Better (!?!?!)

Sometimes warm fuzzy platitudes get accepted as fact when they are not based in any form of reality. The United States of America is founded on such piffle. "All men are created equal".

Ummmm pardon me, but they are not.

All people are created different, and unless you deny the value of anything they are not equal. Some are stronger, some are smarter, and some are born severely handicapped. There is a massive spectrum of potentials locked up in every individual but please keep in mind this is a spectrum.

Michelangelo was an artist for the ages.

Leonardo Da Vinci was also and artist for the ages, an inventor, an anatomist, and the creator of the shroud of Turin.

Leo's pallet of accomplishments were a bit more diverse then Mike's. He had a broader spectrum of potential and seems to employ most of it.

They are not equal at all, but who is better? That depends entirely on the criteria you use to judge worth. Please keep in mind, it' artistic matter the criteria used is very subjective.

You can if you wish, quote me when I say I'm vastly better then most. I honestly believe that, but keep in mind I'm using my criteria not yours. Your criteria probably has a "Humility" slot my criteria lacks.

Why do I have the arrogance to claim superiority? Because on my scale of worth, I rate very well. There are others that do well held up to my criteria, so it's not as egocentric as some seem to think.

So what attributes to I assign value to?

Originality

Simply stated a cover artist is just a musical functionary. They can be replaced by a DJ on a whim. Cover artist appeal to people that don't really like music, they just want to hear something they know, something they are comfortable with.

Original music has value because it comes from one source, the creator of that music. It is the artistic vision of the creator and as such has a greater artistic cache.

Voice

Not the voice you sing with mind you, but the sound of the music. Some have a unique pallet of sounds. While most my readers are familiar with my favorites, Suffice it to say POL Arida, Senjata Witt, Blindboy Gumbo, Lanrete Moonite, Lexie Luan, and The Rails all have their own sound. Keep in mind I'm not talking about a singular sound, but referring to the pallet of sound each uses.

I have heard some very popular act play thier own songs... and for the most part, they sound like the songs they cover. Originality is a matter of content and style.

Depth of Catalog

Every month there is an "Originals" show. A bunch of act come out and play the songs they write. Good on them, I don't have a problem with that.

However doing a 30 minute set doesn't make you a mover and shaker in the world of Original music. It's a start, but just a start.

The real deal Original music commando has a very deep sack of songs to choose from and is always creating new material.

The intangibles

These are attributes hard to quantify, but present. Integrity, vision, drive, and perhaps, "Star Quality". All my favorites have that little extra something that instills value in what they are doing.

On a side note, I remember once seeing a video of a Second Life performer showing how he did what he dose on second life in "Real Life". He used a Looper, and was plugging in a geetar, then a bass, Looping, looping, and yes even more Looping. Plugging Unplugging, and then more looping. It was interesting to watch, until I realized what he was doing was far more interesting then the music he as making. The music actually sucked.

If how you do what you do is more interesting then the music you make, you are not a musician you are a potential "Gong Show" contestant.

Looking at my personal criteria you can probably understand why I'm so impressed with myself. It seems in a world fraught with mediocrity I am.... Better.

The need to vent

It's great to be Zorch. It takes a whole lot of hard work and dedication, but when you stand on the mountain top, the view is breathtaking.

Yesterday I played three Epic shows. I don't always pull that off, even though it might seem that way to the causal observer. I was in the zone. The new songs are working, my pacing was spot on and I was tapping into the deep emotional center of each song.

I was in my glory, the glory of Zorch.

So why do people have to fuck with that? Can't you just leave me alone and let me be great?

The first Epic show I have some person of questionable intelligence asking me NOT to play "Howard Roark and me". She spent the whole show whining "don't play Howard". It seems for some reason she HATE Howard Roark. How could anybody in their right mind HATE Howard? She must be some kind of crazy person. Howard is the fictional embodiment of personal integrity. A man with a vision he will not deny. He is to me an inspirational character, and as such, a feature in a song I find personally empowering.

