Have you ever wondered what happens when you click “BUY” on an indie artist’s products?
In Tea & Empathy Episode 004, join me as I package up orders from my House Clearance music and merch sale prior to leaving Bristol FOREVER. I talk about upcoming changes, gratitude and more.
Starring Lunapup and Albydog.
✅ Watch more episodes of “Tea & Empathy” here xo
TL;DR: House Clearance Sale – last day to get up to 50% off music and merch!
In 2009 I was living in a rented maisonette in South London where, for the first time, I had a separate room to write songs and edit videos in. The windows didn’t close, and there were definitely mice under the floorboards, but I finally had space!
A (real-life) friend I’d first met on photo-sharing site Flickr invited me to take part in a month-long local art installation called The Apollo Project, based in the old Apollo video shop in Herne Hill. Thank you, Laura Ward!
I played gigs, volunteered at other events and even sat on the floor before one of the shows burning CD-Rs of my first EP “Three…Two…One…”, clicking them into DVD cases that I’d decorated with a print of a photograph of a cassette tape.
I also uploaded the EP to Bandcamp.
Back then, I could never have predicted where sharing my music on the internet could take me. After years of playing bass and singing with big artists around the world, I knew it was time to say what I wanted to say, but I never dreamed anyone else would want to hear it.
Over the years, I’ve funded the making of new music through Bandcamp pre-orders, crowdfunding campaigns and, over the past four years, my Correspondent’s Club subscription, because music fans are the absolute best.
7 albums on, I’m preparing to move to Nottingham after 11 years of doing my thing in Bristol, and so I’m running a House Clearance Sale with up to 50% off 23 items: vinyl, CDs, tees and badges.
I will forever be grateful and thankful for Bandcamp for making it possible for indies like me to easily sell our music direct to you.
➡️ I ALSO have tons of free downloads available across both my Bandcamp pages, handily collated for you here.
BIG LOVE
BIG THANKS
Laura xxx
Authenticity is a word we hear all the time, especially in relation to how we should present ourselves online. After something big happened recently, I wanted to talk about why I NEVER lie.
-> Order Andy J. Pizza & Sophie Miller’s ACE new book “Invisible Things” here (and support this channel at the same time)
-> Visit the “Invisible Things” site here
-> Then listen to Creative Pep Talk (it’s my fave!)
✅ This is Episode 3 of “Tea & Empathy” – watch the rest here xo
For this new article I was invited to share my thoughts on how artists can take control of their online presence, instead of leaving it all in the hands of big companies who don’t care about us.
After Pledge Music folded in early 2019, stealing £6000 of my fans’ money aka the profit from my 2018 album “Brace For Impact”, I created my own Patreon-style membership club.
I invited everyone on my mailing list to join, and since February 2019 I have been able to do this weird and wonderful job full-time, instead of frantically freelancing in the day, trying to write songs at night and putting albums out every few years.
This is an unusual state of affairs. Most music makers have to juggle making their art with paid work doing other things. There’s nothing wrong with that, and the art isn’t any better or worse because the artist has to support themselves in other ways – but wouldn’t it be lovely if more of us could have a bit more time to make the things you love?
I’ve always been a grafter, and I enjoyed my freelance career making videos, taking photos and doing all sorts of digital bits and pieces – BUT I love what I do now way more. It’s what I’m best at, and I am forever grateful and thankful to everyone who’s:
– been a member of The Correspondent’s Club (and Supersub Club before it)
– crowdfunded or pre-ordered one of my albums
– bought music or merch from Bandcamp or my shop or at a gig
– come to see me play
– said hi and been friendly online
We’re in this together! If you’re in a position to support the artists you love by picking up music or merch please do, and if you’re not – PLEASE subscribe to their YouTube channels (hint hint), like and comment on their posts and, if you feel like it, send a compliment their way.
It all adds up to a really wonderful feeling of community, and spurs us on to keep making songs for you.
For my part, I’ll continue sharing how and why I do things, to help anyone else who wants to be more creative in their own lives.
Sending big love
Laura xxx
“Oh no, not another one!” I hear you cry, as Meta’s Twitter-like new social media platform Threads takes hold. I’ve been having a nice time on there, but wanted to offer this alternative viewpoint that applies to all social media platforms.
➡️ I got excited about using Photoshop’s new Generative Fill tool to make AI versions of my album covers…then things got weird.
✅ Browse my back catalogue here please and thank you xo
➡️ READ: “AI Is a Lot of Work” on The Verge
➡️ Let’s talk about my side project Obey Robots, answering your questions about how our album “One In A Thousand” was written and telling the story of the band name – Potsdam! Bike tour! Ghastly snappers with selfie sticks! I also unbox my awesome new microphone and show you some other exciting bits of post.
✅ Shop music and merch direct from meeeeee
➡️ This is Episode 2 of “Tea & Empathy” – watch the rest here
Welcome to episode 3 of my Creative Spaces series. Strap in for some big laughs, and bear in mind…there’s swearing.
We talk about Beth’s essentials for recording albums from home, how painting the walls with pink cow print affected their creativity, and how much we both absolutely adore fielding unsolicited comments from internet people with no music credentials. Hi, Jeff2789!!
Explore Du Blonde’s world here.
Welcome to episode 2 of my Creative Spaces series!
I met Ryan Hamilton online recently after his album release plan went very wrong…and I thought to balance out the industry kerfuffle we should have a deep chat about creativity, music recording and how your space can affect your work. So we did!
We talk about how easy it is to record your own music, which three things Ryan considers essential for recording, where songs come from and the magic word to use in your lyrics to bump up your streaming numbers 🤣.
Ryan also talks about Death Cab For Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, and the story behind “I Will Follow You Into The Dark”…and there’s even a cameo from Justin Hawkins!
Watch more “Creative Spaces” videos here, and subscribe to my channel for more xo
I’ve never understood why artists shy away from setting up an email list. Musicians, photographers, visual artists, writers – if you’re serious about sharing your work online, it’s WAY more effective to set up a website and an email list than posting on social media.
And if you’re a fan of people who do those things – please sign up to their lists!
If I hadn’t set up my mailing list in 2009 and invited people onto it regularly ever since, I simply wouldn’t have a full-time job making my own music. It’s that life-changing.
Seth Werkheiser and I met online a while ago, and I immediately knew we were on the same page with this stuff. His HEAVY METAL EMAIL is always useful and fun to read, so I invited him to nerd out / share exasperated facial expressions about email marketing with me.
Enjoy – and please ask any questions in the comments section. I’d be very happy to go deeper into how I do things in future videos so let me know what you’d like to see xo
