AS HEARD ON THE ...
PHOTO : MATT MILLER
Mathew V
For the full conversation , which also includes Tom Kemp of the Feldman Agency , listen to the July 13 , 2022 episode .
CM : It ’ s interesting to me that you brought up banter as a way you connected with an audience in a challenging , high-pressure situation like when you were opening for USS as a then-unknown artist . So , what ’ s your approach to stage banter , because it can be charming or it can be very annoying ?
Mathew V : I think that at the end of the day , with the artists that I love and am a diehard fan of , I love them first and foremost because of their music , and right behind that is because I think they would be a great hang . I think I would love to have dinner with them for an hour and I feel like I know them through social media and through interviews . I feel like there ’ s so much charisma there that I see them in a higher regard because I think that they ’ re a really cool person .
So , right before I signed my record deal , I was doing stand-up comedy and there was a bunch of different aspects about entertainment that I really enjoyed . But when I would go see shows , especially with artists who I didn ’ t know , the ones who won me over , I left feeling that there was star power there . Besides their performance , their banter was so important because it left me really rooting for that person and thinking they would be a cool hang . Also , with fan culture , the audience wants to feel connected to the artist and feel like they ’ re your friend . That ’ s why they ’ re rooting for you is because they like what you have to offer personally . Plus , they feel connected to you and feel like they know you .
So , in turn , I go see a lot of shows and , at times , the songs just go back to back to back with no banter . I see the audience go to their phones to send a text or check their social media or something like that . When I curate my shows , there ’ s maybe a strategic moment where a song will go right into another one if there ’ s a natural transition , but I think that there has to be , at least for me , a storyline where if I set up the joke between songs three and four , between songs six and seven , you ’ ve got hit them with the punchline and bring them back . There are all these little interactive moments where we ’ re handing off the baton , back and forth , and then leaving moments in specific cities for personalized interaction for whatever city you ’ re in . I think it ’ s really important for that banter to win the room over .
Especially as an up-and-coming artist , I found myself on a lot of tours that may not have been the perfect match . So , if that audience is there to see something that doesn ’ t necessarily run parallel to what I ’ m doing , I need to extend an olive branch to get them on my team . Because , if the music isn ’ t 100 % what they purchased a ticket for , I need to get them going , “ You know what ? This isn ’ t 100 % my style , but I really like that kid .” So , even if they ’ re on the fence about the music , they ’ re going to root for me .
Musician ’ s business coach
FABIANA CLAURE
For the full conversation , listen to the Aug . 10 , 2022 episode
CM : Now , more than ever , independent musicians are entrepreneurs . There ’ s so much a musician needs to do these days to run a music career . Do you find musicians have become more entrepreneurial , or at least more knowledgeable about business ?
Fabiana Claure : I ’ m so happy you ’ re asking this question because this is one of my favourite things that I love sharing in interviews . Here ’ s something you ’ re going to love ; Did you know that the earliest definition of an entrepreneur , originating in the English Oxford Dictionary in 1897 , defined an entrepreneur as “ one who puts out musical performances ”? Entrepreneurs were originally defined as musicians – why ? Because musicians , historically , had no choice than to be entrepreneurial .
Think about it , Chopin was selling tickets from his home . Mozart was writing the music , finding the musicians , conducting the orchestra , fundraising from the royals , promoting the concert — doing all of it ! Musicians have historically had to be entrepreneurial in order to survive .
It ’ s only in the early 20 th century that this whole division happened when musicians were all of a sudden these don ’ t-touch-me celebrities and managers were the ones taking over and doing all the things and this system started to happen . But that was a very short period of time when people could live in that way , when you had these huge gatekeepers in the industry and everything needed to be done through these entities . Today , we ’ re back to square one in that musicians have no gatekeepers , there ’ s no barrier to entry , and the internet has allowed musicians can go directly to consumers and to the market . So yes , absolutely , there ’ s a great opportunity for musicians to be entrepreneurial . There is no gatekeeper anymore , and there is no barrier to entry . In fact , looking at how musicians have historically operated for most of music history has been entrepreneurially .
Listen to new episodes of the Canadian Musician Podcast every Wednesday at
www . canadianmusicianpodcast . com . All episodes can be found on the website or through Apple Podcasts , Google Podcasts , Stitcher , Spotify , or wherever you get your podcasts .
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