Showing off

I was talking to Siavash Amini and Brandon Invergo the other day over on Bluesky, and the topic was 'what do you do to keep people interested in an album that's come out but not that old just yet?' - that inverse sweet spot where the album is, say 3 months old, so it's not new but it's not quite archive territory just yet. How do you keep people interested, how do you keep them invested in this work that may have taken you years, but is all over in the blink of an eye after it's put out into the world?

One thought I had is basically just showing off.

I'm not one to go around tooting my own horn much, and I'm pretty sure both Brandon and Siavash are like me in that regard, but I'm thinking more and more like we need to break out of that more insular, reserved sort of headspace and show off once in a while.

Like, obviously not be an egotistical dick about these things - there's a balance you have to strike, like a lot in life I suppose, but there should be a way of basically saying 'HEY, I'M PRETTY GOOD Y'KNOW!' without coming across like a complete knobhead.

I started a thread on Bluesky recently, just showcasing some of the stuff I've done over the past 19 years - the Adam Curtis stuff, the gigs, festivals, etc. that I've been involved in. Y'know, the cool shit - the really fun stuff. Because if I don't do this sort of thing, literally no-one else will, so the next time someone offers me a gig for no money, or never responds to my emails, etc. I can look at this thread and think 'yeah fuck that, I'm worth something!' instead of drying up into a ball of self doubt and anxiety.

Because sadly, all this stuff I put in that thread means absolute zero when you're talking to people in 'the biz' - the agents, the labels, the press, etc. it's all 'how many streams do you have on spotify?' (sigh) or 'how big is this person this week?' and without big PR, or a label push, it's unlikely you'll tick all their boxes. And even if you do have those things, it's still fucking hard. So you'll rush to release something else, just to get that sweet hit of something so people can talk about you. 

So yeah, go on, even if it's just for yourself, just fucking show off once in a while, it's a nice reminder if nothing else, of all the stuff you've actually accomplished over the years. And trust me, even plucking one note or standing on one stage is waaaaaay more than most people do in life, so you've done more than most already. Just shout about it more!