What Music Means To Me
I love music. It’s affected me more than any other form of art that exists. It creates a soundtrack for our lives. My first love happened in the midst of albums. I had my dentist pull out my wisdom tooth to my favorite song (at the time). Strong memories have been locked in with songs.
I spent countless hours in my room learning how to play guitar and piano because of my affection for moving people. I tried. I started playing shows before I was any good; I just wanted to play for anybody. I cleared out rooms with my terrible music. But I learned.
I had the chance of a lifetime at the end of highschool. I talked my way onto a Top 40 radio station in my area (KOSO B92.9FM, formerly B93.1FM). The DJ, Dave Mazzy, had a sense of humor and I called him nightly and goofed about everything. One night, I called in and sang a parody song about Monica Lewinsky. He loved it and aired it that night. The next week I called in and told him I was coming to the station. Dave exclaimed, “Bring your guitar!”
That was the beginning of the bug. I was able to go on the radio station every Friday night, listen to great music, perform parodies and my own songs, and feel famous. I made local bands jealous. There was literally no other local band on Top 40 radio every Friday night. How often do you hear local bands on the radio? Maybe one night a week during a special local hour. You don’t hear local bands co-hosting shows and hanging out during the whole show every week. I did. Dave Mazzy made me and my music come to life outside of my bedroom.
Not only did I get to perform on the radio that year, I also figured out a way to get onto all of the B93-sponsored shows. Summerfest was their BIG show yearly. In 1999, they hosted bands like Better Than Ezra, The Flys, Blessid Union of Souls, Stretch Princess, and… my band. We played on the main stage (there were no side stages) in front of 10,000 people to kick off the event. My life was never better. When Halloween came, I played B93′s Retro Halloween event featuring Berlin and The Romantics! I had pimples because of nerves, so I had my girlfriend at the time apply her cover-up to my face. I am pale. I’m very pale. Needless to say, she was more tan than I was. I found out later that my face looked orange on stage. Fuck it. It was Halloween.
Dave Mazzy had this crazy idea that he would come on stage wearing a Bill Clinton mask and make some jokes and talk with me. When he got on stage, he started yelling and doing his thing… and I couldn’t understand one word he said under the mask. It was almost like he had a rag covering up his mouth and he was trying to communicate with me through that. I had no idea what to say on stage in front of thousands of people. I don’t even know how that bit ended, but it was hilarious for us.
When the 90′s ended, something began to change. Modesto, California began to lose it’s local music scene. I remember when I went to a couple of B93-sponsored shows downtown, and hardly anybody showed up. A band named Radford played downtown outside of a restaurant called Red Pepper Cafe. About 50 people were there (maybe less). We didn’t realize what was happening to music in our area at that point; we just thought it was a bad showing. One of my favorite artists, Matt Nathanson, had an interview on B93 one night and said he was going to play a quick impromptu set at the same cafe before the big Christmas show that B93 put on. My friend Scott and I bolted over the restaurant to catch his impromptu set. We were the only people there to see him. He was grateful we were there, and we got to request every song. But that was the first night I noticed it. People weren’t going out as much for music. When Splender, Stroke 9, and SR-71 played in Modesto, that was the final straw. With all of these continuous weak audiences, people were losing money. It really wasn’t anything that the radio station did. It wasn’t anything the bands did. I saw some of the best shows of my life during that time, but people weren’t reacting.
B93 soon noticed it too and had to cancel their Summerfest series. Even MTV pushed music videos to a new channel called MTV2 (that was really hard to get unless you paid for a badass cable package). My band broke up, I met a new girl and stayed in her room most of the time watching MTV2. I got a job at Wherehouse Music and sold records for a living. I was still working there when they filed Chapter 11. I quit before they went out of business.
In 2003, I was living in Orange County and started to play music again. I found myself booking a lot of shows back in Sacramento (I knew more bands in Sacramento). I moved back and met one of the most inspiring musicians and most beneficial people in my music career to date. Michael Grant played in a band called Endever, and he caught my set one night at a little coffee shop. We shared an equal respect for each other, and we began jamming and hanging out together often. Often became daily as we were building a best friendship. Mike even came to my Speech class in college to play Inspector Gadget on guitar with me for a skit. We were just there for each other. I wrote my EP over the next couple years, and in 2006, I asked Mike to help me record my first legitimate EP. We went into a studio in Sacramento (Pus Cavern) and recorded the whole thing in one week. Mike played half the instruments, and I played the other half. I was so proud of it. I still am.
