But one thing’s for sure.  I’ve been racking my brain as to how to record my 2nd album.  Yes, Aries9’s been dormant for a while, but I am coming back.

More later!

What I’m learning is that it’s hard to maintain momentum with my music, when I’m not making music myself.  But I have plans to change that.

Anyway, here are some tid bits of updates:

I posted a little blog entry about the struggle I used to have with my music here:

OurBestVersion.com

I’m also getting mentored/coached by two great people — Tom Hess is a music career mentor and his program is an amazing opportunity to equip yourself for success as a musician.

And I’m working with a business coach Tom Volkar to take my music business into a higher gear.

Now, I have to admit, I am a pretty independent person. I can do A LOT on my own. But at the same time, there’s only so much I can do — and I don’t know what I don’t know.

If you’re looking for an advise, you need to get it from people who are doing exactly what you want to be doing, and nowhere else. Many people have “helpful” advises — but sadly, only those who actually do it have real value. Connecting to such people is really the quickest way to get there yourself.

But let me make it up to you. I’ve been posting elsewhere.

Some of you may remember that back in June, I shared my vision for my future?

Well, I’ve been testing and refining it — I found some interesting legs along the way — and now I have a full-fledged business plan.

And I announced it on my brand new web site, AriKoinuma.com.

Please go there, and read it now. I hope you read both the summary and the detailed versions.

And leave me a comment, send me well-wishes.

—-

OK, did you go and read it? Great! Now you can go on reading below — you’ll know what I’m talking about.

My Vision for Aries9

Now, what does this all mean to the future of Aries9?

I said before that I have another album’s worth of songs in the can. And they will be the first I’ll record once I start working on my business full-time.

I am so excited about my songs, and the lessons I learned from my first album that I can apply to it.

When I release it, I will release it in several ways. From the launch of my business, I will release all my music in “standard” grade mp3 for free.

Yes, that’s right. I am willingly joining the evils of digital music revolution.

But there will also be higher-grade mp3s and of course, CDs. I will sell those.

Why am I giving away my music for free, you may ask. Well, I’m doing so because I want my music to travel to far, far away, to the ends of the internet. I hope to hire a virtual assistant and have my music posted on every mp3 sites out there.

I’m doing so because I believe in the power of my music. It’s hard to stand out when I’m not gigging and promoting myself in the physical world — plus, there are so many songs out there, just releasing a few good songs isn’t really noteworthy.

But I believe that if I keep releasing consistently good music at a very prolific pace, sooner or later people will take notice. My songs are my greatest assets, and I myself feel that the average quality of all my songs are rather high. And when I used to write children’s songs for Songs of Love, I tasted what it’s like to write within a strict time-limit. I rose to the occasion every time and wrote good music, some great, even.

So I’m intending to write and release 40 songs a year. Not all of it will be the Aries9 moniker. If you’re fan of Aries9, you may not like other stuff I put out. But the chances are, you’ll still enjoy them, as they are all my songs, and they are all good.

40 songs a year is a lot of music. A typical album contains 12 songs or so, and if an artist releases one album every other year, it usually takes 6 years of a career to reach close to 40. I’m proposing to do that in a year.

And if I keep building up my catalog that way, I can amass a formidable body of work that is noteworthy.

Aries9 will be my outlet for my heaviest, darkest, most complex and most ambitious music. I realize that my first album isn’t that dark or that heavy — and the second album won’t be a major departure, though it will be a step in that direction. And after that, I plan to incorporate more metal and prog rock influences. The songs I am writing now go down lower and are meaner. I LOVE it.

Probably in the first year, I will also release my first album for my “sensitive rock” project, Aristotle’s Hope. It’ll be a nice contrast from Aries9. I am a big fan of acts like Toad the Wet Sprocket, Jars of Clay and Death Cab for Cutie — and Aristotle’s Hope will be inline with that. I have enough songs there to make an album as well. Plus, I have plans to venture out into roots rock and children’s music.

So, what’s next? I’m afraid I’m going to remain somewhat inactive on the Aries9 front, as I gear up the other aspects of the business to support what I do here. But I promise you’ll be the first to know, when I start making music. I hope it will be soon — within the next few months. I still fully plan to release my next Aries9 album in 2009.

In the mean time, check out my self-improvement blog Our Best Version, my new music recommendation site Smart Music Review. And keep checking the AriKoinuma.com blog to learn the latest news. Thanks!

So far, I got 3 songs to “record-ready” status, meaning, it has the structures and lyrics down mostly. These things change as I record them, but they are good and settled enough to start recording. Plus, I have over a dozen snippets — riffs, melodies and chord progressions — that I’m really excited about.

