"Newbie Introduction"

[tomaragon]

Hi:I’m fairly new here and have posted a handful of times. As Vikki mentioned in her Newbie thread......maybe we should introduce ourselves and give a bit of history. I guess I really haven’t done that properly so………..Ok!........here goes.....!I’ve read a lot of posts from many taxi members way before I registered to post. I’ve actually listened to a lot of very good music from Taxi Members over the last few months. I posted a little blurb a few days ago saying I would be joining at the end of the month and that if anyone was interested in the music I’ve created, they were welcome to comment. In retrospect I think it might have seemed like I was asking for downloads at SoundClick but that wasn’t the case at all. Besides, I’m sure most of us know that any chart rating at SoundClick has no bearing on the real world so to speak. Vikki and Kelly Green were warm and friendly and extended a nice welcome and I do appreciate that. That thread has been viewed a number of times but so far only two lovely ladies have commented. That’s fine, and I understand people are busy and also I understand, I’m not an “official member” yet and real Taxi members rightfully carry more clout amongst the group as it should be.Oh, and by the way, I did listen to a few tracks of Vikki’s and Kelly’s of which both were excellent songs and the recordings were nice and sparkling clean. Impressive. Ok, so who the heck am I? First off, my name is Tom Aragon.I started playing Rock guitar about 42 years ago. Yup, that’s quite a while ago……..Or back when the Earth was cooling as some say. I will admit, that within that span of time, I have taken many years off (sometimes 10) from playing guitar at all and I’ve always come back to it When I was just a kid of 16-20 I had the pleasure of opening up for bands who were well known at that time. Most younger folks wouldn’t know half of them but they were The Doors, Love, The Rascals, Cold Blood, John Lee Hooker, Charlie Musselwhite and later on in life Foghat, Y & T and the B-52’s.Around the late 90’s I had a slight feeling of mortality which asked the question…… If I dropped in my tracks today what musical contribution if any would I have left behind?Hmmmmm good question actually! I’d played a lot of gigs in my life so far, and audiences seemed to enjoy the music all right, but there was nothing really I had left in case future generations might stumble upon some recordings. I’d done very little recording and never really even tried to compose. The sense of mortality seemed to be a real motivating thought as to maybe I should leave a little something.It was then that I put the guitar down for a little rest and jumped into the world of electronics via synthesizers, sequencers, samplers etc. What I did was a complete 180 degree turn from rock guitar. The music that came out of me had nothing to do with rock.It was more soundtrack type of music. It wasn’t necessarily genre specific, it was whatever came out…….came out!I loved the ability of being able to create with a seemingly endless array of tones. It seemed like whenever I discovered a new tone that really spoke to me, the composition would sort of write itself. One tone would lead to the next and so on and so on.Interesting! Not only that, when I performed the music in a live situation, the older people I had offended by my rock guitar playing earlier in life, were now coming up to me saying how much they “enjoyed the music”. Imagine that. The live experience with all of that electronic gear was fun and slowly I acquired more and more of it. Eventually it felt like I was behind the controls of the mothership. In my quest for more tone and rhythmic flexibility, I was juggling synths, modules , footpedals, sequencers, mixers, samplers, drum machines, you name it. After about 7 years, playing live wasn’t quite as much fun as it use to be. I'd sort of painted myself into a corner.The thrill began to fade when I realized it took me about an hour and a half to set up and make sure everything was working. One midi cable going bad could have proved fatal in a live situation. At that point I decided to take a break from playing live and just keep recording (mostly in my bedroom). About this time a friend of mine said I should upload some music on a new site called MP3.com. I wasn’t really quite clear on just what exactly an MP3 file was, so I checked the site out.I really didn’t think people would wait 15 or 30 minutes to download a song by an unknown artist but I was wrong. This by the way was at the end of 1998 and there wasn’t a lot of high speed Internet access being utilized.I put up a song and thought what the heck, I’ve got nothing to lose right?Much to my surprise the song was downloaded right away.I wondered how could this happen so soon? Nobody knew me from Adam and there wasn't any promotion on my part. Little by little I put more music up and the downloads just kept happening. Well, I thought, this was kind of fun. Next, I got the idea of contacting other MP3.com artists and seeing if they were up for a collaboration.I listened to other artists that I though I might have some common ground with, and then sent them an e-mail seeing if they would be interested.The first track I collaborated on was called Warpath. An artist from France named Kitusai sent me a file which they had already named, with a percussive groove and some obscure chanting going on. I listened to it for a couple of days and then orchestrated my contribution around what was already there. I uploaded it and bam it became song of the day.The downloads and the curiosity of others heightened.Amazing! The fact that I was able to create something coherent with an artist I had never even met before was intriguing. So I thought, this is a perfect way to create music in a whole other way I had never even considered before. Find the right artist, send them a file and see what happens. I ended up doing about 40 collaborations and I’d say maybe 75% were fairly decent with all things considered. Keep in mind that Internet collaborations are common now but back then ( late 90’s) it was kind of new ground.In the meantime while this was unfolding, the downloads kept increasing.Originally, when I first joined MP3.com I thought it would be a perfect place to sell some CD’s. That wasn’t exactly the case. People were coming for free music, plain and simple. They still do for the most part. I think I sold 1 CD for every 1000 downloads. The good news was, MP3.com eventually started paying artists for downloads.Bonus! I wasn’t expecting that one. This was a nice surprise, which seemed to work out pretty good in the long run. Well, before MP3.com was bought out by Vivendi Universal ( who quickly put and end to the unsigned artist thing) my music was downloaded over 2 million times. They only paid around 3 cents a download but after awhile even the pennies added up. MP3.com wasn’t the real music world so to speak (just like Soundclick isn’t) but I did discover that yes, the music I thought was too subtle for most listeners, actually was appealing to a much larger audience than I had ever dreamed of. I never would have guessed it.After the corporate takeover, I pulled all the music off the Net and decided to take another break from composing, playing live, recording, and just music in general. I ended up with around 100 compositions or so and hopefully touched some souls with music. The short break turned into more like 4 or 5 years which brings me to the present .That’s about it………..For the most part I feel the majority of the Taxi family is not only very talented but also supportive and take the time to help each other out…….. Doesn’t get much better than that. Thanks for listening!Tom http://www.soundclick.com/tomaragon

