I Am Not Lefthanded invade 2UIBestow
I Am Not Lefthanded are busy. They're currently releasing their second EP, Time To Leave. They're also raising £15,000 to record a full-length album with the help of SliceThePie.com, posting a new free download every week on their website and gearing up for their first European and American tours later this year. To try and share some insight as to how they're coping with the madness, they're invading 2UIBestow with a 5-part guide to holding on to your sanity in the modern music world.
I Am Not Lefthanded's Modern Music Industry Sanity Survival Guide (2/5)
2. Be interesting
Once you get it out there, people will listen to your music. If they like what they hear, then they will want to find out a bit more. You make music, it's your passion - but in this game, everyone makes music. What sets you apart? It could be that you might make the most elaborate costumes, or choreograph intricate dance routines, or make home-made musical instruments - or ice all the lyrics of your songs into cakes. Whatever it is, this is your chance to catch that spark of interest and nurture it - to really engage the casual listener. Find something you care about and make it your focus.
For us, we love movies - specifically odd, quirky movies, with a very particular brand of humour (Loaded Weapon, Groundhog Day and our surprise recent discovery, Fired Up, to name but a few that we can heartily recommend). So we focused on music videos. These can be some of the most wasted chances out there - otherwise excellent bands have created the most pointless, tedious and uninspired videos. Even if your song is the most fantastic thing imaginable, watching you mime-along to it on youtube, no matter how nicely shot it is, is simply criminal. A video can be a wonderful thing, it can give you a chance to recontextualise your song, subvert it, or ignore it completely and just brighten someone's day.
So we'd like to share the first live action video that we made, Long Goodbyes. It grew out of different conversations - what if your teddy-bear was cheating on you? In some ways it matches the themes of the song, but it really took on a life of its own. Although throughout the whole process, the panda was the betrayer, we added the final shot, at the bus stop and everything got changed around. He looked so forlorn and alone it made him seem the victim. For our last single, Everybody Sleeps we made a prequel, but that, as they say, is another story.
http://www.iamnotlefthanded.com/
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