Asking a person that would write a song like "Howard Roark and me" not to play "Howard Roark and me" is an exercise in futility.

Unless I was a hypocrite, and I try to avoid that whenever possible.

So I come to the end of the set, launch into "Howard Roark and me", and the whining fucktard poofs off in a huff. I feel I should point out, I play "Howard Roark and me" in every show. It's almost my personal anthem (Anthem is the title of another Ayn Rand book).

I end the show with "The passion of me" and "The pipes of redemption". It's classic, each song is impressively performed and the show is just fooking amazing. As I'm getting off stage and basking it the well deserved accolades, a fellow musician sends me an IM, to the effect, "I love your stuff and you sound great, but maybe you would do better if you were more friendly".

Not naming names here.. but he really harshed my mellow.

I just sat there for a moment pol-axed. Then mustered up the best response I could think of, "Yeah probably". But just between you and I... I didn't mean it.

You might have trouble understanding how stunned I was. How in the world could I have done better?

Great set.

Great songs.

Amazing performance.

Good crowd.

Really good tips (above average, and I mean above pre-frost average).

Good guys win... woot.

How could I do better then that?That is pretty much what I'm here to do.

I'm not very good at being friendly. I try to be polite and personable, but I don't really think I have "friendly" in me. It's almost like finding the one flaw in a masterpiece. Why does he feel the need to ruin my moment? Just leave me be and let me be the musical genius I am. Okay I'm not a warm fuzzy person, but there are so few musical geniuses you should cut me a little slack.

Show number two for the day went down without incident. Yes it was a great fooking set, but it was just part one of a back to back show. The second show is fraught with opportunities to moof up. However I managed to transcend that hurtle and play a near flawless set. Once again all the elements came in to play and people got the kind of show I love to play.

I'm basking in the glow of a show well played when another killjoy shows up. Ahhhh fuck.

This one went from petty annoyance to seriously pissing me off. I get an IM from this woman that had booked me into a venue. It's a new place, I've played two shows there and I'm not going to play any more. She starts "Can I have a moment of your time" and I'm ready to log off, get some food, and maybe a nap. But in an attempt to be a little more "Friendly" I say "Yeah sure". I'm already dreading what she has to say. God knows I'm not permitted to enjoy my little moments.

She says, "well there seems to be a problem with the review of your last show".

I say, "Review???"

She says, "Well some of the VIPs at the club have an objection".

Ohhh an objection. If you know me at all, you know I don't really care. But I'm trying to be more friendly here, so I say, "And what is the nature of the objection"?

She says, "I don't really have that information, you'll have to talk to the boss".

So now I'm officially pissed off. This woman booked me, had me booked into the next month, and she doesn't even know what the problem is. The dude that pulls her chain told her, "Get that Zorch fellow in my IM box... NOW".

Hey, if he's got an issue, he need to look me up in the people search. He doesn't need to send his flunky to tell me to speak to him. I play for tips , he don't pay me enough to treat me like an employee. Actually, he doesn't pay me at all... remember I work for tips?

Now I tell the woman, "you know what, I really don't care what the objection is. and I don't want to talk to your boss. You can't please everybody all the time and I don't even pretend to try. It would be simpler to just cancel the shows".

She says, "Okay the shows are canceled" and I say "Okay".

I don't want to talk to the boss, I know how that conversation always ends. "Do you know who I am"??? No, I never know who they are. They seem to think they are really, really important, but to me they are just guys that pay tier fees.

Now please don't get me wrong. I appreciated the fact they pay those fees and give me a place to work my trade. But I show my appreciation by playing the best show I can, for tips only, and drawing my supporters to his venue and encouraging them to tip the venue.

The two shows I played at that venue featured many familiar faces that would not be there if I was not playing. I know them well enough to know they are inclined to tip the venue if they have Lindens.

