There is something which i have always adamantly tried to adhere to when making music; Having fun!
At times making music can be very high pressure due to time constraints and even genre constraints. But if the stress is the motivation behind the creation of a song then it will never sound as good as one created whilst powered by the enjoyment of creating!
Considering that most music producers and artists will have to listen to their tracks hundreds if not thousands of times in small snippets and in its entirety; you have to have a full on enjoyment of the song, otherwise it can quickly become just a pest that you cant wait to see the back of.
I live to make music, and it will never be the case that i make music to live. Money can play some part in music, but it should never be the driving force. Finishing a song quickly because you need the money from a song is the quickest way to make no sales whatsoever :D
Even when iv'e released a track and the track doesn't magically get a massive hype around it, im still happy! Im only trying to spread the music i make and enjoy and not trying to get others to follow me like a cult of mindless troglodytes.
Musical taste is personal, but that shouldnt be taken personally ;)
Sunday, 22 March 2015
Friday, 20 March 2015
New Single out NOW!
'Take Your Time' is a smooth sensual 80s style super ballad about not rushing relationships and waiting for the right moment....Cliche?? Never!!
Written, produced, performed and publicized all from my log-cabin!
You can buy the track from iTunes
or you can watch the official music video here--->
You can buy the track from iTunes
or you can watch the official music video here--->
Wednesday, 18 March 2015
Better late than never
I forgot to say a few weeks back about the locations you can now buy and listen to my latest EP...MNEMONIC POSSESSION
Amazon
Google Play
Youtube
Bandcamp
The EP is also available on iTunes, Deezer, Rdio and a few other digital music vendors!
Thank you so far for all the amazing support! This EP has been the most fun so far to make!
Amazon
Google Play
Youtube
Bandcamp
The EP is also available on iTunes, Deezer, Rdio and a few other digital music vendors!
Thank you so far for all the amazing support! This EP has been the most fun so far to make!
Sunday, 15 March 2015
The Privilege of thinking differently
Now of course most people who will stumble upon this blog will be here because this blog is linked to the music making side of my life. And whilst it is of course true that making music is one of my biggest passions in life, i don't make music because i want to, i do it because i have to!
Let me explain;
For the last 4 or 5 years i have become increasingly aware that my brain struggles to shut off, and even though it might sound egotistical in some ways; i know that throughout my life i have never met anyone who truly can understand how i think.
Im an only child, something i am very glad of, although i am of course biased to this opinion i feel that being extremely comfortable existing as a singular person and not someones brother or sister grants an extra boost in mental stability. I also think that it lends very well to the idea that only children are much happier when left to their own devices and can make use of alone time to a higher level.
For instance; if you leave me on my own for a few hours with my keyboard and laptop, i will start, write and finish a composition. But if you have someone else in the room at the same time, it is likely that this will slow down my progress. This isn't saying that i cant work well with others, but rather that i am happier solving problems on my own for the reason that there is much more reward when the success isn't shared :)
Its very true that i have never tried to be the best academically in my life, i scrapped through my a-levels and only applied to one university which i got into and then scrapped a 2:2. But this is based mostly on the fact that i have always enjoyed absorbing information in a more natural sense. If you have a tutor or teacher that are telling you what to learn and how to learn it; then there is much less incentive to accept and retain that knowledge. However finding a passion and then improving that passion through your own methods of information gathering and self teaching - can provide something much more worthwhile.
All of this is linked to having a brain that wont shut off. My coping mechanism is to channel my over active synaptic's into something i have chosen to be my passion, and as it was chosen it also means that the outcomes and successes give much bigger rewards. Meaning that the more i create the more rewarding it becomes!
This is why i quit my job to make music.
Tom / Occams Laser
Let me explain;
For the last 4 or 5 years i have become increasingly aware that my brain struggles to shut off, and even though it might sound egotistical in some ways; i know that throughout my life i have never met anyone who truly can understand how i think.
Im an only child, something i am very glad of, although i am of course biased to this opinion i feel that being extremely comfortable existing as a singular person and not someones brother or sister grants an extra boost in mental stability. I also think that it lends very well to the idea that only children are much happier when left to their own devices and can make use of alone time to a higher level.
