michael edwards [music]

We are on the hunt again for a drummer.

A year ago I unveiled the first collection of songs that I was extremely proud of in the form of Genetic Engines. I find this a fitting time to reflect on the progress in the last year. On finding an audience, on finding other musicians to work with, on trying to connect with people in the city of Denver.

That’s a lot of big talk. What did I actually do last year?

Meeting Musicians

One of my big goals after moving to Denver was to proactively connect with other musicians and try to find some kindred spirits. In the past I’ve always been in bands with existing friends so this was a new experience for me. A learning experience. It’s thrilling and challenging to invite others into a collaborative space.

It doesn’t always work out. In forming Genetic Engines as a band, there have been many musicians who have joined up or come to practices to see how things work out. Most of the people who have generously given their time and efforts to try things out aren’t still in the band, which is just how it works trying to find the right fit. Some people weren’t right for the job and we had to let them go, while others showed up and decided they didn’t like what they saw in me or how the band was shaping up and took their leave. I view this as a necessary process and evolution and always hope that, regardless, I could share a beer with any of these people.

All told, I’ve been trying to get better at collaboration and communication. Trying to simultaneously pursue quality and the creation and performance of beautiful music while also letting go of the unilateral control of a solo project. I’m extremely thankful to everyone who’s been involved in any fashion so far!

Promotion

Last year I dabbled in the dubious world of promotion. It’s well documented that I don’t like self-promotion. The Onion has a good article that pretty much sums up the typical experience of self-promotion.

After I finished the album I contacted over 200 mp3 blogs hoping they’d listen to it. I managed to snag a couple of reviews and even end up in one blogger’s Best of 2011 list. How gratifying! I also had lots of wonderful and generous support by the fine musicians who frequent Reddit’s music related subreddits. See the posts here, here, and here for the kind words they left!

My thoughts as of late are that promotion is a necessary evil but I’d never want it to displace our musical efforts. I’d rather understate and surprise than overstate and disappoint. The music should, as much as possible, speak for itself.

Live Show

Genetic Engines played only 5 shows in 2011. Here’s a video clip from one of them:

I’d like this number to be dramatically bigger in 2012 and to involve many cities. I’d also like to be better connected to other local bands.

This Coming Year

Last year’s album was all me. It was also the growing pains of building a group. This year will be beyond me. It should show the fruits of collaboration with other talented musicians. We’re furiously working on new songs and are planning on putting a record together.

I couldn’t be more thrilled and excited about this.

I hope that by the end of the year I can look back and check all of these off as accomplished:

• Full length record of all new material written as a group!
• Solid and thrilling live show of enthusiastic participants!
• Refined production and recording skills
• Better musicianship (I think software is a large part of the future of music, so I don’t want to be left behind in this arena).
• Presence and place in the Denver music community for friendship and collaborations
• New friends, new musical partners

The Last Word

I’m not credentialed in music business. In the grand scheme of things I’m a nobody in the music world. I’m still growing in my skills at writing, playing, recording music. But I know this is what I want to do, and I’m convinced this determination will see me through my goals.

I know that I’m going to spend the rest of my life performing and producing music. I’m going to do it myself, and I’m going to do it in collaboration with others. There will eventually be a studio. There will be shows. There will be soundtracks. It’s going to be a great ride.

So here’s to a new year and continued progress!

I just got back from a weekend in San Diego for my brother’s wedding. Woohoo to Justin and Juliette, who are on their way to Hawaii today!

Ilan gave me a Joy Division mix cd to alleviate a gaping hole in my musical education.

There’s nothing new that needs to be written about Joy Division (I’m reminded of Jim Gaffigan’s bit about finally seeing Heat), but I wanted to note them as one of those classic and obvious groups that I have somehow avoided up until this point.

I had heard the phenomenal Love Will Tear Us Apart but pretty much none of their other material. I knew that Ian, the lead singer, had dealt with depression and epilepsy and he eventually committed suicide. I knew there were a couple of documentaries and biopics out there about them.

But beyond these little tidbits, I had never sat down and really listened to them.

So in hopes of being an interesting exercise, here are my thoughts as a young man in 2011 first listening through Joy Division’s songs:

It’s raw. It’s brooding. It’s repetitive and relentless. The lyrics are sad and emotive. It’s clearly coming through and out of punk rock, but is taking it to a place that favors expression over aggression.

The recordings are…old. The drums are stuffy and the guitars can sound a bit limp at times. But that was the technology in the late 70s at the quality they could afford. None of that matters, though, because the soul is there.

