Our mini-album release performance in February 2010.

In my last two posts, I wrote about taking the driver’s seat and grasping control of my career and artistic direction. It is has been an amazing ride in the recent four to six months for my bandmates and me (and it’s just starting ).

In my last post on November 25, 2009, I wrote the following goals for our band:

1. Break the 1,000 fans mark on our Facebook page.
2. Hit the radio airwaves.
3. Release our own album next year.

Well, guess what?  No. 2 and no.3 are done.  We released our first mini-album on February 10, 2010 and as a result, we’ve been featured on two major radio interview shows. Check and check.  Goal no. 1 is in the process of being completed (I forecast completion in two days max); at the time of this writing, we are looking at 947 fans (and that number shot up from 774 fans within 48 hours due to a TV show appearance we did two days ago).

On national TV earlier this month.

The fact that I am mentioning all these figures and accolades are not for showing off or asking you to bow down to us. :p  Not at all!  I just feel compelled to write this post today simply to tell you that if you: 1. make goals and commit to them, 2. take action on your passionate ideas, and 3. stay consistently fervent on achieving what you set out to achieve, … you’re going to see some pretty phenomenal results.  I kid you not.

Since October of last year, our band has achieved many of the landmarks that a ’signed-and-backed-by-a-huge-label-band’ achieves with only the smarts, courage, and passion of a few stubbornly hopeful individuals.

Some crowning achievements:

1. Getting radio airplay
2. Going on a major TV show
3. Winning a nationwide songwriting contest
4. Releasing an album
5. Getting accepted to perform at the Woodstock 2010 of Taiwan (Spring Scream)

What’s even more inspiring is that we’re actually making profit from our ventures because we are literally our own bosses (i.e. no big brother entertainment agency snatching a huge chunk of our income).  One thing that I’ve learned more than anything is the importance of a strong movement.  And by that I mean the friends and family that help build the fundamental roots to uplift a product (in this case, our band Cool Silly).  We have such amazing support from our close friends and it is truly indescribably touching just knowing that they are there for us. So, special thanks to all of you guys and gals!!!

And as usual, some upcoming goals for the band to be completed within the next 6 months:

1. Sell 500 mini-albums (on our way)
2. Shoot a music video
3. Surpass the 2,000 fans mark on our Facebook page
4. Perform in China (in the works)

If you’ve read this far in to the entry, I read somewhere once that goals are dreams with deadlines and that a goal without a deadline is just a wish. Bottom line: Take action on your passionate ideas!   Set goals with deadlines and stay committed!  If you come up with cool ideas and halfass execute them, you are simply wasting your time.  Go full throttle!!!  You will be on your way to awesomeness in no time!  I leave you with a nice quote:

A deadline is negative inspiration. Still, it’s better than no inspiration at all.

Now GO!

Well, I just took this entrepreneurship project to the next level a few days ago…. how you might ask?

An album release! (mini-album to be exact)

Yep, we just released our debut mini-album a few days ago in Taipei, Taiwan.  With the exception of a professional mastering engineer to master our album, everything else we performed ourselves, including the following tasks:

1. Music production (lyrics, music, recording, mixing)
2. Design of posters, album booklet, and other various paraphernalia
3. Release party coordination
4. Digital outlet for selling our album
5. etc. etc.

I won’t lie, the execution of these tasks was not a trivial feat.  I slept on average 5-6 hours each of the ten days prior to the release date.  But not without eventual success and satisfaction!!!  We had an awesome turnout at our release party and sold as many albums/posters as there were attendees.  We are really stoked about this release and are confident in the six songs on the album.  Cool Silly is going on radio pretty soon and TV should be right around the corner.

You can preview the songs on the album on our website. The album is available for purchase in the form of an instant digital download (with digital album booklet) there.  All you need is either a Credit Card or PayPal.

Please help support us! You won’t be disappointed I promise. The album will soon be on iTunes as well as other worldwide digital platforms.

The challenge of being your own boss, creating a product from scratch, and taking that product to market is no easy task. But to finally achieve this first step of releasing an album lays the necessary groundwork for future development. Sometimes taking that very first step is the hardest one a.k.a. actually taking action on an idea. But that is the beginning of commitment. And commitment is one of the major items necessary for getting something done (whether it be in the form of a contract or verbal agreement).

