FLEXEMIX
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Looking for UK's next big artistAll artists are very selfish
Making it big in the music industry
'What goes around' by Justin Timberlake on accordion
Finally blogging about music
Flexemix weblog
Looking for UK's next big artist
Before you read this please note that I have already helped one person sign a deal with Bay Boy Records (specifically with Mario Winans), got another rap crew a UK record deal and taken another female artist to a Channel 4 show Chancers after presenting material I recorded with her to Jade Richardson from Polydor. This is real stuff I am talking about.
I am currently looking for a person who matches the following criteria:
A hard working artist (has to be this as I have met many talented, but lazy people who will never end up anywhere in life - 'talent is only 1% of being a genious. The rest is all just hard work').
Singer/rapper (quality is relative - I can make anyone sound descent - it is a bonus if you sound descent to start off with, since with my production you will sound amazing! That's the only thing I can guarantee)
Preferably a female - I find it that guys are a little too sensitive (believe it or not) and cannot listen to save their lives - both traits are very bad when working on music. A role of a producer is to get the most out of the artist, and not to do as they say they think the song should be done. Its a two way street.
Musical style is not an issue as long as you are passionate about what you are doing - R&B/Pop (or street pop as I like to call it) would be preferable, but anything will go as long as you want your music to sound 'da bom!'.
You ought to be based in London unless you have the facilities to record you own vocals and upload them to FTP for me to download and mix at therefore finalise the product. I am based in South West London (near Brixton), so bare the location in mind.
Flexible - you will need to be able to listen and learn, but also bring in your own ideas, concepts, visions and thoughts. If you can write songs which just need polishing off, then that is perfect. You also need to be open to many various types of music and influences. There is no point in always just saying that Timberland is the king - most of his hit music came from India, so...
You don't need to be famous or even have recorded something semi-professional, as long as you can commit to regular recording sessions once a week, for example, and are willing to give it your best in order to make as good a product as possible.
You need to look descent. There is no point in contaacting me if you look very bad since I am looking to make a professional, long term commercial act, and since looks are a major part of entertainment business, you need to look at least descent. Good looks are a bonus of course!
If you play an instrument that is also a bonus, but it is not required by any means. Just need to sing or rap really.
So if you fit this description please do contact me as soon as possible! I am ready to work with a serious artist ASAP.
Regards,
Jason
13th May 2007
10:16 AM
Music
(3)
Comments
All artists are very selfish
I think I have just worked out the reason why artists are very selfish human beings.
In most cases this is due to the fact that people are selfish by nature and do not like to share their knowledge and wisdom with others (like I am doing here right now), but also (in smaller number of cases), because giving others the right to 'manage' them is like signing your life away to another person.
People love to 'be right' and in UK we are 'all always right' and we all also have a very different view and take on what is good and what should be recorded next (some are even having different views on what should have been recorded before!).
On various different occasions I have tried to explain to people my own vision of music and some concepts I have had, usually to have them shot down by people who do not have a better vision, but are more like lazy bastards who simply hate to see someone else have a good idea and maybe turn it into a concrete product.
Another reason why you might want to be selfish is because other people may want to stake a claim on some of your own intellectual property (we have all heard of those dreaded stories of someone else pushing a knob on a mixer during a recording process and later on finding themselves as 'Executive Producer' of the whole album).
A formula for success is usually to have a good 'structure' on approaching the industry, knowing exactly what can be said, what should be done over a contract and what should simply be left untold.
An artist should be able to keep control over their portfolio of work and make money from it at the same time – yes they need to be in demand, which usually means being quite unique (which is what most people struggle with the most).
So, selfishness runs in the industry and it is often understandable – with us here the idea is to be open as much as possible with the right people in order to create long term positive results for all, have fun while doing it and therefore make some money in the process as well (actually, make that 'make lots of money in the process as well').
14th Apr 2007
7:09 PM
Industry
Comment
Making it big in the music industry
More I am working on music projects, more I realise that one extremely important rule of leadership applies to music industry more than probably any other industry (other than maybe media industry).
The rule is quite simple, but extremely difficult for most people (especially in the City of London) to implement.
Care about others!
What does this mean?
To care about others means to be want to hear what other people are talking about and to be genuinely interested in what they have to say.
If you are able to be like that you will know what people want and what they are looking to avoid and there also be able to see whether you will be able to work/collaborate with them or not.
This is incredibly important in a creative process, where the 'vibe' is all people will have initially before creating anything.
If there is no vibe, you are most likely not to have a product worth listening to at the very end.
But creating a vibe requires having to be interested in what other people are saying and will say and be willing to share with them some thoughts and get the most out what they want to talk about.
You are best off not talking too much, but letting other people talk, while you are asking questions about what they are talking about.
I have learnt this fact through reading books about leadership and through simple observation during production sessions – there is no point in trying to force an artist to do what they (think they) don't want to do.
This approach has a downside to it in so far that with this approach it is often hard to influence other people, but if you found yourself in a company of a successful music industry person, you are likely not to be able to influence them anyway, since they are already 'influenced enough'.
What you will be able to do it to leave a good impression and show that you are nice and polite and that you care about what they are talking about – your aim should be to pick up as much wisdom and/or knowledge as possible in order to be able to apply it to your own work (learning should be a non-stop aim for every successful person in the world).
So start really caring about people or work that people who you would like to be like are and are involved in.
Soon it will pay off in a very positive way, I can guarantee that to you.
14th Apr 2007
3:29 PM
Industry
Comment
'What goes around' by Justin Timberlake on accordion
There are various different ideas and concepts scattered around various different communications channels about what FlexeMix should be getting involved in immediately in order to raise awareness about our existence.
There are some ideas which have been lined up for YouTube re-works, including a possible Justin Timberlake cover of the song 'What goes around' on accordion! Wait and see if (and more like when) that idea comes to fruition.
I first have to practice in the song and make sure I am able to give it my own two cents of extra value, partly because it is quite a boring beat on its own and partly because there is so much more that can and needs to be done on it.
Often here we are very picky about the way in which we do our work – unlike most artists we are often swamped with ideas and concepts and are trying to battle down to make sure that only the best ideas make it to the final recording step of the project.
This should be an interesting take on a song which (unlike many pop songs) has some sort of a feeling in it and therefore I am able to feel it and will hopefully be able to put a nice little unusual spin on it.
One thing is for sure – I hate practising, but this time I am willing to make an exception to the rule, sit down, focus and make sure that I am doing the best I can on this – I am not going to dedicate more than 1 day to this project as it is simply going to be a fairly quick promotional show piece.
10th Apr 2007
7:14 PM
Ideas
(1)
Comment
Finally blogging about music
I am not going to say much at this point, just to make a quick note for the sake of testing out the publishing system.
Please stay tuned for the Flexemix.com music publishing network where we are going to be posting some very interesting material relating to music industry in UK and worldwide.
We are business people who are passionate about music and the process of creativity. Please always bare that in mind about us.
Also, spark up you RSS readers and what not, since we are likely to be posting quite frequently about our experiences and whereabouts.
Stay tuned! Peace out!
7th Apr 2007
5:59 PM
Music
Comment
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