New Review

Check out the review which showed up this morning in my inbox! I love waking to good news : ) You can also see one of the posts below for a story on how I made contact with the writer Rob Smith : )
http://popdose.com/rob-smith-cant-say-no-mahri-autumn/

Women of Substance- Radio

Found out this week I have been selected through Sonic Bids to be featured on Women of Substance Radio.
Check it out HERE : )

Reviews

I have been collating together some of my favorite reviews from the album so far. Here is the link : ) Reviews of -ri-solv-

Reaching out to the world

Although I have summarized my experience with Music Success in 9 Weeks in the last post there are a few things on my list which I want to complete. Including : a list of my favorite blog sites, some more stories about the power of reaching out and some thoughts on the idea of creating a funnel and some exciting merchandise options for this. I am also working on writing A Web 2 Guide - Supporting Independent Musicians For Friends, Fans and Supporters of Independent Culture. S.I.M.F.F.F.S.I.C

In this post I will look at ideas about how to approach bloggers, podcaster, music critics. What Ariel suggests and what definitely seems the most successful approach, although more time consuming, is to simply make friends online. I mean really..... find people who are doing things you think are great, who inspire you and let them know you have heard, seen or read their work. Participate in their blogs and/or tell them you have read one of their reviews or listened to their podcasts. Actually using the media as a consumer, that you are hoping to be promoted on, is instructive and inspiring in terms of the other musicians you may meet and..... realistically if you don't like the music they are playing/promoting they probably won't like yours.

There are a few bloggers/ internet radio folks I would like to mention for being so wonderfully supportive. The Justin Wayne Show, Miss Morrison's Mix, Dan Herman of Radio Crystal Blue, Don Campeau of No Pigeon Holes. There are more but these are the folk who have been particularly supportive of my work. So ... Thanks : ) To be honest I am still working on my list of 50 blogs. I have about 20 so far.

This week I had another great communication with a music writer who writes for Pop Dose. Rob Smith.

I noticed that he had written a review of a recently released album by one of my favorite singers Clare Burson. So I wrote him an email saying I loved the review and telling him about how I had made contact with Brian Siskind in New York City (who mixed and mastered my first album -ri-solv- through email) via Clare Burson and Mike Scott of the Waterboys. I sent links to my music as well. He replied-It turned out he loved Mike Scott and so I sent him the longer version of the story. He really loved the story, listened to some of the album and is planning to write a review of it : ) Life really can progress through a series of inspirations from other people. Focussing in on what REALLY inspires you and telling people about it is what Ariel does and suggests others do. It really does seem to work. Its a lovely way of operating in the world : ) Here is the story I sent to Rob Smith.

.............................................
When I was 13 I thought the Waterboys and Mike Scott were the most amazing thing. I loved their loose passionate sound, the pounding piano and his VOICE!

So... I wrote my first and last ever piece of fan mail to Mike Scott.
Weeks later I received this back : )



I was 15 and in my first band. It made a huge impact on me. Someone who i admired greatly had just reached through the ether, via the old fashioned postal service, and given me a real sense that anything was possible. I could indeed be a musician : )

More than 20 years later after working in the music scene as a percussionist, touring with influential indie pop line up 'machine translations' nationally and internationally, I finally got around to developing my own work and I joined myspace.

Setting up my first online presence involved filling out the 'Your influences' section. Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm Mike Scott....... hmmmmmmmm that card..... I ran down stairs to the treasure box in the garage, scrummaged through a number of boxes and .... there it was....

I walked back up stairs with it in my hand, remembering the impact it had had on me and.... thought... hmmmm I wonder if Mike Scott is on Myspace?

Yes he was : ) So i scanned the card and sent him a message and again received a lovely message back : ) ( which reminds me I must send him a copy of the completed album : )... )

Anyway in the process I noticed a young singer from NYC who Mike had discovered on myspace and had given her the support slot to the Waterboys for their NYC shows. Clare Burson. I loved the sound of her album
'Theives' so I did some research on how it was produced and discovered Brian Siskind had co produced it. I heard his sounds and was blown away. There is something about his work which stands out. Its complex and yet spatial, carefully constructed and yet completely organic. He creates sounds you want to inhabit not just listen to from afar. I befriended him on myspace left a comment on his site thanking him for his gorgeous sounds.