[hummingbird]

Hi Tom! Thanks for stepping in and taking up the challenge of introducing yourself to us! I feel this is an important step in being welcomed into the community, as is entering into discussions and posting feedback on other folk's work. And, being songwriters, we are all storytellers... and l for one like reading / hearing other people's stories.It's very interesting to hear how you went from playing live rock music to creating soundscapes for film & tv. My story is similar in that I also got that taste of mortality when my marriage broke up in 1990 and I came home to the west coast, thinking, how did I end up living a life I didn't want? I looked deep into my soul and I felt two things were missing from my life. Creativity, and singing. So I retrained as a graphic designer, and once I was working, started taking singing lessons to get some confidence to go out and do some covers. It was a long journey but I began to realize my acute social phobia was limiting my success as a singer (to nil) and through the journey of finding & releasing my voice I also was able to find and release myself from the programming of the past. I began to teach myself, and that also facilitated my growth as a human being. When I moved to Victoria, one of my students referred me to a guy with a recording studio who was auditioning singers. I went, and sang and we chatted. And he called me... to ask if I'd be willing to write some songs with him. Well, I hadn't written a song in years, and my mind said "no", but my mouth said "yes".... and here I am, 5 years later. And through working with producers and studio engineers on my music I discovered that I would like to produce my own stuff and have creative input into the sonic representation of what I write. I've been writing instrumentals for 2 or 3 years but never had the tools to produce them effectively this year.... and I got my first publishing deal this year on one of those instrumentals. I also write songs, of course, my songs tend to be creative representations of myself as an artist, and for the most part I have stopped trying to pitch them to anyone, just sing them for myself & my fans. (I am working on an album to release late next year)Anyway.... it is a pleasure to meet you and I hope to see you posting in "Success Stories" on a regular basis! warmlyHummin'bird

[squidlips]

Hey Tom, I've heard your songs. You're good. Sorry if I didn't respond to your intro post.....I'm kinda in a bind here (without going into gruesome, boring details). I don't want you to think I don't care though.So lemme introduce myself........Nita Hope aka Squidlips aka Squid (or variations thereof, depending on who's addressing me here), pleased ta meetcha! (and no, the nickname has no particular meaning, although yes, I can hear the jokes out there, so pipe down, all y'all!).Lesseee........started playing piano when I was around 3, started being trained vocally for the classics (UGH! No offense Vikki ) when I was 9 (too young!), started guitar seriously around the age of 11, dropped piano, picked it back up when I was around 15 again (self-taught, my aunt hit me once with a ruler when I did my first lesson with her and that was it for me), started writing music around 8 or 9 or so. Started singing in bars and outdoor concerts at age 13 or so. Moved on to the road and studio work from there, put out a couple of albums, got a couple of label offers I didn't want, in my youth. Took about 10 years off once. That was enough.And now, I'm here. It probably seems like magic. But it's not. Glad you started this post. Hope more chime in.

