AriKoinuma.com

When I think of criminally overlooked rock acts, Dada and King’s X come to my mind.  I’ll get to King’s X in another post, but today I’d like to consider what happened to Dada, or rather, what Dada can do if they were to mount another serious attempt at establishing itself today.

Dada originally came out on the I.R.S. label in early 90s.  I.R.S. was the home to early REM catalog, so the label/artist compatibility seems right, or at least it makes sense.  Their debut, Puzzle had a novelty minor hit “Dizz Knee Land.”  They released two successors on I.R.S. that didn’t really go anywhere, before I.R.S. folded.  They had one last shot at major label glory when they signed on to MCA and released a slickly-produced self-titled album, which again, didn’t do much.

I have most of their major label catalog and the band’s strengths are abound and aplenty.  Catchy hooks, clever songwriting, tight vocal harmonies with distinct timbre. Michael Gurley is a guitar powerhouse with Stevie Ray Vaughan-influences, which is a bit of a surprise for this type of pop/rock, but still, guitar virtuosity can easily be made into an asset rather than distraction.

So what was missing in their quest?

I really think this was the case of not being able to figure out the band’s positioning, both by the label and the band themselves.  They were so talented and so good in every way, that it seems like they just didn’t know what to do with themselves.

Here’s what I’d do if I were to take the band and try to have it a go today.

1. Nail down their identity: both musically and lyrically these guys were all over the place, somber and dark one moment and silly and playful the next.  Their individual songs are brilliant but their albums can be very disjointed listening experience because of this.  The novelty factor of “Dizz Knee Land” really wasn’t their core, though — so don’t push that to the fore.  It seems like the band reverted to Gurley-penned tongue-in-cheek sarcastic, smart-ass persona most often, with lyrics about being a high school geek who secretly wanted to be a jock.  That persona is digestible and matches well with their quarky side — so have them focus on being a quirky, cheeky and experimental pop band, at least until they are well-established.
2. Once “Quirky and Experimental” is identified as the core, we can work on building a web site and online community based around that idea.  I can easily see them getting along with likes of They Might Be Giants, Guster, and even Frank Zappa, in the whole “stoned and goofy geeks” camp.  Print up a bunch of corny T-shirts and sell them at their shows.  Run a contest on goofy geek stories and write songs based on them (“Here Today, Gone Tomorrow” comes to mind)

Really, when I think of what’s most remarkable about Dada, and if they agree with me that it lies in them being Quirky and Experimental pop/rock band with ample chops at their disposal, I can think of many things that can be done to build their own fan community and establish a nice cottage industry on which the three of them could live off.  Dada is an exceptionally talented act — all they need is just a bit of focus and perseverance, and even that they probably don’t need much, because their material just slays.

Sigh.  Coulda, shoulda, might-have-beens.  But still, I think the idea here is that the most important thing an act needs to have is position.  Or identity.  Once you figure out who you are (and you better really figure it out, because you’re gonna be that persona for years and years), then, from there you can build a community based on that identity.

I really wish Dada would do it,  they are so good.

I think this is a common mistake that many artists make: trying to chase two bunnies at once.

I’ve been guilty of that, for sure.

Among the web circles, we talk about how a web page, or ideally, a web site as a whole, should have a single purpose/function it serves.  If you try to build a page that is both the killer article and an elaborate contact form, it ends up being convoluted and unfocused, being great at neither.

Similarly, building a fan base and making profit are two quite dissimilar functions.  It’s best if you do it one at a time.

And I’m sure it’s obvious which should come first.

You see, if you realize that first  you need to build your fan base, even at the cost of profit, then that realization leads to further decisions.  Like giving a few songs away free in exchange of their e-mail address.  Making e-mail list sign up form higher on a page than buy CD button.

Focus on one thing at a time.  It’s hard enough doing that one thing very well.  If you build an audience base large enough, then I’m sure your fans will tell you how they can help sustain your artistry.

