Being in the difficult position that we are in right now you have to go and find things to do with your time or else it does have a serious effect on your mental well being ..I’ve taken up on a few things to help me have the day go by a little quicker and easier.
One of them is checking out new bands and new artists and musicians that I’ve been seeing on Instagram, tick-tock etc. I have definitely come up with some strong observations you don’t have to agree with them but this is what I am hearing and feeling
There are some terrific young players out there and some excellent young bands. There are some great female musicians out there that are playing drums,Keys and bass and guitar and some great young guys that really know how to play. I’ve heard some small 3-4 piece bands that I really really enjoyed.
The issue I believe with musicians and bands is they need a steady hand to guide them. Many of the musicians need to learn that their chops are incredible but that’s not what’s going to get them to the next place. They need serious musical mentoring to tap into the talent that they have.. So many of us with experience could be helping if they actually wanted it.. To me if they don’t get it they’re gonna be stuck in one place.
As far as Bands go it should be the same now as it always was. You need an experienced producer to guide you through the ups and downs of how to make you a great band and great recordings..If you were in the studio you need to be there with somebody with solid studio experience who knows how to do live recording and knows how to take the process from beginning to end. I’m sorry but all those laptop guys that know how to make music a certain way are not the ones they should be looking at for help.. I don’t care how hip they look or where they live they need real time recording studio experience. Engineers need to know how to cut drums and create unique sounds for the band. Producers need to understand the process from beginning to end.There are a lot of everything out there but not a lot of pros that really understand the process because if there was we’d be getting better records.. My generation is also getting older. We won’t be here forever
The business to me would be a lot healthier and that includes the recording business which is where these young bands need to look…
Even if it means reading some amazing books by say Al Schmidt who left us with his secrets, every great young recording engineer should be reading it and also actually talking to pros picking their brains and understand how great records were made because that’s not the way it is these days but the way that I hope it will wind up because the talent is out there ,they just need people of experience to get them to the next place. This is my view as I have literally watching dozens of musicians in bands over the last month while we have been in Limbo Jail.
