Celticmusicfan.com

  This week I was interviewed for a great blog about Celtic music and I thought I'll include it here as I managed to cram in some promotional stuff as well. So instead of reading my rants here, please visit http://celticmusicfan.com/2012/06/26/j-p-kallo-and-the-music-of-sliotar-interview/
And a big thanks to Baxter Labatos for making this happen and running a great blog.

   Just a quick reminder that JPKALLIO.COM will be playing a concert in the Sweeney's basement on Friday the 6th of July, just before I head on the tour with Sliotar. This probably will be our only concert this summer, so come along.
J.P.

Are the days of promoting your band on the Facebook gone?

Part 95

  Why is it that every time you come across some great promotional tool, service, company etc. Eventually there comes a time at the end of the story when they ask for your credit card details? I am not saying you can buy your self a career, but you most certainly can buy your self a small bit of fame, if you wish to do so. Then we have the great promotional tools like the Facebook. But hold on, once again they changed something... If you have a band profile on Facebook, you have under every post a number that represents how many people your post has reached and a percentage of how many that is from your total fans. On average on posts that posted in the past month or so, the reach is around 19%. Once the post is up for longer time, I am happy if it reaches 40% in a month. So not so good news for the next show you are putting on. Seems like you got to go back to the good old fashioned posters... Unless people not only like your band page, but also subscribe to your news feed, most of them wont see your posts... Why is this? Well it comes down to the same thing, they are hoping to get your credit card details. Beside the reach figure there is a promote drop down menu, that promises to reach about 1500 of your fans for €5. That is if you have 1500 fans and I am still wondering what happens to your money if you don't... So yeah, here is the bad news, Facebook as it is right now, does not work as a free promotional tool. What bugs me even more is the fact that once again they decided to do this without letting us know and in the shadow of the company entering the stock market. Seven months ago it was very easy for me to reach about two to three hundred people a day with this blog, but just due to a small change in the Facebook, those days are gone. And I can only imagine how many bands put on shows, posted it on Facebook, and their fans actually never heard about it until long after the show.

  So here we go, if you are reading this blog, you have been warned! And once again we go back to the old truth, you need your website and your mailing list. No social media site is going to ever replace these tools.

     J.P.

Different paths to being a great musician

Part 94

   So here we go, I might annoy some people with this blog, but this is really important subject to me. Everybody's path to being a great musician is different. What works for me might not work for you. For me it has taken years of trial and error, and endless hours of playing and singing. I am sure some one with the proper teaching skills could have got me musically here much faster, but at the same time I wouldn't have the experience I have now. When you first start playing an instrument, it usually starts with acquiring an instrument, learning some basics by your self, or a friend showing you something. Then you have few different paths to go. You can sign up for some lessons with a teacher, or even go to a music school and get some theory lessons on the side. You can get your friends to show you bit more, play with other musicians and learn from them. My way was driven by hunger to learn more, I spent endless hours in my room winding back cassette tapes of my favorite bands and tried to learn what the guitar players were playing. Then learning the songs with my garage band at the time and playing them endless hours at our rehearsals and eventually get to play them at school gigs or local fund raisers. The thing is that human mind works in mysterious ways and every ones way of learning is different. Some people need to analyze the music so it makes sense in their minds. Some people need to visualize it in their minds and even on that I have heard of several variations. I need to feel it. I know it sounds like a cliche, but I don't visualize the music, I feel it. I feel the groove and go with it, I feel the chord progressions, I feel the fretboard under my fingers and most of the time I let the fingers guide me. This is due to endless hours of playing, jamming and muscle memory. I can read music, though I am very slow at it and definitely out of practice. This again I learned the basics with a teacher in school and then converted it to guitar and just spent time to learn more and more. But still to day if I learn a melody on written music it takes me long time to get it to my head, where as if I learn it by ear I usually pick it up much faster. Until it is in my head I can't feel it and if I don' feel it I can't play it well. I suppose this is one of the reasons I have passed on quite few opportunities in my time. Opportunities to play music I had no interest in but the pay would have been good. It's just not in me to take on a job I know I can't do well.