Almost 12 months later I received a lovely message from him saying he was really enjoying my sounds and that he would like to come to Australia and produce a record! Once again that wonderful sense that anything was possible imbued my life and being. 12 months later we had made an album together. Completely via email and internet uploads. Files recorded uploaded listened to, tweaked, re recorded uploaded tweaked... conversations going back and forth on sounds, frequencies... I would wake at 3 in the morning and check my inbox.... or wake at 7am knowing it was afternoon in NYC and feeling like I had slept in.

It was an amazing time in which I learnt so much- ensconced in headphones marveling at the 3 dimensional spaces he was creating with my work.

So - ri-solv - is the result. I am proud of it. I think it is a beautiful album. I guess it is an out come of reaching out and having people reach back and make you feel like anything is possible : )

9 Weeks?????

Somehow 9 weeks have passed. 9 weeks that have made a real difference to my focus and clarity around who I am, what I do and why I am doing it. 9 weeks which have given me the tools to move forward with a sense of both adventure and surety.
The beauty of Music Succcess in 9 Weeks is in posing the right questions as much as giving you some great answers and starting points for discoveries.
As Derek Sivers (music biz guru) pointed out....... one of the hardest things to do as a musician is to actually admit you want to make money! To actually admit that you want to be successful. There can be a real resistance to working out how to combine art, the core of your being and art as commerce. Art and commerce do not have to be opposed. Commerce can be imbued with ethics, social responsibility and creativity. Art can be completely crass commercialism. Music Success in 9 weeks gives you the tools to find your own creative middle path between these things.
What is wonderful about Ariel's approach, and the approach made possible by web 2 technologies, is that 'success' is as diverse as the people seeking it. Music success is no longer something industry driven by a hand full of men in suits and A& R folk. Success does not have to mean selling out, handing over your rights, being served white powders on plates or waltzing around with 10 sexy young things on your arm. Success might just be gaining some well deserved respect from your peers, making global connections with people who keep you inspired, who may well become "real" friends, who make your day by saying something you need to hear, who excite the hell out of you and make you want to promote them as much or more as you want to promote yourself : )
Music Success in 9 weeks and Web 2 technologies are about reaching out to the world- Reaching out to people who you think are doing great things and saying, hi !
Derek Sivers again is the master of this. If he thinks you are cool. He doesn't just say you are cool he says... you are 'totally super awsome'. If you reach out he reaches back.
This is what is so exciting about web 2 technologies. It allows communication across the world with people who seriously excite you. People who, pre web 2 technologies, your chances of communicating with were slim. Web 2 technologies and the approaches in Music Success in 9 Weeks can have you casually chatting to people who can change the color of your day and your career: )
Music Success in 9 weeks has helped me become clearer about who I am and where I want to take my music . It has enouraged me to reach out to the world, make new friends, approach the world as endless opportunities to find people to share with, to help out, to say good things about... to inspire and to be inspired by.

Music Success in 9 Weeks rocks and so do You Ariel : ) Thanks !

Heading out of Town

Heading off for 10 days of dancing, music and catching up with some of my
favorite and inspirational mentors, friends and collaborators. YAY. I am testing blogging fro
my phone.... Hmmmm it's a little fiddly... I need a lap top! I have much to report but must sleep now early start :)

I have been blogging over in myspace about blogging here.... gosh....blogs within blogs within blogs : ) I set up my Garden Blog yesterday too.... it's called Lush Garden... Needs more work..Here is my myspace blog about this Blog Challenge "Music Success in 9 Weeks" and what it means to me to be an artist. Me thinks it is the beginning of my round up for the challenge too....
Myspace Blog

WIDGETS

Hmmmmm i have been cutting and pasting codes and getting lost in my web world today. Finally a widget with an inbuilt Mp3 gift : ) Kinda bigger than I wanted but.... hmmmmmmmm



It is working on my myspace now : )

