michalmenert - Tumblr blog

[michalmenert]

Do you need a personal masseuse?! I'm going to Costa Rica for 6 weeks but when I come home i'll work for free, all I need is the music!

Yea!

[michalmenert]

Hey Michal, I like your stuff sir. Do I like jazz horns? Nah, but when you jazz it up I pay attention. Do I like r&b women vocalists thrown on top of sick beats? Nah, but when you mix it up I pay attention. I'm just saying I'm noticing what you're doing and its refreshing. Don't get me wrong with my line of questioning but I'm curious what your thoughts are on God/Christianity. I listen to electronic music a lot cuz it has no lyrics usually. Just enquiring not looking down. Why the triangles?

The triangles are the four elements of alchemy. I feel like I take old bits and create my future with them, hence alchemy! As far as Christianity, I was raised Roman Catholic, but I don't believe in the institution of religion. It's structured to abuse power through fear, and I can't get behind churches. God is everywhere, God is good, has many names, and may be everything and nothing all at once, and it's beautiful to see people believe in something but I'm not devoted to a faith, more the ideas of being kind and helping others and seeing something bigger than myself in this crazy life

[michalmenert]

What's going to happen?

I read over an interesting article that Kraddy shared this morning. It calculates what it would take a solo songwriter to make the equivalent of an average salary at Spotufy... That number is 288 million+ plays. That is an unrealistic goal, and a depressing high water mark of where the industry has been taking the value of a song or album. Here's the aforementioned article : https://thetrichordist.com/2016/05/26/songwriter-would-need-288-million-spins-to-equal-average-spotify-employee-salary/ We are at a critical time in music history. The tools to create are within every smart phone and computer, freeware and affordable software allows the average person to play around with music without the complicated process of renting a studio, knowing what the hell your doing, and spending countless hours and dollars creating an idea. A home studio with entry level monitors, cheap microphones, and a laptop is now capable of creating music that can stand in the ring with billboard charting products pumped out of million dollar rooms. Every song you want, you can find, for free (or the low cost of a subscription), quickly, on any Internet ready device. You no longer need to know theory, mixing, or sound design. These things can be mimicked by virtual plugins or paid for by the dozen, ready for the young artist to manipulate and enjoy. The cost of making music has shrunken, and with it the cost of enjoy/owning music has become next to nothing. This process has paralleled the rise of new 1-2 person touring acts, pseudo-DJs playing slightly altered versions of familiar hits and flavor of the week singles. Acts that headline festivals before they've ever learned to blend two tracks smoothly in their "Dj" set. These acts often find that pairing with tastemaker blogs and big management house helps "brand" them, often before the content is there, because it's easier to gather the results of what works for others and apply it to your brand than to actually build a brand. We all have fallen for it. It's the musical equivalent of what Doritos did; research the chemicals that trick your brain into thinking the flavors actually indicate nutrient rich food that you need to keep eating, without knowing why you just finished the bag in ten minutes. That's fine. That's a pop music approach, and electronic producers who can steal what's popular and repackage it will always have a team of suits building a bridge to their future, I'm not mad about it. Just explaining a bunch of aspects so this rant makes sense.. Independent music is inspiring. It's rise to acceptance, without the assistance of prominent labels and branding and such, gives me the feeling of freedom, of possibility. I remember driving 15 hours from Colorado to Dallas to see the Living Legends, where my friends & I showed support by purchasing hundreds of dollars of albums and tees because we believed in LL, and their existence helped us believe in ourselves. Independent artists 10-20 years ago could press CD's for tour and hustle after their set to pay their bills while giving their fans a piece of the legacy & the feeling that they helped their favorite artist keep creating. Underground acts could sell their music online and ship worldwide, helping supplement their art form financially without having to tour vigorously. Art that wasn't going to translate to a live audience, but still completed us when we listened to it in our headphones and cars could be created, and enjoyed. That's no longer the case. Now, an artist must tour to live. And everyone tours. Fans aren't able to go to all the shows, because come spring & fall EVERYONE is cramming into vans & tourbusses, trying to prove their relevance and worth to a fan base than has to pick and choose who it supports. Artists see which songs work live, and go back in the studio to chase that formula rather than tell their story. We're losing what we love, because there's no money in anything but helping people escape their life for a night or a weekend, next to their friends and strangers. We no longer have the patience to follow an album through its narrative. We want anthems. We want escape that we can anticipate when the beat drops. We wan atmosphere and distraction over substance. So much of why I love music is its' diversity, the peaks and valleys of energy, emotion, intent, etc that have existed my whole life. Ambient albums I can drift away to, love songs that don't need to be played on the dance floor, headphone music that helps me organize my personal experiences into a cohesive life.. I'm fearing that will all die soon. Not completely, for art will always seep back into the shadows of the soul when the world falls out of love with ur, but we are experiencing a tragic shift in support for art that doesn't go well with your favorite drug on a weekend. What about the albums you listen to when you're coming down? Those sunrise gems that fix you after a night or weekend of exploration and self destruction, where you saved your money and paid the Djs playing your favorite club anthems? The system is broken and those who regurgitate what works are rewarded. We are reaching the era where it's harder to justify making music for the soul because people want a brand they can trust to give them a product they're familiar with come tour season. Be aware that you're voting with your time and money, and if you only vote for those who got rich off of copying what works, you will soon have but a shell of the music you once fell in love with. Thank you for giving me the chance to do something that I believe in with my life. I owe you all the world, and I hope to see this system find a way to support ALL the talented creators out there, not just the ones with a slick business plan.

