By Patrick J. Siegmann
Blaine, WA
A Great saxophonist friend of mine who played with (and sometimes still does) HONK and is now Director & first tenor sax with Sequim’s (pronounced Skwim) Stardust Big Band here in Washington State, had a song on one of his 8 albums called “Wes is More” – I asked him one day back in 93 what that was all about. He (Craig Buhler) told me it flows around the philosophy that “LESS is MORE!” and not complicating what should be simple. Something I have used from that day forward. It became a “Lotus Notes” catch phrase in my programming career, and soon was used in many Banking campaigns in Southern California, where banks were trying to win you over with all of the sorted crap they could muster and throw at you, to entice you to their ranks as a new customer. The winners were the “Less is More” group that our gang purveyed.
This is really something you want to keep in mind as you are creating your web presence – whether on FaceBook, MySpace Music, or the World Wide Web in General. As a fledgling producer, recording and FOH (Front Of House) engineer, as well as the co-owner of a recording studio, too many times I am inundated with request for friends, or request to review their music, as they are wishing to have – Oh I don’t know – an association with a studio, publishing house, or accomplished musician, or just spamming everyone they can in order to have the appearance of a great following and boost their numbers (web-hits).
I am not saying that there is anything right or wrong with that methodology, it’s up to the individuals personal preferences and conscious. What looses me, as well as many others, is the busyness of some of these pages that just makes your head spin with all of the garbage they have polluted their space with. You know the kind I’m talking about – where the page takes minutes to load because they have every picture they have ever collected posted right up front. I generally attribute this to an insecurity – that if they don’t show you in the first thirty seconds of your viewing all of their accomplishments – that you won’t stick around to see who they really are! That’s simply not so, if you are a pro shopping for new talent.
These types of sites I always leave immediately, and spend no further time on, nor ever hear what the artist’s sound like – because the site looked too much like a 10 year old with a Rock God complex had created it! Don’t flood your guest (visitors to your site) with nonsense. Keep them wanting to find out more and dig deeper into what you are all about as well as how you sound. Don’t stick flashy pictures behind text spaces as this makes it difficult if not impossible to read sometimes. Show your pictures, as there is nothing wrong with that, just do it tastefully, like creating a slideshow, or just a half dozen or so shots with links to more. Stick with a couple of fonts and not every size possible. Look and see what the pro’s (those with major labels) are doing and mimic them to a comfortable degree, while still showing your individuality and artistry – not your immaturity to impress.
Following these simple hints will carry you along way, and in doing so, this helps you look more professional with a better chance of getting that gig, record deal, or studio time. What can it hurt you to try? The possibility of a greater success, then you may be experiencing now? And if it doesn’t work for you after a year, you can always go back to your status quo! Good Luck! I hope to see you on your site going out on a LIMB soon
“Less Is More Boys!” – Patrick J. Siegmann
http://www.myspace.com/aborderlinestudio
Patrick Recommends:
- One book you would recommend. – “The Last Best Hope” by Peter Tauber
- Your favorite piece of gear. – My new Stienberger Pro GT Deluxe Spirit lefty
- One thing you can’t live on the road without My laptop – It’s a Dell 1521 Inspiron running XP Pro
