August 24, 2025 • 28 mins
Welcome to this week's Indie Artist Music Hustle with Blonde Intelligence. I am your host Ms. Roni and I always seek to give you exquisite cranial repertoire. Seattle-born indie pop artist Longboat brings a refreshingly unique approach to music creation that defies conventional expectations. With a voice that evokes comparisons to Duran Duran and a creative spirit that embraces the unconventional, Longboat crafts narrative-driven compositions that deliberately avoid the typical love songs dominating the pop landscape.
"I don't write love songs," he explains during our candid conversation. "I write songs about things that have stories behind them." This philosophy has fueled an impressively prolific output – Longboat has already released numerous albums with seven more coming in the next year and a half. During the pandemic alone, he created six complete albums, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to musical expression regardless of external circumstances.
What makes Longboat's music particularly compelling is his storytelling approach. His most recent works, recorded at London's prestigious Studios (where the Spice Girls recorded their debut album), represent his American perspective on British life. These albums explore everything from ghost stories and colonialism to mortality and revenge, all packaged in what he describes as "eclectic pop" – accessible melodies with unexpected subjects and sonic choices.
When discussing today's AI-influenced music industry, Longboat positions himself as a welcome "glitch in the Matrix" – an unpredictable human element in an increasingly automated landscape. "The glitches in the Matrix are good things," he insists. "They are healthy for the rest of the matrix... those are the things that will lead to innovation." This perspective perfectly captures his artistic approach: authentic, distinctive, and unconstrained by commercial expectations.
Ready to discover music that challenges and entertains in equal measure? Visit longboat.band or find his extensive catalog on Bandcamp. Longboat welcomes connection with listeners and values constructive feedback – a refreshing attitude from an artist who has clearly found his unique voice in today's crowded musical landscape.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey girl, let me tell you about this podcast.
Girl, everybody has a podcastthese days, but this one
interviews new and interestingindie artists.
It's called Indie Artist MusicHostel with Blonde Intelligence.
Really, where can I find it?
It's on all podcastingplatforms streams live on social
media and on RPENTradiocom.
What'd you say it was called?
(00:22):
Again, it's called Indie ArtistMusic Hostel with Blind
Intelligence.
Girl, I'm going to have tocheck her out.
Give it a check, girl.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to this week's Indie Artist Music Hostel
with Blind Intelligence.
I'm your host, ms Ronnie.
We always seek to give youexquisite cranial repertoire.
This week we're going to havean interview with an indie
artist that goes by the name ofLongboat.
Please forgive the audio.
I had some Technical issueswith the Platform that I was
(00:54):
using that I would not be usinganymore, but I did my best with
editing On this one, so check itout.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
So where are you originally from?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I'm originally from Seattle.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Originally from Seattle.
Okay, and you wrote many songsabout Seattle.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Okay, so I was looking at your Spotify and your
fan base.
Do you think that your core fanbase is in Seattle or do you
think, because of the type ofmusic that you make, where is
your core fan base?
Speaker 4 (01:30):
It's everywhere.
It's everywhere where peoplelike eclectic pop music.
I don't write rock songs.
I write songs about whatever isinteresting to me at the moment
.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Okay, you remind me, your voice reminds me of Duran
Duran, really To me.
So when I looked at the genrethe agency sent over they said
that it was indie pop and I waslike, hmm, you kind of sound pop
, rockish to me.
So what would you name yourgenre?
(02:05):
Because, like I said when Ifirst heard, I mean, it's not
just totally that, it's like youhave another piece.
That's really eccentric, itstands out on its own.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, I mean I tried to make,like 10 years ago I tried to
make the term un-pop stick andit totally didn't.
But I go with indie pop, I gowith eclectic.
Usually the more words peopleuse to describe their music, the
(02:42):
more confusing it is to peopleand I just say I do pop music.
People use to describe theirmusic, the more confusing it is
to people and I just say I dopop music.
But I don't write love songs.
I write songs about things andsongs that have stories behind
them have stories behind them.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
So what are you planning to do with your music?
Because whenever I listen tomusic, I'll be like I can see
this music here or placed here,or doing this right here Now.
When I first listened, what Ithought was because I just came
back from Las Vegas I was like,yeah, I could hear this while
(03:29):
I'm shopping in Vegas out on thestrip.
You know it's that type ofmusic because you know Vegas has
like a wide variety of all typeof entertainment and I just
feel like that your music wouldfit in like so good on the Vegas
strip.
So where do you see your music?
Speaker 4 (03:49):
You're so sweet to say that I see it everywhere.
Honestly, because I write it, Idon't write it for any specific
person or any specific occasion, and I used to, when I would
release albums, I would think,oh, this song with people would
are just going to, this is goingto play somewhere and people
(04:10):
are going to really latch on toit and it's going to become part
of their experience, which,like 50-watt university stations
, there was very little— Nothingwrong with that, yeah, nothing
(04:35):
wrong with that at all but itwasn't being circulated among a
wider audience.
