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Bad weather stops Play

Or something like that. I have to find some reason for falling behind on music tasks, and the weather is a pretty apt excuse right now.

A week behind on my monthly Musical Notes (this post), and 5 days behind on my weekly BandCamp track. It’s the 3 extra layers of clothing I have to wear to survive in the studio!

But we’re all good now. This post is done and my weekly track is OUT!. Check out Activity Hive on BandCamp (it’s everything my music progress isn’t -Hive of Activity….get it?). I had quite a bit of fun with this one, and I think it will translate well into a track for my live set. In fact I think it needs a few live jams to really come into it’s own.

Also I’ve been keeping up with my daily live streams of work I’m doing in the studio on my live set. You can check out the daily streams on my What’s Cookin’ in the Pottz Studio YouTube playlist. The main focus is on the music I am putting together to take to the 2022 Burning Man in Nevada…only 11 weeks to go! Eek!

And that’s about everything that’s keeping me busy right now! ‘What about the live gigs you said you were organising’? I hear you say!….SHUT-UP! (is there a guilty emoji?)

Till next month!

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Cover me, I’m going in!!

Ok, it’s time to get serious….musically!

Enough moping around under cover of COVID bemoaning the state of the entertainment industry and generally just not getting myself firing up like I do most years (at least in the beginning).

We’re now 1/3 of the way through 2022 and the motivation quagmire has persisted….

BUT…

NOT ANY MORE!

GOALZ…

So in 2022 I will:

  1. Release a track a week to BandCamp (My Release A Week R.A.W. series, where one un-mastered track is released every Friday). This, at least, I have been doing well this year so far.
  2. Do an official track release a month via Fine Tune Records label from June – December (to all the usual digital platforms)
  3. Play a gig a month for every month from June-December (even if I have to organise my own parties to do that). It’s gonna get interesting in November and December in Rome!!
  4. Resume my Every Day I Stream live streaming series, where I play a musical game live, whilst creating new music, perfecting old tunes, or just rehearsing live! I’ll commit to that for May and see if I’m still getting the huge value and enjoyment I got out of it when I did it for over 3 months in 2021.
  5. Play 5 gigs at Burning Man (US)
  6. Arrange to play 2 gigs in Rome between October ’22 and Jan ’23

There! I’ve said it. That wasn’t so bad! 😊

Now I’ve gotta go and do it…..Eek!😨

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All Fool’s Day…

Here we are, 25% through the year!

I was meant to be reporting back with my updated goals and missions for 2022, but nah! Still not there yet.

So it’s a very quick post to say the tunez are still going well, with my BandCamp Release A Week (The R.A.W. Series), exactly up to date with 13 releases out.

I just uploaded Tribal Bible which you can grab here along with all the other releases for 2022.

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Musical output back ‘on track’

Not much to report in the February Musical Notes, other than to say that I have caught up my Release-A-Week backlog:

R.A.W. 2022 WIP is coming along nicely on BandCamp with 8 releases available as of this morning, which is just as well since we are 8 Fridays into 2022.

Check out the latest release – Clear Signs of Tweakness for some Techno churning.

So now I’m back on the RAW 2022 band wagon, I can refocus of putting together some goals for 2022…about time considering we’re already 2 months done.

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Long Overdue Catch up…

No, not a social catchup, but rather a catch up with the year!!

It’s only February and I already feel behind. I’m not quite sure what I’m behind in, as I haven’t even got it together to work out what 2022’s music goals are gonna be. I’m certainly behind in my basic aim to finish a new track every week as the (meant-to-be) ever growing album cover will attest:

Only 2 blocks done – when it should be five by now with my weekly release day of Friday. You can grab these 2 tracks on BandCamp and the other 3 are not too far behind – R.A.W. 2022 | Steve Pottz (bandcamp.com).

That’s about it for now, motivation is at a low ebb. Especially with gig potential being shattered until end of February, and a scheduled gig at the Spice Cadets mini fest for the last weekend of February postponed, it’s all a little …..Blah!

Never fear, I’m gonna use Feb to get the sh!t together and come out blazing at my next post…watch this space.

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Happy New Year

So we’re back at that point again? The start of a new year. Usually I would be doing a whole summary of the wins and challenges for the past year, goals hit, goals missed etc, etc. But this year I think I’m just gonna float into the new year pretty contentedly and not get too excited about all the goal setting malarchy.

March 2022 will mark 9 years since I stepped off the corporate hamster wheel to work at what I love, so that’s a headline goal that I think stands on its own.