I made him money, and he sees fit to treat me like his bitch? Send his flunky to call me on the carpet? Some of his VIPs (hey, get real, the VIPs in these clubs are nothing important. Hell they don't even pay tier fees, they just join a group) have objections? I'm actually quite pissed off about this. Can you tell?

I made about 14,000 some odd Lindens today. I earned every penny, but I deserved more. I deserved my moment to just enjoy a job well done.

I play the best songs I can, and the people that enjoy them seem to enjoy them very much. Don't tell me what NOT to play.

I do the best shows I can every time. I never just "Phone it in". Don't ask me to be friendly, I'm not good at it, and that is not why I'm here.

I support the venues that support me as best I can. But if you offer me up for review by your VIPs don't be surprised if some of them have objections. What I do is not simple entertainment. It means a lot to me, and it means a lot to the people that love what I do.

My name is Zorch, I do what I do, and I do it very well. You'll never have to guess what I'm thinking, and I'll offer up my best in the sincere hope you enjoy it, and choose to give me a tip. Yes, I do accept fees when offered, but it is, in the end about the music. It is harder work then you might think, but it is a labor of love.

Now shut up and let me enjoy my moment.

Preach it Howard.



Don't you know who I am?

The over arching narrative???

The experts continue to babble on about how this whole Second Life Music Thang works, with certainty only matched by their cluelessness. Hypothesis abound, but lets move beyond the perfumed hyperbole and tell some stories.

A few weeks back I was playing a show at Guthrie's and a face from my past popped up. It was a face I never expected to see at any of my shows. Without naming names, suffice it to say the person that pronounced me too arrogant to be a vital part of the Second Life music scene showed up at my gig.

I was even more surprised when she tipped me.

After the show, she sent me a note card explaining she was sorry for calling me to arrogant to be a vital part of the Second Life music scene. She had been quite upset at the time and perhaps spoke too harshly. Then she went on to inform me she was leaving the music business and going back to college.

Good and more good. I'm a giant of grammar.

Once again, no names being mentioned, this woman was also suppose to be a Vice President in MNP Records, and was chipping away at her unemployment, and then savings waiting for her ship to come in. Big money in the Second Life music biz.

The fact she is getting out of the music business, and going to college says a lot about the situation at MNP (what the hell does that stand for anyway???). I bear her no ill will and hope she does well in her new endeavor.

For those of you new to this blog, you may be unfamiliar with the MNP records saga. A short recap, a nut job named ThroughTheseWalls Moody figured she could run a record company featuring Second Life musicians, if she convinced legitimate businesses it would be a profitable method of promoting their products, and through the power of corporate sponsorship she could run a record company that really doesn't sell many recordings.

I predicted it would not work months ago, and the projected start up time frame was mid June. It's mid June now. Anybody heard anything about the big MNP Records launch? I haven't. Maybe it's a big secret. Or maybe it didn't really work...just as I predicted.

I'm not psychic, I'm just paying attention.

While some might write off the magical thinking of people like Moody as harmless, it seems people put a lot of stock in these fantastic ramblings. When you say what people want to hear they are very inclined to believe you. Sometimes people take action, or fail to take action based on the promises of music business wealth. This can have detrimental effect in people's real lives.

But not all stories are sad stories. Some are stories of Heroes.

Norge and Nya are the Dynamic duo behind the North Norway Sim. Back when I first started out one of my very first regular bookings was at the Artic circle Dock. Norge basically said any time you want to play just let me know. It became quite a beehive of musical activity.

Norge had a dream, but he was not a magical thinker. He wanted to build a place where music flourished and had no grand scheme for making money off it. However, due to a personal set back he had to close down the Artic circle dock, and scale his Sim way back.

As small as the scaled back Sim was, he still managed to make room for quality music oriented venues to operate in.

When I was homeless, Nya asked Norge if he could give me a bit o land for my personal use, and he gave me a home. When Norge opened a mall, he gave me a shop. All at no cost to me. What a sweet guy.

