snowyness

it snowed a lot last night.

i woke up at 5:30 in the morning to find my car covered by a 4 foot tall snow drift. I got to work. My shovel broke. I think it snowed about 18 inches. Typically on the coast, we get less snow or no snow at all. In this storm, it was pretty much the opposite. I got to work a half hour early and chatted a bit with Mark, the porter. Starbucks and dunkin donuts were closed, so i went across the street to find coffee at the citgo station. caffeine is caffeine.

it was really slow. I put the sunday papers, and a stayed a bit longer because not many people showed up to work. now i'm home ,but i don't feel like doing much. maybe i'll write some. I kinda want to write a song a day. see if that helps me get my ass in gear in terms of writing. we'll see.


I wrote this the other day. just jotting down notes on band promotion. i write notes on everything.


Keys to successful band

1. good original music
2. practice: having a tight band
3. playing as many shows as possible
4. having a good internet presence and good recordings for after the shows.
5. Having appealing visual art and graphics.


strategy for band

1. write music

2. record demo

3. set up Myspace. add 300 people a day from local area

4. Set up Facebook, Purevolume, last.fm and ilike

5. Find message boards for local artists; join them and become a

regular.

6. Frequent local shows of artists like you. Flyer and talk to people.

Maybe give out free CDs.

7. After 4-6 months of this promotion. start playing shows in this area

as much as possible. flyer and get people to sign up for your mailing

list.

8. Once there is a decent following, only play in the area every 1-2

months, repeat the same promotion steps for a new area.

9. once areas you want to reach aren't easily reachable on the

regular, start setting up small tours.



I mean it's not perfect, but if you're starting off in terms of band promotion, it's a good start.



Here's my list for life.


1. Honesty
-being honest with myself.
-being honest about what i do and do not know.
-being open and honest with others


2. Integrity
-Keeping promises and obligations to the best of my ability.





*utility
-using your time to accomplish constructive goals.
-using positive and negative emotion as fuel for achieving goals.


*tension and release; mainly hedonistic non-productive activity.

-the more you do something, the less satisfying it is;the opposite is true for the less you do something.


*avoiding divisiveness.
-labeling groups, relationships, individuals.
-avoiding assumptions


*avoiding coercion
-becoming a leader by example.
-respecting other people enough to let them live their own life
-only step in if coercion is warranted, which is a limited basis.
-not allowing myself to be coerced by others


*there is no 100% proof of anything.


It's a much more practical set of guidelines than i usually make, but put to the test it can be extraordinary. Enjoy.