It wasn't being circulatedamong a wider audience, and I
really really want my music tofind a wider audience and a
dedicated audience too, and I'malways very, very I have great
(04:59):
desire to communicate with myaudience beyond the music.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
If anyone has any questions or any comments, too,
I'm I'm always up for answeringthose, okay so with, I would say
, the onset, with, especiallyhaving eight albums with the
onset of, I would say, covid,the recovery from COVID, the
(05:29):
introduction, not theintroduction, I would say the
boom of AI in the music industryand the pressure with social
media, how do you navigate thisas an independent artist?
Speaker 4 (05:44):
How do you navigate this as an independent artist?
Well, you know that's a heavyquestion.
Well, the thing is, with COVIDI made six albums during 2020.
And I actually had a sessioncut right in into because our
(06:06):
state went into lockdown and Iwas the last session at that
recording studio and threemonths later I was the first
session when they opened back up.
And you know it's going to getmade.
And that's kind of how I feelabout all my music that it's
inevitable to me and AI doesn'tbother me at all because it's
inevitable to me and AI doesn'tbother me at all because it's
(06:28):
not good music.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I'm not even talking about just in the aspect of
music, I'm talking about in themusic industry has implanted
itself into the music industry.
I mean because it's like, evenif you have to be smarter than
the computer, of course yes, butthen when you look at, oh, we
can cut this and half the time Ican get this done, I mean so
(06:53):
it's like with the Matrix, thesentinels are invading.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
You like that movie too.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I love it To me too.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
I absolutely love it.
The other two not so great, butthe first one yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I'm crazy about all of them.
I have bought them over andover.
Yeah, I'm crazy about all ofthem.
I have bought them over andover again.
I bought the DVDs.
If they get scratched, I'mgoing back.
Yeah, I love the Matrix, so Ican see a lot of and it's going
to be a lot of the things thathappen in the music industry
within the Matrix.
So I know that it's anavigation and you have to.
(07:35):
This is fantasy and this iswhat can really happen.
And hey, do you want to cutthis person to get this deal?
I mean so I could see all ofthat, but I mean even with
navigating the different partsof AI within the music industry.
So I'm talking about not justthe music part, not just
creating the AI artists, notjust using AI-generated musical
(08:00):
verses or whatever.
I mean just infiltrating themusic industry.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Well, the thing is that the glitches in the Matrix
are good things.
They are healthy for the restof the matrix.
You should look for the birchesin the matrix, um, because
those are the things that arewill lead to innovation, and,
and, and I I don't reallyconsider myself an innovator, I
(08:30):
just consider myself someone whowrites a lot of music, and I
have sort of shifting visionsabout how music should be.
And lots of times, instead ofjust writing one song about
something, I write an entirealbum about one thing, and and I
(08:53):
it's.
It's uh, up to people asindividuals to listen to this
music and judge for themselves,and whether it's it's part of
the matrix or whether it's aglitch in the matrix.
And I would love, I, personally, I would love to be a glitch in
the matrix.
(09:14):
And I would love, I personally,I would love to be a glitch in
the matrix okay, so it wasn'tjust a cat that kept going back
and forth.
How does a creative becomecreative?
Um, um, it's something that youcan't force, it is it?
It it's kind of you are or youaren't.
(09:36):
But the thing is that in themusic industry, lack of
creativity has never stopped,and you can have a lot of
hackery and imitation disguisingitself as creativity.
I used to work in an ad agencyand every single week the
(09:58):
company newsletter would comeout, uh, emphasizing creativity,
creativity, creativity.
And the thing is is, in myexperience, when you have to
emphasize creativity that much,your industry is not creative.
Um, you have.
And the thing is this it has tocome from within, you have to
(10:18):
want to do it.
I, it took me a long time towrite music because I was
looking for the right approach,because every time I tried it,
it was, it was difficult, it wasuh, uh, it was not as I thought
it would be, it wasn't like itwasn't a movie.
You don't.
It's not like you hit the twonotes on the piano and suddenly
(10:43):
you have a song.
Right, it takes work, it takesa lot of work and it takes your
own method.
You can't, you can't work byanybody else's method.
And so I would just say, insummation it has to come from
within.
If you have that desire, thenyou have to work that through.
(11:08):
And also this is probably themost important of all Once you
start doing it, it has to becomesomething else.
It has to constantly becomesomething else, otherwise it
will get stale and stagnant andit will die and you will be
unhappy with what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Okay.
Well, when I think about that,I think about the many hobbies
that I like to do.
Of course, I like to craft, andyou might finish something, and
then you're looking, I'm goingto add this to it, I'm going to
do this to it.
Maybe it'll look better with abrush of this color on top and
(12:01):
as a I would say as a creative,when you're working on music,
how do you know that the productis finished?
Because if you keep listeningto it, you're like I might want
to add something right here, orso how do you know when it gets
to the point that you're goingto consider it a finished
product?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
It's always that's always a thorny question.