Then, you can switch gear.  Only then.

DIY, as in Do It Yourself.

Hell no.  I can’t DIY — no way.  Being an indie music artist is to run a business.  In addition to making music (production of merchandise) you have to do marketing, customer relations, bookkeeping, web designing, and all the other crap that all small businesses have to do.  I’m freaked out already just b/c I have to find someone to prepare my first tax as an LLC (and so far no ones seems to want my business!).

Recently, I realized that I made a mistake.  I thought DIY was about Doing It by Yourself.  And many successful indie artists make it seem like that’s the definition — they do everything.  And that’s what I’ve been trying.  And I’m burned out.

At the end of the day, I’m just a guitarist.  And a songwriter.  There, two shoes to wear — I have no more feet to put more on.

Everything else, I’m going to do it with the firm intention of handing them over to someone else as soon as a person who’s 1) better at it than me, and 2) is more interested in doing that than me, shows up.

I’m not Doing It by Myself.  What I want is a team, so I can fire me from every fxcking job I now hold except those two.

There.  That’s my new dream.

And I’m gonna make it come true.

So, here are my goals for 2010:

• To write, record and release 4 songs,
• To revamp AriKoinuma.com so that it better establishes myself as a recording artist/Renaissance man,
• To blog here at AK.com on music, life and web,
• To set up an e-mail list and start building a community of like-minded people.

Now, I realize that 4 songs isn’t much.  I really can’t expect it to really further my career — but still, that’s a realistic estimate of my work load right now.  I have to do things within my means, however small steps they may be.

And here are other items on my to-do list for this year:

• Spend $100 per quarter on Jango.com AirPlay program so new listeners are exposed to my music,
• Continue working on my current big film web site project, LostInSunshine.com, and learn more about Drupal,
• Compose music for Lost in Sunshine when it’s ready for score,
• Think of a new way to network/meet new people on a consistent basis
• Continue to work out at a gym twice a week
• Try yoga
• Continue to practice my guitar for 30 minutes every work day

And on a wish list:

• Attend one music conference
• Sell some CDs
• Pay off my debt
• Get financially ready to buy a house

My Vision for 2010

At the end of 2010, this is how I envision my life:

I am still be working at my current mostly-telecommuting job, and mainly working out of my rented studio.  I have released 4 songs that I am immensely proud of, and listeners at Jango and my blog visitors are responding enthusiastically.  I have 150-200 names on my e-mail list and people are starting to participate in my career by  commenting on my blog entries and contacting me about my songs.  I feel very hopeful and excited that I can keep building on this, and in the near future put a band together to start playing live.

Lost In Sunshine is in finishing stages by then and I will be proud of the work I do on that film, with everyone involved in it ecstatic about it.  At the same time, Lost In Sunshine web site is also becoming known as a well-executed community building for an indie film.

As the result of my consistent efforts at exercising (physical and guitar), I will be feeling great about my body and how I look.  And my guitar chops are finally such that I can pull out more of what I hear in my head.

My own web site looks great and is getting well-visited.  I keep getting inquiries about building more web sites.  My experience at my current job and building of LIS.com helps me feel secure that even if I were to be on a job hunt again, I have marketable skills to land more excellent telecommuting jobs.

My community of friends and collaborators are expanding and I meet with them and with new people on a regular basis.  It feels great to be surrounded by such nice and talented people!

–

There you have it.  My vision for 2010.  Let’s see how it turns out.

2009 was an eventful year.  Every year is, but this one had its share of some amazing stuff.

Here are some of my highlights of the year:

Developing a Business Plan and Then Going off Without It

I spent the second half of 2008 developing an elaborate business plan that detailed my online blog ventures, with the hopes of landing a small business loan.  When I learned about small business financing, I was like, that’s great — I can take that out and have it support myself while I develop my own music/online business.  Because I felt that the only thing separating me from where I was and where I want to be is time.  If I had an abundance of time to invest in my own thing, then I can build it up.  (I still feel that way.)

