John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

Dear friends of WWJDD,

This message could be one word long; VOTE!  That's my main message.  But a bit deeper lies what you're voting for or against.  Someday when we meet in some night club we'll discuss this at length but right now I urge you to go to the media, websites, internet blogs, friends & family to get the facts, however fluid they may be.  You're smart & can separate the lies from the truth (also fluid) & I'm sure you will vote for the right guy . . . no, not the one who suspends his campaign every time there's a dip in his poll numbers or some crisis he must attend (not really his job), uses falsehoods in adverts or agrees w/ 90% of Pres GWB's policies.  Please VOTE & vote for someone who can restore our FAITH & HOPE in this country.  BUT MOST IMPORTANTLY, EXERCISE YOUR RIGHT AS A CITIZEN & VOTE!  THIS MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER.

Thanks for allowing me a little soap box time & for your support. Below is a list of the different state's voter registration deadlines.

yours in solidarity,

John Doe

p.s. get yr slacker friends to register & vote too!

If you have any questions about registering or voting contact your Secretary of State. Click here to for a complete contact list by state at Rock The Vote.

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com.

Matthew Ryan first debuted in 1997 with May Day (A&M Records) and since, has amassed an impressive catalog of critically lauded major label, DIY and indie releases to date. Matthew Ryan vs The Silver State is Ryan's 11th record released by Brooklyn indie 00:02:59. Photo by Bob Delevante.

I'm in a mood today. So this could read grumpy, or even curmudgeonly (if that's a word).Things are good, things are above the waterline. Work is good, I'm writing, I just scored a television show and there's more ahead. I just released a new song called Some Streets Lead Nowhere via iTunes and I'm finding there's a new flux of listeners finding me. My last tour was successful, more and more people coming out and singing along. My listeners are beginning to help me tell my story. And I'm genuinely moved by this new migration of intimate advocacy. It's a humanizing hum in all the flash and adverts. But there's a part of me that continues to feel unsatisfied in the new lawlessness of music and the way it's internalized.

I don't wish to mourn the horse-drawn wagon vs. the automobile. But things have changed, and there's no going back. The days we knew are a boutique, progress isn't always progress. Often it's what's expedient or more thoroughly marketed.

I miss the tactile nature of music. The submersing seduction of artwork. The smell of the ink on paper with the images and the liner notes. The large speakers, the console, the ritual of removing the plastic wrap and inserting the breathe of a world changed by someone's ability to say and sing something. I miss it. It's what I wanted for my work. I wanted it to exist for those that needed it, and I wanted my work to hopefully confide and insist that things are always on the verge of exploding into a perfect opportunity. I'm confused by the homogenized experience of downloading music now. There's no physicality to it now. There's no unique sensation to the event. It's a click and a few seconds and then a declaration of war vs. instant judgment. Now, the quality of music itself has been compromised for speed of delivery. The system of delivery is rarely gonna mug you like a sudden rain or burst of sunshine will. It's more of a cute little machine that looks more like it could light a cigarette rather than unleash Love Will Tear Us Apart, Positively 4th Street or Keep On Rockin' In The Free World on you.

But it is amazing isn't it? Even with all the new traffic online, and as compromised as technology has made the width and clarity of recordings, songs still arrest you. Anonymous and handicapped, they still take over a room, shake you, force you to shake your ass or stop cold in reflection, cry and smile. Songs. You can't fucking kill them. And if you're song is good enough, honest enough, clear enough.... It will create a universe all its own through the migration and delivery in cold places like email and Yousendit. And on the end of those strange transmissions lie ears and a heart still wanting to be moved.

So I say, give your music away. Not all of it, but consider which song of yours at this moment is the ONE song you'd want anyone to hear. That's the song you should unlock the cage for. Be smart. Pay your rent. Work hard. Stay open and hopeful. Don't buy into subscriptions and donations and other silliness, If your songs are good enough they will speak for themselves. You should lean for life outside of your cult. People value what moves them. If you engage people, they will engage you. And eventually they will tell your story for you.

