Funky Music and Musings from Stayboy

I’m back in the saddle again…
Hi all. Sorry i’ve been away so long. Alot has happened. I’ve had a crisis of identity, found out my wife had ovarian cancer, she has subsequently undergone 2 major surgeries to remove a tumor the size of a cantaloupe. When we got the clean bill of health from the Doc, plunged into a deep depression like i’ve never experienced before. THAT was interesting. I’m really glad that i went through it, because it allowed me to see parts of me that i never new existed, address them & move on. I’ve come out the other side much stronger, more confident and freer than i’ve ever been.

Not to say that i would recommend diving into a depression! Although i’m not sure how you would force yourself into one.

On the music front, i’ve recently completed quite few more tracks, and they can be found at my new stayboymusic site and in the Stayboy Music player on the sidebar. I’m also very stoked about my new artist page. It’s hosted on a free site called bandcamp.com.

Totally free, totally cool, some really great features that come built in; did I mention that it was free? Very customizable, great tech support & a dry sense of humor. My kind of company. You can get your own here.

I’ve also been scoring a PSA (public service announcement) for a wry look at domestic partners. It has given me a chance to branch out & do some other styles, and i’m hoping that it will lead to some other scoring opportunities.

 As soon as i’m able to post it, i’ll put it up. I also put up another quirky short film that i did for my friends Chris & Tina Burns, who are filmmakers. Check the video/film/tv work link.

If you’re into licensing your music, there’s a great site called Music Dealers: http://musicdealers.com/.  Eric Sheinkop seems to get leads on national spots that are looking for unique music. Looks very promising.

Most importantly, I have now fully embraced social media & social networking. Not just virtual, but also real live interaction. We recently hosted a cocktail party for a friend, & had such a great time meeting new people, that we’ve decided to start hosting networking mixers on a regular basis. Everything that i’m reading (that makes sense), points to true interaction, real dialogue, real interest in another person, focusing on them. I’m really trying to use twitter & facebook as a way to connect with new and interesting people, and to re-connect with friends that i’ve lost touch with. I’ve discovered that there is so much fortune to be gained; not monetary, but fortune of the heart, by opening up to people and really making the time & sincere effort to get to know another individual.

Allright - that’s my rant for now. Next stop - useful social media links that i’ve found & will share.

cheers

stuart

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Ha. What did i say in my last post, about not posting for a month?  I see that worked out splendidly.

Well, something that i’ve discovered in putting up my music and ecommerce up on the web on myriad sites: i’m not comfortable putting myself out into the world as an “Artist“. All of a sudden, i’m up against every single band and solo artist on the web. I never planned on touring. I thought possibly about doing some acoustic sets  down the road, but i certainly wasn’t ready for that yet . The whole thing just freaked me out.

I mean, when i realized i was on itunes, i was horror stricken. That meant two things: 1. it was for real. 2. I’d have to start telling anyone & everyone about my music & to start buying it. Now, i guess that was supposed to be the plan anyway, but the reality of it scared the crap out of me.

What it made me do was re-evaluate my goals. What did i want to accomplish with my music career? Originally,  i thought that i would do the artist thing, and at the same time, start contacting Music Supervisors as well, to license my music for film, tv & web. After my discovery, i’ve now shifted my focus on creating a music library that i can pitch to music supervisors, film editors, and the like. I’m so much more comfortable doing that, because i’m pitching my music as a body of work, and not ME as a personality.

So, to that end, i’ve been going through my entire catalog of songs; full songs, partial songs, bits of ideas here & there and beats, and evaluating whether or not they could make the cut, and what genre they would work under. After being brutally honest, i’ve been building up three categories to start with, and a few more on the way.

I’m going to create another site, www.stayboymusic.com (i’ve already bought the domain, but there’s nothing up yet), and will start peddling my wares, probably within the month. Probably about the same time that i put up another post…

talk to you soon.

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Ok. I know. It’s been awhile since my roadtrip, and an update. That’s a big no-no in the blog world. “Alway’s keep your content fresh”. Sorry. Really. I mean it. It TOTALLY won’t happen again.

Once a week. Yep. That’s my new motto. You’ll never go a month without hearing from me.

So, we had a great time. I certainly don’t know WHOSE dogs we took with us, but they were amazing. Quinn, our terrier mix sat up in-between our seats so he could see where we were going the whole time. He just had to know. Baka, our Catahula pretty much curled up in the back seat & slept, except at the rest stops, where he went beserk.