I also have a Reverb Nation profile and account : ) So a productive day of cutting and pasting code around the web : )

Expanding email lists and Real Live Networking

ok - so I am a little behind this week- oops- I just finished my term of teaching drum circles in schools and now.... school hoooliiidaays : ))))) One of my kid groups performed for end of term, so its been crazy! I now have 3 to 4 days to catch up with lots of admin before I leave for Canberrra and Melbourne for 10 days of dance workshops with internationally acclaimed dance artist Suraya Hilal. I am drumming for some of the training and then will dance the rest of the time! With this on the horizon I have also been working hard on a piano piece with my collaborator Sarah Hamilton as we will do some development work on it with Suraya Hilal next week. Its exciting as ever. This will be the 5th year I have done the workshop.

Ok so- hmmmmmmmm some of the things I am yet to address in Music Success in 9 Weeks ...... Expanding my mailing list....well.... I think I have been more successful over the past few years expanding my web site in person than on line. I have decided I need to design a mailing list form and buy a few clip boards so I can hand them around at performances more easily.

I still have not quite got to adding more email list/ free mp3 things around my sites. It is working here but hmmmmmmm after some research it seems like reverb nation still have the simplest version of this. Gotta look at this more today........

This week I also had a gig for a 50th birthday. I played drums for some of my favorite dancers, Tribal Jewels. It reminded me that this kind of work is fun, makes people really happy and pays well. It is also a chance to network and promote all my activities- From drum and dance classes and performances as well as singer songwriter albums and performances. We made some great new friends who were really happy to further promote our work. It made me realize I need to revamp my cards perhaps even a 3 sided card which has my drum/dance activities - singer songwriter and composition for film/media arts projects.

Part of me thinks it's overkill to promote everything at the same time but ....... I think perhaps people should not be underestimated in terms of their attention spans and their interest in fairly diverse areas of the arts. As Ariel says in Week 7- you never quite know who you are speaking with and how you might be able to help each other out with performances/ venues/marketing..... LIFE : ) Drum/Dance gigs can make new fans for my singer songwriter material and last week I sold a singer songwriter CD to a woman who had seen me drum and dance. So hmmmmmm it's all related and I think people are intrigued by artists who work across a number of fronts. I also have maybe found a new studio to teach from by doing a gig and chatting with people.

Another example of the worth of chatting online and off is I recently scored free tickets to a percussion concert featuring one of the most well known and respected percussionists River P Guergerian. From a post on a google group conversation I ended up with free tickets and then I introduced myself at the concert and thanked him, we had a great chat and talked about meeting up next time he comes out for a play and so now I have a lovely contact with a wonderfully inspiring artist : )

so yes...... approaching people as potential friends is made so much easier through the web but the in person contacts are really important too : )

This week I also decided to start a blog for my organic /permaculture garden. Partly for fun, partly because I like the idea of inspiring people to grow their own food and partly cause its refreshing to write about something other than ME : )



Ok I am going to stop blabbering on and do some work on email lists. I have also started mapping out ideas for products and merchandise and how to create the funnel for week 8's exercise..... more soon ......

Communication for so many of us has become based around screens within screens within screens..... Fun though, to create global networks. To share ideas with people on the other side of the planet. To build communities based around shared information. Ways of being and sharing with folk who otherwise would be out of reach- people who are in a similar head space despite their geographic distance. This week I have been collating my blog contacts. Week 4 of Ariel Hyat's book Music Success in 9 weeks suggests making a list of 50 blog sites that you want to send stuff to. It has been good to start putting all the information in one place. I have made contact with a number of bloggers since the album came out in March with some success. It was good today to put all the contact information in one place with notes on whether I have sent them anything and whether they have published anything. Bloggers and podcasters are GREAT! Once you find people who like your work they are so supportive. Its a win win for both of you. If you make music they like and you have concise information on what you do and who you are and some decent press shots, and the music in a format they can easily access then it's easy for them and you get some promotion and feedback from it. I am still working on the list and will post at least some of it when I am done.