[tomaragon]

Thanks for sharing! It's great to hear people's history.Now when I listen to everyone's material I get more of the warm and fuzzies just knowing what the artist has been through.So far everything I've heard has really inspired me. Tom

[matto]

Hey Tom...what a journey!Quote:That thread has been viewed a number of times but so far only two lovely ladies have commented.Hey I wish only lovely ladies responded to my threads If you've been hanging around here for a while reading posts you probably already know more about me than you ever wanted to , so let me just say: Welcome aboard!matto

[raymond]

Hi there ... I'm brand new in town. I'm a singer /songwriter from Scotland, currently working with two bands - Gum and The Eisenhowers. I run a small label and have released a few CDs over the last couple of years. My 'main' band (The Eisenhowers) is currently about 70% of the way through the recording of our second album. I have only recently been made aware of Taxi and I am keen to start meeting new friends, hearing new music, sharing experiences and checking out some of the submission possibilities. Are there any obvious tips that experienced members would care to offer before I dip my toes in the water for the first time?

[tomaragon]

Quote:If you've been hanging around here for a while reading posts you probably already know more about me than you ever wanted to ,mattoMatt:Yup............I know quite a bit about you ...... Along with reading your posts and watching all the YouTube Taxi clipsI can see you are passionate not only about your music but also with helping others.For the longest time I wondered what your music sounded like and I just didn't feel it was my place to ask at the time.Finally I read a thread where you posted some links to some of your music.It is no wonder you have achieved success in the music world.All of your material is a joy to listen to and sets the bar extremely high!Thank you for the WelcomeTom

[sgs4u]

Where've y'all been all my life?Hello Tom. Welcome to the TAXI forum. Your bio is inspiring, and obviously attractive to gals... It reminded me I just wrote my own bio for another forum. I was immediately trashed as a NOOBIE when I tried to participate in a politics discussion. Some sort of weird hazing ritual... One of the famous writers there recently wrote this about a song I co-wrote with CouchGrouch.Quote:Obviously you(CouchGrouch) are good with words. If I had to guess I would say that this was either written by somebody (me ), who doesn't have much musical skill (not saying the musicians are bad etc...) or it was written by a lyricist and handed with the charge of providing music. The phrasing and timing doesn't work at all (for a professional demo). Ouch, that hurt...On the other hand, I do have one piece of music in an ABC TV show(thru Taxi), and I just got 5 new returns today.Here's my creds & a bit about me; My name is Steve (47). I've made a decent living by playing piano, hammond and mostly roots-style keyboards in bands & on records for 35 yrs. Yep, I was child labour in a few of my Dad's bands. Been writing & recording music, almost the entire time. Never "hit" the big time, toured a bunch, don't like it. Had a few tunes released to Canadian Country radio stations. Married to a radio DJ, who now voice tracks 8 stations in 7 different markets in Canada, for a company called Rogers. Part of our honeymoon was at the Opryland. We have 3 kids, 8, 5 & 2. They are God's gifts to my life, but I don't subscribe to any hardcore churches. (Robert's term, not mine) I play in a disco band, and many funk bands. Lots of blues, and some country acts too. Mostly I get hired as a musical mercenary. I also do lounge acts as a pianist w chick singer type stuff. Tons of great singers & musicians are my closet friends. Unfortunately, I do not count any Music Supervisors amongst them, YET. Most of the country acts up in Canada tour incessantly, and record in Nashville (for obvious reasons). I used to play in and co-produce a Canadian Country act called Alibi, that later morphed in to Rebel Phoenix. I can't find enough time to write lyrics, so rejoice in them when I do find them. Sometimes I ask lyric writers to be allowed to write melodies and demo the ideas. I've written and recorded 4 tunes with Couchgrouch. Donuts, Sighs Matter, Fantasy T-Ball & the Outsider. I've been voted favorite piano player by our local British Columbia Country Music Association 5 times(it's not a very large pool), and then volunteered 4 years as vice-president of that organization. One of my jobs was to oversee a talent contest (Talent-On-Tape), both artists and songwriters entered the contest. The submission fees barely generated enough for the cost of hiring the musicians, and pressing. But it was a GREAT idea. Songwriter's winning songs, were paired by me & judges with winning artist's voices. I think it's still running. There were 6 CD's produced, each with 4 -6 unsigned artists doing unsigned songwriters' tunes. I left the organization to spend time with my new brood. It was awesome to learn, painstakingly awful sometimes, and always required way more of my time, than I had available. I've been to Nashville 3 times, and joined the NSAI for a year, once. When I was 18, I was bullet-proof. Now, I'm a little scared that my time here is running out. Not sick or morbid, but at 47, life is half empty, sometimes. The thought of not getting on the radio enough to satisfy THAT jones/dream, is punching me in the gut, a little too often. I wanna make enough coin to hang with my Dad, who lives on the other coast of the country. And to take my family everywhere else our hearts desire. I have a pretty wacko sense of homour, because I push myself to view much of life as funny, amazing and entertaining. I'm outspoken, get into crap because I tell my version of the truth at the drop of a hat. I coach kid's baseball & hockey. I play hockey, like a madman. You Americans, you must return to watching hockey. OK, maybe not the Islanders, or Predators.My credentials don't mean much to me. It's just how my life has turned out, given the choices I've made. I call myself steve à gilbert, because my last name (Soucy) seems to impossible to spell or pronouce. There is another Taxi member named Stephen Gilbert(who makes awesome music). Strangely enough, he's also using his father's first name as his last, for the same reasons. My life is full and complete in everyway imaginable, except making money from writing songs! If you like what you hear in my music, you are most welcome to PM me about co-writing. Even tho I've contributed more than 1000 posts here, I choose to see most of them as being about the spirit of making music, much more than facts or GREAT advice.I am also a NOOBIE WANNABE, and neither ashamed nor bothered by the term. I'm hoping that by pretending, I have thick skin, it'll develop correctly. steve

