The world is a bit nuts right now. As a musician – a member of Forest Falls and freelance session violinist – it can be hard to make sense of everything all of the time. For some people, sensory overload is the perfect catalyst for creativity. Not for me. With all that’s going on, I’ve found it very useful to nut out these three tenets of creativity. Exposing myself to these conditions is what fuels my best work, so it’s useful to know what to fall back on when chaos gets the better of me. Tenet 1 – Diversity Like so many musicians, I’ve worked with a great many bands over the years. I’m classically trained as a violinist, but I’m just as home improvising as I am with sheet music. That skill set, thankfully, has lead me into a variety of music-making situations: into the studio with The Smith Street Band, at Sing Sing for an entire weekend with the wonderful Ali E, two weeks of recording with TANTRUMS in Pablo Clements and James Griffith’s (UNKLE) studio in Brighton (UK), and most recently to fiddle up a country noir storm touring high priestess Jemma Nicole’s debut album, My Darkest Hour. It’s a blessing, really, because I’ve had the chance to play in contexts as diverse as they are exhilarating. Being exposed to a variety of creative contexts does wonders for my inspiration. It also makes a lot of sense: I’m a Gemini! When I’m feeling a bit creatively starved, I savor the chance to try something completely different. I might put on an old favorite Against Me! record that I haven’t listed to for years, note down any ideas that spring to mind, then record a new work into the computer. My sound...

I’m Victor Greywolf: writer, low budget filmmaker and actor. One thing that I have noticed, especially with artists who have struggled with their works, is there are many myths about making it. Here’s how I’ve learned to cope with the situations, as I lived through them: Myth: If you are older than 40 and haven’t made it, you will never reach your goal Fact: This is a self-imposed limitation. You believe that filmmakers are only looking for the young (pre-teen to 25) crowd, and because you are in your 40’s, it is the end. That is nothing but a bunch of crap, and that is being polite. A lot of filmmakers cannot fill their demand for adults, especially in the older roles. Older roles are out there, and they are looking for you. You just have to know where to look. Look for roles in independent films or theater or even videos. People get things done when they get things done. You don’t know if the story is even true, depending on the source. What do you do? Learn how to question those stories. You are on your own journey. You are doing what you do. Eddie Murphy made it at 19, but Rodney Dangerfield didn’t make it until he was almost fifty. Fifty! You aren’t in competition with anyone. You will make it when you make it. Enjoy the ride and go with the flow. Myth: People say that I am a legend in my own mind, so I am not worth following. Fact: There will always be those who get you and those who won’t. Don’t let the fact that detractors are out there get you down. Sometimes, they are your biggest publicists, because they’re talking about you, right? People talk. Let...

If you are one of those artists who believe they never should pay for interviews, you should reconsider. When a publication interviews you for free, you answer questions that serve the interests of their target market. You do not control the content. I agree that free publicity and fresh internet real estate are all good things. However, there are many advantages to paying a professional to produce a featured interview or post, because you can control the questions, answers and many aspects of promotion. Get Asked the Right Interview Questions First, decide why you want to be interviewed. There are many reasons why artists want to be interviewed and tell their stories. Do you want to be interviewed because you just released a new song or film or book? Are you going on tour? Are you launching a crowdsourcing campaign? Are you looking for management or to beef up your electronic press kit (EPK)? Answering the why not only influences what questions you want to be asked, but also what order you want the interviewer to ask them. People have short attention spans, so make sure the interviewer asks you the most important questions first. Next, decide who you want to target. How you choose to answer your interview questions can vary widely, depending on your target audience. For example, you may want to provide short answers if you are talking to new fans, but go more in-depth if you are talking to die-hard fans. You may want to use different language and behave more professionally if you are answering questions to for potential managers. Because you know the questions you’ll be asked in advance, you can prepare your answers, rehearse for your interview and give your audience a fabulous performance. Take Charge of Interview Promotion...