Well, but in reality, it doesn’t quite work out nicely like that.  My vision was basically a borderline self-employment/micro-business and an online one at that, and so banks didn’t want to deal with such a nebulous entity, and a complete start-up with no track record, too.  Venture capitalists may be more open to something like that, but again, my business vision was too small in scale to be on their radar.  I was just trying to set up a business where I can make money off of music I create and blogs.  I wasn’t trying to start the next Netflix or eBay.

So I abandoned my business plan, but still took some time to explore my options, when I ran out of my previous web development contract.  I called it “intuitive entrepreneurship.”  I rented a rehearsal space and set up my music equipment, so I had a place dedicated to make music.   I also stopped updating the personal development blog I was building in 2008, so I can focus more on my original love of musicmaking.

Producing Marc Gunn’s Happy Songs of Death and Scoring America’s Next Felon

And some work did come in.  I spent a month producing my frequent collaborator Marc Gunn‘s Celtic folk record, and then spent another few weeks making the score for Ron Johnson’s almost-feature (56 minutes) mockumentary.  Both were great projects with great clients, though not enough money to really sustain our household.  We’re one-income family, so when I’m not making money the income stops.  I networked a lot and explored the options of getting myself going as a freelance producer and film composer, but really couldn’t get traction.  A saving of $11k quickly turned into $9k in debt, and I had to go back to doing web work.

Landing a Great Web Gig and Embracing My Demands

Well, the web contract I landed initially looked like just another boring web job, and I felt somewhat discouraged.  I vowed to stay a contractor, so that I can just hop from job to job, finding time to make music in-between.  But my job grew on me and when they said that I could telecommute 80% of time (because my employer was located farther than I’d like to commute to and the bus to get there was getting discontinued) I really saw that this actually could be a solution and not a problem.

Re-Discovering My Passion and Developing a New Vision

After several months of being immersed back in the web work, I felt very lost and wasn’t sure what or why I wanted to be a musician.  But then, one day I listened to my own album and it all came back to me.  I want to make music.  I love realizing my songs’ potential.

And from there, things started flowing inside me again.  Although my time is extremely limited, I now have a situation where my family has a steady income and I have a setup where I can create music.   This is a sustainable situation in which I can build my own artistry.  Of course, I realize that things can change on a dime — I’m still just a contractor (though my employer wants to hire me full-time, so we’re negotiating that as I write this).  But working a telecommuting job and finding little pockets of time to make music is, actually, remarkably similar to the situation I sought to create by taking on a small business loan.  It’s just that the time I can devote to music is much less than what I had originally hoped for, but everything else is in the picture, from a stable income to a place in which I can make music.

I sure wish if I didn’t have to go from savings to debt in the process — but I also don’t regret what I’ve done, either, because I feel like by reaffirming and continuing to pursue/explore my own visions, I am now on the way, headed for somewhere that I don’t even know.  I started with a vision, I got lost, and now I’m back with a refined form of the original vision.

Now I’m really excited about 2010, which I will discuss in my next post.

Tomorrow the second week of my self-employment/entrepreneurship starts, and I am excited. The weekend has been good, but I can’t wait to resume my work.

The other thing I can’t believe is that it’s only been 2 weeks since I decided that I was going to go for it. This last week was rough emotionally, but a lot of new ideas and directions are starting to emerge.

It’s like when you move from one city to another. Once you immerse yourself into the new environment, change is quick and permanent. You just can’t remember or relate to being the old environment very much.

I enjoyed my last employment, but Mondays has some routine work that I didn’t look forward to. Some Mondays I would spent all day postponing that work, until I absolutely had to do them. All my jobs contained at least some elements I didn’t like. And I used to accept them as “part of life.”