Once I had the EP in my hands, I scheduled an appointment with the Program Director at B93. I played a song called The Party for him, and he seemed to like it. He decided to play it on Dave Mazzy’s show one evening. I took a Music Business class in Orange County and the teacher had given us advice for these moments. He told us to have fans call in after the song had played to voice their support for it so the radio station would know to keep playing the song. Well a lot of people called that night. A LOT. Dave was pretty pissed, and so was the Program Director. I didn’t really understand why because I was only trying to get people to listen to their station and participate in the music scene. I wanted my fans to be the fans that still cared…. the fans that still showed support. B93 did not want that from me. In fact, I still believe that night was the moment I destroyed my relationship with them (Dave and I still communicate). I was depressed and stressed out about it because my intentions weren’t bad at all. In fact, I’d never heard of a radio station’s employees getting angry for having people participate in it. It just blew me away.
On September 9, 2006, I had a CD Release Party at The Underground in Roseville, CA. Over 300 people came to the show. I broke pre-order sales records for the venue. We had near 100 pre-sales. I was ecstatic. The show was great and we sold 100 CD’s that evening (which was incredible). The Underground went out of business about a year later.
In 2009, I released my second and third eps on the same evening at a beautiful theatre in Downtown Sacramento called The Guild Theatre. I had to rent it out myself and purchase liability insurance. Although I probably pissed off a lot of promoters in Sacramento (they would’ve made money if I would’ve held my second CD Release in their venue), I didn’t care anymore. I wanted a theatre to perform in. I didn’t want my fans to come into a run down bar and stand way too close to each other and feel uncomfortable all night. With what I’ve seen in the business, I knew that if I held my show in a venue that wasn’t accommodating, people wouldn’t come back to my shows. I needed to make my show believable. I wanted to be larger than life. I sold out The Guild Theatre the night of my show. My friends and I ran everything from sound to concessions to tickets…. we did it all. I pre-sold about 115 tickets and sold that in albums.
Since then, I’ve toured 3 times around the Western United States. I’ve had some successes on the road and some major failures. On the last tour, we played in a town called Colton (California). Apparently we weren’t the only ones who hadn’t heard of it because the only person that was there was the bartender. Instead of setting up our gear and playing a show, we played pool. It was disheartening. I remembered Matt Nathanson at Red Pepper Cafe. This year, Matt’s single “Come On Get Higher” has been played on American Idol. He’s doing better than ever. It still gives me a little hope for the music business.
But I’m getting older now. I’ve been playing for a long time. If my music doesn’t break soon, I have no choice but to get real and start another career that easier to break into. I’ve had an AMAZING 10 years of playing music, and I’ve done a lot of things that most local/independent bands cannot say they’ve had the opportunity to do. I don’t know many local Sacramento bands that draw 200-300 people to their CD Release Shows (there are a handful). I’ve been lucky. I’m not complaining. I’d like to continue on my music path, but I’m not going to be one of those ridiculous types. There’s a documentary called “Anvil” that is exactly about that. It’s a band that has been playing Metal since the 80′s. They are all pretty old now, but they are still trying to make it in the industry. If you haven’t seen that movie, watch it. It’s what the business is REALLY like. 2% of all of the musicians that try to “make it” in the industry are actually successful stars now. That’s the part you normally get to see. Anvil is what the other 98% go through (mostly). It’s not all glamourous. But it’s an experience. Music guides people. It’s so important, and I still believe that. I just hope that people come back to that belief again.
In the age of ‘computers in our phones’ and information literally in our fingertips all day, it’s harder and harder to get people to ‘go out’ to experience life. I’m as guilty as charged; here I am blogging on my MacBook. My iPhone is right next to me. I’m attached to them. I go out less. But local live music still needs support. Don’t forget about what got your favorite artists onto major labels, radio stations, and their albums into Best Buy…
it was YOU.
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My Affair With Mrs. Obispo
I’ve had a lot of time to get accustomed to the SLO (San Luis Obispo) life the last few days. Right as I’m beginning to get in the groove of the Central Coast, it’s time to leave. Tomorrow I am heading South to Moorpark for a show at Java Kai.
But SLO and I made love… Hard love… And SLO used me like a cheap hooker. I fell in love like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Our romance ran out when the pimp that is my music career arrived, and he was here to collect.
But before I leave this short-lived love affair, I wanted you to be my therapist. I wanted to tell you about it, and maybe you can offer up some advice so I can move on from my “stalkerish” type obsession with the city that I love.