It really is and and I, just, Ijust it becomes a personal
experience that that this, thistune is done, this tune doesn't
lack anything, and and you justkind of have to convince
(12:39):
yourself that.
And now when I I you know, Ijust finished mixing my eighth
album yesterday in london and,um and uh, I'm listening to it
and I'm thinking maybe I couldput a backing vocal there, maybe
I make this once drum patch alittle quieter.
(13:04):
But you, just you have to walkaway from it.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
But that's when you can take the opportunities to
incorporate those things duringyour live show, where you're
giving the the, the audience,something, a different version
of a part of you, I would saybecause, yeah, there's different
things that you might want toadd or I might want to change
this lyric during this timeright here, and I think those
(13:30):
give opportunities to the timeto show your stage presence and
the things that you can give tothe artist.
So you know, I just wonderedabout when does a creative say,
hey, this is the finishedproduct product.
Does it ever get to that, Is it?
I have some other ideas for it,but I'm going to incorporate
(13:54):
these ideas later.
So I know some people likerelease deluxe albums and things
of that nature.
That's why I'm wondering does acreative ever get to a finished
product?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Well, you do, you do sort of touch on the fact that
there is an audience involvedWith a lot of things, say like
oldies.
The audience wants that notefor note.
It has to be note for note,otherwise it seems strange and
different to them.
They, they don't want that, butsay, on the other end of the
(14:31):
spectrum, there's bob dillon whotries to do, um, every song.
Every time he does a song, hewants to do it differently.
And and that is, if you're, ifyou're, uh, you know, a live
performer and you're not used tothat, and you, you are urged to
(14:51):
make a different version of itevery single time.
It can be exhausting and so well, there is a happy medium here.
And, uh, I would, I would love,I'm going to be, uh, working up
, uh, piano versions of a lot ofmy tunes and I'm going to be
(15:19):
doing all the stuff that I thinkshould have been done and I
think it's a fantastic idea.
And, plus, you know, you givepeople a unique reading.
That is going to happen again.
It's a once-in in a lifetimething.
Especially if they like yourmusic, uh, they can take that
with them okay, so tell us alittle bit about your eighth
(15:43):
album oh well, it's, it's kindof the seventh and eighth album
are a group and what I wanted todo is my wife and I live about
a third of the year in London,and I am an Anglophile.
I do like London, I think it'sthe greatest city in the world,
(16:12):
and I came here.
I came to London right after Igraduated from high school and I
kind of looked around and Isaid, yeah, so, so what is what
a city's supposed to be?
And?
And you know, it could havebeen, it could have been dallas,
it could have been phoenix, itcould have been you know, tokyo,
it it, but it it just it kindof vibed with me and uh, I've,
I've, I've really liked it eversince.
(16:34):
Okay, and, and so these twoalbums are, are basically sort
of my take on on English,british life.
I make up ghost stories, I telluh, I tell tales about uh I.
I even touch on colonialism, um, I, I talk about, um, my
(16:57):
perspective on uh life inEngland at this at this time.
And so, yeah, and, and I wantedto make it in London, and so I
made it at Strongworm Studioswhere the Spice Girls recorded
(17:18):
their first album.
There are 14 studios there andapparently two weeks ago when I
was recording my first albumthere, roger Waters was like
hanging around and yeah, and sothey get like famous people in
there all the time, and but itis it's tales of England and
(17:42):
Britain and I just it's just anAmerican's take of that, okay.
I just it's just an American'stake of that, okay, sort of like
what the Kinks were doing withVillage Green Preservation, so
do you do live performances.
I haven't done a liveperformance in a long time
(18:03):
because I've just concentratedon making albums, but I'm going
to start, since I have just madeeight albums, I really want to
work on self-accompanying onpiano and that I'm going to
start playing live, most likelyin London.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Okay, so tell me, how do you navigate social media?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
um, whenever anybody reaches out to me, I answer I I
like hearing what people have tosay about my music and usually
it's it all that I don't thinkI've ever gotten a troll.
Um, I've gotten spammed, but Ihaven't gotten a troll ever,
because people realize that I'mhonestly trying to make good
music and trying to release itto the public.
(18:56):
I don't get any like hey, mongo, you saw, or anything like that
, because I feel like I'm doingthis in good faith.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Is there anything else that you would like us to
know about?
I'm going to call you the oneman band.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, I do.
I do have.
I have made four albums thisyear with live players.
I've made three with completelylive bands.
I've made one album about andthis is going to sound super
heavy, but it's pop music.
(19:39):
It really is, it's pop music.
I've made one album about loss,one album about mortality and
one album being an EasternEuropean, this warms my heart
one album about revenge.
And just talk to anotherUkrainian and they'll tell you
(19:59):
all about how much they save onrevenge.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You know, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I had just
interviewed a group.
They were a heavy metal groupcalled oh, I can't remember the
name of it, but they had onemember from Russia, one member
(20:24):
from the Ukraine and one memberfrom Sweden and I had been
trying to check on them.
