Tag: Camera Obscura

I met again with Daemon Records on Wednesday. It was to talk about a plan for playing out of state. I made it clear to them from the outset that I have no problem with going out of town, but that there was no way for me to do it with a band in tow. They said that wouldn’t be a problem. None of this will begin until September, which is the release date (the 17th) that they’re shooting for. So I won’t even start making calls until next month, really. Also, having the plan is no guarantee of it working… the main problem being that I am completely unknown out of state (in state to an extent), so I have to get the shows booked first. Daemon is going to include a cover letter so it’s clear I’m one of theirs, which will carry a little weight.

I am a different situation for them than they have done before, it seems, and some things are still up in the air as we start the whole thing moving. They don’t normally do booking, but have been talking about possibly starting because they have a lot of connections through artists they have and others that are associated with them. So it’s possible that may be something they do for me, making follow up calls on the press kits to clubs or possibly more, or not. These are all things that will be worked out once Amy gets back next week from Europe. There’s still no contract on any of this, so neither of us is beholden to each other, but work is beginning anyway.

For those of you who are interested and out of state, this will be a mainly southeastern thing at first. I’ll be taking Fridays off and doing two-city jumps on the weekend, possibly taking off Thursday and doing three cities. The main cities involved:
Athens, GA
Augusta, GA
Asheville, NC
Chapel Hill, NC
Charlotte, NC
Columbia, SC
Chattanooga, TN
Knoxville, TN
Nashville, TN

Also, Louisville, Tuscaloosa and some Florida cities, though I was sort of warned off Florida as not being great for touring. No offense to those of you in Florida. Depending on how things are going I could be heading further out, up to Virginia and out to Austin, TX. Also there are still the possibilities of opening slots for other Daemon Artists, which could put me in New York or Boston on one shot deals. I think.

It was really just sort of a strategy talk, the only definite being those first two weekend jaunts, which I need to try and get scheduled around the CD release.

It’s a strange feeling, this whole process. I am excited and leery all at the same time, and my mood is hard to gauge, even for me. I suppose I am too paranoid or jaded to give in to the thing when nothing is actually happening at the moment. That first weekend out on the road will be very strange. But I am cautiously excited about the prospect. I’ll be on the road alone, with my laptop, a million CDs in the car, and a copy of That Thing You Do! to watch in the hotel when I get frustrated.

I want it to work out. I really do. I can taste it.

Everyone can have their shot to find out just how freaking shy I am in person! woowoo!

I had a meeting with Daemon Records Wednesday after work. It went well. All of the questions I had were answered in the affirmative. There’s no contract on the table at the moment, that waits until Amy gets back from the Europe tour in May. But as far as the label is concerned, unless I say “no” at that point, we’re all set, and they are beginning work right now (since a lot of this involves different scheduling). The release date they’re shooting for is September 17.

Depending on how they think a release is going to do (and the ability of the artist to play out of town), they make their plans accordingly, and will make plans for a more local release or a larger release. The plan for me is a national release.

It’s okay, no one needs to tell me they could be full of crap. I understand that. I’m simplifying details a good bit. I am aware of different people on their roster, know their stories (good and bad), and am making my decisions accordingly. But this is pretty much a done deal, and I feel good about it. It’s not some magical career thing, but it puts me in a position I haven’t been before, and gives me a chance to use it.

Before I went to work Monday I had almost worked myself into being excited, and work managed to completely crush it out of me. Having this meeting in the middle of the week was a good thing, it may have saved me for the rest of my work week.

I had done some thinking about the whole situation since Saturday. I was under the impression I was looking at a similar deal to what I had with M Records. So the real question to me seemed to be what they were going to do, and what I was going to give up. She called at noon and we talked for about 45 minutes. There’s a lot of information, I took notes, but I won’t repeat it all here, it’s a bit dry for the most part. There’s one thing, though, which it all sort of boils down to for me, and seems to say, there really isn’t any reason to not sign.

I made it clear that I wasn’t looking to be reimbursed for the money I’ve spent so far. When I spent it I did it with the expectation that it was money lost. It’s not the most sound business plan, but it seemed the most realistic. So what they are interested in doing is a licensing deal, for a certain amount of time. Normally they still look to be recouped in these deals, but Amy was thinking in this case she would just split the money made 50/50 and not include recouping the costs as part of the deal. Her reasoning was that, the amount of money they’ll spend on manufacturing and releasing and promoting will equal the amount of money I’ve spent on recording and mastering. So she sees no reason why everything shouldn’t be simply split down the middle.

That’s a really big deal.

She also said it would be an easier deal to get out of should someone else come along and want to release it, which she seemed to think it has the potential for. They don’t do tour support but would sit down with me to help plan a strategy for playing out of state and also provide any contact info they have. She talked about scheduling a few dates with them out of town, opening for them, because they’d be able to pay, which would mean I could do the show full-band. That would also give me an infusion of money to do some other out of town dates that otherwise I might have to play solo. She also suggested that I should shop around for a publishing deal, that it was something that could actually free me up somewhat and give me time to actually be a musician for a while. To be able to develop. That honestly seemed to be her main concern, she seemed convinced that I could really get somewhere with this CD, and genuinely seemed to want to help. Obviously the goal is that the label benefits as well, but it’s hard to ignore that she wants to structure the deal in a way that backs up what she says.

There are people around me who are confused because I don’t seem as excited as they are. Part of it is just me, I’m always like that. But part of it is also just not wanting to let myself get unrealistic about it. Daemon has a name in town, and with Indigo Girls fans, I suppose, but outside of Atlanta I don’t know what it means. They have US and Canada distribution. They have relationships, certainly ones that I don’t have. The deal is really favorable. She also seems to be geared towards my longevity. It seems like it’s really very good.

But it’s still hard for me to give into it completely. I am excited, though, I promise.

I need to meet with Andrea again to talk about more specific things, and I suppose officially say “yes” at some point. I need to go to the office and meet with them. I need to figure out what my goals are, for the sake of these talks. I need to look into the publishing aspects (I created my own early on, to cover my ass). Most importantly I need to work even harder to head back towards doing freelance work and quit this job. Touring would start smallish, I’d just have to take some Fridays off to play out of town shows over the weekend. But eventually, if this is going to be serious, I’d need to be able to do longer stints. And being freelance would make that so much easier.