What’s been amazing to me is how inspiration-free all of it is. I wasn’t waiting for the muse to strike me. I just sat down, picked up my guitar with the intention to write songs, and hammered them out. Usually the very first thing I play on it is a gem. Once I hear one chord, riff or melody, I can hear what should come after it that fits. There was one night when I wrote a complete song from scratch in a matter of a couple of hours. Of which, I probably spent 1 hour and 45 minutes on lyrics. And days later, I’m still humming the tune and feel jazzed about it. It’s as good as any I’ve written.

It’s been really like flipping a switch. I never knew that I could be this efficient of a song factory. Before I would sit on songs for months, years, waiting for the muse to strike me to finish them. Now I make myself work on them, and usually most of the stuff are keeper.

If the first riff I play isn’t going anywhere, and if I find that nothing is happening on music front that night, then I immediately switch gear to lyrics. I open up my trusty rhyming dictionary and I’m off. Like the music, there have been some really happy accidents with lyrics — metaphors and hooks fitting in in more ways than I imagined.

I’m having a ball doing this. I can’t wait to share these songs!

It’s Will’s own chronicle of his journey to discover the secret of songwriting, and in the course of his exploration, he uses his position as journalist to go talk to a host of British luminaries, from Keith Richards to Ray Davies. I’m only half way, but so far it’s been very readable and enjoyable.

Having started writing songs at age 18, I forget what it’s like to marvel at other people’s songs and wonder “how does anyone do that?” I say that about someone’s singing or playing, but not often with writing. I don’t mean to sound cocky, but most of the times when I hear a good song, what I say to myself is “oh yeah, I can do that.” There have been few times in my popular music journey where I went “wow — there’s no way I can write that in a million years.” The most recent was The Mars Volta. Classical music is a different story — I don’t listen to Beethoven’s Fifth and think I can write something as good. But with pop music, I very seldom felt that the heights of those considered the best were a plateau out of my reach. Whether anyone agrees with me is a different story, but that particular belief is one of the major decisions why I haven’t stopped pursuing music.

That’s not to say that I don’t write stuff that are not fit for public consumption. I write plenty of banal, generic, awful music. But so did Lennon-McCartney. We are judged by the number and consistency of our best material — they have the power to make people forget all the fillers we put out in between. The trouble with songs, though, is that the strength of writing cannot be understood unless performance and production (if recorded) do it justice. Unlike film scripts which are still gripping read even if it’s simply read in that format, a song cannot reveal its full girth until the actors and the cameramen do at least a competent enough job. That’s the area where I’m still slowly developing, though with Aries9’s first album I felt that I’ve reached a point where my own skills in those areas have finally reached a competent level.

Of course, I’m aware that if writing is my primary muse, I could have found other people to perform my songs. The thought wasn’t lost on my mind, but there are problems with that plan. The majority of my songs fall in genres where artists traditionally write their own material, instead of using songwriters to supply songs. Where that is true is primarily Nashville-based industry of country and related genres, and I am simply not a country songwriter. The other problem is that the primary reason anyone would outsource songwriting is to produce hits. While I think some of my songs are fully deserving of becoming hits on radio, my primary muse of songwriting has always been that of establishing unique style. Like Radiohead or Tori Amos, my material builds an overall impression from a collection, and picking any single song to give it to someone as an ingredient in their piece-meal effort has never appealed to me.

The bottom line is that I’ve never been all that interested in giving my songs to others. It’d be different if I’d written the song with the intention to suit someone else’s needs. I can do that but it has to be for a specific person commissioning me to write a song for him/her. Otherwise, I would rather try to figure out how to make my life work with my own quarky set of songs to satisfy my own muse than try to play the game of the industry by supplying songs that are designed to meet their demands. My art is my business, sure, but so far I’ve chosen not to sell my writing itself, but to sell what I’ve written.

I’m in this business because I enjoy creating. Last night I was up until 1am writing a song. Whether I make money or become famous is, beside the point. I’m already doing what I love to do, and nothing can take that away from me.