I have also been gradually revamping my sites. Making sure the blurbs, pitches are consistent and all the links are working etc...It is time consuming work as I currently have lots of sites. Including facebook, twitter, sonic bids, unearthed, myspace, last FM, You Tube, Flikr, this blog... a drumming blog, a general blog and www.mahriautumn.com... hmmmm that's a kinda crazy amount going on. Some of them are working better than others. My You Tube site is the one that has really taken off. I have almost 250,000 hits on my drumming video. It's near the top of my priority list to harness this interest. I need to make more clips and funnel the hits into some kind of sale able items...... also looking in to using advertising maybe.

Week 5 of the book is about Mailing Lists and thinking about your "fan" base and thinking through what the options are for engaging with them. Hmmmmmmm my mailing list is VERY small. Much work to be done here. Still have not succesfully sorted the opt in email thing. I have different strategies working on different sites. Need to consolidate it. Need some help with this. Getting there though.

Meanwhile I am looking at an option of doing some life coaching/career guidance sessions with one of my favorite artists to help focus my creative activities. I will keep you posted on that. Meanwhile 2, i have been training in dance, walking up the mountain as I have 10 days of drumming and dance workshops coming up in a few weeks : ) Meanwhile 3, I have been working on my new piano piece. Meanwhile 4, I have been in communication with Brian Siskind who helped make my album ri-solv about how we might approach the next project. Meanwhile 4, working hard with my drumming schools project. Meanwhile 4, enjoying spring in my garden. Meanwhile 5, checking out some of my friends theatre shows in the Sydney Fringe Festival : ) all good : ) Must sleeeeeep ..........

Blogs, social media, facebook, twitter, myspace, flikr, You Tube, Ariel Hyat, Derek Sivers

Just discovered my main link to my web site from here was not working : ( Fixed now. Ok so I have a confession. I have been following cyber PR queen Ariel Hyat's work for a while now. It was only week one of the blog challenge that I actually bought the whole Music Success in 9 weeks- but i have been reading as much as I can of the bits she releases and also checking out her YouTube clips etc for atleast a year: ) So I have a little head start on some of these things.

My first lessons with creating a cyber web world was with myspace. I joined back in 2007. I was in the process of working on my first album and it was very exciting to begin to release things to the world in such an easy way. Great to be able to publish things as they were progressing and start getting some feedback without actually having "published" it yet. I began to realise how much easier it was to get feedback from people a little further removed. I started making some wonderful contacts with industry people, other musicians, people who were really inspiring me on so many levels. Myspace is where I met Brian Siskind who I ended up making my first album -ri-solv- with.

I also have made lasting contacts with radio people, bloggers and other musicians. There is so much for me to share on this subject. So much of Ariel's writing rings true with me. Using web 2 technology to find people you genuinely have something in common with, who you are genuinely interested in, who inspire you and who want to support your work is a wonderful journey. One of the first blogs I started to follow was of Ariel's friend and colleague Derek Sivers. (founder of CD Baby) His blog is always interesting and always inspiring. It ranges from tips on being a musician, being an entrepreneur, web 2 marketing to more general ideas and stories about how to be a better human being : ) I signed up for his RSS news feed and after watching and reading for a while I began leaving the occasional reply. After leaving maybe 3 replies on random threads, topics I was genuinely interested in I received an email from Derek Sivers! At first I thought... hmmmmm must be an automated response when someone leaves more than 3 messages. I thought... ahh well I shall respond anyway and see what happens... What happened was we got into an extended email exchange - I sent him copies of my music and links to my web sites and he gave me invaluable encouragement, advice and inspiration. He is a wonderfully positive and inspiring human being and his encouragement came at a time that I really needed it. My favorite line of his was to tell me he thought I was " totally super awesome" . Not just awesome or super but "totally super awesome" : ) There have been many more of these stories of connecting with amazing people through social networks and blogging. It allows you to connect and speak with people it would otherwise be almost impossible to ever meet. I shall relate some more of these stories over the coming weeks. Time to rest up for my big day. Teaching drum circles with children, catch up with a friend then dance training and then a rehearsal.

