“The Mood” - Blog #10: “Thank? You???”
This is a blog about my appreciation for people's appreciation despite them not appreciating what I hoped they'd appreciate. Still with me?
Since announcing that Rosedale will be discontinued at the end of this tour I've been getting a lot of love and support from some really great people. It's been interesting to see the people that truly enjoy my music get excited and encourage this next chapter while, on the other hand, seeing the fans who only come inside for the "Take On Me" cover post the same crying emojis they decline my show invites with... and how they'll miss Rosedale. (Is there a rolling eyes emoji out there?)
I've been getting the inevitable direct messages (that I always prefer to be public...) asking how I feel about closing up Rosedale- a lot of disbelief and sadness/condolences. The truth is I've never felt better about moving on from this chapter. Rosedale unfolded in a very cute/crazy/organic way and now it's time to grow its maine. The fact I no longer have to nurture these songs is not tragic! In fact, we are lucky, as artists, to be able to paint our kids (songs) all sorts of bright, expressive colors and have them on display for all to visit (for a small annual fee of $40 or whatever...depending on your distributor.) And as I continue my sweaty, tetius walk down my kids' death row, I kinda feel like I'm ending the chapter by Turning Pro. It's not only a victory lap (for me and the wonderful Rosedaliens), it also kinda feels like I'm incorporating my business. (Stephen Pressfield calls that one of the first steps of turning pro in his brilliant non-fiction; The War of Art.) It's no longer mine and nothing is personal.
Maybe saying my kids are on death row is a stretch... Here's a better analogy; my kids (songs) have had some great schooling, a few rough classes, tarnished friendships and summers in there, and now they're about to graduate college! The best part is they've somehow managed to beat the system and pay back their college debt/loans! That's better than any diploma/scammy-record-deal! They even found jobs for when they get out! (Signed a publishing deal with Consonance Publishing!) Jee-wiz kids, great job! I don't need to parent you guys anymore! Be free! I'ma go make more of you! PS, Some of them are already in pre-school! (Pre-production!!!) This analogy has gone way too far though I could easily keep going. I'll wrap it up with a self-
LYRIC PARTY!!!
"You need to be in love with it!
Like your child you want it to be the best"
- ROSEDALE, Sustain
It has also been flattering to see a lot of comments and messages about the impact Rosedale has had on people's lives. Impacting lives is what I love most about being a musician because I'm literally (physically and metaphorically) the biggest FanBoy to my favorite bands/artists. With the amount of alone time I've had in vehicles, practice rooms, venues, gyms, hospitals, beds etc. I basically studied every nuance of my favorite albums and they ring through my head more often than not. That's what is so awesome about the artform music; You can revisit a song that impacts you over and over and usually never get sick of it.
I played a Deathcab For Cutie cover set (as one of my three acoustic sets) at my show in Seattle last week and everyone in the room, myself included, was surprised at how many songs I knew word-for-word from these Seattle legends. Some of the chords I was just guessing and learning as I went and it was shockingly on (mostly). All it goes to show is the countless times I've listened to these masterpieces. And, obviously, like any artist, similar nuances and influences from them pop in-and-out of Rosedale's songs like the gopher on Caddyshack! So to hear that my music has inspired someone, even in the slightest, makes me that much more stoked to take on this next step in my musical journey!
And It also got me thinking about all of the help I've had over these wavey 14 years. I couldn't touch these amazing lives if it wasn't for all of those generous friends/allies/companies that I've met along the way. To see all the comments and messages from even some friends that moved overseas and some I haven't seen for years that would put me up in the early stages/off-days of my touring. All the friends that brought food to the show for me to devour. Even some employees from the companies that endorse Rosedale read the farewell blog and are being super supportive of my decision! So I can't even imagine trying to name off ALL of the thank you's in order for all I owe, but I really do want you all know I'm extremely grateful and I couldn't get nearly this far without all of you chipping in (big or small).
