GoGirls Interview with Inky Glass
by Madalyn Sklar
What drives your music? When did you first know you had to do this thing called music or bust?
Expression drives me... and I am my music. I can't really separate the two. Music is something I do, and it is an extension of who I am I tried to stop performing. I stopped all together for 8 years, but I just had to start again in 2008. I am not really sure what it was. Its like I didn't have a choice, like I had to come back. I don't know, I didn't really decide... I just did it.. .I just ended up here, playing. I was primarily acting before, but all the money I made was singing (musical theater, in other music related stuff). I have been on the stage since I was six (a LOOOOOONG time ago I was a ballet dancer, but then I wanted to tap because that made noise. Then it was the flute at 8, then modeling at 13, then acting at 15. I went with that learning the guitar along the way until I was 30. Then I was at a Tori Amos Concert in My "Oh shit I am turning 30" stage, and Tori was doing a cover of Landslide. So I became a social worker....And I specialized in Drama and Music therapy :) at 38 I started playing guitar again, started giging, and here I am!
Describe your music style and name three musicians you have been inspired by and why.
Music Style: A quirky Blues. 3 Musicians: 1) Alicia Alicia was not only a great musician that left this world all too soon, but she opened the whole world for me. We were "foxhole buddies" and traveled Europe together performing on the streets in 1992. She showed me my first chords, and taught me the circle of 5ths. 2) Billie Holiday-That Voice!!!!!! 3) Bob Dylan Those lyrics and I could go on and on and on.
What's your ideal venue atmosphere?
Hah! One with a bathroom and toilet paper. Dream Venue? A green room to warm up in and relax in, steady water and coffee supply, plenty of time to sound check before performing, a good merch table, and one where I am not responsible for the # of people in the venue (i.e. the venue has a following)
Describe how your music career has evolved since you first started performing.
It has started for one thing. I have a CD, and since 08, I have learned a WHOLE lot. Living in NYC a person is gonna learn alot in anything you try to do, I mean its not the kindest place in the world. But the most important thing, is that I know how to perform now, and I know how to engage the audience. Oh yeah, I can sing in tune and fret the chords so much better now too. :)
How would you describe the music scene in your area?
Rough! There seems to be the beginning stage, where I am. One needs to have 10 people that will come to the show, and pay $10 a piece to see you play for 1/2 hour to maybe 45 min. Very hard to build a following in this way. I mean on ANY given night, in ANY given venue there is something fantastic going on, so the competition is tough, there are very few square miles, and MANY of us trying to get the same very few listeners. It really can be a rat race...But I do thrive on the adrenaline, and there are so many really fabulous people here, and I have been here so very long. So patience is a virtue, and one day, the right place, right time, and right handshake will happen, just like anywhere.
What was the inspiration for your latest release?
Like I said, I don't know....I just had to do it.
What do you think is number one for a musician to think about before preparing for a CD project and do you have any tips on saving time in the studio?
Ahhhhhhhh.......Work with your producer first. Get feedback on the songs. There is NO RUSH!!!!!! Its better to pay for rehearsal time with the producer/director/engineer.....to have the songs in the best shape for recording, than to spend this money in editing or in the studio. In my experience, I was so much better at playing nd singing like 2 months after recording was over, that I wished I could do it again, which I couldn't of course. But the next time I have the fundage, I will know these things.
What makes or breaks a musician just starting out in your opinion?
Emotional Health
Describe your toughest moments in your quest for a music career and tell us how you overcame them.
Rejection. I was waiting to play a gig, and I had three people there (ok, not alot, but a start). But the venue wouldn't let me play because I didn't have 10 people there. It was embarrassing. Also, people always think they can tell you how to do this that or the other thing. But when feelings are hurt, they just hurt. And I get hurt easily, cause I am fragile. That is the toughest thing for me to deal with is when someone is like wow that was....different. And I know it was really BAD. And I know I played bad. It gets really hard to pick it up and try again the next time.
What advice would you offer up and coming artists that get discouraged other than don't give up?
