Success in the Bedroom

[David W]

Well maybe not necessarily the bedroom but more so self made/ funded independent project.

So who knows of these type of projects actually having success. You know the young naive type with no industry contacts deciding to record an album at home or a local studio with a limited budget.

Success defined as: Radio play, public recognition or even a healthy profit.

[chris p]

Beck, "Loser"

[SteveL]

It's what you make of it. By getting out there and just doing it, you become part of the industry to some degree I guess.

I'm in my mid-40s, worked in real estate for the past 15 years. I found a great young girl singer performing at a my son's school play, approached her and her parents afterwards about hiring her to do some session vocals for me in my home studio (sunroom/bedroom), ended up writing some songs with and for her, took her into Linear with Chris V, hired some great session players, produced a single. Used some contacts at a local community radio station where I've been producing radio plays week nights to get airplay, got wider airplay, doing live interviews, single's now going out to dozens of stations, even got Mr. Meldrum curious about her.

Found a good angle for the singer's promotion - she was one of the child singer's in the original Qantas "I Still Call Australia Home" TV ads and now the first of them to grow up and 'cross-over" into a pop career. Everybody knows that Qantas ad and song, so they're curious about what those kids are doing now. Didn't know any of this girl's background until I asked her for some bio notes to send out with the release - turned out she'd sung solo for The Pope at The Vatican, solo at St. Paul's Cathedral London and the Hanoi Opera House Vietnam as well as Disneyland Paris. She was one of the youngest performers ever in the Australian Girls' Choir. Never knew any of this until after we'd recorded the single!

Anyway, I guess my point is don't think too hard about "the industry" and feeling you're on the wrong side of a wall. Just work on the best stuff you can to your budget, spend your money hiring the best people you can find and keep working away at it. You'd be amazed - one day you'll realise you've become part of the industry without knowing it.

All the best - Steve

[David W]

Hmmm not quite what I was thinking.
Beck's father is David Campbell afterall with some very good industry contacts and advice on how to do things propperly.

I'm thinking and industry NooB actually making it. The story behind it would be great also.

[David W]

It's what you make of it. By getting out there and just doing it, you become part of the industry to some degree I guess.

I'm in my mid-40s, worked in real estate for the past 15 years. I found a great young girl singer performing at a my son's school play, approached her and her parents afterwards about hiring her to do some session vocals for me in my home studio (sunroom/bedroom), ended up writing some songs with and for her, took her into Linear with Chris V, hired some great session players, produced a single. Used some contacts at a local community radio station where I've been producing radio plays week nights to get airplay, got wider airplay, doing live interviews, single's now going out to dozens of stations, even got Mr. Meldrum curious about her.

Found a good angle for the singer's promotion - she was one of the child singer's in the original Qantas "I Still Call Australia Home" TV ads and now the first of them to grow up and 'cross-over" into a pop career. Everybody knows that Qantas ad and song, so they're curious about what those kids are doing now. Didn't know any of this girl's background until I asked her for some bio notes to send out with the release - turned out she'd sung solo for The Pope at The Vatican, solo at St. Paul's Cathedral London and the Hanoi Opera House Vietnam as well as Disneyland Paris. She was one of the youngest performers ever in the Australian Girls' Choir. Never knew any of this until after we'd recorded the single!

Anyway, I guess my point is don't think too hard about "the industry" and feeling you're on the wrong side of a wall. Just work on the best stuff you can to your budget, spend your money hiring the best people you can find and keep working away at it. You'd be amazed - one day you'll realise you've become part of the industry without knowing it.

All the best - Steve

Hope it goes well. Who is she?

[SteveL]

Her name's Laura-Leigh. She's in the middle of her HSC year at school here in Sydney. The track we recorded with Chris at Linear is the first one on her myspace player ("If Your Love Is Real").

http://www.myspace.com/lauraleighsinger

[musikwerks]

Radio? What's that?

It doesn't matter where you record or where you come from. If you have good songs, songs that people can connect with, success will find you. Got to have good songs or may as well pack up and go home.

[heathen]

Radio? What's that?

It doesn't matter where you record or where you come from. If you have good songs, songs that people can connect with, success will find you. Got to have good songs or may as well pack up and go home.

People who sit around waiting for success to come to them will 99.9999999999999% of the time never make it.

Getting airplay is pretty easy too, getting people to part with thier hard earned is another story all together.

Last year I did an album for a very very big artists son, good kid and talented but never wants to push himself, he's had airplay on the J's quite a few times but still is not selling records. Always talking about doing a new record, has people willing to work with him but rarely turns up on recording day. Also never ever tries to find gigs to play either, so he's not really going to crack it unless he really pulls his finger out.

Saw a young band play on Friday night, first support for Electric Mary, should be doing an album for them later in the year, anyway they blew everyone away, sounded great and was thier very first gig. They just finished thier first ep but...... are a little un-happy with it as it lacks a lot of vibe. I can see these kids doing really well if they put in the hard work.

