Over X Mas I finally had the chance to watch and listen to “Springsteen on Broadway”. I’ve been a big fan of Bruce’s work since I bought “Born to Run” in 1975. His autobiography is a wonderful testament to his brilliant storytelling and work ethic. I bought the audiobook version and found his story absolutely captivating and I had no problem in listening to his story for hours.
Over the decades he has written many superb songs and crucially is always on the move, never sticking to one group of musicians or specific style. He periodically would revert to the classic E Street band ensemble, but I have come to love his solo appearances. He is also a brilliant businessman and enthusiasts can obtain many of his gigs dating back to the 1970s on CD and many digital formats including high end DSD format. Almost nobody else takes this amount of care to deliver so much material to a fan base. In my view the sign of a great artist is one who can sing his or her material stripped back to a single instrument. On Springsteen on Broadway, this is exactly what you get, pure magic and entertainment at its very best.
In an era of belief in instant fame, its inspiring still hear artists who have spent years crafting songs with an interest in great lyrics and melody.
I’m a massive music fan and music collector. I also run two bands which play original material. Over the last five years I have had the pleasure of talking to any artists at all levels which has led me to many observations about the changing music industry.
There has never been a time when its possible to connect to the wider musical audience. This is both good and bad news. the good news is that there is an abundance of music out there. The bad news is that there is an abundance of music out there. Platforms like Spotify give the wider public massive access to a variety of music, and many people I know use this medium rather than buy music. Personally, I have always been a fan of buying physical products and own numerous box sets as well as high-resolution audio files.
My view is that if independent artists want to connect to a wider public, creating great music is unfortunately not enough these days. Many of the public will expect a social media presence and a web presence. Ignoring working on these elements is a real mistake if you want to reach a wider audience. I know a number of excellent artists that set up FB and YouTube accounts, only to quickly lose attention for maintaining momentum. One video or a few posts IMO is not going to cut it. Smart artists realize the importance of “working on the back end” which involves ongoing work and great attention to detail. Of course in days gone by a record company would employ people to do all this marketing work as the company would seek a return on their “investment” aka “the artist” These days independent artists mostly have to this themselves. Yes its possible to hire a publicist, but experiences can be variable and one artist I spoke to commented on how its possible to literally burn money by going down this route and with little useful end results.
Many artists start off with great intentions with blogs, audio clips, BUT don’t maintain a consistent presence in updating sites and social media. This requires an investment of time and money. I was amazed when my producer commented that many artists won’t pay for the professional version of Bandcamp and/or invest in professional photos. “They just want the cheapest option” he commented. The financial price may be cheap, BUT the cost may be a lot. “The price” is what you pay today, the cost is what you pay over a period of time and smart artists invest in long term longevity.
In terms of websites an essential book is “Don’t make me think” by Steve Krug. Krug’s book wonderfully describes “the elusive obvious” in maintaining a strong web presence that connects with customers. Many artists don’t appreciate the importance of using great photos and good video. As the old saying goes
“You never get a second chance to make a first impression”
Ultimately creating great music is not enough these days if you want to connect to a wider audience. Ultimately its for each artist to experiment and find out what works best. In my first band “The Small Change Diaries” we had 50% of our first album played on BBC Introducing. To my surprise this made absolutely no difference to site traffic, social media traffic or product sales, ZERO effect! I’m of the view that in many cases local radio these days does little to generate audience reach, but I am happy to hear opposing arguments.
Ultimately if you want to promote anything including your music, this requires a great deal of stamina, strategic planning and a fair amount of investment in both time and money. This means IMO you have to love what you do…
I was talking to some musician friends recently about the changing dynamics in music circles and the increasing movement from “bands” to collaborations and projects. Personally, I’m a big fan of working with a variety of different musicians and working across a number of projects rather than a single band.