If you have to do this thing called art, you will be back. And if you come back older, rusty, and creaky, it just feels like a whole lot of wasted time. If you stick with it, at the very least, there won't be anything wasted along the way, and you won't have to re learn stuff that got out of shape. Its easier to just stay in shape musically, than to get out of shape, and have to relearn. ( emotionally, stage fright, technical skill, and performance ability)
Tell us something you want the music world to know about you.
I just want the music world to know I exist :) Hell, I just want my little part of the world to know I exist. I don't have to be a household name (but I have the time if the opportunity arises). OK, the real stuff is this. Music saved my life. many times I have been so depressed that I have wanted to die (hence the song Cortar De LA Venas) Janis Joplin sang to me "Little Girl Blue" while I lay in fetal position on the floor. I could get up and face another day. When the director walked out of a play that I wrote, and was staring in three days before opening night, Ani Difranco's "Not A Pretty Girl" kept me from jumping out the window. So yeah, its happy dance stuff too. and I love that, and I float on top of the notes the way a surfer takes a wave when I am at a Melissa Ferrick concert, but its as deep as my blood and bones too.
What have you gotten out of being a member of the GoGirls community?
Oh shit, everything.. Trish and Rew are so great. I started doing the open mics, and I got my performing feet solid there. This was so important to me. Last year at Gay Pride we did a showcase at Stonewall, that was really good for me. The opportunities to meet other musicians is priceless, and these girls, and some of the friends I have made are priceless. Nothing can be as good as that. I just love the community, support. Shit I love everything. IT ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find out more about Inky Glass:
Have a listen!! http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2330155
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/InkyGlass1
Web http://www.inkyglass.com/
Face Book http://artist.to/inkyglass
EPK: http://www.reverbnation.com/inkyglass
What drives your music? When did you first know you had to do this thing called music or bust?Expression drives me... and I am my music. I can't really separate the two. Music is something I do, and it is an extension of who I am I tried to stop performing. I stopped all together for 8 years, but I just had to start again in 2008. I am not really sure what it was. Its like I didn't have a choice, like I had to come back. I don't know, I didn't really decide... I just did it.. .I just ended up here, playing. I was primarily acting before, but all the money I made was singing (musical theater, in other music related stuff). I have been on the stage since I was six (a LOOOOOONG time ago I was a ballet dancer, but then I wanted to tap because that made noise. Then it was the flute at 8, then modeling at 13, then acting at 15. I went with that learning the guitar along the way until I was 30. Then I was at a Tori Amos Concert in My "Oh shit I am turning 30" stage, and Tori was doing a cover of Landslide. So I became a social worker....And I specialized in Drama and Music therapy :) at 38 I started playing guitar again, started giging, and here I am!
Describe your music style and name three musicians you have been inspired by and why.
Music Style: A quirky Blues. 3 Musicians: 1) Alicia Alicia was not only a great musician that left this world all too soon, but she opened the whole world for me. We were "foxhole buddies" and traveled Europe together performing on the streets in 1992. She showed me my first chords, and taught me the circle of 5ths. 2) Billie Holiday-That Voice!!!!!! 3) Bob Dylan Those lyrics and I could go on and on and on.
What's your ideal venue atmosphere?
Hah! One with a bathroom and toilet paper. Dream Venue? A green room to warm up in and relax in, steady water and coffee supply, plenty of time to sound check before performing, a good merch table, and one where I am not responsible for the # of people in the venue (i.e. the venue has a following)
Describe how your music career has evolved since you first started performing.
It has started for one thing. I have a CD, and since 08, I have learned a WHOLE lot. Living in NYC a person is gonna learn alot in anything you try to do, I mean its not the kindest place in the world. But the most important thing, is that I know how to perform now, and I know how to engage the audience. Oh yeah, I can sing in tune and fret the chords so much better now too. :)
How would you describe the music scene in your area?
