Angie Owens new CD, "Blues In My Blood", was recorded with musicians who worked with Angie over the internet. This type of internet collaboration is becoming more common so I thought I would take the opportunity to explore how it works in practice.
Angie does all original music. I was pleased that she took the time to respond to this email interview.
Hairy Larry - Your new CD has a very polished and professional sound with great
guitar work. I understand that you collaborated with musicians over
the internet. Who helped you on this CD and how did you get in touch
with them? What instruments did they play on the CD?
Angie Owens - Why, thank you Larry! (BIG smile!)
Yes, thanks to the internet I got to collaborate with musicians from all over the world! The musicians that play on this CD are: Rob Campbell from California, Alan "Cathead" Johnson from West Virginia, Ken Damkier from the Netherlands, Alex Stangl from Canada, Hans Vreedenburgh from the Netherlands, Anne Cozean (background vocals) from California and Dewey Hiler from Jonesboro, AR!
I got to know them all, except Dewey, by listening and commenting on their songs which were posted on a website for songwriters called "Songramp.com"! Then, they in turn, listened to my songs and commented on them.
They are all multi-instrumentalists and/or excellent recording engineers. The main instruments they play are: guitars, keyboards and harmonica. The drum tracks were made by either myself or them using drum looping software. My drum program is called "Drums On Demand". Their exact contributions are credited on the inside of the CD cover.
Hairy Larry - Did you use a support site or forum doing this collaboration or did
you communicate by email?
Angie Owens - We communicated through e-mail and through Songramp.com's onsite messaging.
Hairy Larry - How did the transfer of the music files work? Did you lay down a
basic track first for others to play along with? How did you get their
tracks and mix them in with yours? Did you do this on your own
equipment or did you mix in a studio?
Angie Owens - We exchanged music files (wav files, which are very large) using yousendit.com which is a free internet service. You upload your file to yousendit.com and they store it for you and send a message to the person you're sending it to. That person goes to yousendit.com and downloads it onto his computer.
On "He's A Human Hurricane", I made a drum track/guitar/vocal to start with. Then Alan Johnston added lead guitar, bass, a little keyboard and a special effect in one spot. The music to "Blues In My Blood" and "Dancing Slow" was written by Rob Campbell and I then wrote some lyrics to hopefully fit the mood and meter. But, yeah, you always have to start out with some kind of a work recording.
We did all the recording and mixing ourselves using our multi-track computer programs. My computer program is called "Cool Edit Pro 2.0" which has now been upgraded and is called Adobe Audition.
Hairy Larry - Was their payment involved? In kind reciprocation? Or just thanks
and let me know if I can help you later?
Angie Owens - I don't think you should ever ask anyone to do "something for nothing". If you're a musician/songwriter, you know it's not a small thing to ask. It takes a lot of time and effort to record a music/vocal track or make a drum track or to mix a song. When I ask another musician to help me out with a song, I always offer to return the favor with my female vocal on one of their projects or to collaborate on a lyric. I offer those 2 things because they are the things in which I feel I have enough expertise that they might want them.
The issue of money always complicates things and if you don't understand how the music business works it can be an area where hard feelings can occur between collaborators/co-writers. There are only 2 songs on the CD where paying someone would be an issue because I wrote the lyrics and music for all the others. Rob Campbell wrote the music for "Blues In My Blood" and "Dancing Slow". That makes him more than a collaborator, that makes him a co-writer. And a co-writer is entitled to his share of any money made in CD sales. For an independent artist like myself, that is not going to amount to much. I didn't want there to be any hard feelings between myself and Rob so I told him if by some miracle I sold alot of CD's I would write him a check. Since he understands how the music business works, he was satisfied with that. One reason I picked him as a collaborator is because I knew he was not under the illusion that an indie artist would be making a huge amount of money and would not be worried that he would be cheated out of his share. His co-writers share would be about .02 cents per song. (The amount of money that a writer is entitled to is set by Congress.) Since he co-wrote 2 songs we would double that amount and make it .04 cents x # of CD's sold. So, just to show you how little it would amount to, let's say I sold 100 CD's in a years time. .04 x 100 = $4.00. So, if you're writing songs in the hope of making a lot of money. Think again!
