Are We There Yet?

There is a certain frustration that accompanies the organised deployment of an album campaign. Perhaps it even starts as soon as we leave the studio on that last day of mixing - you’re completely knackered, elated, but there appears the small kernel of I can’t believe this isn’t out yet in your head. At this point in proceedings, a notion like this is borderline insanity, and it remains an unreasonable and unhelpful thought right up until the day of release. There are an awful lot of essential things that you, as the artist, needs to do, be part of, and acquiesce to, in order for the record to be flung successfully into the world with the best chance of reaching an audience and finding the love that it deserves. So, stop being so impatient, button it, and buckle up.

 So aye, so much has to happen after the point where you stoat out of the studio after that final day. You’ve just finished re-calls to mixes, which come off the back of pouring over the tracks for hours, most likely days, on all the devices that you normally listen to other music on: your day-to-day headphones, in the car, and on your stereo speakers you’ve had since you were 14 years old (audiophiles, leave me alone). This in itself is a mentally exhausting process. Are you sure you’re happy? It’s all technically correct because Paul (Savage) has engineered and mixed it, but are you happy? Well, are you? It is a collaboration with your chosen producer after all, and they have a vision for it too. Paul’s role in production and mixing means that if you think that your guitar should really be a bit louder, shouldn’t it, means that not only will everything else needs rearranged in the ol’ stereo mix, he could also politely tell you to fuck off because you’re paying too much attention to your own parts rather than the intricate interplay between bass and drums that part of the song actually benefits from highlighting. I don’t do this, of course, but these things can happen. I am speaking in broad strokes about the process, and all that. If anything, I tend to ask does my voice really need to be that prominent?

After that, comes the Mastering of the album. We all know what that stage does, right? So I won’t get into it. Obviously, I could explain it if I wanted to, but I don’t want to patronise you. Once it’s mastered you have to listen to it all again, knowing that if you hear something you don’t like in one of the mixes now, it is a potentially very costly thing to rectify. Does it sound better though? Yes. Does it sound more like something you’d expect to hear when you put a record or a CD or the radio on? Yes. Then we’re done with Mastering. Well done, everyone. Good job. Sam at Precise Mastering worries about all the technicalities so I don’t have to, and he is very good at it.

Have you been getting the artwork done at the same time as all this is happening? I hope so. Luckily for me I’d got Rachel Campbell and Rose McConnachie working away on it while I was drinking too much coffee and twitching next to Paul in the control room over the mixes. What about photographs for the cover? Stephanie Gibson was in with us during the first week of tracking in the studio, capturing us all in the live room. What about video HASHTAG CONTENT for teasers, videos, and short-form fun for when you’re in campaign mode, hmm? Richie Morgan and Ailsa Harper were in during tracking capturing things for this too. Maybe you’ll learn like I did that there are certain angles that really do make you look like an ape. At least people like videos of monkeys and apes online. Maybe I’ll do numbers if someone films me struggling with a banana from a Dutch angle, and like all viral content that will, of course, lead to people directly engaging with the music. Shh.

So, you’ve got your mastered album and your artwork, so now it’s time to proofread it. This is going to be all over thousands of CDs and LPs, are you absolutely certain that there are no typos, names spelled incorrectly, attributions missed, or other errors? Enter Emma Pollock, proof-reader extraordinaire (and Chemikal Underground label manager), and as many different eyes as you can convince to scan that much text.

You’ve got it all together now. Andrew (Savage) has been working even further behind the scenes in the Chemikal Office getting artwork templates, manufacturing times, and absolutely everything logistical lined up. Spreadsheets, metadata, fulfilment, oh my! You hear back from the manufacturer about the lead-times for getting the LPs and CDs made and you work out when a sensible release date is based on those. Have you factored in when the various distributors want it? Is your chosen release date within the traditional touring windows of late winter to early summer, or autumn to mid-winter? You’re not considering releasing an album in December with an independent label’s marketing budget are you, ya absolute headcase? April, thank goodness. Most of a year to punt it. As a side note, see if you ask me “what’s next?” three weeks after the new LP comes out, I will be less than pleased and possibly grip you by your lapels and hiss at you this, for 18 months. But, I digress…

After having had a delivery date for the physical copies confirmed now that the manufacturer has all of the assets, and you’ve factored in enough time for them to arrive and then go off into distribution (thanks, Andrew), you can now book the tour. Are you going to try and work with an agent? Can you afford to have 15% of your fees go to them? Or, more likely, can you find an agent that thinks the 15% that constitutes their fee will be sufficient for the work they do to book any tour for you given the fees you can attract? Do they think your star is on the rise? Are you vital and potentially viral? Either way, are the dates you’re being offered paying enough to allow you to cover your band’s wages, accommodation for everyone, food for everyone, fuel for the van, and the van hire? How quickly will everyone need a mental health intervention if you exclusively stay in Motorway Service versions of the major budget hotel chains? Have you managed to synchronise the diaries of three popular musicians with yours to ensure everyone’s available?