On that note, something that has been buzzing around my head for the last while; The more I "grow" this "business", the more I realize it's almost a semi-charity. Not only financially, amongst this tight group of spread-out supporters, but even with strangers that I come across on tour that just wanna help (in any way shape or form). There have been several instances were bands and fans offer to stick around and help me load out my insane amounts of gear. And instead of people signing up for the mailing list, I've been getting a lot of letters of encouragement and gratitude on the backs of the social cards. I've even had venue employees come offer me pot for my travels even though I don't smoke pot. And I've lost count of how many drink offers I've turned into merch sales.
In my last blog I referenced a growing, common expression (that I'm convinced I started); 'people suck, but I/ you [plural] rock!' It's been my honest response to many awesome Rosedaliens and especially musicians as they get off stage and give me their condolences for the given show's poor attendance. It usually goes something like;
Great established local band willing to donate their fans by playing last: "Dude your set was amazing and unlike anything I've ever seen, really sorry a bunch of our people couldn't make it, [insert unfortunate culprit* specific to this night], we usually have at least triple the crowd..."
Rosedale: "Don't mention it, almost all my [city] friends bailed last minute too. And I really appreciate you guys playing and especially closing out the show. People suck, but you guys rock!
(*Culprits include: Twilight/StarWars/Saw midnight premiere, finals week/prom/grad, popular friend/relative's birthday, family in town, the game/fight, other show in town, virus going around, it being a weeknight, everyone's away for the weekend...all the excuses big ticket/Live Nation shows never suffer from.)
But culprits aside, I notice more and more each day that there are a lot of followers that just simply wanna see me do well. They listen to a completely different style of music, and some might actually enjoy my music/show, but a lot of people would much rather hang out and have a conversation with me than see my show. They're captivated by my work ethic and my lifestyle but their taste in music is nothing similar to mine.
I have new fans come up to me after a set and say "that wasn't really my style of music but I loved your sound/songs/passion" etc. Or: "Man that brought me back to when I was 16 and I loved every second of it"... in the back of my mind I'm thinking 'well damn... what are the chances this human is gonna follow me on Spoti-lie or whatever?'..."Thank? You???"
Why have many people totally lost interest in my sound? What happened? We're in quite the juxtaposition with pop-rock/emo/power-pop right now; Everyone seems to be bashing power-pop/emo/myspace bands from the early 2000s online yet Emo nights are the coolest new night out.
Here's my biggest theory; phone speakers have killed headphones! These epic, brilliantly produced power-pop bands were huge when discmen and video-charts were a thing. Right up until iPods got built in speakers. Once our phone speakers were the means of showing a friend a new song, fake drums and cheap productions started flourishing and nobody cared about the new Yellowcard records. Vocal harmonies AT ALL TIMES became the only way to sit through a power-pop melody as everything was just being blasted through these little treble-speakers. It was only a matter of time before side-chain compression and dubstep ate up our data plans, not to mention lo-fi hipster rock. I digress, I do see a lot of people with headphones at the gym...but why are they laughing?! They're listening to a conversation/comedy/podcast! And I'm often one of them! To be clear, none of this is me thinking that I'm better than anyone. We are all just at a weird stage of technology where we just wanna hang out and have a conversation- sometimes without actually hanging out and conversing. Music has become the background noise! It's the same reason why many people at shows would much rather stand outside and talk about their lives.
I'd hate for people to think that's the main reason I'm ending Rosedale. Though it definitely plays its role. There's no denying that it is harder than ever to get new original pop-rock out to the masses. Evidently, there are a lot of supporters that would rather listen to Rosedale on mute and talk with me about life after the show! I'm just saying I really don't know how to feel about them! Thank? ...You???
It's definitely not just in my head or a reflection of what I'm putting out. I go hard and definitely put out positive vibes. This is a reality I'm seeing a lot and I'm just being honest with you. I literally see supporters come out to a show FOR ROSEDALE, dance around awkwardly for the first two-three songs, they usually take a quick vid for their stories, then decide to stand outside for the remainder of my set. It's been happening a lot. This is not me being hard on myself- or "chirping Rosedale". I'll say it again; people suck, I rock. And so do many other artists. But we are at a weird funk with appreciating new art.
