Category Archives: Uncategorized

The Sustainable Cities Index top green urban conurbation awards were announced this week. Great news for me is the city where I work, Leicester, was awarded second place. Narrowly beaten by Newcastle its promising for a developing city like Leicester. The index looks at quality of life and environmental awareness in Cities throughout Britain. Hull came last, this is attributed to high unemployment and poor business startups.

Even the local education establishments are involved in green issues; here;s Riversimple hydrogen fuel cell car designed at De Montfort Hall in Leicester:

Unfortunately the city where I live, Nottingham, suffered the biggest fall, dropping to 12th in the rankings, from the 8th place it held in 2009. Hopefully Nottingham can improve on this next year as personally I prefer it as a city and it has some great stuff going for it.

Britain’s top 20 green cities
1. Newcastle
2. Leicester
3. Brighton
4. Bristol
5. London
6. Leeds
7. Coventry
8. Plymouth
9. Edinburgh
10. Sheffield
11. Cardiff
12. Nottingham
13. Manchester
14. Liverpool
15. Birmingham
16. Sunderland
17. Derby
18. Bradford
19. Glasgow
20. Hull

Right, I have blogged every day since I set my 30 day blogging target. Ten more days to go. I’m really enjoying it. But due to tech issues (a lack of internet access) and not sorting the auto posting from my Posterous site I’ve missed two days worth of published posts. Its not the race its the taking part, right?

I thought this video was great, I posted on my Posterous site, but here it is again:

Sustainability is key to building a successful living with in the creative industries. Obtaining a portfolio career will enable sustainability.

The portfolio career means having multiple income streams derived from differing areas or interest. When one of these income streams stops or dries up the others remain viable.

Also, paper work not with standing, it means you spend your time doing all the stuff you enjoy and none of the stuff you don’t.

By way of example; a musician that does session work, is involved with live performance, writes/performs their own music, is involved in blogging, photography, teaching and journalism has a number of potential income streams. When one of these changes and no longer becomes viable to their cottage industry the others will remain unaffected. It also means that if you would rather poke your eyes out than play another first dance at a wedding then you don’t have to.

I know a few people who fall in to the first example in some way or another, both Steve Lawson and Laura Kidd both spring to mind. In fact I invited Laura to speak at Leicester College, the topic being ‘The Portfolio Career for post modern creatives’

The second example features musicians that are at the peak of their craft, truly devoted and excellent in all respects of their profession, playing in corporate covers bands performing medleys of cheesy 70’s disco classics rather than the heavy weight jazz, fusion or funk that drives them. Unhappy that they spend their time traveling and playing these events they plod on because being ‘pro’ and ‘full time’ feeds their ego.

Pride and a weird self fulfilled belief that by being ‘pro’ they are some how better only fuels their ego further. I know plenty of musicians that fall in to this category 9too many to count) and it just seems nuts.

The reality is that they would be better getting an ok paid, low impact job in a call centre or coffee shop, leaving time for them to play the gigs that would make them happy and fuel their passion and art.

The portfolio career allows the creative to guide their own career, adapt and make changes quickly. Playing the music that makes you happy, missing the parts of being ‘pro’ that don’t interest you. For me it all revolves around playing, talking about and teaching music and related subjects. It works well for me. When one income stream stops (normally as I loose interest and move on) the others are still viable and provide the level of income required.

I’ll never be rich, but if I wanted to I would have worked in the city as a day trader. But then that would not have made me happy. Now if I could just fall in love with paper work I’ll be sorted:)

At the day job I delivered a lecture to degree students on maintaing a sustainable career through understanding the music industries. The focus was on learners own small businesses and how they could adapt and react to market changes.

Musicians don’t always appreciate that they effectively run cottage industries. Guerrilla industries that need to remain highly mobile, tactile and adaptable. The greatest threats to creatives are obscurity, debt and the laconic behavior that can be endemic.

To become sustainable and successful as a digital entrepreneur the music maker needs to be as creative in their business as they are with their music.

The internet brings DIY tools and information put its directly in to the hands of the users that need it.

The internet levels the playing field with regards to manufacturing and distribution costs. It enables the DIY ethic for creatives. DIY means doing it together, not by your self. With no man being an island trying to cover all bases remains an impossible feat. However by building the right team of highly motivated, passionate individuals around you and using their skills it is possible to develop a strong business.

The internet and social media tools enable like minded people with complimentary skill sets to come together irrespective of geographic location. This can build a team with a large skills base and the determination and desire to succeed. And building the right team is something all creatives need to consider.

No new music and not much bass playing the last two weeks. The teaching and running several music courses plus other commitments have stopped me from getting to grips with my own music project.