Oh and also today I applied for an Artist in Residency program in Sydney for a few months next year. I would get access to a living space and rehearsal/performance/gallery space for a few months next year. It would be a great opportunity to promote my work in Sydney and really foster some creative collaborations next year: )

Ariel Hyat's- Music Success in 9 weeks cont...Reviews, widgets and more

Week 4 ish of Ariel Hyat's Blog Challenge: Music Success in 9 Weeks.
Today I got bogged down in researching widgets. I am looking for something which will do the email in exchange for a free download idea. I have this happening on my website www.audionarcissist.com but need to find an easy way of doing it for every page on my website and on my numerous blogs and social media sites. I have been exploring reverb nation and fizzkicks.com. Neither of them seem like completely straight forward options. Both involve setting up yet another profile. Meanwhile, I have been on the topspin green room google group list for some time now. So I have been watching closely how different music marketing folks are operating. It's a great network which I have learnt HEAPS from : ) I also made some great connections through it including getting blog coverage and reviews through making contact with Justin Wayne of the Justin Wayne Show. He is one of those fantastic bloggers who genuinely loves and is passionate about supporting independent musicians. He not only promoted my work on his show but also sent off links to my work to a number of his associates all over the world : )

Anyway- hmmmmmm still lots of work to do on that one. And decisions to be made in terms of who to go with for widgets. There are lots of options. The somewhat cynical side of me wonders if there is more money to be made in making musicians 'think' they can make money than in actually making any money for musicians. Yes, a little dark thought ; ) But really there are so, so, so many folk trying to work out how to crack the web 2 music making code and it's completely baffling some days. A constantly changing landscape. On a good day it's exciting and feels like i am part of a cultural revolution. Where 'people' can decide for themselves what music they like and which artists they want to support rather than it being decided for them by industry fat cats. On a not so good day I wonder if most people are always going to need someone else to tell them what music is good. The truth is probably somewhere in between : )

The upside of today was I collated and edited the best of the reviews I have got from my first album- ri-solv- and posted them to my website http://mahriautumn.com/news and also to my myspace

I also got a lovely message from a radio presenter in Sydney who had heard my album and thinks "it's great" and is offering to help promote it in Sydney for me. So heartwarming the way people reach out to you. It means so much right now : )

Week 3 of Music Success in 9 Weeks

Hmmmmmm Week 3 is proving to be a little tricky. I have lots of different sites to re- assess and opt in strategies to create/ change/work on. Meanwhile I have gone over quota on my internet connection. So I am down to dial up speed arghhhh. So hmmmmm I am a little behind with things. Meanwhile- Good news that one of my videos will be featured on Skope Magazine's Site for a month. It was through a submission to Sonicbids. Meanwhile #2 - I have sent off some VERY rough demos of the songs for album 2 to Brian Siskind in NYC to have a listen. Nerve raking. Meanwhile #3 - Played tennis today- I now have a regular tennis date- Meanwhile #4 - sold an album this week to a woman who recognised me from drumming and dancing at the folk festival recently. So yes - the diverse things I do kinda operate like a transmedia approach : ) ? : ) I have been reading about transmedia. Interesting. The idea of creating a story across mediums has always appealed to me. I have always thought of the web work I have been doing as creating a web world. Within my web world dwells Me and also dwells Mahri Autumn who is a particular part of me extended into a narrative which resonates with ancient mythologies and archetypes. Mahri Autumn is a kind of Meta Me... the me which is not so bothered by the day to travails of being human. Who somehow exists only within a creative sphere- the timeless zone. Mahri Autumn does not pay bills or worry about insurance or feel impatient about things manifesting slower than expected- Mahri Autumn exists in the fullness of time- permanently. She yearns and is passionate and feels absolutely everything without being the slightest overwhelmed by her own or others desires or possibilities. Mahri Autumn does not spend time thinking about opt-in options : ) Luckily I do occasionally : )

Week 2

Ok so i have been working on my goals- fine tuning them - thinking- and thinking again. And I have been writing and re writing my pitch. Today i got completely sidetracked doing an admin chore that has been waiting to happen for ages! I finally got around to setting up an email list on MailChimp. I am promoting my drum and dance classes for the term and needed to put together a newsletter . So YAY! Finally done.