I was invited to see the new theatre at Cuesta College today and it was more gorgeous than the “hot girl” in high school (My school had Tara, and all of us miss her). I walked the stage, I smelled the fresh paint, I kissed the sound board. My goal is to play inside of that theatre one day… It would be equal to a love-making session with Tara.
I also had my first experience with the “healthy fast food” restaurant called evos. It was BOMB. They have vegetarian choices, they have four different ketchups, and they have three really good teas. Yes, I can finally eat fast good again (too bad they aren’t in more places).
Finally, I played a show at The Clubhouse which was a pretty cool venue. It’s got a cabin type vibe to it, and Astor (bass player) jammed out with me. One of the coolest parts of the show was getting to know the dude who booked me. His name was Anthony. We made love. Sweet love. Ok, we didn’t, but he was also the store manager at the local record store (Cheap Thrills). He was into my set, and he told me to bring my CDs into the store so I could have a place in SLO to sell the physical copies. He blessed me with the holy water of ROCK!!! Anthony is a cool dude; visit him at Cheap Thrills and buy my CDs.
That’s it. Tomorrow is another adventure in another city. It’s California Love.
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I’m laying underneath pink sheets at a house that doesn’t belong to me. I’m an easy walking distance to the ocean, and I’m all alone. I had a few beers last night, and my mouth is still trying to create some saliva to give some comfort to it’s barren desert this morning. My guitar is three feet away from my and my laptop is right in front of my mildly hungover face. I have a show tonight in an area I don’t normally get to play.
Yep, I’m officially on tour! This is my second time on the road in four months, and I’m really thrilled about it. This is the first year I’ve toured, and I’ve made it happen twice. I’m not slowing down either. My friends at Storyline Management and I have been busting our asses to get my music to new areas… We’ve learned what bridge trolls want, we’ve put files in certain cakes, we’ve poisoned governer’s watchdogs… All in the name of becoming mighty pirates!!! Err, I mean… All in the name of traveling to you (if you didn’t get the Monkey Island reference, then you are not a nerd like me).
It’s time to get ready, get focused, get AWESOME! I brought my jogging sweats this time for maximum physical shape. I don’t jog, I just try to utilize my eye speed while watching them spin around in the washer at the laundromat! It helps me keep my eyes fresh for pesky hecklers. Ok, yes, I actually intend to run in these sweats too. Last night, we had a belly unveiling show (my bass player and I)… And we both realized that our late 20′s are not as friendly to our bodies as our early 20′s. We also realized that we could smack our bellies together and make really loud sounds! Just kidding. Point is, it’s time to get cracking on sit ups and get moving down the road… Yes indeed, vegetarians get bloated bellies too.
So that’s that. I’m warming up for you, and I’m ready for you! Bring it on bitches. See you at the shows starting tonight!!!
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Thanks, Mr. Eggers
Waiting for inspiration can make one lazy. There has to be a perpetual motion of writing, learning, DOING if one wants to be inspired. Inspiration comes and it goes, but it’s constant. If we don’t have the words, the chords, the means to turn inspiration into something that can be shared, it just falls away… Some random moment that almost triggered something… But now gone.
I realized that I need to spend more time DOING what I want to create. I need to practice more guitar, I need to write more (whether it’s in a personal journal or in this blog). I want to share my experiences, and I want to connect with the world. I want to be inspired and return the favor.
Autumn always brings me a note of reflection. I begin to reflect more internally; I tend to stay in like a hibernating bear. It’s that time of season for deep inspiration and reflection.
There has been an author who has kept popping up in my life when I least expect it (sometimes I don’t even know I’m watching his screenplays until the credits). His name is Dave Eggers, and I was first introduced to him in Berkeley, CA about 5 years (or more) ago. I had met a random girl on Myspace. She seemed cool and we made each other laugh, so she invited me to her place. Being young, we were pretty open with our passions and didn’t feel silly about having them. I played her my songs, she read me her favorite lines from her favorite books. There was one book I was in awe of the minute she started reading it to me: A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.
After our visit, I immediately went to the bookstore and purchased it. I loved it… so much. Mr. Eggers had this writing style that I connected to more so than any other writer. His book kicked my ass.
Since then, I haven’t really kept up with him. I tried to follow his career for a while, but eventually (like most things) life got in the way and that was that. Until this week.