Hard work usually pays off. Also there are lots of bad songs which made millions, they were just marketed very well.

[musikwerks]

Yes, but we're not talking about marketing budgets....

"young naive type with no industry contacts deciding to record an album at home or a local studio with a limited budget."

[rick]

i am sure sucess as stated on the first post must happen , but outside radio play (which happens all the time) ,
i am at a loss to think of a total "naive" bedroom project that has charted and sold even moderate numbers
maybe my memory will dig one up over the next few days , but i cannot think of one right now.

i must have mastered thousands of them, and some of them are amazing records well deserving of success !

but charting and selling take more then a good song , you simply must get "plugged in to the racetrack by the pros err not studio guys but the other industry types"
and obviously without a good song you are really making it hard to even make an off coarse bet.

now if the question is how many naive bedroom type records , leapfrog onto bigger and better things , that then leapfrog into sucesss..?
well of this happens all the time and is actually the way it seems to be done in recent years

does that advice help or hinder your quest..?

[walding]

Sarah Blasco's first EP was recorded in a bedroom and charted I believe.

Tis the only one I can think off.

[rick]

err... i worked on at least one but i think two records she did before that "first" ep and were done in studios , and her band won some tv national battle of the bands type show , so hardy the "niave" type .

[walding]

err... i worked on at least one but i think two records she did before that "first" ep and were done in studios , and her band won some tv national battle of the bands type show , so hardy the "niave" type .

I wondered if you had worked with her.

The EP was called Prelusive and came out in 02.

[rick]

yeah i did stuff with her band (whos name alludes me at the moment ) before 2000 i think

i also did the little fish soundtrack which she did a year ( that flame trees cover ) or two ago
i havent done here solo stuff though i think maybe 301 did it

[Martin]

that girls gonna be good in a few years if she spends her time singing instead of partying, bit weak-ish at the moment - some experience is gonna go a long way.

she's over the first hurdle, good pitch!


bedroom studio recordings are cheap, as if you wouldn't give it a go! Then take it to rick so he can tell you how many bedroom recordings he's mastered recently, then make it sound great.

[Mark Bassett]

The Streets.

[headman]

Wasn't there some guy in England about 15 years ago? Recorded a British Number 1 hit with a little Casio Synth and a 4 track cassette recorder. Did it all in his bedroom, then bought an ADAT and some recording gear to make a better follow-up with part of his royalties AND was never heard of again.

headman

[rick]

there HAS To be a bunch of them , but really i am struggling...
I think selling lots of music has lot more to to with the machine then the driver , if you get my drift .

Inversely making great music has nothing to do with the machine.

take that same naive band and spend 50 k in studio with no outside factors , help , connections and you still going to have to face the cold light of day when your finished
making great music is really hard to do consistently , and selling any music at all is even harder .

not worth not trying though is it :)

[beatmad]

making great music is really hard to do consistently , and selling any music at all is even harder .

not worth not trying though is it :)

This is so true. After working real jobs on and off for the last 20 years, occasional unemployment, university study, parenting duties etc. the one thing that keeps coming back is the drive to make music. I'm not exactly naive now, more on the synical other side of 30 but always optimistic. I can't imagine there being many young, naive types who have "made it".
Most times there will be someone around who recognises talent, sees an opportunity to exploit it and aids in bringing it to fruition. It seems like more of a marketing gimmick to me: "young naive type from poor neighbourhood overcomes odds to stun music world". I can't think of any right now? I like some of the stories surrounding the early days of house and techno music and I guess hip hop had it's moments in the early 80's too. Not sure of the naivety of artists around that time but all things considered the raw talent and brilliance combined with the lower socio-economic background of African-American musicians at various junctures in history must have come close to satisfying this criteria at some point in the history of popular music?

[Martin]

Wes from Australian Idol is a good example of that beatmad, I went to school with him. He was ALWAYS a good singer and all rounder on guitar and piano, people recognised he had talent ten years ago. But it took a cash cow karaoke show for him to have any real success. Until then he was recording in his bedroom and occasionally at Electric Ave with projects that didn't get all that much exposure.

[beatmad]

Wes from Australian Idol is a good example of that beatmad, I went to school with him. He was ALWAYS a good singer and all rounder on guitar and piano, people recognised he had talent ten years ago. But it took a cash cow karaoke show for him to have any real success. Until then he was recording in his bedroom and occasionally at Electric Ave with projects that didn't get all that much exposure.