I don't know what happened, butwhen the war broke out there, I
think that it interrupted a lotof things there With that war.
How did it affect your music,being that you live a third of
(20:48):
the year in the UK?
Because, although it's notright there, it's still, the
world is small uh-huh, well, itwas.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
It was very strange because, um, my, my wife and I,
before we lived here, we had ourhoneymoon over in London and
and this is this is 2018 and, um, you know where you went all
the time you heard russianspoken.
You heard it on the tube, you'dhear in public, and then, after
the war started, nothing.
(21:22):
You do not.
You do not hear russian spokenin public at all.
You hear lots of Polish and youoccasionally hear Ukrainian, but
Russian almost never that leadsme to another question go ahead
, go ahead, go ahead but uh, butyou know, as my family lives in
Western Ukraine and so they'renot getting uh, bond or cruise
(21:45):
missile, but my cousins, myyounger cousins, are getting to
be draft age and I'm worried forthem.
I really am.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
So yeah, that brings me to the question, because I
know I was getting ready to endit but what do you think about
censorship?
That, like with YouTube andeven with the Super Bowl that
was here, in some words thatcannot be said?
Like on YouTube, you cannot saythe assault word, you have to
(22:22):
say grape, you have to codewords and things like that for
censorship now.
And things like that forcensorship now.
Music used to be and I'm notsaying that it's not now, but
music was always right therewith literature, with different
(22:43):
events that happen in the worldto shape how people think and
how people view things, andbefore I'm not going to always
say that freedom was.
I mean that speech was free,free.
But it seems like now, if it isgoing against the message that
(23:08):
they want the public to know,that they're censoring people
who are speaking on raw truth.
Do you think, or how hascensorship influenced your
creativity?
Because we are being censored?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
It hasn't at all.
It's strangely enough because II mean, I wrote an entire album
about January 6th and that wasnot, that was not censored at
all, and I have, I've donepolitical stuff, made plenty of
(23:50):
fun of Trump and mega, and thatis that.
It has never really beenanything.
But then again I don't have awider audience.
I, I, I, I haven't done youknow the equivalent of like, try
that in a small town, becauseyou've heard of that.
That was like.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
You have to know your audience.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah, and I haven't done anything like that, but it
hasn't affected me at all.
But it seems that, especiallyon social um, that it's very
arbitrary, that you know you can, some people can get away with
(24:32):
some language, other peoplecan't.
I don't.
I, I use almost no profanity inmy music and um and I, the
controversial topics are, arediscussed and they're not,
they're not foisted on people,and then if it, if worse comes
(24:52):
to worse, there's always satire.
Satire is always, is always, um, is is supposed to make people
think, it's supposed to rufflefeathers, and I have, I have
that as well, and and I and Ilike doing that.
But you won't get censored forit, okay.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Now I want you to tell everyone where they can
find your music, where they canfind you on social media, if
they want to work with you, howthey can get in contact with you
.
Anything about long boat?
Okay Well, social media if theywant to work with you, how they
can get in contact with you.
Anything about long boat?
Speaker 4 (25:27):
okay, well, um, you can.
You can visit my site, which isat longboat, that's l-o-n-g.
B-o-a-t dot band um, and you'lllike my.
You'll like my website becauseit looks like it's for the
world's worst Mexican restaurant, and you can access discography
(25:48):
through there.
Or you can go to bandcampcom,and I have 30,.
I have released 32 albums andthe other seven are coming in
the next year, year and a halfor so, and then, if you want to
(26:10):
send me a message, you could doit through the website, and I'd
love to hear from anybody whohas listened to the music and
has an opinion that isconstructive.
It's always constructive.
Opinions are always, are always, valued.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well, you can catch in the artist music hustle on
our podcast and platforms.
You can catch us on socialmedia, especially on YouTube.
Check out the YouTube channeland on the website at
wwwblonde-intelligencecom, andwe will see you next week.
Bye, learn about the indieartist from the indie artist.
(26:57):
I'm Jana Key.
I'm an artist.
My name is.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Lauren, as you already said, I am a
singer-songwriter.
I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Omar Pems.
I originally come from theCaribbean.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
My name is Brian Doucette.
I'm an East Coast Canadianrocker.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
And then I found myself in Las Vegas, where I'm
at currently for dancing forCirque du Soleil with my own
solo.
I also learned from musicindustry professionals.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I'm a music producer.
I've been producingprofessionally for about 14
years.
I have worked with a couplepeople in the industry
Grammy-nominated Trev Ridge,isha from 702.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
After I got my deal with Universal Music, after the
Alicia Keys and Gunna record andmany others that I've done, and
then Alicia Keys was the numberone adult R&B song of the year.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I asked a question.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
That's a great question.
Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Oh, that is a good question.
Wow, I love all these questions.
These are great, like most ofthe questions that I get are
like you know, tell me aboutJustin Bieber.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Indie Artist.