Rapper and hip hop recording artist Bag of Tricks Cat just returned from a European tour with Mega Ran, so I was excited to get the opportunity to talk to him about the tour and hit single Dream Girl, which he recorded with Mega Ran and Brandon Michael. I love how the three mixed Bag of Tricks Cat and Mega Ran’s hip hop with Brandon Michael’s singing. I wondered how the three musicians came together for this unique project. Bag of Tricks Cat explained: “It was a great record to make. Brandon is a really talented singer, and I’m a fan of Mega, so for me to record a song with him…it’s awesome! I originally had Willy Northpole on it; he was signed to Ludacris. We recorded a version of the song together, but he wasn’t able to do the video, so I brought Mega in. We all got together in the studio, on my 22nd birthday, and we laid it down. It’s a record about finding that special person.” The video for Dream Girl is so much fun, so I asked him about it. Bag of Tricks Cat smiled when he told me that the making of the video was fun too, but a lot of hard work: “We had to green screen a portion of it for the animated parts. We had sets made for the dream sequence and the warehouse scene. Everyone had a great time. We had a lot of bloopers that you didn’t get to see in the final video.” El-JayBeats produced the song and directed the video. Bag of Tricks Cat talked about how El-JayBeats is a perfectionist: “He made storyboards and ensured everything ran on time. It took 48 hours, two days straight, to film everything. We...

Hip hop and rap recording artist A.J. Martin aka A Dot is a rising star on a worldwide scale. He’s currently balancing a music career with his career in the U.S. Military. Thanks to modern technology and Google+ Hangouts on Air, I was fortunate to interview view A.J. from where he is stationed in Bahrain in the Middle East. A.J. Martin has a new hit single titled Missionary, which talks about his plans for the rap game and his life: “I think rap should be more than a dope beat without substance. I feel that the rap game is missing the substance nowadays. The other side to Missionary is my personal experiences. One of my favorite lines is Doin’ this til the end of me, friends yeah they pretend to be, down til you make it then they forget the memories. This is talking about my friends saying that I’ve changed, when all that really happened is that I’ve grown up. With my music, I only write what I know. It’s an outlet and how I express myself. Missionary really captures that for me.” The single Missionary has an interesting back story. A.J. admits: “Missionary really started with a beat playing for 15-20 seconds and me saying My mission is to get recognition. Then, last year, I actually finished it. And two years later, Missionary becomes a hit. The song shows my growth as a rapper and a lyricist.” I love A.J. Martin’s single Take Over, so I had to learn more about this song: “That was the first song that I recorded professionally, about a year ago. I wasn’t sure about the beat, but I can take any beat and turn it into a hit. The song talks about how I want to...

We love interviewing J Alexander Greenwood because he has so much great insight about indie publishing. We also love his John Pilate Mystery Series. So, you can imagine how excited we are to have the opportunity to interview him again, now that he is planning to release his new book Pilate’s 7. For those who aren’t familiar with the wonderful John Pilate Mystery Series, I asked J Alexander Greenwood to tell us about John Pilate, beginning with the first book: “Pilate’s Cross is based on a true story of a real-life murder that happened in 1950’s Nebraska. I took the true story, updated it and added a back story. I thought the book would be a one and done deal. I had a nice response, and I thought about what could happen next if I continued with the characters and took it to the next level. That’s where Pilate’s Key came from.” J Alexander Greenwood took John Pilate to the beach: “He went to Key West to write a book about what happened during Pilate’s Cross.” Alex smiled and added: “A little bit of meta stuff going on. I don’t believe in just doing two things. I’m a Gemini and a second son and I like threes. Shortly thereafter, I came up with Pilate’s Ghost, which I thought would be the end of the series. Pilate’s Ghost wrapped up everything that happened in the first and second books.” But John Pilate’s story did not end with Pilate’s Ghost. J Alexander Greenwood waited about two years and came out with Pilate’s Blood late 2014. Now, Alex is releasing a new book to the John Pilate universe called Pilate’s 7, and it’s not a novel. Pilate’s 7 is a collection of short stories centered on the...