Funny you mention Wes I did a gig on the same bill with him a couple of years ago and was very impressed with his talent. So I guess you're saying the talent was there but what about the naivety? I guess that disappears with the more knockbacks you receive from the industry. I remember a few years ago Gotye seemed to come out of nowhere, not naive but he did do his first album at home and that put him on the map. The naive part is the bit I struggle with. I think of independent artists like Ani Di Franco or even locals like Penelope Swales who I met a few years back and manages to pay for her studio time by touring and selling cds. But hitting the big time with a self-funded project? Blair Witch Project? Oh yeah that was a film :)

[NYMo]

[quote]Wasn't there some guy in England about 15 years ago? Recorded a British Number 1 hit with a little Casio Synth and a 4 track cassette recorder. Did it all in his bedroom, then bought an ADAT and some recording gear to make a better follow-up with part of his royalties AND was never heard of again.
[/quote]

Hi there,

He went under the name of White Town ...song...Your Woman...see this is what happens when you're old...
you remember all this shit !

Cheers
N
Y
M
O

[Chinagraf]

Daniel Bedingfield did his first single in his bedroom, put it out on a white label himslelf.
Mind you, 'bedroom studio' can mean just about anything nowdays. I've seen some that have more gear than a mix hotel.

[chris p]

I think selling lots of music has lot more to to with the machine then the driver , if you get my drift .
Inversely making great music has nothing to do with the machine.

The KLF/Timelords had a book out called "The Manual (How to have a number one the easy way)". Its a fun read if you can track it down, but as Rick says its the opposite of what this topic asks: instead of "how can a talented newcomer make it big with bedroom recording", its about "how can a talentless wannabee make it big using a major recording studio and other people's talent but (almost) no cash".

Every bedroom recording junkie should read it if possible, just so you can understand your place in this world.

[David W]

just so you can understand your place in this world.

I guess this is what so many hopful artists artists overlook. Their place in the scheem of things.

I have talked to so many people who are deadly serious about making it big and feel all they need to do is write one killer song and radio will be begging them to play it. The hard thing to explain is there are probbly more good songs/ artists that are unknown then are actually discoverd.

But I do feel I am getting cynical as I get older so was just hoping for a good vibe story. I suppose on an equivilent scale how may bands have started a career by sending a demo CD/Tape to Sony hedded "To whom to concern's"?

[musikwerks]

I think (and it's just my opinion) that the ones who make music to get famous are the ones that are stinking up the musical landscape. The ones who make music because they are compelled to are the ones that I'm interested in. There's a big difference between having something to say and having to say something. Our celebrity culture makes it easy for people to just jump in and have their 15 minutes in the spotlight while the truly gifted toil away in a dark room, earnestly pouring out their soul into music that just might change someone's world.

Generally speaking, making it big on your first release is the death knell for any artist. The artists that survive and prosper are the 10 year "overnight success" stories.

[David W]

The biggest hurdle for an unknow if feel is to be known. The easiest way for that is Radio/ TV exposure.

How do you convince a Comercial Radio station trying to maintain an image itself to give an unknown artist 3:30 minuits of airtime over The Foofighters. If the artist has a compelling story people may listen out of intreague but the music must connect to get people ringing the station demanding to here more.

Gimmics though only go so far. I mean MARCUS was soon found out after the great poster blitz of 1989. "Marcus is Comming".
http://blogs.smh.com.au/radar/archives/ ... ho_ne.html

[thefridge]

Sufyan Stevens used a mighty Roland VS880 for his first album, took it to friends kitchens, living rooms etc. Now see where he is! cheers, Mick

[Kurt]

There are lots of bands like mine who have never written a 3:30 song. The shortest song we do is over 5 minutes and it's a cover, no radio play for us! Not to say we're a great band (though I like us!) but I know lot's of great muso's who will never get any support from mainstream media. We had 500 of our cd's pressed, if we sell 67 of them then we break even and have a lot left to take up space in my spare room. Of course I did all the production myself for free.

I know a few local bands have taken advantage of some guy in Woollongong's deal, an ep recorded/mixed/mastered/pressed for $2500 (I think) that suddenly makes it a bit more daunting. They need to sell 250@$10 to break even, with no "big break" that's pretty hard work.

So for me success is not losing too much money and doing/sharing a hobby I love. Hey, if I was into drag racing like my brother-in-law my hobby would cost me every spare cent I ever earned and then some, I figure I'm already ahead!

The biggest hurdle for an unknow if feel is to be known. The easiest way for that is Radio/ TV exposure.

How do you convince a Comercial Radio station trying to maintain an image itself to give an unknown artist 3:30 minuits of airtime over The Foofighters. If the artist has a compelling story people may listen out of intreague but the music must connect to get people ringing the station demanding to here more.

Gimmics though only go so far. I mean MARCUS was soon found out after the great poster blitz of 1989. "Marcus is Comming".
http://blogs.smh.com.au/radar/archives/ ... ho_ne.html

[electricsound]

another example.. i believe muscles recorded his stuff on an m-box (though i think he has since upgraded to a 003) at home, and his album went top 20..

(though there may have been some professional mixing involved, since an earlier mix of one of the tracks doesn't sound quite so radio-ready)