It is also time to talk about singles and who is doing your radio plugging. Don’t be precious now, you as tHe ArTiSt may not have the requisite distance from the album to be able to make a judgement on what constitutes a good first single. What songs has the plugger identified as singles? Once everyone has thrown in their tuppence and you’ve had your say and singles have been agreed, you have to think about videos, and boy if you hate having your picture taken, just you wait until someone is taking twenty-five of them every second. Do you go pure heavy serious and po-faced, or do you risk some levity and risk making an Ethan Hunt of yourself? It is helpful to remind yourself that nobody really cares all that much at all, unless you do something truly humourless or undignified. Aim for somewhere firmly in between the Graceland visit in Rattle and Hum, and anything that deliberately trades your dignity for engagement. Richie Morgan has held my hand a few times and told me not to worry…

And don’t forget a press release! Have you got someone to do that very challenging thing and write about music well? Have you found someone who understands what you are trying to do with the record? Thank you to Michael Kasparis for removing the excruciating prospect of having to try and write about my own album away from me, and doing a wonderful job of it. And who is going to be punting this to the press? Is it in-house PR or is it an agency?

Oh, by the way, have you lined up some photographs? For the press and that. What are you going to wear? Have you dressed your age and gone for stylish, or have you tried to be fashionable and ended up looking like an undercover polis at a music festival? Was there budget for a stylist as well as a photographer? What on earth is your hair doing? Thank goodness, again, for Stephanie Gibson.

Do you have a sensible approach to Digital Engagement? Do you have a calendar of what should be posted when? What kind of video content do you have? No, what kind of short form video content do you have? Is that more grey in your beard? It ages you, you know. Are you aware of the latest shift in algorithms over at Meta to keep your posts away from your fans? You’ve deleted your Twitter, right? (November 2023, of course). You do need at least some form of presence on Tik Tok, right? Yes, YouTube have YouTube Shorts now, and it’s time to get your big face on them. Do you have someone to reason with you when you react to the notion of a Personality Post of what you’ve been up to with it’s nobody’s fucking business what I’ve been up to when I’m not on a stage/nobody cares what I’ve been up to, and then calmly talk you through the modern world? Thank goodness for Ailsa Harper of Brightest Light who’s working with Chemikal Underground on campaign matters and can talk me through what will be helpful on the ol’ engagement front, and affords me a great deal of her patience. I’m more of a blog, mailing list, and occasional poster with dates on it kinda person, so it’s much appreciated and helpful.

See how you need to feed both the fuel tank of a Volkswagen Transporter and four musicians - have you got new merch designs sorted? A tour dies on its arse without t-shirts. Do you have inspiring artist to work with to avoid having to send a pdf with [YOUR BAND NAME] in Times New Roman to a t-shirt printer? Endless thanks to Jamie Mowat, Louise Mcfarlane, and Rachel Campbell for helping you all look stylish in BC Ts and totes.  

Have you decided on the set list for the shows and have you worked out what backing tracks you need your drummer to trigger during live shows? Mainly percussion and electronic stuff, right? It’s not cheating. Frankly, if you as the audience want a fifth musician on stage in front of you, cancel your streaming subscriptions and act accordingly.

The above screed isn’t an exhaustive list, in fact, it’s made me wonder if there’s anything I've missed. Nor is it a list of complaint, I am twitching to get on a stage in front of you, is all. I AM EXCITED. I wouldn’t want to skip any of the above because then the album of which I am very proud, and in which the label has put their faith, resources, and time, would have the start to life it deserves and needs. At the time of writing, it is currently forty-one days until the record is on shelves, and it is one hundred and thirty-seven days since I left the studio control room with Paul on that final day. I’m sitting here having just proofread this blog to the best of my abilities, and about to resume staring at The Big Spreadsheet. I have more than plenty of tasks on my to-do list, and am staring down the barrel of having to be filmed for a second music video already. I know that the label and I have done everything necessary with the least amount of contingency time built in that was still sensible (as per my insistence), and this is far from my first time through all of this. I am so very grateful to be in the position to do a fourth Broken Chanter album, and yet I am still trying to scratch away that itch of the niggling thought that is rattling around the back of my mind - I can’t believe this isn’t out yet.

You can pre-order my brand new LP from Chemikal Underground right now, and I would be very grateful if you did.