   But lets go back to the learning songs of those old tapes. Every musician needs ear training, you can learn the best licks, fills, solos and what have you, but you need to learn to use your ears! You need to listen to whats going on around you, what every band member is doing around you. If you zone out in your own world and just play your part, sooner or later you will find your self in a ditch... It is a musical car crash waiting to happen. Listening to other players around you while delivering your own part is one of the marks of a great musician. You need to put aside what you do as an individual musician and become a part of the over all band. You might have the coolest solo you want to play here or there, but it might clash with the rest of the band. If this is the case, back off! The song must come first! And what is the best for the song might not be the fancy fill you love to play but just a simple beat that keeps the groove going and makes people feel the music. For me listening to those tapes and trying to figure what was played was the greatest ear training any one could get. You learn to recognize your intervals, your chords, the rhythm patterns. And you know, I enjoyed every second of it! I could not wait to get to play the song through when I finally had it figured out. I also learned so much about song structures, riff construction, dynamics... And I don't want to take away from the academics of music, but some of these skills if they had been broken down and presented to me through a teacher from a book, it would not make sense to me the same way as it does today. This was the best way for me and still is today. I still learn every day, I still practice every day. Going to band practice once or twice a week won't make you a better player and it definitely won't make your band better, unless you all practice individually every day! And I don't just mean playing random stuff, but identifying your weaknesses and working on them.

    I know there are people out there who think you will not be a great musician until you study in Berkeley or some other fancy school, and there are people out there who think you are not a real musician unless you're self taught. But the fact is, neither is wrong or right. It comes down to the individual. What's your way of learning?


    J.P.

Sweeney's rocked!

Part 93

  June is here and it ain't looking pretty so far... You'd think I got used to this by now after sixteen years in the country... Anyway. Last Friday we played at the Sweeneys basement once again. We were happy that Foad musick asked us to take part in their night. There had been some changes in the basement room! To our delight the cursed pillar right on front of the stage had been removed. This opens up the stage straight away. They also had moved the bar on the opposite side it used to be and now the room is starting to look like proper venue. I also heard rumours about new equipment, and to be honest with you, this is the last thing that needs to be fixed and then Sweeneys would have pretty sweet venue in the basement as well. On the night there was four bands, Corrosive machine, JPKALLIO.COM, Jobseekers and The Freebooters. All of the bands on the night played great energetic sets, It was like every band just fueled the next one even more. It was really great to see such a high standard of punk rock bands and an enthusiastic crowd. This was one of our better gigs in a long while. Once again big thanks to Foad musick for having us.

  We will be back in the Sweeney's on the 6^th of July, but part from that we made a decision on taking it bit easier with the gigs and concentrate rehearsing a lot and working on some new material with out the pressure of getting it done for the next gig. I suppose what we want to do is jam the stuff for a while before we commit to a structure. Very often once you play song a live, it seems to be set in stone and even if you think to change something, you never get around to it. Another reason for the break is the European championships. I have made the mistake of booking gigs during big events like this in the past and lets just say I have learned my lesson:-D Anyway, I only have five weeks in Dublin before I am on the road again with Sliotar and this is bit longer tour... And the preparations for that will keep me extremely busy.

  Now in the mean time, Patryk is been busy playing bass with his old band Pimps & Gimps, he is a man of many talents;-). The Pimps & Gimps are playing with other friends of ours the Joyful Noiz in the Harbour Bar in Bray. So if you are looking for some good music this Friday, why wont you hop on the Dart and head over.

  For now, enjoy the early summer days;-)

J.P.

Feeling unmotivated?

Part 92

  I am back in Dublin after Sliotar's first tour of the year. I love touring, but as much I love coming home.

We had our first rehearsal with JPKALLIO.COM in few weeks yesterday and it was good to be playing again. The contrast between going from the Sliotar world to JPKALLIO.COM is quite big, to say the least. But that's what makes it fun for me:-). Now we are playing a concert in the Sweeneys basement this Friday, so come along.