The Value of Collaborations
“I enjoy the collaboration. I always envied people in bands who got to have that interaction. I’ve done so many albums where I’ve been in the studio for 14 hours a day for six months just trying to come up with things on my own. It’s a nice change helping other people with their music and not being all about what I’m trying to do myself. “Beck
In past times a group of friends may get together, form a band and then go down the traditional route of recording, playing gigs etc. These days more artists are appreciating the value of working in a number of projects and networking with a variety of musicians. Many of my favourite artists work in this way including Bill Frissell, Steve Earle, Martin Simpson and others. Each artist will be the centre of the ensemble writing original material but will bring in other musicians for particular projects. I have been a longstanding admirer of Robert Fripp who famously has had many incarnations of King Crimson and wonderfully commented
My own experience is playing with a variety of artists is hugely useful in maintaining and developing creative skills. With The Caravan of Dreams, I deliberately called the project “Nick Cody and The Caravan of Dreams” as it allows great flexibility in who is playing in the live band and/or recording at any one time. I have learned to double up on musicians, rather than have to rely upon solely any one individual. Yes, there will be key players, but the ensemble can take many forms and express the material in different ways. We have two great percussionists Rich Ferdi (longstanding founder member of The Small Change Diaries) and Josh Smout. On violin, there is Laurent Zeller a superb international artist constantly playing around the world with many ensembles and Jed Bevington who is more local. This to me is a much more practical and dynamic way of working. Many band members will have their own careers, so this way of working allows fro far greater flexibility.
I am also currently exploring a trio option for some new material, which will be different to The Caravan of Dreams in instrumentation and dynamics. There can be a crossover between all these different groups as I have learned that diversification is really useful to maintain musical momentum. Its also essential to develop what I can “the back end” of being on top of social media, web presence and recording. People’s attention spans are really short and its key to build a body of work and keep an online presence. Gearing up for one song or album is not going to cut it, and this means ongoing blogging, networking and social media interaction. I’ve interviewed artists who have been totally focussed on creating one song or album, often in an insular manner. I fully get why some artists go down this route, but often it can be like “having your egg in one basket” Of course spreading yourself too thin by being involved in so many projects you lose focus on developing your own musical voice.
In 2019 the Music for The Head and Heart platform will bring new opportunities for many independent artists and collaborations will be more important than ever.
In the last year I have had the opportunity to talk to a number of artists and producers in the music business. This has been extremely revealing and everyone I speak to comments on how much the “music business” has changed. In days gone by artists would be signed, receive an advance on album sales and the record company would look after their investment by doing promotional work and funding recordings. One longstanding producer I spoke to commented “Nick, there’s no money for the most part, from record companies”
With steaming services like Spotify many artists now earn a living by touring rather than album sales. This can work, but there is massive competition to play at live venues and festivals and event/festival owners can leverage this by reducing any fees. In days gone by artists would be encouraged to move to London as that is where everything was happening. Robert Fripp in his excellent audiobooks suggested this being essential fifteen years ago. Now the world is very different and another producer commented “There are endless artists chasing gigs in London. Newly qualified music students discover that generating predictable income is the biggest challenge and many teach to enable them to pay weekly bills.”
Matters are tougher with Brexit just around the corner, so European opportunities will change as well. The financial uncertainty from Brexit also means that all investment including musical investment is in a state of limbo. Last year a USA longstanding producer and manager commented “Nick, today it’s all about reach, how to get to a wider audience” Physical record stores are fast disappearing and people are consuming music in different ways than before. There’s an old music industry joke “Wanna make a million dollars? Start off with two million”
If all this sounds depressing, then I apologize, but the world as we know it is changing at some rate. I know a few professional artists and am astonished at how hard they have to work. As someone who has funded studio recording, I’m astonished at how in many cases how low record company advances actually are. Personally, I am lucky enough to have developed an income stream that allows me to fund running music ensembles and recordings. These days the idea of “a group” is in my view outdated and the focus is more on musical projects where artists come together to collaborate.
My personal view is that many of us play and record music for the love of it and in many ways that’s a good strategy. The more financially self sufficient you can be, the better, but that is tough for younger artists unless you have a sponsor. Idealism can be a killer and I have seen artists pack in daytime jobs to do a short tour to try and make that leap forward in exposure, but then to find they have to return to part time work to survive.
One of the reasons for working on the “Music for the Head and Heart” platform is to help bring together many talented people and for us each to support each other and create new opportunities! Platforms like Drooble also are looking at new ways to create a better connectivity between artists and to create better opportunities. After all, in my view, musical expression is more important than ever
Over the years I have realised that it pays off to seek out the best instruments you can find and to always try out an instrument before you part with any money. I originally played electric guitars, before moving onto acoustics and then ukuleles as well as other instruments like mandolins, reso ukes and mandolas. My other work has allowed me to literally travel the globe and seek out the very best of the best.