We stopped in Ashland for 1 night on the way up to stay with our neighbors daughter & her husband on their beautiful property. Then it was up to Portland to spend the week with my family & a party for my mom’s 80th birthday. It was fantastic. My wife louise pulled an all-nighter to edit a movie in imovie for my mom. Kind of a “this is your life” sort of thing. It was a huge hit. Then she & i sang her a song, then Louise sang her a song. Not a dry eye in the house. Leave ‘em wanting more, that’s what i always say.

While i was up there, my brother bought us tickets to see (the return of) Return to Forever, a jazz/fusion band that was popular in the seventies. Chick Corea, Al DiMeola, Stanley Clarke & Lenny White. Look up any of these guys & look at their illustrious careers. It was like they just picked up where they left off and were even better than i remember.

On the way back, we stopped in Ashland again & stayed 2 nights, and got to see Ashland up close. It’s really beautiful. Our only incident with either dogs was that Baka got into some bonemeal organic fertilizer, proceeded to barf on their living room floor at dinner, then during the night, left another deposit from the other end in the entryway.  Nice. We cleaned up very well & they were cool with it. They were about to get another dog of their own, & realized that their house was not quite dog-proofed yet. So, it worked out.

So, we’ve been back, and i’ve been in a state of flux, that i’ll talk about in another post, under music. Look for that one very shortly.

Well, it’s the Fourth of July, so i’m going to jump on the stairmaster, then barbeque & drink. That’s what us ‘merican’s do, right?

I’ll see you soon.

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Everyone needs a road trip every once in a while. I’m having mine tomorrow. Driving up to Portland, Or, from here in So Cal to hang with my mom for her 80th birthday bash. Should be a great time. I’ll be gone for a little more than a week…plenty of time to loose my tan to the famous overcast skies of the pacific northwest. Taking my wife & 2 of my 3 dogs. I’ll do my best to document, so i’ll have something to write about when i get back.

Cheers!

Stuart

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Actually, we were all hot dogs. My wife & I volunteered at the “Walk for the Underdog”. Fabulous experience. The temp in LA was around 95ish, so it got pretty hot. It’s a great event to go and help out at. Lot’s of beautiful dogs from shelters that desperately need homes. We didn’t see her, but Linda Blair was the guest speaker, as she’s a very big animal rights activist. Oh, and if anyone tells you that Aussies aren’t one of the most smart & trainable dogs…..well, i beg to differ.

A couple of weeks ago, i went to the Los Angeles Ableton User Group, which meets at the SAE Institute in Hollywood. For all of you that don’t know about Ableton, they make a Killer music production app called Live. The featured DJ’s showing off their stuff were Morgan Page, & Naleepa. Naleepa is funny as hell. He also teaches, & you can tell. He’s great with the audience.

Anyone out there using Live? Well, these guys were really awesome & humble to boot. I came out of there so jazzed to try new stuff, that it was around 1pm when i finally went to bed, mind racing. I was dreaming about loop warp markers, side-chaining, stretching, pitching, beat-slicing, phase delay, stereo beat cutter….i was tired the next morning.
Live and Logic Pro are my two main tools. I started with Propellerheads Reason, but i’m currently not using it, as i haven’t upgraded to version 4 yet. I’m still on v2.5. Wayyyyy too much other stuff going on to dive into that.
If anyone’s using Live, let me know. I’d love to talk. Hey, if you’re using Logic, let me know too.

Speaking of Logic, I’m VP of the Los Angeles Logic Pro User Group, and can be found skulking around Logic Pro Help.

Ok, that’s it for now. Next time, you get to meet Pearl, our lastest edition to the family. She’s quite a piece of work.

Cheers

Stuart

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OK. a bit hokey, but i had to do it. Welcome to the premier entry of music & dogs, the official blog of Stayboy Stereo. Here, i get to speak my mind about the two things that i love most; dogs & music production.
Anyone out there have dogs?….. I have three. Yes, i have a pack of dogs running around my house, ALL with unique personalities. Like kids, somedays (some hours, some minutes), you absolutely adore them. Other times, you can get a bit upset with them, and always…ALWAYS loving them.
First we have Baka.

He’s part Catahula and Australian Shepard. Did i mention all personality? You’ll be getting to know Baka in the coming posts. I mentioned that i have three. Well, the other two i’ll introduce a little later. Gotta keep things interesting, right?

As i’m primarily a musician, i tend to geek out on music production stuff. I subscribe to various music production magazines, including Remix, Electronic Musician, Pro Sound News & i have an online subscription to Sound On Sound. I find it interesting and helpful to read about what other artists do and, more importantly, how they do it.

Well, that’s going to be it for now. I mean, we’re just getting to know each other, so i want you to keep coming back. If you’re interested in my music, you can have a listen in my reverbnation widget, on the sidebar.

cheers
Stuart

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