areuonsomething.com

A Couple of Ol' Record Guys - Ray D'Ariano & Leon Tsilis
Response to a letter from Stuck Mojo's guitarist/songwriter Rich Ward

That is what a rock band does! That is the gig! Rock and Roll is not for the timid. Like Lynyrd Skynyrd you've got to become STREET SURVIVORS! Every band in the world starts out playing shit hole bars and clubs and some do that for their entire lives. That's where 99% of every rock group that is or ever was performs their music, very few play Madison Sq. Garden or headline at Bonnaroo.

Some of the lucky ones bust out of the bar scene&.become 'big time' for a while and then end up back in the bars.There are hundreds of examples, but lets take Leslie West. Started out in The Vagrants, one of the greatest bar bands in history and played every dive in New York. Then he put Mountain together and they moved up the food chain headlining at the Fillmore's and doing Woodstock and all that. Then he even rose higher with West, Bruce and Laing and headlined the big arenas and festivals.

I just saw him at the beginning of this year playing in front of 300 people at a very small venue in White Plains and he was better than ever. He's gone full circle, but guess what? He has never done anything different. He is a rock musician who earns his supper by playing live for the fans. He will be out there next weekend doing what he's always done&playing for the people. The venues, the size of the crowd, the years change, but he doesn't. Why? Because that's what he does. Every group starts off playing in dives. Ask Bruce Springsteen. Ask Paul McCartney about the strip clubs in Germany. Ask any band who ever played at C.B.G.B.'s.

Hell, ask Chris Jericho about his journey in pro wrestling. This is a similar trip brother, and as far as record companies go&without the push from the office you ain't goin' nowhere.

Rick: For a while, things didn't really change that much. We had spent more on recording "Snappin' Necks" than the record company had given us as an advance.

Ray: Why? Why would you do that? They gave you money to record. You spent more than they gave you. Ok, I'll cut you some slack, you were inexperienced. So you made a mistake, learn from it and move on, but don't whine about it: "So now instead of just being broke (the norm), we actually owed people a lot of money as well." Also, and no musician wants to hear this, there's a thing hundreds of members of thousands of bands have utilized while they were on their quest to make it. It's called "a day job."

Leon: The biggest problem with most young bands that get their first recording deal is that they feel "Now They've Made the Big Time." Actually, securing a recording deal and making a CD is only the beginning of the journey not the end. Everything looks good on paper, but little do they realize that everything they spend in recording costs, or that the label spends in promotion is going to be charged back to them. Lesson #1: Always read the fine print! Since the beginning of recorded music, probably starting with Edison, artists have been signing up with labels only to get royally screwed in the end. It's nothing new; just ask the old blues and R&B singers. They sold millions of records and never saw a penny.

Rick: Now we are approaching the end of 2006 and, as the Machine Head album so appropriately notes, "The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same."

Ray: I agree, that's what I'm talking about here. You and your band may be young and doing your thing today, but nothing that you are going through is new. Another way to say it is& it's always new for someone& and in this case you and your band are that someone. Maybe you don't know about it, but it is the way it always was. From The Pogues web site: "Shane MacGowan suffered severe damage to the ligaments of one of his knees when he fell on stage at the Orpheum Theatre, Boston on March 11. Regrettably this injury caused the late cancellation of the March 14 opening (sold out) New York show at Roseland Ballroom in Manhattan." Flashback to March 11, mid 70's. I was the local promotion guy in Manhattan for The Who and I got word that Keith Moon "got messed up somehow" at the gig in Boston and that the sold out show in New York was cancelled. "The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same."

Rick: In the past twelve years I've had seven official releases with Stuck Mojo, three with Fozzy, one with Sick Speed and one with The Duke, my solo effort.

Ray: That is very impressive. SEVEN OFFICIAL RELEASES! The Sex Pistols only had one. The Beatles only had 13 in 8 years. (Regular Issue (UK) Albums: Please Please Me 1963&With The Beatles 1963&A Hard Day's Night 1964&Beatles For Sale 1964&Help! 1965&Rubber Soul 1965&Revolver 1966& &Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1967&Magical Mystery Tour 1967&The Beatles (The White Album) 1968 (2 disc)&Yellow Submarine 1969&Abbey Road 1969&Let It Be 1970.

You are blessed to have been able to put out seven releases. Most bands never even get to do one. You are only 6 short of the greatest band in history.

I notice you did it with different bands (or at least names) and I know you could fill a book with why you switched (names or players), but there is something to say about consistency. You need a shared focus, determination, and goal to make it as a group. That said, it is one of the most difficult things in the world to keep a band together. Did you catch Van Halen's induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame? Find band mates who share your vision.

Rick: Every success was accompanied by a great desire to achieve and do more. Every failure was an opportunity to learn from our mistakes and was humbly embraced. Everything I have learned from being signed to four different record companies and from having licensed albums to over a dozen distributors around the world has brought me to a single conclusion. From now on we really should try to make and sell albums without them.