I spent years looking for a great acoustic before finally settling on Collings and Sobells as preferred choices. I bought my first ukulele in New York, which was a pre production Collings concert uke which was and still is fantastic. When I interviewed Bill Collings a few years ago I mentioned how impressed I am with his instruments. I own three Collings concert ukuleles, a Collings tenor guitar, a Collings acoustic and an electric Collings I35 Deluxe. These are not only fantastic instruments to play, but have also become superb investments. The I35 has doubled in value and its impossible to find Collings ukuleles anymore.
The Sobell acoustics are also highly collectable and quite extraordinary. These are all custom built instruments and the waiting time is usually around two years. I still consider Takahiro Shimos to be the best of the best and I now own seven of his instruments, including a reso ukulele. If I had never travelled to Japan, I doubt if I would have come across Shimos and never would have recorded over 30 tracks with the Shimo Comet 3. With the drop in sterling’s value these have also appreciated greatly in value.
In ukulele circles its increasingly hard to find really great instruments and most UK stores now stock mid range Chinese made ukuleles. I mostly now only seek out such instruments in Japan and Ukulele Mania remains the go to place for purchases. My experience over the years is that its smart to invest in the best instruments you can afford, rather than “instrument shaped objects” often churned out in mass production factories. When you buy a really well made instrument, it mostly inspires better playing. Of course price does not always means the instrument s going to be great. Similarly there are some great production instruments (Collings is the best example) and some luthiers who produce variable work. I recently moved on five ukuleles that were hand built, but had different issues which meant they were never my first choice for playing live r recording.
With changes in legislation regarding wood imports and changing global economics, many instruments are either extremely expensive or just unavailable. The UK only has a few great music stores, so many people never have the chance to see what is actually available. In the meantime online reviewers and enthusiasts often describe many instruments as “awesome” which is (and I’m being polite) more than a bit of a stretch!
This is the second time I have visited Gregor Nowak’s workshop in Vienna and bought an instrument that has totally surprised me. The first time was two years ago when I bought his prototype guitarelle which has already been used on two Caravan of Dreams tracks – “Here in the Silence” and “With one Finger”
One of the benefits of travelling the globe is that I get to see all kinds of builders and seek out the very best. Gregor is definitely on my radar and this time I played a new uke baritone, tenor and soprano. All of these were superb and if at the time of writing they are still available, I recommend grabbing one of these. That said, he showed me a new prototype of a Cavaquinho. What on earth is a “Cavaquinho?” you may ask! I have never heard of such an instrument, but once again after 30 minutes of trying it out, I was under the Gregor spell. It is tuned to GDBE and has steel strings. It’s very different to anything else I have come across and as with all Gregor’s instruments sounds and plays brilliantly.
The sound is very bell-like and I’m already finding some inspiration for new Caravan tracks. It’s tough to find instruments of this quality that don’t duplicate the sound of what I already have. I’m back in Vienna next March and inevitably will drop by to see Gregor. God only knows what he’ll have waiting for me, but I confess to being really blown away by the build quality, playability and superb sound. Like all great builders, he has his own signature style and is without a doubt someone to watch out for. During this visit, I was also lucky enough to meet Elizabeth Pfeiffer, a superb player who played the Cavaquinho, so I could hear how it sounded from a listener’s perspective.
I first came across King Crimson aged 13 and last night finally saw them live! Robert Fripp has been a massive influence on my musical thinking and as well as listening to the incarnations of King Crimson over the years I have enjoyed his work with many artists including David Bowie, Brian Eno and Blondie among others. At school, everyone had the “Court of the Crimson King” album, but my favourite King Crimson albums were always Islands, Red, Larks Tongues in Aspic and Beat.
Last night King Crimson played the title track to “Islands” which I never imagined I would hear live. The highlight of the gig was “Starless” from the Red album. This has Robert Fripp’s signature guitar sound and is a superb piece of music. The current King Crimson line up has no less than three drummers and they sound terrific. The only other band I have heard with three drummers were The Allman Brothers who were also a brilliant live band.
Like many of my favourite artists including Tom Waits, Neil Young and Bob Dylan, Robert Fripp always produced dynamic, provocative and challenging music which both delighted and frustrated his record company. Fripp had a longstanding battle with EG records and wrote extensively about the reality of signing to a record label. His now hard to find the audiobook “Good to Great” is a brilliant insight into his thinking and the importance of developing playing skills. In an era of X Factor and imagined instant fame, this is a useful reminder of what is needed to become a talented artist.