Music Hustle is for the indieartists, their fans, industry
professionals and the musiclover.
Subscribe on YouTube, facebookor the podcast on Apple, spotify
, pandora or Blonde IntelligenceFacebook page.
Don't forget to add me to yourplaylist.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Bye, it's been really fun, especially talking to
someone across the pond.
Let's go.
Hey girl, let me tell you about this podcast.
Girl, everybody has a podcastthese days, but this one
interviews new and interestingindie artists.
It's called Indie Artist MusicHostel with Blonde Intelligence.
Really, where can I find it?
It's on all podcastingplatforms streams live on social
media and on RPENTradiocom.
What'd you say it was called?
(00:22):
Again, it's called Indie ArtistMusic Hostel with Blind
Intelligence.
Girl, I'm going to have tocheck her out.
Give it a check, girl.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Welcome to this week's Indie Artist Music Hostel
with Blind Intelligence.
I'm your host, ms Ronnie.
We always seek to give youexquisite cranial repertoire.
This week we're going to havean interview with an indie
artist that goes by the name ofLongboat.
Please forgive the audio.
I had some Technical issueswith the Platform that I was
(00:54):
using that I would not be usinganymore, but I did my best with
editing On this one, so check itout.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
So where are you originally from?
Speaker 4 (01:06):
I'm originally from Seattle.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Originally from Seattle.
Okay, and you wrote many songsabout Seattle.
Speaker 4 (01:14):
Yes.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
Okay, so I was looking at your Spotify and your
fan base.
Do you think that your core fanbase is in Seattle or do you
think, because of the type ofmusic that you make, where is
your core fan base?
Speaker 4 (01:30):
It's everywhere.
It's everywhere where peoplelike eclectic pop music.
I don't write rock songs.
I write songs about whatever isinteresting to me at the moment
.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Okay, you remind me, your voice reminds me of Duran
Duran, really To me.
So when I looked at the genrethe agency sent over they said
that it was indie pop and I waslike, hmm, you kind of sound pop
, rockish to me.
So what would you name yourgenre?
(02:05):
Because, like I said when Ifirst heard, I mean, it's not
just totally that, it's like youhave another piece.
That's really eccentric, itstands out on its own.
Speaker 4 (02:19):
Well, thank you.
Yeah, I mean I tried to make,like 10 years ago I tried to
make the term un-pop stick andit totally didn't.
But I go with indie pop, I gowith eclectic.
Usually the more words peopleuse to describe their music, the
(02:42):
more confusing it is to peopleand I just say I do pop music.
People use to describe theirmusic, the more confusing it is
to people and I just say I dopop music.
But I don't write love songs.
I write songs about things andsongs that have stories behind
them have stories behind them.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
So what are you planning to do with your music?
Because whenever I listen tomusic, I'll be like I can see
this music here or placed here,or doing this right here Now.
When I first listened, what Ithought was because I just came
back from Las Vegas I was like,yeah, I could hear this while
(03:29):
I'm shopping in Vegas out on thestrip.
You know it's that type ofmusic because you know Vegas has
like a wide variety of all typeof entertainment and I just
feel like that your music wouldfit in like so good on the Vegas
strip.
So where do you see your music?
Speaker 4 (03:49):
You're so sweet to say that I see it everywhere.
Honestly, because I write it, Idon't write it for any specific
person or any specific occasion, and I used to, when I would
release albums, I would think,oh, this song with people would
are just going to, this is goingto play somewhere and people
(04:10):
are going to really latch on toit and it's going to become part
of their experience, which,like 50-watt university stations
, there was very little— Nothingwrong with that, yeah, nothing
(04:35):
wrong with that at all but itwasn't being circulated among a
wider audience.
It wasn't being circulatedamong a wider audience, and I
really really want my music tofind a wider audience and a
dedicated audience too, and I'malways very, very I have great
(04:59):
desire to communicate with myaudience beyond the music.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
If anyone has any questions or any comments, too,
I'm I'm always up for answeringthose, okay so with, I would say
, the onset, with, especiallyhaving eight albums with the
onset of, I would say, covid,the recovery from COVID, the
(05:29):
introduction, not theintroduction, I would say the
boom of AI in the music industryand the pressure with social
media, how do you navigate thisas an independent artist?
Speaker 4 (05:44):
How do you navigate this as an independent artist?
Well, you know that's a heavyquestion.
Well, the thing is, with COVIDI made six albums during 2020.
And I actually had a sessioncut right in into because our
(06:06):
state went into lockdown and Iwas the last session at that
recording studio and threemonths later I was the first
session when they opened back up.
And you know it's going to getmade.
And that's kind of how I feelabout all my music that it's
inevitable to me and AI doesn'tbother me at all because it's
inevitable to me and AI doesn'tbother me at all because it's
(06:28):
not good music.
Speaker 3 (06:30):
I'm not even talking about just in the aspect of
music, I'm talking about in themusic industry has implanted
itself into the music industry.