I have to begin with saying… creativity is my life.  For better or worse, I’ve chosen this path, not because it is what I want to do or be.  It simply is what I am: a creator.  You see, I’m driven to do it at my highest peaks of inspiration, as well as my lowest slumps of depression.  Perhaps I would go so far as saying creativity has saved my life, and it has even forged me into the person that I am today: driven. Art, Music, and Literature are my muses, candidly I might add. They are my lovers and have been for many years.  I can confide in them when there is no one else to trust or talk to.  I can express in depth to them my deepest, innermost intimate thoughts.  And because I listen and pay close attention to them, they have given me my greatest accomplishments in life.  These loves have been inspirations for my newly developed art style called Empathicism, to my stories being brought to book form, to all of my songs and, lastly, to my latest album Articles in the Cellar. This collection of music is a summary of influences, crises and turning points of my life.  I grew up in the South listening to a smorgasbord of music that my parents or older brothers would play. That music inspired the sound for this particular album.  I decided on a more vintage sound, because I truly feel much of the music from the 60’s and 70’s still resonates with so many people today, even the people who didn’t grow up in this era.  The horns, the strings, the rhythm guitars and the raw, realness of the voice unadulterated by modern tricks of technology… These are the...

Singer-songwriter and comedian Olivia Thai is a breath of fresh air on the Hollywood scene. She says what she means and she walks her talk. We picked Olivia Thai as this month’s ReverbNation contest winner because we love her honesty, her lyrics and her moving single #WhyIStayed. Of course the first question that I asked Olivia Thai was to tell me more about #WhyIStayed. Olivia explained: “That song was inspired by domestic violence cases, and it was heavily inspired by the hashtag #WhyIStayed. That was one of the biggest hashtags on Twitter, and women were talking about why they stayed in those relationships. I tried to capture the essence of a victim of domestic violence. That song, in particular, has brought me to the most tears out of all the songs I’ve written.” Olivia Thai records the raw versions of songs while they’re still a work in progress and posts them on YouTube. I love that Olivia brings us along with her on the songwriting journey. I especially adore the single and video for Straight Shooter, so I asked her to tell me the song’s back story. Olivia Thai laughed and told me: “I always introduce this song at my live shows as the song about people who beat around the bush. I don’t understand them, because I’ve always been blatantly honest. I wrote it for people who just can’t figure out how to say things straight on, be straight shooters. What’s funny is, I was having a conversation with a standup comedian and he was telling me a joke about Gabby Giffords. I don’t remember the whole joke, but the punchline is ‘somebody should have been a straight shooter.’ I was like, ‘Huh!’ And then I wrote the song.” I wondered if Olivia...

Memoirs of a Girl Who Loves God… This book, my debut novel and my first of many, is a symbol of so many things. It represents a dream come true, hard work, answered prayers, acknowledgment and change. My book is a Young Adult Fiction in the Faith & Spirituality genre. It’s about a struggling fourteen-year-old named Krystal, who is cutting in order to cope with changes in her life. While the story is fiction, the main character is based on a real girl, someone I’ve known forever and love dearly. She is my muse. A plethora of research, interviews and heart went into creating the vivid characters that cross Krystal’s path in Memoirs of a Girl Who Loves God. How did this all come to be? I don’t really know. Something about growing up as an only child gives the imagination an extra spark! Extra sparks do wonders for reading. I’ve been a reader my entire life. In junior high and high school, there would often be a novel on top of my stack of schoolbooks. It was always smaller than everything else in my arms and constantly slid around while I was walking through the halls. Most of the time, the book would have a Stephen King or Dean Koontz title. Because I was painfully shy, I kept just a few close friends and busied myself with reading in my spare time throughout the day. Reading is a lifesaver during moments of awkward silence. My first real memory of enjoying the writing process was in grade school. We’d been learning about the science of weather, and our assignment was to write a weather report. My teacher said we could pick any location, so I chose Mars. My meteorologist was abducted by aliens midway...