For instance; if you leave me on my own for a few hours with my keyboard and laptop, i will start, write and finish a composition. But if you have someone else in the room at the same time, it is likely that this will slow down my progress. This isn't saying that i cant work well with others, but rather that i am happier solving problems on my own for the reason that there is much more reward when the success isn't shared :)
Its very true that i have never tried to be the best academically in my life, i scrapped through my a-levels and only applied to one university which i got into and then scrapped a 2:2. But this is based mostly on the fact that i have always enjoyed absorbing information in a more natural sense. If you have a tutor or teacher that are telling you what to learn and how to learn it; then there is much less incentive to accept and retain that knowledge. However finding a passion and then improving that passion through your own methods of information gathering and self teaching - can provide something much more worthwhile.
All of this is linked to having a brain that wont shut off. My coping mechanism is to channel my over active synaptic's into something i have chosen to be my passion, and as it was chosen it also means that the outcomes and successes give much bigger rewards. Meaning that the more i create the more rewarding it becomes!
This is why i quit my job to make music.
Tom / Occams Laser
Thursday, 12 March 2015
How to start in the music industry
Hi, i thought it would be good to share my trade secrets on how to start out in the music industry!
With all kinds of Electronic music the key is social media. Most of the target audience for the genre will not find your music naturally due to the amount of electronic music produced. So to get around this problem (at least at the start) you need to find people who would likely appreciate your music.
For example; if you search the word 'electronic' or 'electro' on Twitter, you will find all the people who have used the word in any tweets, this is where you can pick and choose accounts to follow with the hope that firstly they follow you back and secondly that they might listen/share your music.
(As a side note; i advise that you make a twitter persona specifically for your music, and never tweet about anything but music and your own musical projects. Hopefully you can get an account with your name that you produce under.)
You need to build a healthy enough twitter account that people will discuss your music on a semi-regular basis.
A similar approach also needs to be taken with any and all other social media outlets; google+, facebook, instagram, tumblr, blogspot, and of course Soundcloud & Bandcamp.
Social media is key to the process just because you need a loose following who are likely to publicize your work which ultimately makes the job of promoting any new songs/EP's?Albums much easier and also gaining more chance of captivating new audiences.
The second biggest part of releasing music is the 'how and when' aspect. Over the last year i have worked out that the best approach to keep your followers interested is to release music regularly, by that i mean an average of 1 track a week. In the case of any album or EP you should never post all the songs on the same day as they will instantly lose the extra exposure which you gain from posting them with at least a day in-between.
Also the day and time you release music can be key; if your primary audience is in America then you need to release music according to peak times in america, the peak times for most countries is 5pm. So if your primary audience is in the UK then no time-zones have to be taken into account and 5pm would be the best time.
The day which you post a new song/album is also key to if it will be noticed, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays are regarded as the best days in the UK.
Of course the actual music that you release also has a huge part to do with the success of your music career, and related to this you need to pick a genre and stick to it. Of course you can mildly blend styles but it is KEY that you keep to a certain style or sound so that you are recognizable and distinguishable from others who produce similar music.
Once you have a good following and a strong catalog of music the next step would be to get your music distributed onto sites such as iTunes/Deezer/Rdio/Amazon/Youtube/Spotify/Beats. There are two ways to get your music distributed to these sites and they are signing to a record label or going it alone and using an aggregate site.
With the record label route, you need to contact the record labels that you like personally, and those attached to similar artists within your genre. This can sometimes take a lot of work and time as most record labels will usually be managing multiple artists. Persistence is key.
The other option (using an aggregate) is the choice that i myself have taken. I use a site called 'Distrokid' who distribute to most of the biggest digital distribution sites, of course there is a fee attached to this option however Distrokid is extremely cheap compared to others such as Tunecore, CDBaby and Reverbnation. These other sites do offer similar deals with a few extra sites added onto the list but Distrokid allows you to upload as many Singles/Albums etc as you like for a whole year whereas the other sites charge you for each EP/Single/Album that you upload.
The choice for how you want to get distributed onto major digital music sites is of course personal preference. But whenever you publish new music it is vital to use the social media networks that you have established to drive more people towards what you have created.
Also asking your audience for feedback and engaging actively within the music community will be a sure-fire way to also gain the respect of other music producers within the community.
No matter what, make the music that you want to hear yourself! Passion is obvious and if it shows in your music then you're on the right track.
Tom / Occams Laser
https://soundcloud.com/occams-laser
With all kinds of Electronic music the key is social media. Most of the target audience for the genre will not find your music naturally due to the amount of electronic music produced. So to get around this problem (at least at the start) you need to find people who would likely appreciate your music.