When we do our jobs, when we deliver on our promises, we're rewarded. I suggest that we understand that. Listeners, lovers of music, want artists that full fill their promise. And in return, they understand the reality of it. They will become patrons of your work. They'll come to your shows. They'll buy your t-shirts. They'll pass your music along with genuine heart and advocacy. Because even still, music is one of the few things that can connect, comfort and rile us in such a pure way. It has value because (watch out, this is gonna get redundant) when it has value, it has value. It's indefinable, scary and dangerous. The new world can't be bought. At least the halls of truly meaningful music cannot be bought. The Jonas Brothers and other drivel will always exist. It's brainwashing. It's bought and designed and sold and bought and re-invented and sold again. But the halls of the meaningful have to carve their own path, it has to exist ultimately based upon its merits and some collective willingness to understand or feel it. Those merits are cousins to magic, and it depends on its ability to confide something that everyone knows, but can't manage the words let alone a melody. That's the work of artists. You gotta be willing to release those songs like a bird into that great wide open. Cause you know, if you love something, set it free. If it never returns, it was never yours. If it returns to you, it's yours forever.

Martin Atkins has a 30 year career in the music business that includes touring with the bands Public Image Limited, Killing Joke, Ministry, Nine Inch Nails and Pigface, owning an independent record label celebrating its 20th anniversary with over 350 releases, and is an instructor at Columbia College Chicago teaching The Business of Touring, Applied Marketing, and Indie Label Management. He is also the author of the book Tour:Smart.

No, not shellfish philanthropy - SELFISH - what I mean is this - GIVE of yourself - open up and HELP someone other than yourself - it will PROBABLY help you way more than spending the same amount of time doing the same old stuff you have been doing and not getting the amazing results you read about on the side of the cereal box.

Lets look at a tiny example - putting up posters........you could put up another 50 of the same posters that no-one has really been taking any notice of for the show that you haven't sold many tickets for - OR, offer to help another band (maybe an out of town band you've connected with through the internet) don't try and hash out some quid pro quo deal before you do it - I LIKE the idea that I'm allowing someone the option of totally ripping me off - that's the best way you can see very quickly what they are really made of - and, when its only a few posters and a few staples (and a parking ticket and a trip to the emergency room because you stapled your hand to a telegraph pole) - then its a pretty cheap litmus test of personality - ok?

So, what might happen - well, the out of town band might also ask if you know of a place to stay - do you?, they might also ask if you know where they can get their mellotron fixed, or they might think that here is a guy that's DOING SOMETHING in a city they need help in - and what would happen if you were actually on the bill???
Maybe, after doing this for ten bands you meet the promoter(s) in town. Believe me the ones that are really doing this will NOTICE someone who is running around putting up posters - instead of talking the talk and then binning them! They will see you here and there and register this activity - so that, when they have a problem with a show that needs some extra work and all of their street teamers are off touring with their band or sick or sick of touring or whatever - you will get the call. Maybe you'll just get to know the people at Kinkos and get a discount or meet your new guitar player (been there, done that). 

I'm not saying, hang on tight cos next week you're joining the fucking BEATLES!!!!!!!! I'm just offering up some different ideas.

 I'll be in New Orleans on Monday sept 15th at Loyola - a free Tour:Smart lecture open to the public at Nunemaker Hall from 5 til 6pm - come and get a flyer that gets you in to my dj spot later that night for free! Then I'll be at the Baltimore Music Conference, New York City (Film Screening and Art Show), Philadelphia and Virginia - come and say hi!

Peace Love Respect

Martin Atkins

Since co-founding Bloodshot Records in Chicago in 1994, co-owner Rob Miller
has dirtied his hands in all aspects of keeping an independent label afloat
in a world beset by American Idol, illegal downloading and a collapsing
economy.  Before that he lived in and around Detroit where he was a middling music writer, college DJ and Production Manager catering to the demands of
everyone from GWAR to the Pet Shop Boys.

