)(with Adam Krinski), Halfway through a Holy Roman Empire record (that’s just me), Did soundtracks for the St. Paul Winter Carnival, the Bakery on Grand, composed some Hair Show music. Finished the four-year odyssey that is M-80 the movie, and consulted on a dozen or so other projects. This is in between publishing a few things here and there, a day gig (@IPR) and opening a salon with my wife (which opens sometime this summer). The funny thing is I would think of this as one of my less active years.
In any case I say this not to boast about my skills as a day laborer, rather to set up the thing that didn’t happen. Part of producing is spending a lot of pre prep time on a project that might not happen. I spent part of the last year pitching, prepping, and planning a movie that died on the vine two weeks before the shoot date, that my friends are heart breaking.
The whoseits an whatsits are unimportant, sometimes things just fall apart, this cause of this one is nothing to do with artistry personality, or technology really if you wanted to blame something blame insurance. These things happen; really this just serves to justify my absence from regular contribution here. In the beginning I didn’t have time, as I franticly prepared for the biggest shoot of my life. The last week or so I have been too bummed to want to really communicate with anyone- the reality is this would have been the “big movie” guaranteed to get on cable, the one where I didn’t have to explain who the artists were and why this had value. Which is a valuable consideration coming from the land of cult favorites (read as good but unpopular). For all the kajillions of projects I have worked on, nothing has sold more then 25,000. Which in the indy realm is pretty good, but it’s not gold.
I know that wanting a gold record is petty and vein, but I don’t recall ever saying I wasn’t petty or vein. The reality is I want one, not to be showy, but because I think it would be neat. Its not that it changes your career, hell I have known a guy who had multiple gold records and worked the French fry machine at the MacDonald’s in Golden Valley. I know other guys with rooms full of them and it doesn’t make them happy; though truth be told I do think they rather enjoy the royalties.
The gold is nice, but its only a trinket- really, it is just a symbol, the fact that you were a part of a thing that effected a lot of peoples lives. That’s the cool part, the award that’s just a certificate of completion. Yet still, I want it. Every ball player wants a bigger crowd, and even when you get the biggest, is it enough? You have to play ball because you love the game, and whatever team your on is the greatest, all that said you still want to play in the World Series.
More then just my personal stabs at glory; I just wish the film were being made. It isn’t. So you take a deep breath, possibly get drunk for a night, and then you start over. Like Sonny and Cher said ”the Beat goes on”…