I have been working on my pitch but I am still going. Here is a start.

Ambient World Music - thoughtful, poetic mantras sung with an "astounding emotionally exposed voice". A mix of Jane Siberry, Sandy Denny and Laurie Anderson. Lush accordian drones,  ambient piano, percussion, guitar, sounds & otherworldly harmonies soaked in spatial electronic ambience. The first album -ri-solv- was created in the ether via email between NYC + the South Coast of Australia. The result is something other than either.

Gotta sleep. I need to get up at 5.30am to go and do drum circles with children all day tomorrow. Rewarding but exhausting : )

Didn't quite get around to promoting this blog to folk yet. Will do in the next couple of days. Probably lots of other things to report......but...must ...... sleeeeeeeeeeep

Review in Week One : )

This week I scored a lovely review from Sarah Morrison of -ri-solv- You can have a look here at the whole thing. Miss Morrison's Mix
Here is a little snippet of it. It was great to wake up to this the other morning : )

"She creates ethereal soundscapes, with overlapping vocal melodies and layer upon layer of carefully-placed instrumental and electronic elements.

I’ve spun this album many times, and it is one from which you can garner something new from each listen. From twinkling piano and gorgeous accordion drones, to the delicately plucked acoustic guitar and unique percussive elements, and of course, that astounding emotionally exposed voice, Mahri Autum’s ri-solv is a beautiful cluster of deeply heartfelt songs that are wonderful in their subtle complexity."

Meanwhile I have been working on a my goals, objectives etc........ hmmmmmmmm as ever...... focus, focus, focus is the key.
Not trying to do everything at once. Passion and the ability to get really excited about the world is a great strength but.... being excited about too many things at once can lead to exhausting myself. So ..... one thing at a time.... keep it simple... Two of the things that Brian Siskind said to me on a regular basis while we were making the album : )

Music Success in Nine Weeks

OK so........ I have decided to enter a 'challenge' entitled Music Success in Nine Weeks organized by Ariel Hyatt - The Web 2 promotions queen who is based in NYC. I first came across her work via Derek Sivers. Now there is a story !!

Before I get into that........

I decided late last night to actually enter the competition after idly contemplating it for about a week. Late last night , later than was at all sensible, I managed to sign up and unfortunately also managed to post a mangled pitch which I have not as yet worked out how to fix!

I have been writing and re writing "the pitch" for some time and of course it changes slightly depending on the recipient, my mood and the phase of the moon. I have a whole folder I call BLURBS. I am not entirely sure pitches, blurbs, shameless self promotion? are supposed to morph quite so much. I have always thought of myself as a bit of a chameleon. It is a hard habit to break. Thus my bands name (The Chameleon Collective)

The pitch as it stands reads something like-

A natural integration of  folk, indie rock, classical, world music & ambient sound design. Lush accordian drones,  ambient piano, percussion, guitar, sounds & unearthly vocal harmonies. Created in the ether via email between NYC + the South Coast. The result is something other than either.

This is the very short version - which I think for these purposes is STILL too long.

Today I have been teaching disadvantaged kids how to drum all day and so...I am buggered... Working out how to fix "the pitch" is going to have to wait till tomorrow. As is the Derek Sivers story and how I came across Ariel. How I made my first album with the insanely talented Brian Siskind who is also based in NYC who 'met' on myspace and am yet to even have a conversation with and how so much of my life in the past 12 months has been eaten by a cyber reality which has left me more than ever unsure of my corporeal reality is also going to have to wait until tomorrow.

The other thing that is going to have to wait till tomorrow is finding out what I actually have to do in WEEK ONE !

More tomorrow. I only need to blog once a week for the purposes of the competition. But , i think i may do a little more than that : )

Mahri Autumn's Ri-solv

Go here to listen to my album : ) www.mahriautumn.com

BLOG BLOG BLOG

Ok, so perhaps I am spending a little too much time in cyberspace. But then.....

Here is my latest cottage industry piece of culture, featuring music, dance and visuals by me.

Enjoy! Any thoughts or responses VERY welcome : )

Skin