[jensen]

Ok, I'll have a go at this too, see if I can introduce meself properlyI've been involved with music since I was around sixteen, 11 years ago !First of all I played around at the boyband thing for a couple of years, and we did a few gigs but nothing much to talk about, then I got to 18 and saw all my mates going out spending money, dating girls, buying new toys, driving nice cars etc, and thought to myself, I gotta have some of this too, so I got a real job !! started working on building sites, then learned to be a bricklayer.Well laying bricks aint particularily glamourous but it was a good money maker, and I liked making money, along the way, I got a lovely girl, between us we had a lovely little girl, and eventually things didnt work out, and then after the break up, I guess I got my wake up call, like who am I and what am I doing with my life, I realised I still had the urge to make music, but didnt really know what to do or where to make a startI was always the one called up to sing on the karaoke nights, I used to win lots of Karaoke contests, and at one of these contests a couple of guys came up to me and asked if I fancied having a go at doing lead vocals in thier band, so I jumped at the chance and I went along to rehearsals one night to be checked out, and the following week I was the new member doing my first paid gig, a wedding party on the saturday night.This band was a popular busy band, always had gigs booked up months in advance and they played at least 4 nights a week, so we got a living out of it and for three years I had a whale of a time.During the three years on the road with the band, there was lots of travelling up and down the UK, and lots of time to spare doing nothing, so I had a go at writing songs and was very soon hooked on it, and before I knew it was spening every spare penny in which ever studio I could find recording the songs.After a couple of years went by, I guess I got kinda fed up of doing the same ole same ole cover song thing and decided I'd like to try and form a band of my own and try to get my own music out there.Being on the road for three years did actually help me to save a bit of money, mainly because we were earning money on the nights that everyone else is spending it, so of course my nights off Monday and Tuesday there was never diddly squat to do or anywhere to go to spend my earnings, well I thought I was well stoked enough to take 6 months off and dedicate the time to continue writing and get the band together.I did manage the band thing, and I did get on the road with them, and I did write enough material for at least what I hoped would be around three albums, and I never regretted a minute of my choices.Earlier this year, I "met" a lady manager on a music forum, she actually contacted me to ask a few questions, like what was I doing with my music, was I signed, published and if not would I like to be ?no prizes for guessing the answer !!So, I made arrangements to have a meet with this lady, who told me she loved my voice and music, but changes would have to be made, and there was a hard job in front of us, but she was willing and happy to help and see where it could go ?Since that meeting, only 7 months ago ! I can hardly believe it still because it feels like a journey of a lifetime already . . . .I've had the most remarkable time, I've recorded my songs with two amazing producers one in LA that I'm doing three more track with in November, I've had the best gigs ever, label showcases with real interest, and three more big ones to come in December,and this great lady tells me this is only the beginning !!!Oh yes, and I joined Taxi and got a load of forwards first time round !!!!!!so, yep, I'm a bit excited, pumped up, working like crazy and lovin every minute,I'm a newbie wannabe, I love Taxi already, and the forum, and I think youise guys are great jensen

[kg]

Well that's some intro, Tom. Always nice to get the details behind the screen name. As a matter of fact, it's nice to hear more details from everyone since you don't always get all the info from the random posts you read. I'll be real short about mine...Piano since 3, guitar for a bit - no real starting point with it, just kind of decided I was playing it. I think it happened out of a necessity to write differently than what I was used to. Singing just kind of happened as I started playing piano/keyboard for some different ministries and such. Don't usually go into much about all that, but let's just say I learned a lot and feel like I'm starting to get some place now that I'm getting used to the idea of being myself. Was a member of Taxi in 2005-2006, took a break while saving/working for the album since I didn't feel like I had anything to submit at that point. Used the learnings from the critiques and board members to write for that project,then came back when it was done and am making pretty good strides. Board-wise...I ramble, have a seriously warped/dry sense of humor that rarely comes across well on the internet and have a tendency not to post because I'm painfully aware of how sharp my tongue can be at times. I try to be helpful if I think I can. Anyway...