Well, I am my employer now, and my job description has little that I don’t like. I am doing some things that I plan to delegate as soon as I’m able to, but it’s all for something I strongly believe in, and this thing is going to build and stay, unlike employments where you can work your butt off yet you ultimately have no say in whether you can keep it or not.

If I succeed, I can keep this job which I enjoy. Life is now simpler.

I knew that the transition from employed to self-employed would not be easy, but my first week certainly was a turbulent one.

Before launching back into self-employment, I was a full-time employee for 3 years.  But apparently that’s long enough to sink in some very strong comfort zones into my system.

When I was a little kid, my parents put me into swimming lessons.  I got sick often and my parents thought that a little exercise would do me good.  But I hated going to swimming lessons.  Every time I went, apparently my mother had to drag me, kicking and screaming, refusing and resisting.

But guess what?  Every time I actually got into the water, I enjoyed myself.  To this day, I am grateful that my parents put me in swimming lessons.  I’m not a very physical person, but that’s one activity I feel confident in.

That’s what it feels like to me now — like I’m a little kid kicking and screaming, resisting the change.

A few months ago, I took a day off from my day job to try spending a day blogging.  It took me about the first hour to shake off the nagging doubt going “am I really allowed to do this?”

It took me a better half of the week to shake off the feeling that says “am I allowed to work for myself?”

Of course I’m allowed.  What makes me think that I am not?  That’s the voice of fear talking. In fact, I was so stressed mid-week that my back hurt (which is how my stress manifests physically).

But still, I’m dragging myself through it, kicking and screaming.  I know that I’m going to be OK.

So, here I am. My name is Ari Koinuma. Welcome to my world.

This is what I am here to do:

1. To realize my potential.
2. To help others do the same.

To accomplish #1, I had to discover who I am. And from who I am, I had to design a vision that encompassed and incorporated as much of what I am as possible.

And I have formed that vision. Here it is:

—

I am building an interdisciplinary content-production and mentoring enterprise.

I have two types of content to offer: music and writing.

For the first three years of my operation, I will write, record and release 40 songs a year.
The songs will range from metal and progressive rock to gentle acoustic folk to children’s music. The consistency, originality, diversity, and prolific pacing of my music-making is what makes me noteworthy and valuable as a musician.

Similarly, I will write 200 posts per year on a range of subjects spanning from songwriting to promotion to entrepreneurship to self improvement. By covering this range of subjects, I can assist readers at all stages of development: personal->artistic->entrepreneurial.

I will also offer mentoring or create user-self-mentoring communities on a similar range of subjects as my blogs.

As the business grows, I will build a team of content creators and mentors, so I can focus on creating the content only I can produce, and expand our operations into live concerts and mentoring programs.

Read my full business plan

—

How and when am I going to start this venture?

I don’t know, but soon.

The only remaining key to the puzzle is how to create a situation where I can devote my full effort into this without jeopardizing my responsibility to provide for my family. The full-time commitment is essential, as the prolific pace of production is a key ingredient in my positioning. If I released one 12-song album a year and wrote 50 blog posts, I cannot stand out.

Even though I don’t know how I will start doing this, I do remain optimistic, as I can think of several scenarios of how to make this happen.

So — enablers, positive thinkers, encouragers, shower me with your affirmations. I’m going to need a lot of help in pursuing these big dreams. Naysayers, well-intentioned realists, and devil’s advocates, stay out of my way. Whatever lessons I need to learn, I will learn on my own, without your assistance.

More information:

• Read my business plan
• Listen to my debut rock album: Aries9 – Darkness Reveals the Beauty of Truth
• Read my plan for Aries9
• Read my pilot blog on self-improvement: Our Best Version – Big Picture of Healing and Growth
• Read my plan for Our Best Version

Do you like this plan?  Please help me out by posting an encouraging comment on the main business plan page.

In addition to sending me your positive energy, your comments will serve as a proof that a lot of people are behind me and believe in me.  This will be extremely important as I seek investors, business coaches and collaborators.

Thank you!