Just Say No

I usually don't write until after the day is over but I wanted to put in writing some ideas that I have floating around in my head.  First and foremost, I am toying (yes, still stewing on this one...) with changing the name of my current instrumental albums to "Johnathon Wilde with the Jazz Loop Machine" rather than just "Jazz Machine".  Why?  I strongly feel that "Jazz Machine" implies that the music is some heavy jazz styled material, and in truth I don't play "jazz" at all, apart from the occasional improvisational aspect and simple chording.  As I've previously stated, the whole idea of that name came from finding and purchasing some jazz drum loops, hence the album was born, and I initially said to myself, "hey, playing to this is like playing to a 'jazz machine'", meaning the drum patterns.  However, I think, especially after seeing it in print, etc., that no one else is picking up on this, so I kind of feel like adding the word "Loop" gives it more the intended meaning.  I don't know - thoughts?  I would really like to market the next album a bit more so now's the time to get this figured out.

I actually tried to simply rename the project all the way around, even about 30 days before printing the last albums' CD's, but I simply couldn't come up with a better name.  I thought my apprehension would pass but it hasn't, which usually tells me that there's something warranted about it.  So, before putting out the next album, it would be great to get my proverbial sh*t together and figure out the naming.  I can always reprint the former album later with the corrected name; in fact, I intended to reprint it later on anyway due to the poor mix in one of the songs.

The other thing I've been pondering for the past 48 hours is the plan for the new EP material.  Since "The Effects of Connection" is basically ready to go, I have to think NOW versus later about what exactly I want to do with it.  Why is this such a big deal?  Well, because the plan all along has been to back the song with the cover of Throwing Muses "Two Step", which I really like my version, but then we get into cover song licensing again.  So, I did a bit of research on this today and it's now giving me pause.  The question is...do I really want to back it with a cover song?  Damn good question.

I couldn't immediately even find the song online but I will need to do a more extensive search later.  If I can't find it, it would cost a ton of money to license it, unless I can somehow contact Kristin Hersh directly and get permission from her (this scares me slightly).  Even if I find the song online, though, then there's the issue of the price tag associated...which really sucks, to be honest.  My next thought was, hell, maybe if I just give the song away for free I don't need it licensed.  Nope, that's not the case.  Now, of course, I'm a complete nobody and no one cares what the hell I'm doing, but if for some odd reason anyone did end up caring later on, it could be a bit of a mess.  I'm now leaning towards NOT including the song as the B side.  Yep, that's right, pretty much at zero hour I'm thinking of changing course.  Sounds like me, right?!

In fact, I'm thinking of distancing myself from cover songs completely.  That's kind of a drag because I really wanted to do a cover of Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" on the new Jazz Loop Machine album but apparently I'm going to throw that idea out the window.  I also think, just maybe, when I reprint "I Miss You Most at Nighttime" in the foreseeable future, I'll remove "All We Ever Wanted Was Everything" and include an original track instead.  It just seems 1000 times easier to not even venture into cover territory.

This leaves the whole "It's Raining Elvis Fish!" album, though.  What the hell do you do with that?  Honestly, to license it, it would cost me a small fortune so that's not really an option.  I guess I'm going to have to distribute it purely for "fun", if you will, and keep it off the grid.  Hell, maybe it'll become a special collector's item later on...who knows.

This is not an official decision, of course, but I'm thinking more and more of just leaving the cover songs out of everything, at least until I would have someone to help me with getting the licensing setup properly, etc., and, well, a way to justify the actual cost.  Right now, I don't make a dime from anything; in fact, music for me is something I only pay into via large amounts of money and never see any revenue from whatsoever.  Sigh.