I mean because it's like, evenif you have to be smarter than
the computer, of course yes, butthen when you look at, oh, we
can cut this and half the time Ican get this done, I mean so
(06:53):
it's like with the Matrix, thesentinels are invading.
Speaker 4 (07:01):
You like that movie too.
Speaker 3 (07:02):
I love it To me too.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
I absolutely love it.
The other two not so great, butthe first one yeah.
Speaker 3 (07:12):
I'm crazy about all of them.
I have bought them over andover.
Yeah, I'm crazy about all ofthem.
I have bought them over andover again.
I bought the DVDs.
If they get scratched, I'mgoing back.
Yeah, I love the Matrix, so Ican see a lot of and it's going
to be a lot of the things thathappen in the music industry
within the Matrix.
So I know that it's anavigation and you have to.
(07:35):
This is fantasy and this iswhat can really happen.
And hey, do you want to cutthis person to get this deal?
I mean so I could see all ofthat, but I mean even with
navigating the different partsof AI within the music industry.
So I'm talking about not justthe music part, not just
creating the AI artists, notjust using AI-generated musical
(08:00):
verses or whatever.
I mean just infiltrating themusic industry.
Speaker 4 (08:06):
Well, the thing is that the glitches in the Matrix
are good things.
They are healthy for the restof the matrix.
You should look for the birchesin the matrix, um, because
those are the things that arewill lead to innovation, and,
and, and I I don't reallyconsider myself an innovator, I
(08:30):
just consider myself someone whowrites a lot of music, and I
have sort of shifting visionsabout how music should be.
And lots of times, instead ofjust writing one song about
something, I write an entirealbum about one thing, and and I
(08:53):
it's.
It's uh, up to people asindividuals to listen to this
music and judge for themselves,and whether it's it's part of
the matrix or whether it's aglitch in the matrix.
And I would love, I, personally, I would love to be a glitch in
the matrix.
(09:14):
And I would love, I personally,I would love to be a glitch in
the matrix okay, so it wasn'tjust a cat that kept going back
and forth.
How does a creative becomecreative?
Um, um, it's something that youcan't force, it is it?
It it's kind of you are or youaren't.
(09:36):
But the thing is that in themusic industry, lack of
creativity has never stopped,and you can have a lot of
hackery and imitation disguisingitself as creativity.
I used to work in an ad agencyand every single week the
(09:58):
company newsletter would comeout, uh, emphasizing creativity,
creativity, creativity.
And the thing is is, in myexperience, when you have to
emphasize creativity that much,your industry is not creative.
Um, you have.
And the thing is this it has tocome from within, you have to
(10:18):
want to do it.
I, it took me a long time towrite music because I was
looking for the right approach,because every time I tried it,
it was, it was difficult, it wasuh, uh, it was not as I thought
it would be, it wasn't like itwasn't a movie.
You don't.
It's not like you hit the twonotes on the piano and suddenly
(10:43):
you have a song.
Right, it takes work, it takesa lot of work and it takes your
own method.
You can't, you can't work byanybody else's method.
And so I would just say, insummation it has to come from
within.
If you have that desire, thenyou have to work that through.
(11:08):
And also this is probably themost important of all Once you
start doing it, it has to becomesomething else.
It has to constantly becomesomething else, otherwise it
will get stale and stagnant andit will die and you will be
unhappy with what you're doing.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
Okay.
Well, when I think about that,I think about the many hobbies
that I like to do.
Of course, I like to craft, andyou might finish something, and
then you're looking, I'm goingto add this to it, I'm going to
do this to it.
Maybe it'll look better with abrush of this color on top and
(12:01):
as a I would say as a creative,when you're working on music,
how do you know that the productis finished?
Because if you keep listeningto it, you're like I might want
to add something right here, orso how do you know when it gets
to the point that you're goingto consider it a finished
product?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
It's always that's always a thorny question.
It really is and and I, just, Ijust it becomes a personal
experience that that this, thistune is done, this tune doesn't
lack anything, and and you justkind of have to convince
(12:39):
yourself that.
And now when I I you know, Ijust finished mixing my eighth
album yesterday in london and,um and uh, I'm listening to it
and I'm thinking maybe I couldput a backing vocal there, maybe
I make this once drum patch alittle quieter.
(13:04):
But you, just you have to walkaway from it.
Speaker 3 (13:07):
But that's when you can take the opportunities to
incorporate those things duringyour live show, where you're
giving the the, the audience,something, a different version
of a part of you, I would saybecause, yeah, there's different
things that you might want toadd or I might want to change
this lyric during this timeright here, and I think those
(13:30):
give opportunities to the timeto show your stage presence and
the things that you can give tothe artist.
So you know, I just wonderedabout when does a creative say,
hey, this is the finishedproduct product.
Does it ever get to that, Is it?
I have some other ideas for it,but I'm going to incorporate
(13:54):
these ideas later.
So I know some people likerelease deluxe albums and things
of that nature.
