The Soultrotta Method – Recording while on tour in that magic hour
If you are fortunate enough to tour outside of your country or even your state you have an opportunity to connect with like minded bands, song-writers, musicians and producers and with that the potential to make new music. Touring doesn’t just have to be about going from one gig to the next. There is always the potential to take detours and discover new people and opportunities.
Last week on my radio show I introduced the Soultrotta Method to you all. It is a method that I’ve used as an independent artist to connect with other musicians from other countries to collaborate while on tour. I have met and recorded with amazing people with limited equipment and time. But these experiences have enriched the creative process not restricted it. To take part, participants also have to be open and clear about not just how the music is shared in its creation but also its release. These impromptu sessions usually occur after gigs or on an off day in a town. I will talk about the process of pre-planning, producing and releasing these sessions to the world. And lastly, I will go into the tools and means by which social media is used to make it all happen.
I first got the idea to collaborate while on tour with The Brooklyn Funk Essentials. We made a stop in Paris for a rather weird Microsoft sponsored gig where we were broadcast performing live to an audience that didn’t exist. A young producer, who was a fan of the band, came to the event and asked me if I wanted to record something with him. The only thing is we were leaving the next morning, 8 hours from the time he asked me. Now, I could have just went back to my hotel, gotten a halfway decent sleep and moved on to the next town in the morning. But instead, I took him up on his offer and recorded “Not Every Angel”. The producer was Alex Kidd and the song made it to his debut album on FCOMM a fairly large label in Paris.
There something about music made in the silent night and the pleasant weight of weariness that creates immediate mood. Both the silence and the weariness is genuine and the music, lyrics and voice have no choice but to respond the same. I later recorded Pick It Up which was the single release for his sophomore album Mint and received critical acclaim. All of this came to be because he thought to ask and I chose to prioritize music over a few hours sleep.
Fast-forward some years later while preparing to go on tour again with the BFE, I thought about making music. I had taken my portable studio on tour before but just to make beats or song ideas to later record home. But what if I actually reached out to others to join me in the process? At the time, Myspace was king and in this context can still be used for the purpose of reaching out to other musicians.
First Contact
The first thing I did was review my tour itinerary and made a list of the cities/towns we would visit and also looked for days when I would have off. I used myspace’s music search engine to seek out bands who lived in or near the cities I would be visiting. From that search I would browse their pages to find the bands whose sound likened to mine or whose sound I felt regardless of genre. Usually out of a couple of dozen bands I would take a liking to maybe 5. I then wrote a letter to each of them introducing who I am, with a link to my music page. I explained I would be on tour and wanted to connect with folks to make music. I also made it clear that time would be limited and would most likely be recorded in my hotel room or if they had an easily accessible studio that would work as well. I spoke of the collaboration in terms of it being a friendly cultural exchange and that what ever came from it we would split 50/50 regardless of degree of participation. In the end we both would get the tracks and were open to mix and release it how each other saw fit while keeping each other in mind and updated with the release process. All of this should be clear from the get go. Place all your cards open-faced on the table so they and yourself can make an informed and thoughtful committment. Not every musician is open to working under challenging conditions like recording in a hotel room or some may disagree with the upfront 50/50 split. But the ones who are open are really open and usually engage it with 110%. These are the people you want to work with because they sense the fun in it. With just one letter you can begin planning a session based on mutual artistic respect and attitude. As far as contracts, the initial letter can serve as one or print it out and have everyone sign a simple outline contract about publishing, sales and remixes. Just remember to keep it simple, laymen language and confined to one page. But in most cases as I”ve found, verbal contracts are usually good enough is made in the right spirit of the collaboration.
Correspondence
A would suggest making first contact at least 1-2 months in advance. This way you can maintain a regular correspondence with each other via email and phone. This will give you both assurances that you are fairly sane and genuine in your intentions. Being a woman, inviting people into my hotel room, safety was of course was a priority. But even as a man, these concerns are the same and at the very least you don’t want to waste your time and energy with a nut case. Correspondence is also needed to check over who is bringing what as far as equipment. The beautiful thing about connecting with folks, they can bring the equipment you can’t carry on tour; like professional speakers and instruments. Hotel room or not, the better you can make the studio the better the prospects for a good sounding result for your efforts. In this case I brought my laptop and a mic and my collaborators brought speakers, mic stands and various instruments. In some cases, when time allowed we went to an actual studio.