Ray: You have the right idea. Now for the first time in history you can do that. You can record and burn your own CD's and sell them on the Internet and at gigs.

The CD should serve two purposes. First, it should be an advertisement for your group. People hear your music and come out to see you. Second, it should be a souvenir of when they see the band. You can't see Rage Against The Machine tonight, but you can hear them on a CD.

Rock music is loud and it is loudest when played live! Playing live is the whole deal! Do a great live show and make your money on the road. At the show sell CD's and merchandise.

The Allmans, The Who and others now sell that night's performance to the crowds at the gigs.
Live is where it's at. You are a rock band& go out and play. The CD's are only part of the deal & far from the whole trip.

Leon: I agree totally with Ray on this.

Rick: Looking back, Century Media was a great record company for Stuck Mojo. The people who worked for the label took pride in doing a great job and worked hard for our band. The down side was that, at that time, we were just a bunch of young, eager and naive musicians who signed a contract that would prohibit us from making much more than if we had taken jobs at McDonalds. Of course, that's our fault, not theirs, as they did not force us to sign the deal. In fairness, we never cared about the contract, the publishing or the royalty rate.

Leon: So what are you complaining about? A band is a business. You don't enter into a business agreement without caring about what's in it for you, especially if it's your product that they are selling. Very foolish indeed.

Ray: You signed it! So you made a mistake, learn from it and move on.

Rick: We just wanted to destroy the stage in whatever town we were in and then get in the van, drive to the next town and do it again and again.

Ray: THAT'S IT!!!! That is still it. That's your job. Do that well, stop chasing record companies. What you need is a top of the line, experienced, and successful manager. You just concentrate on the music and the shows. If you touch enough people the manager will find you. You are the artist, not the businessman. Do what you do, stay focused, and the rest will take care of itself.

Rick: In retrospect, it was the best experience that I ever had with a label. We were broke, but we had lived the dream. But, this is where the nightmare began. Palm Records, after putting out the debut Fozzy album in October of 2000, disappeared off the face of the earth. Palm has never returned a phone call, paid us a cent of royalties or even attempted to send us a sales statement. Sonic Rendesvous, the Dutch label who released my Sick Speed record in 2002, delivered my first statement on schedule (didn't include the check, but that's nit-picking), but shortly thereafter disappeared and is still selling that album years after the contract has expired. To date I have still never received a cent from the sales of that album.

Ray: Didn't you ever read about every major act in history suing their record company for owed royalties? Is this fair? No! But it happens to everyone, no exceptions&it is part of the game. After being involved with a Jackson 5 Reunion tour, promoter Don King said something like, "The record business makes the professional boxing business look like a Sunday school picnic." Don King, ok?!!!

Rick: When the process began to write and record the third Fozzy record, "All That Remains," the decision was made to record (Rich) and finance (Jericho) the album ourselves. This would allow us 100% creative control with a maximum return on the financial investment. Well, once again....not so much. But I'll get to that in a second. To get the album in shops, we licensed the album to a different distributor in each major market around the world. In Europe, it was distributed by SPV....and they still owe us money. In Canada, by Koch.....and they still owe us money. But, the award for the largest debt (in excess of $100,000) goes to our US distributor, SMD. At least all of these companies admit to owing us the money. I guess that's the first step toward collecting on a debt owed for almost two years.

Leon: My advice to you is that if each and everyone of these labels as you state owes you money and are out of business, what's stopping you from making your own CDs of this product for distribution over the internet? Hook up with CD Baby and iTunes and get the music in the hands of the buyer. In essence these labels have reneged on their contracts. Go for it.

Ray: You ever heard of Lenny Bruce? He spent the last years of his life talking about his legal problems and forgetting about his act. Point is, if you feel these people ripped you off or aren't being fair to you, hire a lawyer and let him handle it and you guys concentrate on your band&&the music remember? You can't be focused on the music if you are thinking about how poorly you've been treated. You're job is the music. The legal stuff is for someone else to work on.

Rick: I signed "The Duke" to Spitfire/Eagle Records for a two album deal. The debut album, "My Kung Fu Is Good," was released in April of 2005 and, as stated in the contract, my first sales statement was due by September of that same year. As of today (12-10-06), I have still not received that first statement from Spitfire. So, as you can imagine, no royalties have been paid either.

Ray: Hey man, I feel you're pain, but why do you feel it is so important for the world to know how bad the music business treated you? Sorry dude, nobody cares! Everybody has their own problems and really aren't interested in the problems of a rock band.

All the fans should know about is your CD's and live show. Jericho should know this better than anyone. In pro wrestling the public only see's what Vinnie Mac wants them to see&i.e.; the show! Even the so-called "smart" fans only know what they are spoon-fed. Get on with your music. You want to give away your stuff free&.cool. We hope you continue to make great music and entertain and inspire audiences wherever you go. I wish you every success you wish yourself. Rock on!