Brian Bergeron

This has been the longest break from blogging that I have taken since I started blogging back in October. That doesn’t really matter much but each day I’ve put aside a half-hour to blog but it has been filled up with other things.

So yea, the first thing I suppose I should mention is that on Tuesday I fired Anthony from the band. I was teaching guitar lessons in Wrentham, substituting for Max, and went outside after I finished and made the call. I was very nervous all day (actually…for like the previous week leading up to it) and called Anthony twice that day and got his voicemail. Basically, it’s something that I think was a long-time coming. Anthony’s a good drummer but he was never quite right for the band. He’d improved a lot at my style over the past year of playing together but I took a lot of time listening to our recordings from the year and things weren’t linking up like I had hoped. I decided that the drums were what needed to change.

It was tough because I’m a non-confrontational person who avoids conflicts if at all possible. It was definitely the toughest thing I’ve had to do emotionally, in a while. He handled it as good or better than I thought he would have handled it but he did bring to light the fact that he was under the impression that I was satisfied with his work and that we had a conversation recently that affirmed that. I feel bad because that was partially true. I remember saying after a practice or a gig about a month ago (it also might have been at the studio) that I appreciate all his help this year and he’s really picked up on my style. It’s half-true because he has gotten better but it still wasn’t there. I think I always secretly knew that it wasn’t a good fit for the band but I wouldn’t admit it to myself because it would lead to conflict…

…Anyways, that’s one of my big shortcomings as a bandleader. Not knowing what I want and not being assertive or confrontational unless it was necessary. I’ve been working on it over the next two months and now that the band is in flux, I think I’m presented with an opportunity to ’start over’ in many ways. I can always talk to Andy about any issues I may have and Brian (Packer) has just joined the band so we haven’t quite established any type of routine that can’t be broken so I just have to make sure to be direct with whoever the new drummer turns out to be.

So yea, that was a big thing that happened this week.

I also met with my producer Mike Davidson today and got the mixes for our new recordings. Once again, they were a step above the last thing that I did. I have listened to them twice and will listen a couple more times and send my comments back to Mike and Alex. They will review and make the changes. By Sunday, I will have (barring unforseen circumstances) the final mixes. After the holidays I will have them mastered, which means the final bit of polish and raising the volume level up to commercial radio standards, and then it will be done! I’m still looking at which studio to have it mastered at but I’ll most likely end up working with an engineer that Mike and Alex have worked with in New York. So by New Year’s I should have the final master (maybe)…Actually, it’ll probably be early January because I have no idea how busy the mastering engineer’s schedule will be after Christmas.

The next issue is what to do with the recording. I had thought about coupling it with some of Will or Dennis’ stuff and packaging it together but I don’t think I’ll do that. I think I’ll let those recordings be what they are and then release the 5-song EP which I think I’m calling “The Glory EP.” I’m excited but I’m not going to rush it out like I did with Will’s stuff. I think it’s going to be a slow, gradual release and hopefully I’ll be able to build up some buzz.

In other news, I was interviewed again for another school assignment. This one was from an Emerson student who was doing a report on the Boston Music Scene with a focus on streetperformers. So, here are the answers to his questions:

-What made you decide to become a street performer?
Many reasons…Some local musicians that I admired did it and I thought it would be fun. I also saw it as a way to
make some money playing and figured it would be a nice summer job that escalated to full-time (during the summer)
now that I’ve graduated. I’m always looking for ways to improve my craft and streetperforming is a great way to
improve.

-What are your goals?
My goals go far beyond street performing. I’m a recording and touring artist who has club performances and i have a
degree in music business so i’m definitely playing that game. My short term goal is to continue to make a living
playing music (between street performing and touring) and to increase my body of work to become a true artist.

-What has been your audience’s reaction to your performances?
Varied…Sometimes people love it. It can be a struggle sometimes because people mock you but you get that with
anything. I’ve gotten some of the most touching and most frustrating reactions from people who saw me
streetperforming. It’s definitely a mixed bag. Haha. but way more good than bad! You feel at times that people
REALLY appreciate your playing which you don’t always get at clubs and coffeehouses.

-What, if any, are the struggles you have faced?
It’s weird because sometimes it is a beautiful sunny day and its packed and you make no money and feel worthless.
Other times the weather might be overcast and there might be 40 people there but you’d sell 20 CDs and make some
good money. You learn to try and withhold expectations and just take it in stride.

So, that’s the short answers to your question. I can get into more detail if you’d like. I love what I do. I like that idea
that I’m a streetperformer (which has one kind of connotation) and a music business professional. In fact, I’m playing
on Saturday in the food court rotunda and I *cross my fingers* hope it goes well.

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We also have been offered a show in February at The Paradise Lounge. I’m still exploring as to whether or not its worth me pushing back my headlining show for this show, but it might be. The only drag is we will be playing the last spot so we might have trouble holding a crowd. I don’t quite know yet.

Hmm, I think that’s the run of it. I’ve been working this week on finding online resources to exploit and it’s definitely a time consuming task. My new interns start in a couple of weeks so I have to continue prepping for their arrival, which I think I’m going to work a bit on right now!

Finally, a new blog post.