Hotel Studio Hospitality and the Magic Hour
One session in Saint Lo a couple hours outside of Paris I connected and collaborated with a group name La Bande Magnetique. They drove to St. Lo from Paris in time for my show to which I listed them. After enjoying a good show both they and I were naturally high. While our adrenaline was still pumping we drove back to my hotel. JMG, The two Francs and one Franc’s wife Elizabeth came prepared. They brought not just equipment, but food and wine. The guys new little English but Elizabeth was fluent in both English and French. If you are collaborating with someone who speaks a different language and doesn’t speak any or little of yours, try to arrange to have someone there to interpret. They don’t have to be fluent just know enough of both languages so you can basically communicate. The language of music will do the rest. We set up on the hotel room desk and put the mic in a corner near the bed. They came with some rough beats which we played around with a bit and added some elements to. I then laid some vocals. I didn’t waste time writing lyrics and trying to make a perfect take. I preferred to freestyle the melody and lyrics. For myself, allowing the song to make itself in the moment captured the essence of that moment. As we drew closer to the magic hour when music is clearly being made, food and wined enjoyed and before the dawn feeling like you have expanded your musical family felt like quite an achievement.
Parting Ways
At some point, the sun rises and the next town awaits and you must say good by. But before that make sure everyone has a copy of the final recording and the individual vocal and music tracks. You re-iterate to one another that we own the music even-steven. NO nitpicking over who wrote or produced what and publishing and sales percentages. Save that for the old regime. The fact is the song would not be what it is without everyone who participated. The song is not just lyrics and music but food, wine, laughter and human connection. If that is understood then paper contracts hold little weight in this situation. Keep it clear simple and in accord to the process beforehand.
The Release
Before you go on tour let your facebook and twitter friends know that you will be Soultrotting. Don’t forget to take pictures and video of the session. Facebook and tweet when you can during the session. If your collaborators tweet the same make sure you create a mutual hashtag like #soultrotta so folks can follow you both talking about your experience. When you get home show the pictures and videos online with a ruff taste of what was created. Write about the experience.
Soultrotta session with artist Welcome in Massy, France
Either with the band or on our own mix and prepare to release the song. When the song is ready to release, I suggest releasing the song via Tunecore.com. Tunecore has an single release option for only 9.99 to distribute your song to Itunes, Rhapsody, Emusic and the like. CD Baby and other online distribution sites average $35 per release whether it is a single or album. Regardless it will take 6 to 8 weeks to show up on all of these channels. Create a 6-8 marketing plan leading up to the release date. By this I mean, keep this experience buzzing on people’s FB walls and tweet decks. 1-2 weeks before the official release send constant fun reminders out about the release date. These reminders can be direct or indirect, like placing it at the bottom of your emails or with your regular email blast or facebook status update. You could also mention your Soultrotta experience and release date at gigs or any event when the spotlight is on you. And don’t forget that real-life word of mouth is just as viable on online. Have fun talking about it, you don’t have to come off as always plugging the release date and disregard one of the main rules to social media etiquette, don’t hammer people by placing “Buy This” in their face 24/7. Use the photos and video from the session or make new simple videos, photos and audio to promote the release.
The day before or of the release schedule a womb room or huddle up of friends to do a last minute push for the release of the song made in a hotel room in a small town outside of Paris. Have your collaborators across the seas mirror your promotional efforts.
The Wrap-up
All of the above can be achieved with little money and technical effort. Even if it is just you and a new friend playing with auto-tune, it still can be something wonderful. As musicians we know that music is nothing without mood. And that more than music is what reaches through the speakers and effects us as human beings. That is what the Soultrotta Method is really about. I already gave you half of a plan to carry you from first contact to online release. So reach out to like-gifted strangers, make music, make friends for life and share some magic hour music. The world could use it.
Listen to We Are the Light here.
Listen to the radio show episode about the Soultrotta Method here.