• Have you checked out my “life” blog, OurBestVersion.com?  Now in the 4th month of existence, I’m refining more and more of its branding and focus.  Right now it’s branded as “Big Picture of Healing and Growth.”
• I’m planning to start a music review site.  The couple of reviews I posted on U2 and Toad the Wet Sprocket were practice and micro-test — to see if I enjoy doing it.  I do!  I love to tell the world about the music I love.
• And thirdly, I’ll start a site about songwriting, arranging and recording, though with some emphasis on the first two.  There are plenty of resources out there for recording and engineering, but not as much for songwriting and arranging — just as, if not more, important as engineering.  I feel that that’s my forte and I’m going to share my tips and thoughts on how to do them well.
• And finally — writing songs!  I’m writing furiously, and it’s a lot of fun.  Under my vision, I’m going to have an outlet for every kind of music I write — from heavy metal to children’s songs.  I feel like I’ve finally given myself permission to fully unleash myself.  I am many things, but I am a songwriter at heart.  It’s too bad the word “songwriter” tends to refer to a specific genre of music and industry — as I don’t fit that mold.  I’m a different kind, and I’m looking forward to the day when I share everything I do with the world.  And of course, that includes more Aries9!

Are your songs as good as the Beatles?  Led Zeppelin?  Elvis Costello?  Townes Van Zandt?  John Hiatt?

No, I’m not asking the opinions of your mom/girlfriend/boyfriend/friends/record label.

I’m asking you.  Alone.

Even the best songwriters can’t write hits all the time.  We all have garbage bags full of songs and ideas that aren’t good enough.  Don’t judge yourself on that.  But think of how often you come up with songs that you think are at least good enough for public consumption.

Do you think you are as good as the best in your genre?  Are any of your songs, ever?

You don’t need to prove anything.  I’m not going to ask you to put up your best songs to see if what you’re saying is true.

So be honest with me.  How good of a songwriter are you?  Let me know by commenting below.

Thanks!

All the songs on my album are special, but Half Step goes one “step” (ha ha!) further in its “specialness” in my mind.

Why? I’m not quite sure if I can put a finger on it. Maybe it just has all the qualities I like to have in my music: aggressive and catchy riff, dramatic shifts, memorable chorus, unexpected turns, poetic and emotional lyrics.

I remember the moment when I stumbled onto this song. Typically, I write verse and chorus in one setting (bridges are often written later — sometimes, much later). I came up with these colorful chords that strangely fit together. The verse goes back and forth between C#m7 and D7. The chorus, G#m7 (with top E open) and A5add9. (Wow, they look complicated when I write them down — the last chord is simply an open A, but with B string open)

And the melody came floating, on top. I do remember grimacing, though, when I came up with it — for it was way too high for my range!

Until these last 2-3 years, I always thought that I was a tenor. I don’t have a deep voice, and I can’t sing that low. My choir directors confirmed this belief — to an extent. I was always a “2nd” tenor.

For those without choral experience — tenor are the half of guys who sing the higher parts among men. They are often broken up further into two groups: 1st tenor sings the highest, 2nd tenor, the next highest. Bass sings the lowest part, and baritones sing the part above that. Though there appears to be a big difference between 2nd tenor and baritone — as we would sing different parts if the choir piece had 4-parts, instead of 8 — actually, that difference is paper thin. I knew baritones who had very light voice and could sing pretty high (they are sometimes called “lyric baritones.”).

Well, I was a tenor who couldn’t sing very high. Thom Yorke is what I think of as a quintessential tenor — high, piercing, light. I used to think that I was like him, until I realized that — well, I’m not. Duh.

I also used to write songs without regards to my own range. Back in those days, I dreamed of finding a singer to form a band with — and a good male vocalist should be able to sing high, I erroneously thought. Besides, this song had such a melody. It goes up and down dramatically. It’d be great for Thom Yorke.

So I let it be, and have had love/hate relationship with it ever since. It’s in a range that I can only hit when I’m very well-warmed up. Some days, I tried to sing this song and fail miserably, and I would feel terrible about myself. Especially after I realized that I better sing these songs myself, as I wasn’t going anywhere with my search for a singer.

On the record, I did pretty well — and relatively quickly. I mean, I didn’t kill the song in a single take, but I thought this was the song that I would labor on for days, doing hundreds of takes. Well, I did that with others, but not this one. I recorded all the vocals in a single session.

I’m particularly fond of the “choir” parts at the end. I wondered if that was too much for this record, as this was to be mostly more stripped-down affair. (well, that idea really didn’t stick around, did it?) But I wanted to have this big, majestic aura with this song, and once I tried building up the choral part, I just couldn’t discard it just to make it more “stripped down.”

On the other hand, I do feel like I didn’t quite do justice to the choruses. I added vocal parts in the background there, too, to add interest as the song progresses. But I think it left the main vocal line somewhat weak and repetitive-sounding in comparison. After the climactic bridge, the last chorus sounds a bit anti-climactic. It’s something I hope to improve when I start playing live with a band.