Norge and Nya had a dream, and now it seems that dream is coming true.

I was standing on my front porch the other day. As I looked to the right, I saw the base camp for the Lost Continent Music venue. Across the water I can see my shop, and the Note Shack, another venue I play at. To my right was a new compound being built by POL Arida. Just beyond POL's place is the new Melodies/Harmony mall. A place I play several shows at per week. To the left of Melodies is the new "Hotspot Exstream" location, the place I rent my stream from.

Of course to the left of my little shack, just over the bridge is Nya's house. This is becoming a neighborhood, and quite a nice one thank you very much.

At this point, it seems the good guys are winning. I love that so very much.

It's possible, even likely there is no grand over arching narrative to the saga of Second Life's music scene. But there are stories. There are heroes and villains, success and failure, darkness and light.

The world, even a virtual world is defined by decisions and actions. What do you decide, what actions do you take?

All it takes is money

For the most part I love venue operators. Most of them are dedicated and organized. But I'm really coming to grips with the simple fact to do anything in second life, all you need is money.

I've seen a Buddhist retreat run by a guy that is not even a very nice person. His claim to spiritual enlightenment is simply his ability to pay his tier fees.

I've seen people start up music management operations with nothing more then investing in a group tag. Of course it grows from there in to a freakish bloated scam, but that is another blog.

To open a venue, once again pay your tier fees and take a stab at it. You don't have to know what you are doing because... well you don't.

Now please keep in mind, for the most part I deal with people that Love music, understand how it works in Second Life, and are all over the details like ugly on an ape, but the other day I had an interaction so bizarre that my mind was actually blown.

I'm playing a show at "The Unwinding hour" the other day, much as I have every Friday for over a year now. Some "Un-named" person contacts me about playing their venue after about the third song. This is not unusual at all, they ask me to get in touch with them after the show and I save the IM for later.

After the show I ask the "Un-named" person how I can help them, and they ask to book me, and then fill me in on all the details of their sim...that isn't actually finished yet. They tell me they are planning the lunch for July 4th, and seem oblivious to the fact this is a major holiday in the USA. One of the few that seem to revolve around outdoor activities. Hey I don't go outside for nothing baby, the big fiery ball is waiting for me to pop my head out the door to reduce me to a pile of ashes. Not going to happen sparky... not today.

Then they start blathering about how they are going to feature all kind of genres of music to serve all the peoples of Second Life. Then they ask me what genres I covered.

I informed them I don't do genres, I play songs I write. Then suddenly this woman started acting as if I was asking her for help and she was far too busy to help me at this time.

What the fuck?

"I really don't have time to help promote you" she moaned. Hey sweetheart, you asked to book me, and frankly you don't have to promote me, I've been doing this for a while now and have a few supporters. Probably... and I'm just guessing here, a few more then you have in your group considering the fact your sim isn't even done yet.

How did that conversation go from, "I want to talk to you about a booking" to, "I don't have time to help promote you".

I predict this venue won't be around long, I can't even figure out her motivation for attempting to run a venue.

I wonder if she even understand, venues are not the draw, the performers are. She seems to be willing to pay fees, and she mentioned she had hired a quite famous Second Life artist for the show, so I'm sure there will be lots of bodies at the big opening, at least for an hour.

When you have deep pockets you can operate for a long while in Second Life with no compantancy at all.

But unorganized people don't often have deep pockets.

A very good thing

I spend a lot of time talking about what is wrong. This is mostly because I’m somewhat of a cranky old man and that is what cranky old men do. However, in a world where people spend so much time praising crap, it’s only responsible to point out the emperor has no clothes.

It is also responsible to point out the good things, and a rare privilege to point out the very good things.

In the Second Life music scene, there is a simple rule of thumb for a “Good thing”, and that is simply it’s about music first.

A very good thing happens when it’s about music first, the people playing have something wonderful to offer and every detail is covered. The Audience, performers and venue all have a great time and for one bright and shining moment you think, “Wow”.

