[INDIELAB] You’ve just independently released your debut album ‘Plainsong’, some of the songs were originally on an EP recorded in Ireland but the final album was recorded in your apartment in New York and mixed in England. Tell us a bit about how that happened?

[Susan Enan] It was a bit of a long process but the short story is that I made in EP that was getting quite a bit of good feedback. Although it did fairly well for an indie artist I was still pretty much unknown and felt like I’d be throwing the songs away if they weren’t also included on the debut album. By that time I had moved to NY and the whole thing had taken on a different life so we re-produced the original 4 and added 6 more.

It turned out to be quite a deliberate decision to record the album yourself rather than work with a producer in a studio, why did you go down that route and how did it influence the sound of the album?

I did have an opportunity to work in a studio for a bit and in many ways it just didn’t work out. One thing I discovered was that I was not then confident in my ability as a musician to give it my best in front of others while recording, and then I found my feet doing it at home. I remember my engineer encouraged me to at least record some vocals with someone else in the room (and I did), but when I asked him which were his favorite vocal tracks it turns out they were the ones I did by myself. Making this record has taught me a lot about my limitations but also when to follow your gut. I think the more you are aware of that, the best you can get out of yourself and the better music you are going to make.
That being said, even though I was going to produce it I didn’t want it too sound “home-made”. I love albums with polished sonics and that’s definitely where having a co-producer (Alan Bezozi) and an amazing engineer (Alan Branch) came in. Bezozi would keep it out of the “kitchen sink” as he called it and I’d send off the tracks to London and Alan Branch would take out all the background noise you get in a Brooklyn apartment with no soundproofing whatsoever. It was the best of many worlds as I got to make it at home but yet I think the final product sounds like it was made in an expensive studio. I couldn’t have done it without them.

You had several large indie labels interested in releasing the record, especially after your track featured on Bones. What swung you to release the album yourself and go independent? Any regrets about your decision?

No regrets at all! I would have taken a deal if one felt right. The problem is though, that signing a deal, almost every deal, is a huge risk. I know the horror stories. I think everyone does now, or at least they have access to them. When I put myself in the worst case scenario with each deal, I would always end up with pretty much nothing. Sounded like suicide to me.

You’ve had some great support from Amie Street and Paste Magazine, how did that come about?

I posted a couple of songs up on AmieStreet a while ago and they sold really well on the site, so they e-mailed me and it kind of went from there. Paste, ah… I LOVE Paste!!!! i just really like what they are about. In the very early days of the magazine someone sent them an EP of mine and they loved it and put one track on a sampler CD. It got a fantastic response and they’ve been good to me ever since.

Do sales equate to success? If so do you feel that this album is on it’s way to being successful?

Well, it certainly is encouraging when I get up in the morning and see that someone has bought the album from the online store. If I’m in NY, I ship out all the ones to the US and Canada and my parents do the rest from their village in England so every one is greatly appreciated! I’ve been living off the sales for a few months now and that’s incredibly rare nowadays. I think true success will be to have it grow so I can make the next one and be able to afford new gear etc. I’d really love a sound proof room that I can go to work in every day. Being creative is only free up to a point!

What have been the best websites/services you’ve found for promoting your music?

The best for me, by far, has been Tunecore. If you are not with a big label who can get your music on all the online stores, Tunecore is the way to go. They are incredibly clued in to what’s going on in music right now and have a fantastic team to deal with any issues.

If you had the budget, what would be the first element of your business life that you’d like to pay someone else to do? Eg. PR, Booking Agent, Manager, Sales & Marketing etc.

Booking agent or manager right now would be really helpful!

Complete this sentence – “To be a successful independent musician then you have to be…”

If you mean a singer/songwriter trying to make your own records, tour etc, then I think you have to be truly creative in every area of what you do, even in business, and that means being adaptable. You’ve just got to go with the flow of what’s happening, but be as creative as you can with it. That’s why the major labels are struggling right now. They are stuck.

If you had one piece of advice for an aspiring musician it would be….