I’m not complaining, but a few more hours in the day would be good. Time management is vital to all creatives. When you set down the path to a sustainable career in the creative industries you soon learn that your time is a valuable asset that is easily wasted.

In a lecture with one of my level 1 groups we discussed what there average week contained, from college to work including ‘chillaxing’ time. We then completed a seven day time table that started at 9am and finished at 9pm each day. Before completing their timetables some learners complained that they had too much on and didn’t have enough time to practice, however after the exercise they all identified parts of their week that was just lost with no explanation to why.

Its important to practice as a musician, its the only way you get better. This exercise demonstrated that finding an hour every day to practice is achievable in most students week. This kind of structure coupled to a practice regime or diary will enable students to learn quicker than the ones that just pick up their instrument as and when they aren’t working, eating, watching TV or on Facebook.

Leeds based band Hope and Social not only make great music, but also understand the relevance of contextualising their music:

So, back on the train after a wonderful curry (one of the best things about working at the end of the golden mile in Leicester is the ace food) I’m reflecting on another interesting day.

We are very lucky to host a number of master class/guest lectures at the college. These bring to industry professionals to our institution to speak to students and impart their wisdom to the next generation of music makers.

In the past we have hosted speakers like the excellent a very funny Martin Atkins (PiL, Nine Inch Nails, Ministry, Killing Joke), Gareth Jones (producer for Depeche Mode, Pet shop boys), Paul Farrer (Media composer, he did the music for the weakest link for example), Steve Lawson (solo bassist and web ninja), Laura Kidd (Tricky, Young Punx, She Makes War) and Andrew Dubber (New Music Strategist) to name a few. All of these people bring their own brand of music knowledge and business savvy.

Todays guests were the boys from the Roland World Tour. These musicians tour colleges, music shows and retail outlets demonstrating Roland and its associated companies equipment. The college is one of a handful of Roland Academies in the country. We are stocked with much of the companies catalogue.

Roland and their offshoot Boss are the kind of well built equipment that all music makers at all levels come in to contact with. The venerable TU2 tuner is found on the floors and rigs of guitarists, from local pub weekend warriors to stadium filling stars. Octave pedals that are found in the set ups of local teachers as well as the rigs of some of the busiest sessions players.

The Roland tour demonstrate the current line up of guitar, drums and keyboards throwing in a hefty dose of showmanship and flair to the proceedings. These events always appeal to students and they often come away singing the praises of the players and coveting the gear as well as the dazzling array of skills and techniques used by the demonstration team.
The excitement that this event can bring to the young non jaded audience is inspiring. We have great students that we select carefully, its good to see them excited by products that they dream of owning.

The Roland team are approachable and affable, always keen to talk shop and interact. Its great that Roland offer this event and that the college is willing to host it. It would be great to see some other manufacturers getting involved in the future too.

Ok so I stole the title for this blog from Nike, a company who I hate for how they operate.

Procrastination is the monkey on my back, its the demon that stops me achieving. My 30 day projects have seen me do things I’ve been meaning to do for ages, including blogging. What surprises many people is that I’m actually a perfectionist. If a jobs worth doing it better be spot on or whats the point?. As I grown older (or just grow up) I have less time to spend making sure things are perfect.

Previously blogging or any kind of writing involved me re-reading and editing to make my point as clear as I could. However this takes up too much time and the rest of the world are not really that bothered if I spell some thing incorrectly or my point isn’t that clear.

Its the same with music. If everything is not perfect and 100% right then I won’t let any one else hear it.

Quality control is all very well, but not at the cost of not doing something. So I’m going to stop. These blogs are my first attempt of creating something and then just letting go. I write them and publish them immediately. I don’t re-read and I don’t edit (much). This has enabled me to write and more importantly finish more blogs than I would have previously.

As for my 30 days of new tunes, its not started yet, day job, gigging and general admin work has got in the way. However I may take the same approach and post works in progress and just get on with it.

So further to my past blogs I’ve decided to blog for 30 days, so far its going well. Blogging is weird for me, writing is not some thing I’m particularly good at. However it is an amazing skill and one of many skills I need to develop. In my role at work I often use social media tools, in particular blogging as part of a digital strategy for music makers. If I’m not doing what I’m teaching I feel that I am no longer relevant. Not being relevant scares me. I didn’t get in to teaching to put my feet up and wait out the rest of my working life in a stable career. For me teaching is about motivating, supporting and enabling students to develop in to what they want to become. This is an exciting time in music, social change is forcing businesses to change and develop to meet customer demands. I want to give my learners the skill set to achieve in this changing economic and social landscape. For me to do that I need to remain relevant and connected to the changing music industries.

Here’s a track available from bandcamp by bass supremo Simon Little.