That's why I'm wondering does acreative ever get to a finished
product?
Speaker 4 (14:08):
Well, you do, you do sort of touch on the fact that
there is an audience involvedWith a lot of things, say like
oldies.
The audience wants that notefor note.
It has to be note for note,otherwise it seems strange and
different to them.
They, they don't want that, butsay, on the other end of the
(14:31):
spectrum, there's bob dillon whotries to do, um, every song.
Every time he does a song, hewants to do it differently.
And and that is, if you're, ifyou're, uh, you know, a live
performer and you're not used tothat, and you, you are urged to
(14:51):
make a different version of itevery single time.
It can be exhausting and so well, there is a happy medium here.
And, uh, I would, I would love,I'm going to be, uh, working up
, uh, piano versions of a lot ofmy tunes and I'm going to be
(15:19):
doing all the stuff that I thinkshould have been done and I
think it's a fantastic idea.
And, plus, you know, you givepeople a unique reading.
That is going to happen again.
It's a once-in in a lifetimething.
Especially if they like yourmusic, uh, they can take that
with them okay, so tell us alittle bit about your eighth
(15:43):
album oh well, it's, it's kindof the seventh and eighth album
are a group and what I wanted todo is my wife and I live about
a third of the year in London,and I am an Anglophile.
I do like London, I think it'sthe greatest city in the world,
(16:12):
and I came here.
I came to London right after Igraduated from high school and I
kind of looked around and Isaid, yeah, so, so what is what
a city's supposed to be?
And?
And you know, it could havebeen, it could have been dallas,
it could have been phoenix, itcould have been you know, tokyo,
it it, but it it just it kindof vibed with me and uh, I've,
I've, I've really liked it eversince.
(16:34):
Okay, and, and so these twoalbums are, are basically sort
of my take on on English,british life.
I make up ghost stories, I telluh, I tell tales about uh I.
I even touch on colonialism, um, I, I talk about, um, my
(16:57):
perspective on uh life inEngland at this at this time.
And so, yeah, and, and I wantedto make it in London, and so I
made it at Strongworm Studioswhere the Spice Girls recorded
(17:18):
their first album.
There are 14 studios there andapparently two weeks ago when I
was recording my first albumthere, roger Waters was like
hanging around and yeah, and sothey get like famous people in
there all the time, and but itis it's tales of England and
(17:42):
Britain and I just it's just anAmerican's take of that, okay.
I just it's just an American'stake of that, okay, sort of like
what the Kinks were doing withVillage Green Preservation, so
do you do live performances.
I haven't done a liveperformance in a long time
(18:03):
because I've just concentratedon making albums, but I'm going
to start, since I have just madeeight albums, I really want to
work on self-accompanying onpiano and that I'm going to
start playing live, most likelyin London.
Speaker 3 (18:21):
Okay, so tell me, how do you navigate social media?
Speaker 4 (18:35):
um, whenever anybody reaches out to me, I answer I I
like hearing what people have tosay about my music and usually
it's it all that I don't thinkI've ever gotten a troll.
Um, I've gotten spammed, but Ihaven't gotten a troll ever,
because people realize that I'mhonestly trying to make good
music and trying to release itto the public.
(18:56):
I don't get any like hey, mongo, you saw, or anything like that
, because I feel like I'm doingthis in good faith.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Is there anything else that you would like us to
know about?
I'm going to call you the oneman band.
Speaker 4 (19:17):
Well, I do.
I do have.
I have made four albums thisyear with live players.
I've made three with completelylive bands.
I've made one album about andthis is going to sound super
heavy, but it's pop music.
(19:39):
It really is, it's pop music.
I've made one album about loss,one album about mortality and
one album being an EasternEuropean, this warms my heart
one album about revenge.
And just talk to anotherUkrainian and they'll tell you
(19:59):
all about how much they save onrevenge.
Speaker 3 (20:03):
You know, when Russia invaded Ukraine, I had just
interviewed a group.
They were a heavy metal groupcalled oh, I can't remember the
name of it, but they had onemember from Russia, one member
(20:24):
from the Ukraine and one memberfrom Sweden and I had been
trying to check on them.
I don't know what happened, butwhen the war broke out there, I
think that it interrupted a lotof things there With that war.
How did it affect your music,being that you live a third of
(20:48):
the year in the UK?
Because, although it's notright there, it's still, the
world is small uh-huh, well, itwas.
Speaker 4 (21:00):
It was very strange because, um, my, my wife and I,
before we lived here, we had ourhoneymoon over in London and
and this is this is 2018 and, um, you know where you went all
the time you heard russianspoken.
You heard it on the tube, you'dhear in public, and then, after
the war started, nothing.
(21:22):
You do not.
You do not hear russian spokenin public at all.
You hear lots of Polish and youoccasionally hear Ukrainian, but
Russian almost never that leadsme to another question go ahead
, go ahead, go ahead but uh, butyou know, as my family lives in
Western Ukraine and so they'renot getting uh, bond or cruise
(21:45):
missile, but my cousins, myyounger cousins, are getting to
be draft age and I'm worried forthem.