Bottom line: take that first step! More to come…

For the last two or so years, I have been signed to various entertainment agencies here in Asia.  It’s been a very interesting ride and I have learned many things along the way.  I have released an official Mandopop album (now available on iTunes), appeared in a handful of television shows, and done many radio interviews.  Unfortunately, the way it works here in Taiwan is that your agency basically owns you and you wait for them to supply gigs for you.  As you can imagine, it can sometimes be a long waiting period.

After all these experiences, one of the most important lessons I learned is that 1. I need to know what I truly want, and 2. I need to take the driver’s seat and take control of my career. This revelation comes after finally understanding more about myself.  I have realized that the only person that can most accurately execute my artistic vision is myself.  I believe that all the most successful and visionary artists have a good sense and control of their career and artistic direction, case in point: Ryan Leslie.

I have recently moved on from my most recent entertainment agency contract and for the first time in two years, I am starting fresh on my own two feet.  The sky’s the limit!  More to come on my latest project!

Let’s all learn more about ourselves and what we seek to achieve in our lives.  It’s good for the soul!

But right now my music career needs your help…

Allow me to explain…

I am competing in a songwriting competition in Asia. If I can win this competition, I will have a world of opportunities ahead of me to create more music and expose it to an even wider audience in Asia.

So can you help me out?

Here’s a quick 8-step guide on how you can vote for my music:

1. Go to: https://ssl.kkbox.com.tw/reg_step1.php
2. Fill out the information (don’t forget to check the agreement box at the top) and press ‘送出資料’.

   Detailed explanation on how to fill out the form (click the image):

3. Go to your e-mail inbox and click the KKBox mail.  If it is not there, check your Spam folder.
4. Click the confirm link towards the bottom of the e-mail:
5. Go back to: http://www.kkbox.com.tw/event/20090909copyright/index.shtml and login if it prompts you.  (It takes about 5-10 seconds to load the songs)
6. Go to pages 1, 2, or 3 to find my songs.  (Annoying I know, sorry they don’t have a search function)

   My songs look like this (I submitted a total of 4):

7. Click on the small black button ‘投我一票’ at the bottom of the song.

   

   (A message will pop up telling you success, press OK)

8. Repeat steps 6-8 on the other three songs of mine.
   *You can only vote once per song with a given e-mail address
   *Each person (e-mail) can vote a total of 6 times.

Perhaps you want to hear the songs I submitted? That seems fair! Here they are:

Change (Chinese) – with Michelle, Leeway
Music: Tony Chung
Lyrics: Tony Chung / Leeway Lan / MKao
Arrangement: Tony Chung

No Regrets (English)
Music/Lyrics/Arrangement: Tony Chung

Leave or Stay (English)
Music/Lyrics/Arrangement: Tony Chung

I’m Yours (English)
Music/Lyrics/Arrangement: Tony Chung

I really appreciate your support! If you enjoy the music, please share this article with your friends and family! Hear more of my music here.

Upon request by a few of my readers, I’ve decided to post an entry about how to record music with a computer. I have been recording music in the form of vocals, live instruments, and synthesizers for well over ten years. I started when I was 12 years old by recording on a dual cassette deck boombox with my parents’ karaoke microphone (good times). Today, the power of technology has enabled any one of us to set up a decent recording platform in the comfort of our homes at a very affordable price. For instance, if you sing and play the acoustic guitar, you could record decent quality demos of your songs with a microphone and recording machine at the cost of less than USD$200. This was definitely not the case ten years ago.

Here is a basic visual of my recording setup along with the prices of the individual components:

There are four primary components that you will need to record decent quality music with your computer:

1. Whatever it is you want to record (e.g. guitar, vocals, synth, drums, strings)
2. Recording hardware
3. Computer
4. Recording software

Explanation:

To understand this setup easier, try to imagine a river between the Yamaha synthesizer and the Mac Mini computer in the above image. In order to travel from synth to computer, you must cross a bridge that is the Mbox2 Mini recording hardware. Still don’t get it? Then think of the keyboard at the top as a Japanese speaker and the computer at the bottom as a Spanish speaker. The recording hardware between them is the translator that will enable the two devices to communicate.