And speaking of playing live — I’m going to tune down guitars and put this song in a lower key! Nowadays, I write specifically for my voice and I also come to realize that my voice is much stronger in the lower half of my range, even though I can’t sing that low. In the other words, my lack of low range still doesn’t make me a baritone — but I like my voice the best (not to mention it’s much easier to sing) when I’m in the lower half of what little range I do have.

All that said, I still consider Half Step to be a central piece of my first album, the song that I would probably play if I had one song to show for my first record. It’s really impossible to distill my musical range into a single song — but this song covers more ground than others.

And above all, I love the song.

I’ve been meaning to do this, but I’ve been scared to.  But now is as good of a time as any.

To let the world know what my intentions are.

My World Domination.

I am not kidding.  Here is how I plan to start:

By writing and recording music, and distributing it freely, using blog as the delivery/distribution mechanism.

In the other words, I’m going to pursue a blogging business, with a twist — offering music as the center piece, with writing served on the side.

No, I can’t post a new song a day.  But I plan to release at about one-a-week pace.

Yes, I’m ripping off the model Jonthan Coulton used.  I don’t think he can sue me, though, unless he patented his business model 

In all seriousness, when I read what he did, and when I read Steve Pavlina’s post about how to make a living as a blogger, dots connected in my head.

I’ve had problems with traditional business model of recording and touring.  Don’t get me wrong, I love to play live and I plan to do so.  But what I am really exceptional at is in writing, arranging, producing — “constructing” music.  Plus, touring is hard for a family man.  And putting and keeping a band together is a baggage I don’t need right now.

I’m making music that is “me” — and I also needed a business model, a method of pursuing my music making as a business, that is also uniquely “me” and suits my needs, personality, and style.

So how does the “mp3 blog” model enable me to do that?  Here is how:

• I’ve always planned on having a life-long career, putting out music in multiple genres.  Aries9 is my first and primary love, but I have songs that don’t fit this project’s range.  Specifically, I plan to put out music that are:
  • Gentler/uplifting rock, using more acoustic guitars, like Jars of Clay
  • Children’s music. Collaborating with my wife, who’s a terrific singer
  • Film/classical/instrumental music
  • Blues/roots/folk
  • And of course, more Aries9!

  They will be organized under various project names, so people know what to expect. Aries9 is one of them.  My range and versatility is wider than most musicians — comparable to Zappa, They Might Be Giants, and Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree.

• This business model combines everything I know — music, writing, online business. In addition to releasing music, I’m going to continue traditional blogging. This blog (well, it’ll probably move to arikoinuma.com) will be my central music blog where I release songs, discuss how my business model is working, and give tips to other musicians, songwriters and home recordists. My other blog will continue to discuss my other passion of realizing one’s potential as a human being. Blogging alone, when done, is proven to make a profitable business. Combining that with music (I will blog everyday, even on the days when I’m not releasing new songs) will be a potent match.
• I can build up momentum without having to rely on live gigs/touring initially.  My family and I will be happy.
• Remember, I’m bilingual. Once I build up my catalog and web sites in English, then I can duplicate the whole thing in Japanese. Another one of my unique assets being utilized.  Japanese music industry is in even worse trouble than American counterpart.  A musician’s success story will be good news to that country.
• I work well with deadlines and when imposed limitations.  I get more creative that way, and make better music when I don’t have time to second-guess what I’m doing.
• I have a wealth of other ideas that I can experiment with — like allowing fans to commission songs, recording Phil Keaggy-style improvisation daily, writing e-book on how to sequence realistic drumming (my specialty) and so on.

How am I going to make money, when I’m releasing songs for free?  Well, I will put ads and affiliate links on my site, in addition to offering CDs and more traditional music merchandise.  I’m also toying around with the idea of subscription/membership for a low monthly fee — for additional content, free CDs and T-shirts, and so on.  Of course, I’ll take donations. 

The idea is to build up a suite of web sites which attract high traffic.  Once I have the traffic, there are many ways to earn income from it.  Not to mention, it’ll help me play gigs.

So, when am I going to start this?

As soon as I can.

Here’s where you come in.

Obviously, it takes a lot of time to create tunes at a pace where I can release them on a weekly basis.  I have most of the equipment I need to start this right now, but what I need is time.  I did my research and I’m confident that if I do this on full-time basis for 2 years, I will be able to build up a sustainable business.  And my income potential will grow exponentially from there, as my catalog builds up.