Since you've asked me, the owner of the lowly but scrappy Bloodshot Records what we look for in a new artist, and not David Geffen or the CEO-of-the-month at DynaMusicTechNet Global LTD, I will assume that we all understand my advice and taste and goals all come from the staunchly independent perspective. We don't have to worry about shareholders or making sure the CFO's housekeepers at the Caribbean island getaway are paid, nor do we deal with pie charts, Venn diagrams, oily A&R men and focus groups.  We don't care how many MySpace friends you have (I actually heard some VP flack at SXSW say somewhat haughtily into his cell that he doesn't even LISTEN to a band unless they have x number of friends on their MySpace page). I am a lifelong music fan who got lucky and gets to put out records I like for a living.

To start, there are a few questions you need to ask yourselves before even approaching a label.  What are your goals? Expectations?  Be brutally honest with yourselves.   Why do you even want to make a record?  Seriously.  It seems like a basic question but one that needs to be asked.  Is it for fun?  Vanity?  Cuz it'd be "neat" to have one?  Because you sell out the local watering hole and everyone gets drunk and has a grand time?  That's great, I love bands like that, but put the record out on your own and be happy to sell a few hundred.  If you have a full time job, familial responsibilities and no intention or ability to do the road work, leave us out of it; be content to play for local friends and fans, there's no shame in that.   If you look to the label deal as a magic bullet for your band, think again.  Countless bands over the years have told us in effect "once we have the deal and are selling records we'll be willing to go on the road and support," or "we are ready to finish our songs once we have an agreement." Thinking that the label deal puts you on your way is like thinking that putting some greasepaint under your nose makes you Groucho Marx.  Making a living in this racket is hard, dirty work; nothing can replace that.  You need to have the confidence, arrogance and awareness to overcome the unceasing obstacles that'll come your way.  Oh, and it's not a meritocracy, either; many a great band gets shunted aside in favor of some couch potato-friendly pablum.   The septic tank metaphor (usually only the really big chunks rise to the top) is all too apropos.  What we are looking for is a band or an artist that HAS to create, HAS to perform, that is committed to their art regardless.  We want to see an unstoppable drive.  We cannot care about your career more than you do, nor should anything like a lack of a label prevent you from your craft.

Okay, you've answered all the above questions truthfully and determined that you, yes YOU have the goods and the guts to pursue this, how do you then get the attention of a label?  The one and true and all encompassing answer to that is quite easy: be good.  We have to LIKE the music. We have to totally believe in what you are doing and get behind it 100%.  We have to be able to care enough about it to evangelize when no one is listening, to work on its behalf in the face of commercial indifference, and fight trench warfare.  Life is too short, and staying in business in the venal snake pit that is the music industry is too grinding, maddening and frustrating to go to the mat for something that you just don't like very much. 

It's as simple as that.

If that sounds too glib or too vague, let me explain lest ye get too discouraged by your inner- voice yelling "How the hell should I know what they like?"  Indie labels are, by their very nature, products of their owners' idiosyncrasies.   Since we don't have to answer to anyone but our own whims, it is in your best interest to do your research BEFORE sending music---you would hate to end up on a label that doesn't "get" you or doesn't care deeply or wouldn't know how to effectively promote you just for the sake of having a deal.   To whit, think of several bands that track well with what you do, or artists you've admired or been influenced by.  Are there any labels or outlooks on the biz or attitudes that tie them together?  If so, follow the leads.  Learn about your prospective mate.  I mean, really, you don't Internet date without seeing the picture first, right?  Without finding out some pertinent details?  If they describe themselves as a Masterpiece Theater watching animal lover and you are a snuff film watching dog-fighting impresario you wouldn't go and get married would you? All I ask is that you put at least as much care into a potential artistic partnership with a label as you do finding a date.