But don’t worry, all the targets, and KPIs and goal setting and moonshotting will still happen. I’ve got to give myself something to stress about afterall.

What I can say now is that the 2022 goal will consist of getting a lot more of this:

…with a lot more of these:

…and maybe a touch more of that:

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Lawyers practice Law, I practice Music…

So many people say they don’t know what I do. The subtext is – they don’t know what I do all day ‘working’ in my studio.

Well, I’ve decided that I will say I’m practicing music from now on. Because that is basically what it is. Practicing producing new tunes, with a view to producing a high volume and, over time, just trying to get each track a bit better than that the one before, or not to make the same mistakes as I made in the track before. It’s a long slow process with few bit leaps in improvement, normally small increments that add up over time.

It’s the same with practicing my live act, practicing the live streams, practicing the communications with supporters and soon-to-be supporters, practicing trying to get more live gigs (my constant pain!).

And today I got some reinforcement that all that practice is yielding results. Small results, and small results over long periods. I got my Spotify artist Unwrapped year in review. The numbers are still paltry (I’ll include them in my end of year musical notes), but the main thing is they are better than 2020 numbers! Onwards and Upwards…slowly!

Release-A-Week (R.A.W) is on track (sic) with week 49’s track coming out tomorrow. Watch the socials for that release or follow me on BandCamp to make sure you’re in the loop.

That’s all for this month, back to practicing. Practice makes Perfect Constant Improvement!

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Where can I get your music?

…is a question I get asked quite often. Sooooo… here you go:

The best place to go is BandCamp. There you will find all my BandCamp releases (music that is only released to BandCamp) as well as my official Fine Tune Records releases (these are also released to all the usual digital platforms – Spotify, iTunes, Amazon, etc).

So, how much does it cost if I want to download?

Well, all the music is on there at $1 for a download. You can play the tracks in BandCamp for free, but obviously getting them into your library is much more convenient.

But, anyone who is a signed up fan (you can do it here), gets a discount coupon that saves you 95%…you only pay 5c!

It’s as easy as that. If you want any of my older music from before 2020 (I’m still in the process of uploading that all to BandCamp), head over to SoundCloud where you can grab what you want. If you find something you want to download that is locked, let me know and I can arrange a copy for you.

So, that’s all the news for October’s Musical Notes.

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Unlocked….down!

So close to end of lockdown and you and almost taste it!

Bugger!

I’m one of those miserable gits who has actually quite enjoyed lockdown, this recent one and previous.

Why?

Well firstly lockdowns mean I get to do 7 days a week, 24/7 studio time without needing to invent creative excuses as to why I cannot go out. Well almost 24/7. Ms Pottz gets a little grumpy if I don’t emerge from the studio every now and again.

Secondly, lockdowns remove the only major stress I have musically, and that is trying to secure the next gig! That’s always a major stress and a sweat especially as a “I’m not a DJ” Live performer. In lockdown, I have as many gigs as the most sought after DJs….NONE!

So here we go with some level of normalcy returning (and already a gig locked in for December). Whoot, whoot. I have shedloads of new tunes I’ve been working on during this down time that I am bringing into the live set repertoire so keep your eyes and ears open for any new shows.

And of course the monthly release funnel is locked and loaded with Cumbiatto just out 30 September, and plenty more due out the end of every month:

Have a look around BandCamp for this Fune Tune Records release as well as my weekly R.A.W. (Release A Week) tracks.

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Sproiinngggg!

And just like that, Spring has sprung! Time to shake off those Winter shackles and get out into the world, plan some parties, grab tickets to a few festivals and plan the summer sojourn…

Oh, wait!

Back in your box!

Anyhow, now I have everyone suitably depressed, onto all things music.

I’ve finally got myself back onto the release schedule after stumbling around March last year (my previously last release…what was happening around then??). I have a ready store of great tracks to get out, and am back onto my monthly release program, with a Fine Tune Records release on the last Friday of every month. And that kicked off with a release on Friday 27 August of Tech? No, Jazz!

Out on all digital download and streaming platforms, but hit me up on the BandCamp link above for the most artist-friendly destination. September’s release is in the pipeline for release on 24 September.

Meanwhile my Release-A-Week (R.A.W.) exclusive to BandCamp is tracking (sic) well, with RAW33 and RAW34 out today…which is just as well considering we’re in week 35 of 2021! Get them all on BandCamp.

And in lieu of any gigs or parties, it’s time once more for a Pottz full-length live set. Keep an eye on the socials for a Spring Party this month.