The Pro Tools software on the computer is the interface you use to record music. The software interface usually consists of several tracks like this:

One key point to remember is that there are many, many alternatives to the products used in the setup above. For instance, the synthesizer can be replaced by any instrument or microphone:

Also, there are several choices for the type of brand you would like to use for the recording hardware, computer, etc. Below is a list of some choices for each part of the recording setup:

Synthesizer:

• Yamaha Motif – great string sounds, interface is harder to use right off the bat but very powerful
• Korg Triton – great synth sounds
• Roland Fantom – great organ and piano sounds
• Alesis Micron – great fat synth sounds

Recording Hardware:

• Digidesign Mbox
• M-Audio Fast Track
• Alesis iO
• Edirol UA

Computer:

• Apple (OS X)
• Dell (Windows)
• Toshiba (Windows)
• HP (Windows)

Software:

• Nuendo – MIDI and wave recording
• Pro Tools – MIDI and wave recording
• Fruity Loops – MIDI recording
• Propellerhead Reason – MIDI recording
• Logic Pro – MIDI and wave recording

Obviously, there is ongoing debate about which of the above products are most superior. But it really boils down to your personal taste and the type of music you are creating. Some people love Pro Tools for its simple interface, others love Nuendo for its amazing plugin sounds. And of course we have Apple fanboys and loyal Windows users. There is so much out there in terms of tools and sounds. I advise you to start with the basics (a cheap setup), and work your way up. At least that’s the way I did it. In the meantime, keep researching and stay up-to-date with the latest information and products. That way, when you are ready to upgrade your setup, you know exactly what you want and how much it will cost you.

Good luck!

There is a CD store here in Taipei that I visit at least once a month. Only this CD store, not the other CD retail chains. Why only this store? Simple answer: It’s human.

What do you mean ‘human’??

Well, your average CD store basically consists of newest releases in the front and everything else in the middle and back of the store. Music is grouped by genres with more popular genres placed towards the front of the store. Yes? Well, not this CD store. They are constantly changing. But that’s not the point. The difference is that their staff consists of true music fanatics, true lovers of music who listen to all types of genres with an open mind. They are very musically knowledgeable and the way they categorize music in the store directly reflects this knowledge. For example, they will have such things as:

• Small hand-written notes next to many recommended CDs that describe the music and maybe even the band’s influences.
• Or there will be special stickers on handpicked CDs that are favorites of the staff.
• There is an area in the front of the store dedicated to whatever genre or band is being pushed that month (e.g. trip hop music). They generally don’t use this area for the newest generic mainstream music you see in all the other stores.

The store has life. It’s thriving!

I think this is important for any type of business really. If you want people to care about your store or product, you need to show that you are investing your time and passion into making it the best experience for the customer. More importantly, that there is real thought and insight behind what is being marketed. Another good example would be a website that is constantly being updated with the latest information requested by customers.

Bonus: Anybody know what movie that film scene above is from? It’s relevant!

Every now and then, some well-known icon will take a bold stance on a global issue. This time it’s Radiohead.

Everybody who listens to music knows that downloading music is more or less killing the music industry worldwide. So what does Radiohead do? They offer a download of their latest album, In Rainbows, on their website, allowing YOU to choose the amount you’d like to pay for the album (yes, you can download it free of charge if you wish).

What a bold move.

From my perspective, there are several genius points to this ploy:

1. Publicity. Radiohead is one of the biggest bands in the world. For them to do this is revolutionary and totally against the morals of record labels worldwide. Media coverage everywhere.
2. How much do you REALLY value music? Put a price on it. Think about it…
3. Save money. They must have saved bundles of $$ from avoiding the traditional hard copy release path.

What I really dig is that they also offer a hard copy purchase that will come out in December along with additional special tracks. This way, they can monitor exactly how many copies of the album they should press and distribute and avoid oversupplying.

Power to Radiohead.

• Enjoyed a song from the artist on the radio
• Found the artist attractive
• Friend’s recommendation
• Saw a memorable live performance

In other words, we bought albums for the right reasons. These days, it’s much different. Here are the three primary reasons why we buy CDs:

• Don’t know how to download the music for free
• So indie or niche that the music is not available for download (you searched)
• You are buying simply to support the artist (you may already own the downloaded digital files)

Let’s focus on #3. This is very interesting. People are buying CDs simply to SUPPORT the artist, so he/she can get the royalties. It’s the same reason you would drop a few bucks in the street musician’s guitar case… Never would this have been a chief reason a person bought a CD ten years ago.

Again, I find this very interesting. Ethics is not much part of the equation I think.

Software, music, movies, images, books… more and more things are becoming downloadable everyday. Where are we headed?