In my mind there is one consistent “Very good thing” you can count on it Second Life. That being… drum roll please.

The Originals.

I was on the bill at the first “The Originals” show, making me, as I like to point out, one of the original originals. And it’s grown every single show to be more significant than the show before. Second Life music Iconoclast POL Arida started it all and that in and of itself is a good beginning. But a while back he put Harrie (the ROCK chick) Skjellerup in charge and things really started to come together.

POL was the visionary, but Harrie is the architect. Frankly Harrie is one of the most amazing people I’ve met in Second Life. She is organized, creative, and passionate about music. Her venues at Pixel Hill are the venues I point to when suggesting a model for other venue operators to emulate. She supports the music she loves, and I’m so very glad she loves my music because she’s done more for me then any of the other self proclaimed movers and shakers.

I’ve been involved with a few of the MEGA events held in Second Life and most of them are poorly run, have line ups consisting of whoever answered the note card first. The originals started out as a simple dream and grew in stature to be one of the most impressive shows in Second Life.

I remember a time when I came in with my all original set list and people would tell me, “You should really do covers, nobody is going to book all originals”. But it seems “The Originals” proves that wisdom quite out of date. Hundreds of people show up to listen to original music and then come back next month to hear more.

At this point, Indie Spectrum Radio is making the music from “The Originals” available live to people that can’t log on to Second Life but can get on the interweb.

I can’t help but look at what is going on here and think, this means more then it seems. This is more than just an entertaining show. This is the place where things coalesce. The real future, if there is one for music in Second Life is original artist. The dude and chick singers will always have place to play and people to listen. But the artists are going to make the biggest impact. We are the ROCK STARS.

Of course I might be a little bit biased.

Things are really just starting to come together. Thanks POL for starting it all. Thanks Harrie for making it grow. Thanks all good listeners and artist for making it matter.

The Orgininals… a very good thing indeed.

Bad venues

I’m a big support of the people that make the music scene happen, the venue operators, however, not all venues are operated equally. Some venues are “Bad Venues”, this is why I never agree to a long term booking until I’ve played a venue once and given it a test drive. Keep in mind, anybody can open a venue, all it takes is money. But just because somebody has the money to open a venue does not imply they are smart, organized or even sane. Simply put some are, and some aren’t.

There is a simple three step litmus test for a good venue.

First they should list the event in “Live Music Events”. If they don’t list the show it affects the crowd and if the performer is playing for tips this can be very detrimental to their cash flow. This is the very least a venue can do to support a performer. Some send notices to a bunch of music groups, and some do not. But the bare minimum promotional effort should be a notice in Live Music Events.

The venue operator is responsible for getting the stream to their parcel and should have any information they need to do that before hand. Once the performer starts the stream it should be playing in world. Personally I make sure venue operators have my stream info as early as possible, and double check to make sure we are clear. However some manage to fuck it up even after I spend time holding their hand. This is why you hear artist saying, “Let me know if you hear me”?

The artist should have any tags they need to rez their stage props well before the show starts. How many times have you heard and artist lament they could not rez their tip jar? This is a fuck up by the venue operator.

Now very good venues cover all these things and do much more to support the artist. I love these guys, and support them as well as I can. But you would be amazed how many venues can screw up the three little things and basically equate to baseline competency.

No incase you think I’m pissed off about this because I’ve been recently burned, that is not the case. As a matter of fact I’m having a very good streak with new venues. But a friend of mine asked me to catch a show she was doing. It was at midnight my time, but I wanted to be supportive so I set my alarm clock and logged on a few minutes before her show.

I don’t belong to any of her groups, so I had to look in “Live Music Events” to find the show. It was not listed. So I had to ask for a lift from my friend that was probably getting ready to play a show.

Bad venue… you didn’t list the show in Live Music Events.