The joke about musicians holds true! What would a musician do if he won a million dollars? Continue to play gigs till the money ran out! :-)
Hairy Larry - How did it feel working with musicians you have only met on the
internet? Can you compare the process with working with local
musicians like you have on some of your other CDs? Before you were
done did you want to actually get together with some of the sidemen
and play a few tunes?
Angie Owens - I felt very fortunate to get to work with such great musicians! I have some local musician friends but have never run into anyone locally that I really clicked with for writing/recording songs. Either they were into different genres than I am or weren't songwriters and didn't have the desire or the knowledge to develope original songs. The internet has helped me find other musicians that have the same passion for creating original songs that I have and are also excellent musicians and recording engineers! Since I got to know these musicians first through listening to their original songs and reading the comments they left on others work and sending messages back and forth, they don't seem like strangers to me. I have actually gotten to meet Rob, Alan & Anne in person (after we collaborated) and we played one of our collab's, "He's A Human Hurricane", together as a band at the Songramp Bash in Nashville in 2007! It was great fun!
Hairy Larry - Would you recommend this kind of collaboration to others working on
their music? Any pros and cons?
Angie Owens - Absolutely! Because of these collaborations, I now have friends all over the world! I think of them not only as friends but as allies and partners with the same passion for songwriting/recording that I have! I am a lot less lonely.
Some of the pros:
1. You don't have to spend a lot of money in a recording studio to get a fully produced song. (This is a big one for me, since my husband and I have 3 children ( 2 still at home). Money is tight!)
2. You don't have to record under pressure or time restraints like you do in the studio, so it's a lot more fun!
3. I like having the control over how it's mixed (if I'm the one doing the mixing).
4. Since the internet opens up the whole world to you, you have a better chance of finding musicians that you really click with!
5. Since they can't see your reaction over the internet, it's easier to be tactful if you don't like what your collaborator has recorded! :-) You have time to figure out how to communicate your feelings and maybe come up with some ideas on how to fix the problem without offending your collaborator.
6. I think the BIGGEST BENEFIT is the personal growth you experience by increasing your knowledge about recording and improving your skills as a vocalist and musician!
Some of the cons:
1. Your song may not end up sounding as professional as it would have if you had paid to have it done in a recording studio.
2. Sometimes you don't like what your collaborators have come up with, but it's usually the best they can do.
3. I don't have as much knowledge and skill about recording as I would like. (But, I'm learning and getting a little better with every song, I think.)
4. Your recording equipment may not be as good as what they have in the professional recording studio.
Hairy Larry - Please add any other comments you would like to make. Answer any
questions I wasn't smart enough to ask.
Angie Owens - Larry, I think you're a pretty smart fellow!
When I'm reading articles about other songwriters, there is one question that I'm always interested in knowing the answer.
Why do you write songs?
The reason I write songs is because I love music so much I want to create it.
I like to express my emotions and thoughts through music and lyrics.
I like to write positive songs that express some truth and/or give people hope for their own relationships.
I want to create something good for the world.
Thanks for the interest in and support of me and my music for all these years, Larry. You and Vivian are great people! To other songwriters reading this: I hope the information here was helpful to you and that you write a great song today! If you want to learn more about the craft and business of songwriting, the Nashville Songwriters Association, Int. is a great organization. Check them out at www.nashvillesongwriters.com ! I host a local Songwriters Workshop for them on the second Saturday of the month from 4:00 - 6:00 P.M. at Caffe Buono (216 E. Highland in Jonesboro, AR). We always have a 30 minute lesson on songwriting written by professional songwriters and play our songs for each other and get feedback. Anyone interested in the craft and business of songwriting is invited to attend!
Hairy Larry - Please also include links to where your CD can be purchased and to
where tracks can be heard on the internet.
Angie Owens - You can hear song clips and purchase my new CD "Blues In My Blood" at www.myspace.com/musicofangie !
Also on my Myspace page are blogs about the CD Release Party for "Blues In My Blood" and my annual trip to Nashville, Tennessee!
Pictured are Rob, Angie, Anne, and Marty jamming at the Songramp Bash in Nashville.
Angie Owens' Band Page
Buy the CD at Angie's MySpace
Nashville Songwriters Association, Int.
Songramp
YouSendIt
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