New to the forum, open for critique!

[Clark]

Hello everybody! My name is Clark. I'm a 24 year old out of New Hampshire with a love for songwriting/playing/recording music. I've been making music for quite a while now, but am kind of an idiot when it comes to getting my tunes out there. My process has always been write the song, record the song, then leave it behind and move on, but I'm trying to change that. I read about Taxi in a magazine so I figured I'd give it a try. I write music under the name "The Drag", kind of like how Mark Linkous is Sparklehorse or Will Oldham is Palace. I write, record, and play all the instruments. So anyways I figured I'd post here to get some of your opinions on my tunes. Is Taxi the right place for my style of music? Any comments on my music, positive or negative, are welcomed. Thank you guys and I look forward to diving into the community here.


Wired Birds Hum

Heart Attacks & Belly Aches

[eeoo]

Hey Clark - Love your stuff, I'm a huge Sparklehorse fan and thought I detected some influence there. As far as whether Taxi is a good fit for you, that's a big question. Are you interested in being an artist and looking for some kind of record deal? Or are you more interested in licensing your music, signing with publishers, etc?

Whatever, I'm really digging Heart Attacks and Belly Aches, right up my alley!

Good luck!

eo

[Russell Landwehr]

Hi Clark. Welcome to the forums.

I think what eo is referring to is this. If your thrust is Artist looking for a deal, then the TAXI opportunities generally are for people who have already created an image, an artist prescence (web or otherwise) and a fan following. Really, though, that's what all the record companies are looking for anyway... taxi listers or not. In this day and age an artist must "make it" before someone is willing to "make them."

If you are interested in placing music in song libraries or on TV shows, then there is a ton of opportunities here.

The two songs you posted are really good and well produced. I think they fit the quality "requirements" of TAXI listings. It would just be a matter of matching the stylistic wants of the market to what you have or can create.

Best
Russell

[Clark]

I'm interested in both those things I suppose. I guess my main goal is to make the best music I possibly can and get it out to the most people I possibly can haha. I'm mainly a studio rat and don't play a lot of shows, so I'm seeking other ways of spreading my music around.

[CHuckmott]

YOu're stuff is ridiculously good, especially for being 24.....I think your stuff would do well here, so wouldn't close my mind to any of the listing possibilities, particularly the singer songwriter ones. Just make sure your stuff suits the listing you are going for. Go for the tv and film stuff as well as the label opportunities. Ine the meantime on hee, check out guys like Eeoo, Paul Otten , Casey Horowitz. Sorry but initial impression is you have this Paul Otten vibe about you , is a guy doing real well on here. Good luck.

[Clark]

Thanks for all the great info guys, it's really helping me out. I'm definitely going to check out everyone's tunes here.

[Robtoons]

Man, you really do have your sh** together for one so young...
That's intimidating/scary/inspiring!
Keep it up- I'm sure you will have success here (or anywhere)
and welcome to the forums, you will be a great asset here, and you might learn
a thing or two from the smart ones here!
Cheers! -Rob

PS those are real drums right?

[Clark]

Thanks a lot for the positive feedback Rob, I'm definitely gonna soak up as much knowledge from this community as I can. It seems like a lot of you guys have been in the songwriting game for a while; as someone trying to break in I could use some words of wisdom. On "Wired Birds Hum" I played a real kit (Tama Rockstar), on the second song I wanted a more drum machine type sound so I tore up the drum break from Impeach the President by The honeydrippers with a SP404 Sampler then programmed the drums from that into Pro-Tools.

[nick.moxsom]

Clark. Dude, welcome

You clearly know what you're doing, so let's cut to the chase. This genre isn't my wheelhouse, but FWIW, as a watcher of TV and occasional filmgoer, I think your stuff is prime for the market. It's fresh, original and interesting. They're also what Laskow would call 'broadcast quality'. Great work. The trick is to avoid references that will exclude you from opportunities vis a vis the lyric clashing with visuals.

Heart Attacks – I kinda wanted to hear a little bit of swing on the keys when they came in, but that's just me – maybe you deliberately didn't want that. And I was slightly distracted by the first horn part. Out-of-tune is nice, but maybe this was just a little too loose for my ear. Others will, I'm sure, disagree. Just my 2 cents.

Wired – Love the octaves vox. Lyrics are original and make me wanna listen. I thought the chord structure was gonna go somewhere less conventional, but I reiterate, this is not my wheelhouse.

Looking forward to your continued involvement. There is definitely a place for you at Taxi.

Best,
Nick

[Clark]

Thanks a lot for listening and the words of encouragement Nick! I'm not exactly sure what you mean by swing for the organ part, like something more rhythmic? And as far as the horn part, I have heard quite a few people say that it throws them off a bit which is understandable, I bought a cheap trumpet specifically for this part and those 5 notes are pretty much the extent of my skills haha. It's definitely pretty loose.