I really am.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
So yeah, that brings me to the question, because I
know I was getting ready to endit but what do you think about
censorship?
That, like with YouTube andeven with the Super Bowl that
was here, in some words thatcannot be said?
Like on YouTube, you cannot saythe assault word, you have to
(22:22):
say grape, you have to codewords and things like that for
censorship now.
And things like that forcensorship now.
Music used to be and I'm notsaying that it's not now, but
music was always right therewith literature, with different
(22:43):
events that happen in the worldto shape how people think and
how people view things, andbefore I'm not going to always
say that freedom was.
I mean that speech was free,free.
But it seems like now, if it isgoing against the message that
(23:08):
they want the public to know,that they're censoring people
who are speaking on raw truth.
Do you think, or how hascensorship influenced your
creativity?
Because we are being censored?
Speaker 4 (23:28):
It hasn't at all.
It's strangely enough because II mean, I wrote an entire album
about January 6th and that wasnot, that was not censored at
all, and I have, I've donepolitical stuff, made plenty of
(23:50):
fun of Trump and mega, and thatis that.
It has never really beenanything.
But then again I don't have awider audience.
I, I, I, I haven't done youknow the equivalent of like, try
that in a small town, becauseyou've heard of that.
That was like.
Speaker 3 (24:09):
You have to know your audience.
Speaker 4 (24:11):
Yeah, and I haven't done anything like that, but it
hasn't affected me at all.
But it seems that, especiallyon social um, that it's very
arbitrary, that you know you can, some people can get away with
(24:32):
some language, other peoplecan't.
I don't.
I, I use almost no profanity inmy music and um and I, the
controversial topics are, arediscussed and they're not,
they're not foisted on people,and then if it, if worse comes
(24:52):
to worse, there's always satire.
Satire is always, is always, um, is is supposed to make people
think, it's supposed to rufflefeathers, and I have, I have
that as well, and and I and Ilike doing that.
But you won't get censored forit, okay.
Speaker 3 (25:15):
Now I want you to tell everyone where they can
find your music, where they canfind you on social media, if
they want to work with you, howthey can get in contact with you
.
Anything about long boat?
Okay Well, social media if theywant to work with you, how they
can get in contact with you.
Anything about long boat?
Speaker 4 (25:27):
okay, well, um, you can.
You can visit my site, which isat longboat, that's l-o-n-g.
B-o-a-t dot band um, and you'lllike my.
You'll like my website becauseit looks like it's for the
world's worst Mexican restaurant, and you can access discography
(25:48):
through there.
Or you can go to bandcampcom,and I have 30,.
I have released 32 albums andthe other seven are coming in
the next year, year and a halfor so, and then, if you want to
(26:10):
send me a message, you could doit through the website, and I'd
love to hear from anybody whohas listened to the music and
has an opinion that isconstructive.
It's always constructive.
Opinions are always, are always, valued.
Okay.
Speaker 3 (26:31):
Well, you can catch in the artist music hustle on
our podcast and platforms.
You can catch us on socialmedia, especially on YouTube.
Check out the YouTube channeland on the website at
wwwblonde-intelligencecom, andwe will see you next week.
Bye, learn about the indieartist from the indie artist.
(26:57):
I'm Jana Key.
I'm an artist.
My name is.
Speaker 1 (27:00):
Lauren, as you already said, I am a
singer-songwriter.
I'm.
Speaker 2 (27:04):
Omar Pems.
I originally come from theCaribbean.
Speaker 4 (27:07):
St Vincent and the Grenadines.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
My name is Brian Doucette.
I'm an East Coast Canadianrocker.
Speaker 3 (27:14):
And then I found myself in Las Vegas, where I'm
at currently for dancing forCirque du Soleil with my own
solo.
I also learned from musicindustry professionals.
Speaker 4 (27:25):
I'm a music producer.
I've been producingprofessionally for about 14
years.
I have worked with a couplepeople in the industry
Grammy-nominated Trev Ridge,isha from 702.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
After I got my deal with Universal Music, after the
Alicia Keys and Gunna record andmany others that I've done, and
then Alicia Keys was the numberone adult R&B song of the year.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
I asked a question.
Speaker 4 (27:52):
That's a great question.
Yeah, it's a good question.
Speaker 2 (27:58):
Oh, that is a good question.
Wow, I love all these questions.
These are great, like most ofthe questions that I get are
like you know, tell me aboutJustin Bieber.
Speaker 3 (28:08):
Indie Artist.
Music Hustle is for the indieartists, their fans, industry
professionals and the musiclover.
Subscribe on YouTube, facebookor the podcast on Apple, spotify
, pandora or Blonde IntelligenceFacebook page.
Don't forget to add me to yourplaylist.
Speaker 1 (28:27):
Bye, it's been really fun, especially talking to
someone across the pond.
Let's go.
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