I’ve slowly noticed that the more I become a part of it, the music industry is just as a lot of the stereotypes portray it - insofar as “it’s not what you know it’s who you know”.

As I’ve been digging my heels in with this all and making contacts across Australia and the world I’ve come to affirm what I originally thought (and didn’t really want to believe) that networking is everything. You need to make friends with people.

Part of me really doesn’t like that it runs this way, I don’t like the idea that sometimes I talk to someone at a show or whatever and the business-man-on-my-shoulder thinks “hey this guy is someone worth knowing”. There’s a fine line between being honestly friendly with people who could be of some use to your own means and being a fake, whoring ‘networker’.

However, it does have it’s up points I suppose - it’s not all business all the time - and I’ve made some great friends who happen to also be involved in the industry. More colourful characters at least than I get from my other (web design) work.

I’ve noticed my opinions on a lot of things have broadened too. I’m not so blatantly political - which to be honest is something I think is partially a good thing, but I also worry about losing the political fever I used to feel so passionately. I get the feeling that my place in the equation is changing, the niche I and Pith are going to fit in is different to what I first envisioned.

For instance, I didn’t get into politics ’cause I liked politics, but ’cause I figured it would be selfish and ignorant for me not to… the actual honest interest in it came later. I’ve realised since that point that I still hate the whole mess*, and I’m not sure how I feel about ‘working within the system’. However, I’m still not sure I have much faith in working outside of the system. The balance between the two is something I’m still to find any firm ground with.

Perhaps it’s not that the passion has gone, but more that I’m not so angry and more getting around to actually doing something?

And things are being done. It looks like we’ll be taking two new bands under our wing soon, on top of the fantastic A Friend Of Mine, the band finally spawned by Chris, Dave and Patrick - the former two members of Sacre Bleu. Pith as a label isn’t putting money up for things like CD pressing and merch and all, but instead helping with the - in my mind far more valuable - area of contacts, information and experience.

Mentalfest

Mentalfest is still slowly chugging along - now with a friend Bonnie Glaister somewhat taking the helm in somewhat of a project management role. Seems I’m finally letting myself relinquish my once domineering grip on managing everything all at once, which is a good thing. Bonnie has so far been really great, she’s good with people and motivated.

I’ve learnt being around motivated people is really important. When Bonnie’s in the same room as me in my home office - even though we’re working on completely different things - it seems to generate an energy that we both feed of. It’s good to bounce ideas of other people.

Studio

Again an area where I’ve let control of the reigns to someone else; Dave Lees is managing the studio, with a lot of very valuable help from our bud Sam Lees - who happens to work at Salt Studios but a 15 minute drive away and really knows his stuff when it comes to recording. He’s done great work on the Innocent Cabbage live recording (soon to be DVD) and the A Friend Of Mine studio EP. Reastically, progress on the studio will be kept in the Studio Diaries, but I mention this here as further evidence that when you find people who are willing to do things for you and actually do them, it’s absolute bliss.

I’ve started getting another member of the Pith crew - Gibbon - doing flash work for my web design stuff, an area where I’m subcontracting a lot of work lately as well.

I’m only just starting to truly appreciate the subtleties and hurdles with being a ‘manager’. Mind, I could never again have a boss myself, and being quite the anti-hierarchical-management guy that I am I’m not very comfortable with the idea, but it seems I’m relaxing into more of an ‘over-seeing everything’ guy kinda role with both Pith and MadProps.
I’ve managed to feel comfortable with this by making sure that when people are doing things that benefit me I’m very up front about why I want them to do it, what they get out of it, and most importantly when I honestly appreciate what they’re doing.

For instance, in the case of the studio I’m giving Dave complete control over what he wants to do in regards to design, gear, build schedule and so on, whilst putting up all the money for gear, letting them fill my bedroom with junk and so on. with Bonnie and Mentalfest I’m trying as much as possible not to dictate her methods of work, I’m hoping she’ll learn as much from her own trial and error as possible.
I’m pretty sure this is important, and it feels right to be nudging people in a direction where they’ll be learning stuff that will be of actual use to them later on in whatever career they have. Also important is making sure people are doing something that they actually get some enjoyment/satisfaction out of. Or, if they’re not enjoying it they’re getting monetarily compensated accordingly. Obviously, a combination of the two is awesome if you can manage it.

I guess I now understand (and have a touch less loathing) for when management types say “I have to keep the people under me happy!” with a straight face. Mind you, I’ll be long dead before any of us end up in a mountain retreat working on our ‘teamwork’ skills. Fuck that.

It seems that this has all ‘paid off’ for me in a way I wasn’t expecting - this Thursday I’m meeting with our contact at Orygen to not only talk about progress with Mentalfest, but also because he’s running a project in a few months at Federation Square and he likes the way I think + work… and he wants me to be involved in some sort of management-ish kinda way! Very interesting sounding, lots of multimedia type stuff, looking forward to finding out what happens with this.

The Office

A few folks I know are setting up an office in the city, they’re cool people (a dude who runs a music site, a girl who does radio stuff, a guy who does animation, a girl who does video editing, and recently the folks who run Mess and Noise). I’m going to be doing some MadProps (my web design company) and Pith stuff from there by the looks, not spending as much time there as the others, but hopefully passing on as much work as I can get to them.

…. this draws us nicely back to the original point of this entry - who you know is everything! Within the office, the girl who does video editing will be doing the Innocent Cabbage DVD, the radio gal will be doing some web design / admin work for me, I’ve redesigned the music-site guy’s site (which led to a few chunks of other work), and a few other bits and pieces.

This whole area seems to have a certain inertia and strangely exponential nature - as you get to know more and more people you get to know more and more influential people, nicer people, and people who are more in line with your own style/thoughts/etc. Lately I barely talk to a few people who I thought would be “good use” to Pith at the start of all this and keep in much more constant contact with people who are actually mutually helpful.

I think the very, very most important thing with all of this is to do it honestly. If you don’t like someone you don’t need to be a prick, but putting on false pretences in the hope it will further your cause will ultimately fail…. or, if it doesn’t, you’ll be just another industry whore, and we don’t want that do we?
As Dean Swanton (Mr. Animation in the city office) so nicely said in regards to those guys who are good at selling things to people who don’t really want them; “yeah sure that person might get paid well, but you wouldn’t invite him to a BBQ would you?”

* This quote from Claire Wolfe comes to mind in relation to the political mess of Amerca, Australia and associated friends in high places: “America is at that awkward stage; it’s too late to work within the system, but too early to shoot the bastards.”

This entry was posted by Will Dayble on Monday, August 28th, 2006 at 9:37 pm and is filed under Start an Independent Record Label. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.