Rough! There seems to be the beginning stage, where I am. One needs to have 10 people that will come to the show, and pay $10 a piece to see you play for 1/2 hour to maybe 45 min. Very hard to build a following in this way. I mean on ANY given night, in ANY given venue there is something fantastic going on, so the competition is tough, there are very few square miles, and MANY of us trying to get the same very few listeners. It really can be a rat race...But I do thrive on the adrenaline, and there are so many really fabulous people here, and I have been here so very long. So patience is a virtue, and one day, the right place, right time, and right handshake will happen, just like anywhere.
What was the inspiration for your latest release?
Like I said, I don't know....I just had to do it.
What do you think is number one for a musician to think about before preparing for a CD project and do you have any tips on saving time in the studio?
Ahhhhhhhh.......Work with your producer first. Get feedback on the songs. There is NO RUSH!!!!!! Its better to pay for rehearsal time with the producer/director/engineer.....to have the songs in the best shape for recording, than to spend this money in editing or in the studio. In my experience, I was so much better at playing nd singing like 2 months after recording was over, that I wished I could do it again, which I couldn't of course. But the next time I have the fundage, I will know these things.
What makes or breaks a musician just starting out in your opinion?
Emotional Health
Describe your toughest moments in your quest for a music career and tell us how you overcame them.Rejection. I was waiting to play a gig, and I had three people there (ok, not alot, but a start). But the venue wouldn't let me play because I didn't have 10 people there. It was embarrassing. Also, people always think they can tell you how to do this that or the other thing. But when feelings are hurt, they just hurt. And I get hurt easily, cause I am fragile. That is the toughest thing for me to deal with is when someone is like wow that was....different. And I know it was really BAD. And I know I played bad. It gets really hard to pick it up and try again the next time.
What advice would you offer up and coming artists that get discouraged other than don't give up?
If you have to do this thing called art, you will be back. And if you come back older, rusty, and creaky, it just feels like a whole lot of wasted time. If you stick with it, at the very least, there won't be anything wasted along the way, and you won't have to re learn stuff that got out of shape. Its easier to just stay in shape musically, than to get out of shape, and have to relearn. ( emotionally, stage fright, technical skill, and performance ability)
Tell us something you want the music world to know about you.
I just want the music world to know I exist :) Hell, I just want my little part of the world to know I exist. I don't have to be a household name (but I have the time if the opportunity arises). OK, the real stuff is this. Music saved my life. many times I have been so depressed that I have wanted to die (hence the song Cortar De LA Venas) Janis Joplin sang to me "Little Girl Blue" while I lay in fetal position on the floor. I could get up and face another day. When the director walked out of a play that I wrote, and was staring in three days before opening night, Ani Difranco's "Not A Pretty Girl" kept me from jumping out the window. So yeah, its happy dance stuff too. and I love that, and I float on top of the notes the way a surfer takes a wave when I am at a Melissa Ferrick concert, but its as deep as my blood and bones too.
What have you gotten out of being a member of the GoGirls community?
Oh shit, everything.. Trish and Rew are so great. I started doing the open mics, and I got my performing feet solid there. This was so important to me. Last year at Gay Pride we did a showcase at Stonewall, that was really good for me. The opportunities to meet other musicians is priceless, and these girls, and some of the friends I have made are priceless. Nothing can be as good as that. I just love the community, support. Shit I love everything. IT ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Find out more about Inky Glass:
Have a listen!! http://www.reverbnation.com/tunepak/2330155
CD Baby: http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/InkyGlass1
Web http://www.inkyglass.com/
Face Book http://artist.to/inkyglass
EPK: http://www.reverbnation.com/inkyglass
Labels: gogirls interview, Inky Glass
Madalyn Sklar is a music business coach & consultant, blogger, social networks expert and author. She has spent over 15 years helping independent musicians and music business professionals achieve greater success. Her motto is: working smarter not harder. She also founded GoGirlsMusic.com, the oldest + largest online community of indie women musicians.
"Madalyn not only gives me marketing strategies during our consultations, but she gets me thinking in a whole new direction."
"Madalyn’s high-energy, can-do attitude was the shot that I needed to get me going!"
"Madalyn has played a key role in helping me build a strong foundation for my music business."
"In just one session, Madalyn was able to answer tons of questions we had about the music industry and making a living as an independent artist."