King Crimson has become a big part of my musical education, not in terms of musical style, but rather the importance of creating your own sound and working with the very best musicians. In recent times the expanded King Crimson box sets have been a joy to listen to and after last night’s gig I’ll be revisiting many of these.
I first started writing and recording with the ukulele and other instruments four years ago and since then I have been developing my own sound. As many will know I’m a big fan of original music and am not a terrific fan of cover versions, especially on the ukulele as all too often to my ears they are not great.
I appreciate that I may not be in the majority with this view, but my preference is always to hear something new when it comes to music or films.
Over the years there have been a number of factors that have been essential to finding what for me is a great sound.
Choice of instruments
I am forever grateful to my friend Zeke from New York for introducing me to the ukulele. He first showed me a Bill Collings pre production concert uke and I never looked back. If it had been a standard Kala or other “OK but not great to my ears brand” I probably would never had been so fired up in using the uke as a primary writing tool. The second instrument that really blew me away was the Shimo Comet 3 I bought in Tokyo. This is very different to the Collings, but I have recorded 30 songs with the Shimo. In live work I play an African black wood tenor and mahogany 5 string baritone uke built by a local luthier. Both have McIntyre pickups and sound great live although I have had to get my tech guy to do some bridge modifications from the original design.
With The Caravan of Dreams ensemble I also use a Gregor Nowak guitarelle. I bought this in Vienna last year as an impulse buy and absolutely love it. Its a very different sound to anything else and plays brilliantly. I’m a big fan of seeking out and finding the best sounding and playing instruments, which always inspire better playing and musical creativity.
Amplification
People who know me, know I’m a massive Henriksen amp fan. The Henriksen Bud and Blu amps are a mile ahead of everything else sonically. I have tried all manner of amps and these are hands down by far the best out there. They amplify the natural sound of the instrument and I now use only Henriksens for live gigs. The new Ray extension cab is also a welcome addition for these small units that kick out 120 watts.
Another exploration is looking at instrument leads. Lava cable ultramafic leads are my number one choice. I introduced Martin Simpson to these and gave him one as a present. They give a full frequency response and make a massive difference to the sound, especially smaller bodied instruments like ukuleles.
Band Members
Being in a band is a bit like being in a gang and every dynamic is different. With The Caravan of Dreams there are six of us, so there’s a lot more going on than with a four piece. The addition of keyboards and violin make for a more diverse sound. In The Small Change Diaries I play rhythm and lead as well as vocals. With The Caravan of Dreams I’m central to vocal work, but play rhythm, so a lot of the music is more groove based. Fergus Quill, Jed Bevington, Rich Ferdi, Josh Smout, Chris Smith are all superb musicians and Agi is a brilliant vocalist. In every band each member literally brings something to the sonic mix. The Caravan of Dreams is more stretching for me as I am focusing a lot more on vocal delivery and more intricate song arrangements. The Small Change Diaries is a different sound and I continue to gig with both bands. Discovering Laurent Zeller a few years ago made a huge difference to the sound of both bands and especially with the Caravan ensemble.
We just completed the 2nd ever Caravan of Dreams gig at Inkwell Arts and it was a great night with a great audience. It was also the first time Josh Smout and Chris Smith played live with the band.
This was the first outing for a number of tracks including “All that Loving” and “Sticks and Stones”
Caravan of Dreams Live set
One finger to block out the sun
Dunning Kruger Blues
The Pink Moon
All that loving
Grey Skies
Here in the silence
Sticks and stones
Perfect Place
Encore
What you gonna do?
There’s a lot more material to play in a live setting as well as tracks which have yet to be recorded. Its a real pleasure to work with so many talented musicians.
This Friday, November 2nd The Caravan of Dreams will be headlining Inkwell Arts Centre in Leeds in aid of Cloth Cat charity. We will continue to showcase material from our forthcoming 2019 release “Tales of Dark and Light” The banc will be on from 10 pm and this promises to be a superb night with six musicians from The Caravan of Dreams.
I first started writing and recording with the ukulele and other instruments four years ago and since then I have been developing my own sound. As many will know I’m a big fan of original music and am not a terrific fan of cover versions, especially on the ukulele as all too often to my ears they are not great.