I was at SXSW a few years ago and the one thing I remember from the key-note speech was ‘If there is another job you would be happy to do, don’t become a full-time musician.’ If you really believe you were chosen for it however, jump in with both feet.

What does 2010 hold for you?

I’m very excited about this year. I’m setting up a world wide house concert tour and blogging about my adventures on my YouTube page. I’ve still got some dates free so if anyone wants me to come and perform in their home they should email me at bringonthesong@susanenan.com. I’m also starting to think about some news songs and how to get them recorded. Pretty much feeling like the world is my oyster right now

Susan’s Album is available from the Susan Enan Website and Aime Street.

Follow her on Twitter // MySpace // Facebook

As we’ve already discussed here, being given a huge budget to record a great sounding record is no longer necessary. Digital technology has lowered the budgets required within reach of many independent artists. In fact many independent artists are now getting very creative when it comes to finding funding for recording their albums. The most straightforward method is just to take out a loan from either a bank or relative to fund the recording.  In essence that’s what a record deal used to be anyway, a loan from the label to record a product that the label would then receive all the money from sales until it’s loan had been repaid. There are obvious dangers in this as you are taking all the financial risk as opposed to the label and in the current climate of falling music sales it should not be entered into lightly but in a world where very decent sounding albums can be recorded for a few thousand pounds it’s not complete business madness to consider it if you have an established fanbase to market to.

Other models of funding pioneered by artists who we’ve heard of include schemes like pre-selling albums to fund the release. Artists have asked fans to pay a sum of money usually about twice the usual album price to fund the recording of the record, of which some demos are usually available as part of the marketing. There is a set release date and an assurance of either a product or the money back. Those early ‘investors’ receive a special limited edition copy on release as well as free tickets to a release show or similar. Not only does this make use of your loyal fan base but it can also help hype the final release. However, as we’ve said before, recorded music sales are falling so persuading people to part with cash before a record’s even been recorded can be very hard but the more you can make them feel uniquely involved in the project the more chance they’ll be willing to help with it.

Another scheme we’ve heard of is artists ‘micro financing’ projects by selling small amounts of shares in future album to fans and investors. They offer people a split of the profits from a release in return for an investment of a couple of hundred pounds or so. Not only does this make fans feel a part of your music and your creative work but it also offers them the prospect of getting their money back with the possibility of a return on the investment. Again paperwork always needs to be prepared stating the exact terms of the deal so that everybody is in no doubt what to expect from the other parties.

There are even dedicated websites that allow you to buy and sell shares in bands, sites like sellaband and slicethepie boast several artists who have gone on to record albums with the funds the websites have provided. Exposure on these sorts of sites can be very helpful in introducing your work to a larger audience and as part of a release marketing campaign. However a quick warning – always read the terms of signing up to these sites very carefully and find out what the implications are for ownership of the final recording if it gets made as some artists we know have found those terms unfavourable.

One of the biggest benefits of paying for the recording yourself is that you then legally you own it. This used to be one of the biggest complaints of the old record label model of doing things. An artist could spend a year of their lives making what they thought was the perfect record but once they’d finished – they didn’t own it! The label owned the copyright to the ‘sound recording’ because they paid for it and therefore had the sole right to exploit it for the duration of the copyright. In a worst-case scenario a label could then either stall releasing a record or even cancel it altogether if they didn’t feel it would recoup their investment or it didn’t fit in with their current vision for the company. They did of course stand to lose all the investment they put into making it but their logic was if they didn’t stand a chance of recouping then why spend the extra money on duplication, distribution and marketing? Owning the copyright to your own recordings is very valuable, it gives you complete control over how they are used and so should not be signed away lightly.

Music distribution –>

By far one of the most enagaging and genuine people I met at Un-Convention, Steve followed up the panel session with a great blog post about all the ideas he had that he hadn’t had a chance to share. Check it out….

Brainstorming new models for music careers

To see Steve performing with his loop pedals and Lobelia check out the below video. It gets gorgeously strange by the end