My friends and I decided to check out thr movie Where The Wild Things Are. From the beginning, that movie took me in. I was so mesmerized by the characters… Max, Carrol, KP… They were all unique and dynamic and funny and sad… At the end of the movie, Dave Egger’s name was branded under “Screenplay”. Wow. He’s still got it.
Furthermore, I’ve had this movie from Netflix for over a week. I finally got around to watching it tonight. It’s a movie called Away We Go with John Krasinski (ladies, I’ll hold while you change your pants). Another solid movie… And guess who wrote the screenplay?!? Dave Eggers of course.
This man is on fire, and I need to thank him immensely for the inspiration he’s given me over the past week AND past years for that matter. I just hope that I take this moment and nail it down before it seeps away and becomes just another “Could-have-been-an-amazing-piece-of-art” moment. The time is now. Waiting for inspiration is over. It’s here, and it’s waiting for me…
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2 Hours Until…
The release of my new website! I’m excited for the new look. I’ve been working hard on it for the last couple weeks, and I think it’s ready for an unveiling. The last website was so damn cool. I love the graphic and how it was laid together. It was really visually stunning. This new site is more focused on the main page. There is really only one main page with all of the info. There are only pages added where necessary. The idea is to get you to click less and see more. I can say that I love this new site equally as much as the old site, and I hope that you all dig it as much as I do.
As you can tell, this blog has even changed “themes” already. I switched it early to prepare for the website release.
See you at midnight!
www.brandontyler.net
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Writing/Business
I’ve been doing a lot of business stuff lately. I’ve been building a website, promoting events, arguing with bookers, making flyers, tweeting, updating shows online, and it goes on. What I need to be doing more of is WRITING. After all, I do want to be a songwriter. I don’t want to be a website designer, promoter, booker, manager. BUT, allowing myself to put on these different hats has kept this business of songwriting and music alive during the recession. It’s important that I realize that as well.
I started writing a new hook last night, and I really like the vocal melody. I stumbled upon an artist that goes by “Lakes” and he has this song called “The Heart Is An Anchor”. It was so inspiring. I love his vocal groove and melody. I guess this guy used to be in the band “Watashi Wa”. They are from Atascadero, and I used to hear about them all the time when I lived in San Luis Obispo. I sent him a message asking him if he wanted to trade shows with me sometime. I would love to bring him to Sacramento for my hometown fans to enjoy. Anyway, this new hook started to form because I was so inspired by his song.
I want to be able to write a new album in the next 6 months. That’s a huge challenge for me! Luckily, I’ve completed 3 songs that will probably make the cut. That leaves about 8-9 more songs.
I’m really digging this song that I wrote called Vampire! We re-wrote the groove a couple weeks ago, and it’s got such a solid feel to it now. The lyrics are about being cast out of society like a vampire for going for a dream that you believe in. The vampire idea came into play because musicians tend to have night schedules for the most part. We stay up late at night and get inspired by loneliness, and then sleep all day. Here are some of the lyrics:
Come sunrise, I will sleep
It’s just the vampire in me
By the time I see moonlight, I’ll be alright
We believe we are diseased living in society
People say we’re naive…
We slip into the foggy night
To live our lives
Forget about their wooden eyes
A blank disguise
Shapeshift into another vampire…
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Brandon Tyler – Stockton Ports
Here is some video footage of the show at the Stockton Ports game last Saturday. They played The Guide over their PA system, and I caught some footage… and also an acoustic performance of The Party.
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New Ryan Adams Music
Could it really be true? Is Ryan Adams making a quiet come-back? I sure hope so. New evidence on his website is quite revealing: a new video featuring a new song, “Happy Birthday” along with a new label called “Pax Americana”. On Friday, two new songs are going to be released digitally on this label. I’ve already got my copy pre-ordered (1.49). If WordPress allows me to embed this code, then please enjoy the video below of Ryan Adams (weird and amazing). If not, visit this site to see the video: http://www.rawkblog.net/2009/09/new-music-ryan-adams-happy-birthday/
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Kristen Wiig is the best.
I think I’m late on seeing this skit on SNL. Kristen Wiig is the funniest person on SNL right now! She always kills it!
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Recent Entries
- What Music Means To Me
- My Affair With Mrs. Obispo
- Vegetarians get bloated bellies too.
- Thanks, Mr. Eggers
- 2 Hours Until…
- Writing/Business
- Brandon Tyler – Stockton Ports
- New Ryan Adams Music
- Kristen Wiig is the best.
- Worst Movie Ending EVER !!!
- Rick Ross & Ryan Leslie in studio creating Maybachs and Diamonds
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