[michalmenert]

Sleep chasing / promoters who care

So tired despite the 5 hours of sleep a night. Last night in Eugene was fun, despite the lack of a crowd. Starting to realize most promoters don’t do their job. I’ve seen great promoters sell horrible shows because they are good at their namesake: promoting. It’s disheartening because the first sign of a shit promoter is them blaming you for lack of ticket sales. Put me on the ground for two weeks in any market and I’ll push myself, I’ll meet people, make moves and get people in the door. But if I’m on tour, and you buy a show, don’t give me my TM bs about how we aren’t selling tickets because YOU didn’t know how to sell them. My job title is artist, yours is promoter.. Do your fucking job, don’t blame someone who loves theirs just because you heard I had a connection to PL and you thought you could put my name on a calendar and it would sell itself. That’s not promoting. That’s buying a lottery ticket and then blaming the cashier for it not winning. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, and I STILL can’t help but fear that ever tour is the last, mainly because we’re a grassroots operation without a big budget, and we rely on promoters who care. Those that do, they sell us out on a Tuesday in a market that isn’t usually a slam dunk. They make you feel like you’re doing it right… I know I’m blessed with a job where people reciprocate and fans shower us with compliments over the course of a tour, but you can’t book your next tour based on compliments. So it’s terrifying being out in the road with a band you believe in, barely breaking even, and having shows with less than substantial crowds where you look out at the audience and fear “what if this is the last time I get booked in this town?” Because someone else didn’t do their job and then painted it like you just weren’t good enough to sell tickets… That shit gets in your head and heart. I don’t want this band to lose our future because of poor promoting on our first tour. All I want is to keep touring, to keep playing with this band all over the world and pushing ourselves to create amazing moments.. And sleep.

[michalmenert]

Pretty Fantastic morning

Feels strange waking up in my own bed, having sent off the crew into the darkness of the west just last night. My day starts with poking a stick at the Internet through a protective barrier of blankets and weed, listening to the hum of my obnoxiously large AC unit (which can trigger panic attacks with the right/wrong combinations of chemicals inside my blood). My room feels like a half assembled theater set that's hiding from the sun. There's stacks of clothing I convince myself I'll fit into a soon as I turn my habits around and take my body seriously. Half finished painting line the wall, mirroring my half-on mattress cover that mocks me every time I fold the last corner over and hope it stays the whole night. There's a graveyard of papers, wires, small machines and trinkets laying on every surface.. Loose chunks of weed here and there, never out of reach. Today is my last day at home, and while I would love to stay in bed forever, I have a head full of music to squeeze out onto these last hours before we conquest along the west coast as a band. I've had the honor of getting to know Russ Liquid a bit more, on the east coast, and now he is joining us again to paint the rest of our story. Russ is a reminder to me of how music lives. He will never feel comfortable with the praise he gets, but he IS music.. I guess living in a time and building in a genre (EDM) where music comes third (at best) after hype and money, being able to share performing with someone like that, someone who can bleed themselves into a moment musically, it's a beacon of hope. He leads us through music we've never played before, and shines without leaving us behind. This band has incredible potential, and I can only dream of how great the next album could be if i continue to learn to swim these waters with this incredible school of strange fish. For now, I'll put my headphones on and play along with my friends virtually, sinking slowly into today's autumn hue as it paints the dust between my blinds.

[michalmenert]

This is @marcelomoxy, he spins records that move bodies. He also plays bass and is pretty fantastic. Come check him, @willdabeastofficial and myself, along with the rest of the #prettyfantastics in Pittsburgh tonight at Club Cafe.

[michalmenert]

New ink in the green room by @rjtattoo #fallingleaf

[michalmenert]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by michal menert (@michalmenert)

New track on that #hyperfuturefunktastocalysoultronicaleftfieldsmokesomedustwithyourgrandma shit @borntown

[michalmenert]

Big shoutout to can openers. Whoever invented these was like "I got extra space, I'll put a bottle opener on here,too.. Free of charge, I won't even tell em" that's what's up.

[michalmenert]

You don't need a kitchen to cook breakfast. Microwave + blowtorch = bacon + eggs + jalapeño + basil + chèvre sammys #fdwrz @keeplovedetroit

[michalmenert]

Big brother bird watching

[michalmenert]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by michal menert (@michalmenert)

#MENERTmorningTWISTup "The Reason" #prettyfantastic

[michalmenert]

Blowtorch smores

[michalmenert]

Dinner at home w my sweetheart.ApplebutterGingerCayenneSoySaucePorkChops+goat cheese honey mayo strawberry habanero sweet potato+ParmesanBreadedSqwashes for the win.

[michalmenert]

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by michal menert (@michalmenert)

#MENERTmorningTWISTup is @thecolorofadream setting the end of If You Knew ablaze. This album is something else already.

[michalmenert]

Shoutout to @cultureclothingcompany for the gear they sent me! Check em out if your in Arkansas or order online!! Cheers.

[michalmenert]

I wish I could shit east.