From this basic research, you should be able to find a manageable list of labels to intelligently approach.  I'll stack my love of Motörhead against anyone's but that's just not what we do.  If that is what you do, DON'T send us a CD anyway with the attitude of "yeah, but WE can be the exception;" it's just a waste of your resources and time.  I have filled a dumpster with such "exceptions."

Once you have whittled down your A-list of labels, what should you send?  Back to the first point, send the BEST you've got to offer.   Don't be clever with sequencing or packaging.   Thick packages with quotations of lofty praise from the Traverse City Nurses College Gazette and the door guy from Cooter's Bar who thinks you rule, or lists of bands you've "shared the stage with" (we ALL know that means "opened for") are annoying fluff and promptly get recycled.  Fancy vellum cover sheets sent by a lawyer REALLY get shuffled to the bottom of the pile.  Don't tell me who has influenced you.   Hell, Rush influenced me as much as the Cramps.  One influenced me to shave my head and start digging around for Charlie Feathers records, and the other influenced me to never like drum solos or go to arena shows---they almost turned me off Canadians altogether (but John Candy brought me back to my senses).   Truthfully, it's a crapshoot that we'll even listen to it at all.  It may sit in a box for two years, or it might only get noticed because of an obscure reference to Raising Arizona in the bio.   Just the other day I opened a package that had nothing but a CD and a hand written note on a torn scrap of paper that said "Rocks" and a myspace address.  Turns out it was just some Iowa Doom Metal, but still, I listened.  Again, the maddening and endearing vagaries of the indie world.  Don't let it get you down.

What to do in the face of this?  Continue on.  Don't wait for us.  Keep playing.  Learn something from every show.  Develop your material and hone your live show.  Come to Chicago and let us know.  Nothing gets things rolling faster than a killer live show.  Get on the bill with our other bands when they come to your town and impress the hell out of them.  Have them pass along another CD to us.  Walk that thin line between persistence and annoyance.   Nothing is more attractive to a label than a band whose music we love who comes to us with a built in fan base and a massive email list, a track record with clubs, accumulated goodwill from folks in their town or region and an organically created sense of momentum.    

With all this said, and with all the caveats and limitations endemic in a tough environment,  it always goes back to point one:  if we love it, we will ignore all the common sense in the world and all our own rules and figure out a way to make it work.   We have always regretted it when we didn't.  Heart over brains.  It's what makes independent music so great.

Good luck.

John Doe is the founder of the seminal Los Angeles punk group X, a solo artist and actor. John answers questions from our community members in the WWJDD? blog. Photo by Autumn de Wilde.

A Question from Matthew in Liverpool

Hi John,

I'm a big X fan and I love your solo work particularly, 'Meet John Doe'...a  great album, I hope maybe Rhino Records may remaster it.

My question is something I've already emailed Peter Case about, I play guitar but find that when I try and flat pick I can't get the right sound. I use 12's on an old EN acoustic, I'm fed up of playing finger style and want a tougher sound. Are there any tips you can give me about flat picking? Should I be using a thumb pick or a particular plectrum?

Yours with Respect.

Matthew 

WWJDD?
 
Hey Matthew,

  Peter Case is a much better guitar player that I am, so take his advice first.  Most good gtr player that I know use very heavy picks & a very light touch. Billy Zoom uses something like Fender heavy & Dave Alvin uses a heavy thumb pick & both use their fingernails for more intricate picking parts. To avoid my own confusion in switching picks from bass to gtr, I use Herco nylon flex 75 (silver) which are fairly stiff. They do the job w/ both bass & gtr & don't turn floppy during a show.  Certainly trial & error is the best method to find out what works best for you.

best of luck, hope this helps & as always thanks for writing,

If you have questions for John Doe about music, the music business or life feel free to email them to wwjdd@knowthemusicbiz.com.

For more information on John Doe check out theejohndoe.com or YepRoc.com .