For example; if you search the word 'electronic' or 'electro' on Twitter, you will find all the people who have used the word in any tweets, this is where you can pick and choose accounts to follow with the hope that firstly they follow you back and secondly that they might listen/share your music.
(As a side note; i advise that you make a twitter persona specifically for your music, and never tweet about anything but music and your own musical projects. Hopefully you can get an account with your name that you produce under.)
You need to build a healthy enough twitter account that people will discuss your music on a semi-regular basis.
A similar approach also needs to be taken with any and all other social media outlets; google+, facebook, instagram, tumblr, blogspot, and of course Soundcloud & Bandcamp.
Social media is key to the process just because you need a loose following who are likely to publicize your work which ultimately makes the job of promoting any new songs/EP's?Albums much easier and also gaining more chance of captivating new audiences.
The second biggest part of releasing music is the 'how and when' aspect. Over the last year i have worked out that the best approach to keep your followers interested is to release music regularly, by that i mean an average of 1 track a week. In the case of any album or EP you should never post all the songs on the same day as they will instantly lose the extra exposure which you gain from posting them with at least a day in-between.
Also the day and time you release music can be key; if your primary audience is in America then you need to release music according to peak times in america, the peak times for most countries is 5pm. So if your primary audience is in the UK then no time-zones have to be taken into account and 5pm would be the best time.
The day which you post a new song/album is also key to if it will be noticed, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays are regarded as the best days in the UK.
Of course the actual music that you release also has a huge part to do with the success of your music career, and related to this you need to pick a genre and stick to it. Of course you can mildly blend styles but it is KEY that you keep to a certain style or sound so that you are recognizable and distinguishable from others who produce similar music.
Once you have a good following and a strong catalog of music the next step would be to get your music distributed onto sites such as iTunes/Deezer/Rdio/Amazon/Youtube/Spotify/Beats. There are two ways to get your music distributed to these sites and they are signing to a record label or going it alone and using an aggregate site.
With the record label route, you need to contact the record labels that you like personally, and those attached to similar artists within your genre. This can sometimes take a lot of work and time as most record labels will usually be managing multiple artists. Persistence is key.
The other option (using an aggregate) is the choice that i myself have taken. I use a site called 'Distrokid' who distribute to most of the biggest digital distribution sites, of course there is a fee attached to this option however Distrokid is extremely cheap compared to others such as Tunecore, CDBaby and Reverbnation. These other sites do offer similar deals with a few extra sites added onto the list but Distrokid allows you to upload as many Singles/Albums etc as you like for a whole year whereas the other sites charge you for each EP/Single/Album that you upload.
The choice for how you want to get distributed onto major digital music sites is of course personal preference. But whenever you publish new music it is vital to use the social media networks that you have established to drive more people towards what you have created.
Also asking your audience for feedback and engaging actively within the music community will be a sure-fire way to also gain the respect of other music producers within the community.
No matter what, make the music that you want to hear yourself! Passion is obvious and if it shows in your music then you're on the right track.
Tom / Occams Laser
https://soundcloud.com/occams-laser
Monday, 2 March 2015
New EP is released into the wild!
Hi there guys and gals! My new EP has just launched! Its going to be name your price for the first week on Bandcamp so please go check it out and by all means download it for the extremely good value price of...FREE! (or be a sport and part with your sweet sweet money)
WARNING - ears may become pregnant with 80s nostalgia.
(the EP will also be available on iTunes/Amazon/Spotify/Deezer/Tidal/Beats/Youtube all very soon)
(the EP will also be available on iTunes/Amazon/Spotify/Deezer/Tidal/Beats/Youtube all very soon)
Sunday, 1 March 2015
Mnemonic Possession!!
I can officially announce that there will be a new 4 track Occams Laser EP launching in the next few days! The title of this instrumental marvel is....MNEMONIC POSSESSION
The EP will be name your price on Bandcamp for the first week and will also be available on iTunes/Amazon/Beats/Spotify as well as many other digital outlets.
There is also another EP planned for release which will be much more vocal-centric which i aim to have out very soon, however its not quite ready for your ears just yet :)
Here is some topical concept art to whet your whistle;
The EP will be name your price on Bandcamp for the first week and will also be available on iTunes/Amazon/Beats/Spotify as well as many other digital outlets.
There is also another EP planned for release which will be much more vocal-centric which i aim to have out very soon, however its not quite ready for your ears just yet :)
Here is some topical concept art to whet your whistle;
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