I’ve noticed that a lot of people often feel very frustrated with acting. It is frustrating, I have to agree, but there are things you can try that will hopefully ease the tension and at least make the circumstances more pleasant. I’ve outlined some alternative ways to practice your art and become a better actor. Produce Your Own Films Look at acting or voice-over art as an outlet or venture, because that is what it is. Try honing your craft by making home movies or videos on a webcam. At least this way, you can produce films that highlight your talent and enjoy creating them. When your films are good enough, submit them to film festivals or lesser known venues. Instead of shooting in the big cities, try smaller cities. A lot of times, there isn’t as much red tape and they are more willing to work with you. Remember, smaller venues will be easier to work with than larger ones. You’d be surprised at how many movies are made in small areas. I am currently working on an audio book for filmmakers on a budget, and I’m already halfway through it. Participate in Community or Student Films Work as a production assistant for unknown filmmakers and directors. You never know when they’ll need additional actors. This could be your chance to get into movies. Be an extra; you may be seen in the final cut. Here are some other reasons these projects could be your big break: Someone is going to get a shot at fame and leave the production. Someone will have a falling out with the director for whatever reason and leave the production. Someone will decide that acting isn’t for them and leave to pursue something else, which gives you,...

Early in my Long Island, NY childhood I knew I wanted music to be at the center of my life.  I started piano lessons at age 7 and studied pop and classical music.  My earliest memories include going to live concerts, playing showcases, as well as listening to great music from many different eras. One of the main influences in my dedication to a life of music, however, is my father Pete Antell. I often helped out in his home studio, and I sometimes accompanied him on tour with artists such as The Doobie Brothers and Fleetwood Mac. It was one day when I was standing backstage at a Fleetwood Mac concert (next to Christine McVie’s piano) that I knew with absolute certainty music what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. In college, I was involved not only music but also theater and dance. I took part in everything from stage production to choreography.  The invaluable discipline that I gained back then is a big part of why I constantly push myself to write, record and perform now.  Upon college graduation, I moved to Colorado after landing a singing job at a mountain lodge.  I performed several seasons there and with a few other groups throughout Denver/Boulder. When I started to dabble in songwriting, I moved back East to a friend’s farm in Connecticut, and I really put music front and center.  With a great practice space in a huge barn with hardwood floors and natural acoustics, I spent countless hours writing and recording demos on my old 4-track player.  Eventually, I moved to NYC to fully pursue my singer-songwriter career, working as a legal secretary by day and playing clubs and hitting the recording studio at night. After playing...

I love Danish blues Jake Green Band. They have an amazing blues sound. Their new single Still Hung Up on You is terrific. I interviewed Jake Green last weekend, while he was celebrating his nephew’s seventh birthday at his sister’s summer home. We tried to record the interview outside in the park-like setting, but the internet reception would not cooperate, so we moved indoors. When you watch the video, you’ll notice the change in venue. Of course, the very first question I asked Jake was to tell me more about Still Hung Up on You. Jake told me: “Still Hung Up on You is your basic breakup song. My Dad used to say that if you really love somebody, it never really goes away. That’s pretty much what the song is about. It’s about you still being hung up on the person, even though the relationship didn’t work and you still have feelings, even if they’re still not that strong any longer.” I also adore the Jake Green Band single Broken Love from the Live at Malmo Festival album. The song is so heartfelt. I wondered who the song was about, but Jake would not say: “The song is not about anybody specific. I prefer to write more general, so people can better relate. That’s also why I don’t name names in my songs. The song is about the process of falling in love and getting hurt by love. Actually, the new version of this song on my upcoming album is a little different from the one recorded in 2011. The last verse has a little twist that says you should still put yourself out there and risk getting hurt, and you should still seek out love.” The Jake Green Band has such a...