Dusty's Blogs: Volume 4
Intense Focus w/ A Side Of Anxiety
Welcome to releasing music as an independent artist
Release Day Grows Closer
I can definitely tell when release day is coming. I take releasing new music very seriously. There is a ton to do, and I put a lot of pressure on myself. It definitely gives me a lot of anxiety, but I actually love that pressure. This release in particular is extremely important to me. The song has a very deep and painful meaning, and it's also my first hard-rock release with the full band. I know it's my best material yet, and we are just scratching the surface of what we can do as a band. It will shine through. I just know it.
You've Got The Content, Now What?
I definitely don't want the songwriting, video shoot, and asset gathering to sound like the easy part, because it's not. However, it is my strong belief that promotion of your music is just as important as creating quality music and imagery. What good is all this great sounding and looking stuff if you can't get anyone to watch or listen to it? Promotion is an entirely different beast that requires tremendous planning and meticulous attention to detail.
Over the years, I have taken promotion very seriously. In fact, I now help other bands with their promotion in my downtime. (LOL!!!!! What is downtime!!??) I have a marketing background, and I also have taken seminars and done tons of research on my own to develop an effective launch strategy over the years. It's important to me. And, I won't lie, I love the process. I put together checklists of everything that needs done, and I set aside A LOT of time out of my personal life and rehearsal time to put the pieces in place. It is always my goal to have an effective pre-save campaign and an efficient, well-oiled machine once the single is out. I could get in to the "why" of this hyper-focused strategy, but that would be a whole blog in itself. Hell, maybe I'll write that one down the road!
Nerves, Anticipation, & Anxiety
When you've got a lot riding on something, you definitely want it to perform and react with your fans and new potential listeners and fans. I definitely have a lot invested in this release and so does the rest of the band. There is endless hours of sweat equity, intense emotion, and quite frankly, a reasonably large chunk of money out-of-pocket invested to make this as big and bad as it can be. That being said, I love the risk and feeling like I've left it all out there and have skin in the game. It makes the stakes higher. It makes the moments feel bigger.
Those of you that know me personally know that I am not a patient guy. At all. So you can imagine what it's like living with me and hanging around me during the leadup. I'm usually a nervous wreck. I am always double-checking and brainstorming ways to make things work even better. I don't sleep much (I'm up at 4:45am an hour before work working on this blog), and I probably annoy my wife and family more than I already do normally. I take a lot of time to make sure things are just so, and I am always networking intensely. It takes a lot out of me.
All Things Considered...
I wouldn't have it any other way. I am confident and proud of this next single. I feel like it is the most honest and powerful song I have ever released. I think and hope you'll feel the same. I love the process, and I love the feeling on release day when things are firing on all cylinders and the song starts to grow. I live for these moments. Stay tuned for release info, it's coming within the next couple of weeks...or less!!!
Until Next Time,
Dusty
Wanna Get More Involved???
1. Become a patron at https://www.patreon.com/DustyGrant
There are various tiers, and for as little as $3/month, you will be more "in the know" than anyone else. For instance, people that signed up in the "Best Friends" tier have been shipped a personalized, special "thank-you" gift to show my appreciation. There is all kinds of cool stuff I'm planning to do on this platform. And, I promise you, every dollar I receive will go back into "DG" to make it bigger and better. I want you to feel like you're getting your money's worth. As much as I hate that this is a business, it is indeed that. It would be killer to have a few bucks coming in to soften the blow from time to time. Everything I do is out-of-pocket at this point.
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It's completely FREE and I plan to keep this up very regularly and give updates about the project, shows, new music, news, new merch offers, and everything else. I will also send you emails every time there is a new blog post (like the one you're reading now).
**Please consider doing one or both of the above. If you don't have the funds, I get it. At least sign up for the emails. They are gonna be solid, I promise. And, if you think they are weak sauce, you can always just unsubscribe. But, you won't, because they will be awesome.**