I need something, some kind of arrangement that will allow me to spend time building this for 2 years.  There are many ways that can happen.  Getting a grant.  Finding investor(s)/patron(s).  My blogs taking off traffic-wise.  Getting a loan.  Inheriting (?) a house I can sell….

I just need to find some way of doing this without starving and neglecting my family.  Going at this in a “working 2 full-time jobs” way is not acceptable.  Everyone will be so stressed if I did that — and that’s not conducive to making good music.  The whole point of doing this is to make everyone happy.

I just need to find time to do this, without sacrificing my family’s well-being.  But I’m open as to how that works out.

So, if you like me or my music, and think this idea has a potential, do me a favor — just mull over my plan in your head.  Be on the look out for ideas, hints, and inspirations for what can allow Ari 2 years’ worth of music-making time.  If you have any ideas or questions, let me know.  (comments are open below) And look forward to the day when you can come back here and find a new tune that’ll surprise you and thrill you.

I strongly believe that the world will be a better place when I’m making music all the time.  What I outlined here is just a start — once I get this thing going, I’m going to use my knowledge to help others live a life of pursuing their passions.

But above all, I believe that my music is good.  People get happy when they listen to my music.  Me getting prolific and releasing a lot of different music will be good for the world.  And my success will be an inspiration to many others.

So — thanks for reading.  And send me your well-wishes, prayers and kudos.  If you think I’m lunatic and my plan will never work, then kindly keep that opinion away from me.

The important thing is that I have a vision I’m excited about, and I’m going to boldly pursue it.  While I have every reason to believe I’ll be successful, ultimately, that’s not what matters.  I’m having fun pursuing it.

Life is what happens when you’re on the way.

To show the sides of our personalities that are appropriate in any given situation.

You may not swear as often in the company of your parents or grandparents.

Or maybe you do.

On your best behavior on your date?  Or talk trash on stage, between songs, like you’ve seen many other rock stars do?

We all have some degrees of personas.  And I do, too.

I think how I present myself in my blog, in my communications relating to my music — is a fairly sincere, truthful persona.  I’m not hiding much.  I think I come across more or less like this in person, especially in one-to-one conversations.

I can’t help but be me, and for the most part, I’m comfortable with that.  But I also have to admit, that I am still in the process accepting this person that is me, making the kind of music I do.

I’ve never heard or seen a persona like this one among rock music circles.  Among those who play heavy/aggressive/progressive rock music.

I’m going to reveal a complete stereotype, but they do fit, most of the times.  Heavy metal guys look, talk and act like heavy metal guys.  Grunge guys have their ways.  I can spot musicians on streets — because they dress and talk and act a certain way.  They emit a vibe.

Or I’m going to confess the flip side.  If I’m out meeting people with my family — and typically, we meet other families.  Dads and moms.  Devoted parents.  And I hesitate to mention what kind of music I make.  My music doesn’t seem like the type of music a parent should make.

Yeah, yeah, I know what you’re going to say.  Why do you care about “should’s?”   Be yourself!  Make the music you love!  Be proud of it!

And you are right, and I do what I do, and I love it.  I’m not going to change for anything.

But some days, an ugly doubt raises its head.  Is it really me?  Is it really acceptable to be who I am and make the music I make?

When I don’t see anyone else with a similar persona, and making aggressive rock?

It’s a funny thing.  In music, uniqueness is supposed to be an asset.  Yet, you’d also feel unsure, lonely even, when you feel like there’s no precedence.

Now, I am not saying that there are no precedence.  I find great comfort in looking at guys like Steve Wilson of Porcupine Tree, and Stone Gossard of Pearl Jam.  They look like decent, intellectual, thoughtful human beings — like me.    They look like they could be computer programmers.  I’m not saying that most rock musicians aren’t decent.  But you know — a lot of them are punks.    I’m not a punk.  Nor a nerd.  Or a geek.  Or a metalhead.

What am I, then?  Well, you can probably tell me that better than I can. A goody-two-shoes, maybe?  Bookish, too.

I do relate to Stone, and I appreciate him, whenever I see or hear him in interviews.  He seems like a no-nonsense, down-to-earth guy.  A regular guy.  He doesn’t exactly look like a rock star that he is — short hair, glasses, regular clothes.

I’m like that.  People would never guess that I am a rock guitarist, by meeting me in person.

So, I have atypical persona for a rock musician.  Big deal.  It is an asset, something that distinguish me from others.

But in my hours of weakness, I sometimes wonder.

If it would be anyway “easier” if I were more “typical.”

…..

I may be over-sentimental, but I am not dumb.  I know the answer to that question.

Yes, I do.