Evolve or die

Saw yet another article posted on music piracy by yet another music guru. I am so tired of arguments from both sides of this issue. For good or ill, it's the way of life now. I think of it as evolution. Species die off due to climate change, scarcity of food, etc., and that is what's happening to musicians now.

Am I OK with this? Of course not! But we're not going to stop piracy by appealing to the masses, or explaining that musicians need to eat, aiming for the sympathy angle, or worse, punishing them. Most people don't think beyond their immediate surroundings, beyond what happens to them. The plight of the indie musician isn't high on their agenda. They would rather plunk down $10 for drinks than buy a CD.

The people that claim musicians make money touring likely have never toured themselves, or perhaps they refer to acts that are already successful - thanks to a now dead industry. Artists that are utilizing social media to make a living, have mostly benefited from the said dead industry at some point in their career, catapulting them to the visible zone.

How do we survive? How do we keep making music? Becoming a music industry guru seems a lucrative career now. No matter what happens to the industry, the indie musician would still fork over cash from their day jobs to keep their dreams alive.

I am not admitting defeat. I am merely accepting what is and trying to survive in the new paradigm. We, artists, must learn to maneuver these murky, uncharted waters. We must evolve or become extinct.

In Bikram's torture chamber

Radisson hotel conference room transformed into a yoga studio

If you follow me on Twitter you may know that I do Bikram yoga. So my friend is in town training to be a teacher. I took a class with her recently. It ranked up there with one of the hardest classes I've ever taken, in many ways similar to my first class 2 years ago.

Classes are held in this enormous hotel conference room transformed into a studio. I was on the 7th row, not able to see myself in the mirror at all, among 400+ trainees, in a room that was at least 115 degrees, possibly more. Apparently the heating system of the hotel is erratic and it can't maintain a steady 105F and 40% humidity. The room was also heated unevenly. And as luck would have it, we were on the hotter side of the room.

I made it through the standing series which is 60 of the 90 minute class. During savasana, the transition to the floor series, my head started to spin. I managed Cobra, but from Locust onward I was pretty much done. I was dizzy, nauseous, my lips were numb, I could hardly breathe.

In the back of my mind I kept hearing what the teachers tell first day students - stay in the room, take a knee, breathe. Forget the 6 count breathing, I was doing 2 count in and 2 count out, trying to focus on each breath. This one breath, now, and not the 25 minutes still left in class. I didn't want to have to leave the room.

My friend had brought in some ice and she leaned it against my arm. I grabbed it and put it under my neck. One more breath. Many of the trainees were sitting out and leaving the room. Then came Camel. I tried but was immediately on my back again.

At some point the class was over. I was able to do the last breathing exercise somehow. My body was tingling. Last time I felt like this was during my first class. You lose so much water, and with it electrolytes. I could have easily lost over 1 liter of water sweating like a faucet. I laid there, utterly spent and grateful.

It was a humbling experience. Though daily practice never gets easy, you develop mental strength and focus to stay with it. That's an important part of the practice for me. This made me have more compassion toward students who end up leaving early or sitting out postures.

Teacher training is 2 classes a day for 9 weeks, lectures, anatomy classes, etc. I am considering it. In the meantime, I am going to see my friend tomorrow and take another class. Hopefully the heating systems has been fixed.

She goes west

So why have I moved out to LA from NYC? A lot of people have asked me that. Some have even been a bit hostile about it - coast rivalries and all. It was a decision I had been toying with for a while and finally took the step.

AL has been around for quite some time now, roughly 15 years or so. And through all that time I had a day job and did AL on the side, like most musicians. The two jobs were pretty much all I did. I did not take any vacation, opting instead to save that time for touring. And as time went on, It got harder and harder to maintain and keep a personal sense of balance. Some of my co-workers resented my other life, so I ended up keeping my music a secret and that just created even more disharmony within myself. Relationships suffered, sanity suffered, health suffered. What seemed like a doable task at first, needing dedication and diligence, over a ten year period became something much harder to maintain. I was burning out.

I came close to giving everything up around the time Devour was released. It was a bleak period. Then in December of 2008 I got laid off from my job. I had contemplated quitting numerous times, but my rational mind simply wouldn’t allow me to walk away from a well paying job for a life of uncertainly. Now that it was in front of me I felt a sense of relief, that maybe this was somehow a signal to try something new and just go for what I believed in. I decided to do AL full time and give it 100% of my attention. It was terrifying, but also liberating.

Considering the current state of music, I am still getting by. For the last 2 years I have been eeking out a living from AL, mostly through licensing, supplemented by the AL store. The move to LA is an attempt to increase licensing opportunities as this has been the bulk of my income, and possibly take on other music related work.

I miss NYC. I miss the energy, the grit, the skyline, the people, and even the cold. It’s real, tangible, tactile. It breathes. I was back there last week for the MTV Desi show, and as I got out of the train in Union Square the city literally took my breath away. I felt a pang almost like a physical blow. I saw it with new eyes and loved everything. Does any other city do that to anyone? I’ve only heard it about NYC from several people, and now experiencing it first hand.

We’ll see where things go. In the meantime I am setting up shop in this city 3000 miles from home. I hope the future is kind.

2010 is dead. Long live 2011.

2010 has been an amazing year for me. I am writing this as I am getting ready to close this chapter of my life here in NYC, which has been my home for many years, and begin a new one on the left coast in Los Angeles.

2010 saw me put out my fav album to date, tour around the country, get voted MTV Iggy's first ever artist of the week, and even get to support one of my influences, Killing Joke, here at home in NYC! It's been a year of growth - personally and professionally.

Thanks to every one of my teachers, well wishers and supporters for making 2010 a truly amazing year! Here's to an incredible 2011! After all, it's up to us to make it what we will.

Some highlights from 2010...

Mastering The Human Animal with Alan Douches at West West Side Music.

Spring mini tour - playing AZ Fetish Prom with Slick Idiot & Mona Mur and En Esch. View more pics from Steam Synthetic

Animalia tour

Visiting the motherland.

Supporting Killing Joke at Irving Plaza in NYC.

Denver - final show of the Animalia tour

September 12th - driving to Denver. You can see the fires burning in Boulder.

We arrive at the The Church. Gorgeous venue, excellent host (Joshywa Schrader), fantastic audience! One of my four favorite shows of the tour.

The stage from the balcony/backstage area above.

Sushi and sake before the show.

Mankind is Obsolete perform a kick ass set.

Our last meal together at an all-night place called Pete's Kitchen. It was about 4am. Tea and soup for me. It was hard to part after five weeks together. MKiO headed home to LA, and we were off to Omaha for our last show with Strap on Halo.

Photoshoot with Justin Kates

I met up with Justin at our Charlotte, NC stop during the Animalia tour. Justin and I met back in 2007 when we first played in Charlotte. He had shot that show, and one of his photos ended up being the basis for the very popular Mic Stand T and tank tops. We had been talking about doing a studio shoot since then. So the day of our show, Justin came and picked me up from the hotel, and we headed over to his studio.
Clothing: Mother of London
View on flickr
thejustinkates.com
Justin Kates facebook page

Vlog - Portland, OR 9/7/10