But I will say, to counter the modest-level-headedness in that last part; I know for certain if I were to walk into a venue and see/hear what Rosedale has going on, I'd be front row shouting "YESSSS!" Many artists have that 'yesss' reaction. They appreciate the work and experience behind the show/production and recognize the ear worms potential in these songs. Another common complement I get from bands after shows is something like "if you aren't signed, with that show and those songs, my band is doomed!" How do I respond to that?... Thank? You??? But ...Sustain??
There's so many things I wanna say about a modern day touring musician's struggle in our distracted society. And these blogs are just one person's opinion to the many pieces of the pie that exist in the day and age of distracted audiences. It's getting really hard to present these views, still sound optimistic (cause I am), and still be grateful for the supporters who try to come out and get through a Rosedale set, (because I am grateful- despite their resentment for whiny emo vocals.) It's a weird time where most people at the show are just there as a favor for their friend (my friends included). And until there's a room full of people jumping up and down, it's a hard sell with high energy/production/performance songs. As much as I see glowing eyes from the other bands during my set, I see a lot of yawning from their friends.
So all of that last paragraph is the main reason I'm going to be shifting these blogs to a podcast typesetting. Something where I can get immediate feedback from at least one other person on some of this stuff. Hopefully some ideas and solutions for some of these struggles come out of it. Plus, it'll give me a chance to publicly expose some of these deep conversations I truly enjoy having (as repetitive as they have become) and expose new artists that can get their message and music out in a new/unique way.
Aside from that news, some other cool news going on for Rosedale that I'm extremely grateful for; I've been getting some awesome help from a cool company called RYFO. If you're a touring artist/band, or thinking about touring, definitely check them ryfo.org. They basically have families around North America that are all about helping touring bands/artists on the road. I've been treated like royalty from a couple amazing RYFO families already and I just signed up. So if you like comfy beds, free laundry, and good home cooked meals hit up the RYFO website and show them some love. And if you love helping bands on the road, sign your home up! We all really appreciate the help.
Also, I mentioned the publishing deal with Consonance Publishing. They're a very musician friendly company/studio in Denver that set up a deal that works perfectly with where the industry is at and where I'm at.
Big thanks to my friends in Creature Canopy in Denver for hooking that up. They're avid readers of my blogs too so, like Mrs.Liorti, they're my invisible audience as I write these rambles. So thank you guys for being such GG brothers (Genuine + Generous brothers...its funny cus they play Magic and D&D...so GG..haha... actually means Good Game...I think?? My brother always says it.) Check out Creature Canopy and support them even if you're not into dancy electro pop, you'll still like them. Their show is next level too.
One last thing that coincides with this confusing appreciation blog; I wrote and recorded a charity song for this cool organization called Sing Me A Story. Basically kids in need write stories and musicians make their stories into songs. It's a pretty cool concept and I found a great story from this 13 year old boy named Alex. You can check out the song and story here:
https://singmeastory.org/stories/filled-with-thankfulness?song=922
They made this cool video to go with it too.
https://youtu.be/uSCwVS9Bixg
I also did a podcast with Ben from Unsynd. There's a lot of me talking about the same stuff as in this blog but more of a webcam podcast setting.
Thanks for reading, thanks for supporting, and especially THANKS FOR LISTENING TO ROSEDALE'S MUSIC ;)
(Headphones, people. Headphones/earbuds/in-ears... block out the distractions and get lost in high quality stereo)
LYRIC PARTY:
"She's dancing alone
I'm ready to go but she's so
Lost in stereo, lost in stereo
She's out of control, so beautiful
In stereo, lost in stereo
And I've been waiting for so long
But she'll never know
I'm losing hope 'cause she's so
Lost in stereo, lost in stereo
Lost in stereo, lost in stereo" - All Time Low - Lost in Stereo
SHOWS THIS WEEK:
6/13 - Sacramento, CA @ Cafe Colonial
6/14 - Cupertino, CA @ Homestead Bowl & Xbar
6/15 - Bakersfield, CA @ Sandrini’s
6/16 - Las Vegas, NV @ Evel Pie
6/20 - Pomona, CA @ The Legacy Room
6/23 - San Diego, CA @ Soma
