"Start by creating a body of work" ... I want to believe this is the challenge, not building the audience. Because I'll quit and have quit (many times) when I look at things related to the audience metrics.
I get it. You have to focus on what you have control over. We probably do have more control over those audience metrics than we realize—but probably nowhere near what we feel we’re supposed to have based on what influencers and others are telling us.
Best to do good work and trust that the people who will like it will find it—at least some of them.
Wow, this interview triggered a lot of nice memories! I was an avid reader of True Tunes magazine, and, thanks to it, I became a huge fan of Vigilantes of Love. I still have a couple dozen bootleg cds of theirs. My wife and I drove up to Chicago to see all the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Oak Park. Then we made a pilgrimage to Wheaton and bought some music at the True Tunes store. Now JJ Thompson lives in Nashville - I'll have to keep my eye out for him!
I think I first heard about the Vigilantes in True Tunes, too! “Welcome to Struggleville” and “Audible Sigh” are still to of my favorite rock records. I never made it up to Wheaton while TT was running, but John did take me up to meet Glenn Kaiser at JPUSA more than 10 years ago now. That was pretty wild.
I stumbled across this. Thank you for sharing it. I find it almost impossible to get good information about finding audiences without fitting into the genre box.
This is a great essay!
Thanks, John! Glad you enjoyed John’s perspective!
"Start by creating a body of work" ... I want to believe this is the challenge, not building the audience. Because I'll quit and have quit (many times) when I look at things related to the audience metrics.
I get it. You have to focus on what you have control over. We probably do have more control over those audience metrics than we realize—but probably nowhere near what we feel we’re supposed to have based on what influencers and others are telling us.
Best to do good work and trust that the people who will like it will find it—at least some of them.
Wow, this interview triggered a lot of nice memories! I was an avid reader of True Tunes magazine, and, thanks to it, I became a huge fan of Vigilantes of Love. I still have a couple dozen bootleg cds of theirs. My wife and I drove up to Chicago to see all the Frank Lloyd Wright homes in Oak Park. Then we made a pilgrimage to Wheaton and bought some music at the True Tunes store. Now JJ Thompson lives in Nashville - I'll have to keep my eye out for him!
I think I first heard about the Vigilantes in True Tunes, too! “Welcome to Struggleville” and “Audible Sigh” are still to of my favorite rock records. I never made it up to Wheaton while TT was running, but John did take me up to meet Glenn Kaiser at JPUSA more than 10 years ago now. That was pretty wild.
I stumbled across this. Thank you for sharing it. I find it almost impossible to get good information about finding audiences without fitting into the genre box.