  I was reminded of something during the week by a good friend of mine. In the past playing in all the bands that I have, I noticed that I do go through fazes of being more motivated. I think it is very natural thing that you can't keep your energy and enthusiasm at the same level all the time. Sometimes you need a break, you need to take distance to get re focused. I would say most musicians go through this from time to time. Does this mean you are weak or a bad musician? Well, as long as you get the job done, no. We all need to charge batteries from time to time. I also find that when I have quiet time like this, I very often come back with guns blazing and full of fresh ideas. I look at things that used to seem impossible and now they seem possible. I notice things where I was stuck in a routine and take a fresh approach to them. If I was only starting out, I could possibly mistakenly take these unmotivated times as a sign of failure and quit all together, but now I know better. It is just my minds way of finding time to refresh and get going again. Obviously band like Sliotar this would be harder to do as we play live every week, but you just get on with the concerts for few weeks and find the time to enjoy the world around you for a while. And sooner than you know, you'll be back up again. I do find though that these motivational dips can be effected very much by your band mates, stale gigs etc. To my delight this year I have been full of fire as Sliotars new album has kept me busy and our tour schedule for the year is busiest I can remember. And with JPKALLIO.COM the addition of Patryk in the band has given me a big lease of life and April was one of our busiest months ever. But somewhere in the future when all the dust settles, I know there will be a time I'll feel like I need a bit of a break, and when it comes, that's just what I'll do:-)

  So next time you feel your band is not going anywhere, just allow your self to take some distance. Later you will come back to it with fresh eyes and ears.

J.P.

Stick with it.

  Week two of Sliotar tour got me thinking about persistence. As I have mentioned in the past Sliotar has been on the go for past 16 years and I have been in the guitar duties for the past 12 years. Through out that time I have had good times and bad times. Played some great concerts in front of big audiences, but also played in horrible conditions with only hand full of people. When things are going great it is easy to believe in the band, but if things are going bad it is easy to loose faith. Even though mostly it has been great, there were times when I did not see any future in the band, especially my part in the band... I was contemplating something else to do, even quitting music... Now I am very glad I stuck through it.
   The biggest secret in success is sticking with it through thick and thin. No one said this was going to be easy, but if you give up, you fail. If you stick with it, there will be a time you will be rewarded. It might not be today, it might not be this year. But the time will come. There will be times you loose faith in your band and feel like giving in. These are times you just need to put the head down and struggle through. Something will come up and things will start looking much brighter. But also remember you're not in it alone, unless you are a solo artist of course. Every one in the band need to be willing to stick with it as well. If you are the only one who believes in what your band does, it might be tough. And in this situation it would be time to sit down and have a chat. In my experience, musical differences and unrealistic expectations are some of the biggest stumbling blogs of any band. Personality clashes you can work on, as long as both parties are willing to do so. I still believe you can teach person skills, but they got to have character. This is something you cant learn.
   So where am I now? I could not imagine my life without Sliotar. I do want to pursue other things, like JPKALLIO.COM, writing this blog, sound engineering... But Sliotar will be a big part of me for a long time to come:-)
J.P.

One step at a time

  Once again I am writing this while on the road. We have started our first 2012 Sliotar tour. I am in Munich at the moment, and let me just say that this is a great city. Architecture is out of this world and the city has a really nice feel to it. We have four concerts here, two in Kilians and two in Kennedys Irish pub, before we head to the Greenfarm festival. To my surprise I have found it hard to get online here, so it looks like I'll be spending lot of time in Starbucks... But hey, it's all part of the business. Sliotar is having a busy year with the new album out and all, we'll be on the road probably 10 weeks this year. It is a great feeling though, when all the hard work and preparations finally come to end and you actually get to play concerts. Let's face it, that is why most musicians do this.  We all would love to just get up and play gig after gig, but there are very few who get to do that. For most of us we need to be able to do also all the bookings, travel arrangements, promotion, merchandise... But that just is the way things work these days. To be honest with you, I am grateful that I had to do it this way. I learn something new every day, and we get to control our own careers. If I could go back and do it all over again, would I change anything? For sure, knowing what I know now, I would take control much earlier instead of waiting around and hoping for those small breaks. I would definitely get in to making videos much earlier, as they have been a great tool  for both Sliotar and JPKALLIO.COM . But over all, I am happy where I am now, but most importantly how I got here. I enjoy the journey and too often we forget to do that. Waiting around won't get you anywhere, getting up and doing things will. It's like learning to play. The best guitar in the world will sound crap until you learn what to do with it and only way to learn is practice.
   So get up, write down one music related goal you want to achieve, whether it is playing a concert in certain venue, learn to play particular piece of music or what ever you like. Then break it down to steps. Write down what you need to do to reach this goal. And start doing it one step at a time. And remember to enjoy it as well:-)
   J.P.