Then time comes to get on stage. No stream. Na-da. People are going, “I don’t hear anything” and the host is going “Could you send me that stream info again”? My friend told me she made sure they had the info and she’s played enough shows that I’m sure she did. After nine minutes there was a stream. While it might not seem like a bit deal, nine minutes are three songs that won’t get played that show.

Bad Venue… no stream on parcel.

Of course I was pretty pissed off. I had gotten up to see this show, and it was taking forever to start. I did tactfully comment, “Where is the fooking stream”? And then, “I guess any retard can open a venue here”.

Then when the stream was up, my friend was apologizing for not having a tip jar out and asking for a tag that would allow her to rez. This is about 12 minutes into the show.

Bad venue… any tags or information about rezzing stage props should be covered before the show starts.

With almost a quarter of the show wasted on things that any decent venue operator would have covered, she managed to get under way. She did a commendable show in spite of the lack luster performance of the people running the show.

Good show… bad venue

On to the drama now.

Seem the fucktard that owned the Sim took offence to my comments about “Where is the fooking stream” and “I guess any retard can open a venue here” and assaulted me with a series of questions marks. I responded with a series of exclamation points. Then things got really stupid.

Kind of the Blah, blah, blah/fuck off dialog I’m getting way too use to in Second Life. It always seems to end with the fucktard in question inquiring if I know who they are.

Funny thing about fame, it loses some of its cache if you have to inform people how famous you are.

I ended the conversation with the observation I didn’t know who he was, but I knew what he was.

He was quite the rest of the show, and I got to hear my friend play about ¾ of a set.

After the show, I was killed.

I didn’t know you could get killed in Second Life, but it seems you can be. The overall effect is you get sent home, no loss of XP and you don’t have to find your body to get your stuff back. I was changing strings at the time and didn’t actually see myself get dispatched. Just heard a bit “QUWANG” and saw the TP screen and popped up home with a little green notice that I had been killed. The sad fact of the matter is it probably made him feel like he was powerful. Almost like he was… a man.

But you’ll notice I don’t even bother to print his name. His name doesn’t matter a whit. He’s just another ubiquitous jack ass that manages to pay tier fees and can’t run the venue he pays for with baseline competency.

Support the good venues, ignore the bad ones. Especially musicians. We should support the people that do so much to support us back.

The frost of 2009

Hey wait, this is the first day of June… a summer month. Why am I talking about frost?

I was talking to one of my “Peeps” the other day, and she had mentioned the fact she’s spoken to several musicians in Second Life, and they all recounted tales of diminishing audiences and meager tips. This phenomena might be the reason there is such an upturn in conversations of “Sticking it to venue owners”.

Now I feel I should mention, my attendance is not been affected at this point. Tips are down about 30% and while I’m not happy about that, I’m not unduly concerned. This is an economic frost. A downturn in fortune caused by unfavorable economic factors. While this might shock the crap out of some people, but when the real world economy melts down it’s going to impact the cash flow in Second Life.

When some Mullet head laments the frugality of the venue owners and how he’s got expenses to cover, I can’t help but think, “Hey dude, people are losing their jobs… get real”.

Of course this could have a very positive effect. Frost kills off the weak pants, so perhaps the people fixated on the easy money aspect of Second Life music will split and try some other scam. Perhaps it might also cause a repurposing of the music community (whatever that might be) as well. Second Life music really has little appeal outside of those already involved with it. It’s pretty incestuous and frankly, being one of the more lazy practitioners of the promotion thang, even I see the need to make deeper impact in the mainstream population of Second Life.

I do predict fees becoming scarce, venues closing, and a bunch of the more mercenary musicians storming off in a huff. However, I do see the place where the rainbow goes after the current economical inclemency is over.

I can afford to wait it out. Mind you, not financially afford it, because every penny I get here helps, but the simple fact is I really enjoy playing my music, so smaller tips don’t really affect my desire to play. And when the sun does come out, and it will, I’ll be better situated to enjoy the prosperity.

The frost kills the weak plants. But I’m not weak… and I’m not a plant either.