Ian Curtis’ voice is not pretty, but you believe what he is saying. You are drawn in.

Their songs are very simple, but they pull you into them. Many are based on 2 or 3 chords but they are put together in a way that enchants. Another album that does that for me is The Notwist’s Shrink. I’m thinking of songs like Your Signs.

Joy Division only released two albums, but their influence is palpable. You can hear an aesthetic that would be expressed in various ways by the likes of Radiohead, Interpol, U2, The Cure, and many other prominent and celebrated bands. And of course the remaining Joy Division members went on to become New Order.

Bono had these words to say about Joy Division:

It would be harder to find a darker place in music than Joy Division. Their name, their lyrics and their singer were as big a black cloud as you could find in the sky. And yet I sensed the pursuit of God, or light, or reason … a reason to be. With Joy Division, you felt from this singer, beauty was truth and truth was beauty, and theirs was a search for both.

It feels strange to say that I enjoy it. There is a better word. I am drawn to the human condition in it. There is some great energy in the interplay of the drums and bass, and there are some delicious guitar riffs. But in its soul I’m drawn to the damaged creature who is calling out from its plight. I want to see him restored, healed, made new. But this melancholy band ends in sadness, not in joy.

If you are an aspiring musician, you owe it to yourself to subscribe to Bob Lefsetz’s newsletter. He sends out rants and reflections probably 4-5 times a week. You won’t agree with him all the time, but it’ll always get you thinking. He’s been doing this for years and has lots of interesting insights into this strange new era of music we’re in.

After going to MineCon with David, I’ve been more determined to find a place making indie game music. I’ve reached out to some projects to see if they need help with music. I think my specialty will be more in the RPG side of things, but I have an ever-growing interest in electronic and computer-based music so I envision exploring many genres.

I am thinking about placing any music I do that’s not part of Genetic Engines under the banner of Pseudomichael. Maybe all lowercase? pseudomichael.

Another case of “my real name is too generic and common”. I can’t even add my middle name Ian because Michael Ian Black is already out there.

Anyway, hopefully I’ll have some good news in the next month or two regarding indie games and music by yours truly!

I got invited by the wonderful Karin Hauger, an instructor of Music History at the University of Colorado Denver, to speak to her class about being a musician. It was a great honor and I had the prescience to record it with my phone!

So here is the audio of my lecture, along with the powerpoint slides I used for my presentation. (Don’t worry, it’s almost all pictures, very little text).

Presentation goodies:

• Slides [12MB]
• Audio [20MB]

Come and hang out with us at Larimer Lounge on December 1st! Print out this ticket and bring it with you for a 50% discount on the door price:

(Click to view full size for printing)

At this point in the life of Genetic Engines, it’s become clear that we are going to have to do some promotion work to find an audience. I suppose that should be exciting to be at that point because it ideally means (a) we have some good music and (b) the band is talented and skilled. So the missing piece is getting ourselves in front of other people, creating a presence, an awareness.

I dislike this process.

I’ve been reading other bands’ press kits to get an idea of what other groups are doing, and the self-promotional text floating out there makes me feel ill. I prefer my music to speak for itself, and not have to self-describe it as “ambitious”, “muscular”, “poignant”, or any other over-the-top adjective.

Many of these press kits seem so desperate and reaching. Bands try so hard to make themselves look good through use of: claims of innovation, namedropping producers/musicians/associates, awkward hyphenated genres, improbable procreation metaphors of two dissimilar artists, and hyperbolic reviews from obscure blogs and zines.

As the line goes, talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

My boss (a former music critic here in Denver) has a rant I like about New York City. New Yorkers won’t stop telling you how great the city of New York is. It gets to a point where you wonder if there’s some insecurity underlying the overpraise, the way that psychologists have observed people will rationalize an expensive purchase by praising what they bought and criticizing the competing devices. (See: every kid in grade school who had either a Genesis or a SNES rationalizing why their system was better).

By contrast, I don’t hear people constantly praising Denver, even though I think it’s a damn good city. If you live here you know it’s good, and so let’s keep that a secret so it doesn’t get ruined!

I’d rather understate and surprise than overstate and disappoint.

So, I have this ambivalence about self-promotion. Of course, you can point at my website, twitter account, Facebook page, even this blog entry itself, and rightly accuse me of engaging in it. I get it, I have to do some of this to get my music in front of other people, but as much as possible I hope to let the music speak for itself.