I just feel like writing some random things down. I'm home sick on a friday night and apparently my 3 month ban just expired, so here goes. Actually, first thing's first, I should apologize to chill in case he happens to be reading this, for sending him some semi-psychotic messages after getting banned (rightfully, I might add).
Music
I've been posting a lot of my electronic music creations (house, progressive house) here for probably the past two years, so I thought I'd give a bit of an update to everyone that supported and encouraged me in the past. Several things have happened in the last 3 months.
The story behind my first release is pretty weird and unusual, and it essentially started as a sort of weird trolling attempt on a swedish gaming forum, fragbite. This was back in december and I was just casually browsing when some guy had randomly recorded a little clip of himself humming a melody and then uploaded it on youtube. He was searching for a tune he had heard on a party, but no one could figure out what it was so eventually I made a little melody with his vocals ripped from youtube on top. Some people actually thought it sounded decent, so they kept bugging me to make a full track out of it which I eventually did. Because he was humming something along the lines of 'omg this is so good', I naturally had to name it "this is so good" whether I wanted to or not.
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDb4XnXEH2Y
I really didn't want to release it at first, mostly because I wasn't terrible happy with the song, but two days prior to christmas I got a message from the official Spencer & Hill soundcloud and I couldn't resist releasing it on their label (bazooka, sublabel of zooland records). It started surfacing on a bunch of random house blogs and actually did quite well after it hit beatport last month.
61:th on the beatport progressive house chart. Milestone.
A couple of weeks back I got a chance to try my hands on dj:ing (while meeting with an agency). Incredibly fun and I have already purchased my own decks and mixer. I've received bookings from all over the place so I hope to be able to dj a little this summer if I am prepared. Currently school is really eating away at my free time which kind of sucks, feels a bit like I can't properly focus on anything right now (first year comp sci student).
Somehow managed to look pissed and tired on every picture despite having incredibly fun. The actual dance floor on the right, I'd have been pretty nervous if it wasn't for the fact that people kept putting drinks in my hand the whole evening.
I haven't had time to play starcraft 2 recently, and additionally my computer doesn't handle it incredibly well. I'm honestly a little bit scared to play again. I'd be facing master opponents after about 8 months of inactivity. T_T
I did however start playing a little bit of brood war campaign a couple of days ago. First time in several years. I actually started playing starcraft around the time of the initial release of vanilla sc. I was about 11, and I distinctly remember watching my first game of starcraft after some crafty kid had somehow managed to bypass our school's admin system and installed starcraft on virtually every computer in the entire building.
It was an FFA between some older students and one of my friends, and I was completely fascinated by all the cool units. Especially burrowing hydras and protoss structures. I got my copy of the game as soon as I possibly could and instantly fell in love with it, more than any game I had ever experienced. I was really into science fiction etc as a kid. and the floating terran buildings and battle cruisers really amazed me.
One night I had been watching Aliens along with my parents, and I sat down immediately afterwards to play some terran campaign. I would assign names and entire backgrounds for every individual marine and scv and I'd even have pretend conversation exchanges between the commander (myself) and specific units. There was something magical about the way I'd play games as a kid. I'd see the units and really get a blast just out of watching them and by interacting with them. Now all I see is a weapon damage, a health value and the special ability assuming I haven't already deemed it worthless. Wish I could experience that again, in many ways growing up really blows. I kept thinking about this over the last couple of days for some reason.
P.S. the subscribed thread thingy is amazing. P.P.S ordering a tl shirt just so that I can dj in it. ^^ P.P.P.S congrats to Starparty for having his song featured in a Oakenfold set. Instant baller status.
I'm also a CS student in sweden (3rd year, Luleå Tekniska Universitet) and if you really feel like this is worth a shot, just pause your studies and give it a shot whole heartedly. Worst case scenario is you''ll realize it's not what you want to do for a fulltime thing and at least you've got that much figured out then and can go back to your studies a bit for focused. ^_^
YOU WROTE THAT TRACK?! Amazing props man, I stumbled on it a few weeks back and thought it was pretty kick ass, regardless of whether it was Avicii or not. Looking forward to anything else you put out (:
Btw, is the clip of the guy humming the tune still up?
So what has selling the song made you ? Or are you not allowed to disclose that information ? Did you have any DJ experience ? Or do you just turn on the song and stand there acting like you're doing something ?
On March 17 2012 10:02 hifriend wrote: P.P.S ordering a tl shirt just so that I can dj in it. ^^
Boss!
requesting proof pictures
Also, r1ch should implement a "tl-swag on display" section, like just a big photo gallery with non-esport real life situations with TL logos on it. Like TBs king of the web billboard, or you in front of a dancing crowd dj'ing in a tl shirt :>
On March 17 2012 10:02 hifriend wrote: P.P.S ordering a tl shirt just so that I can dj in it. ^^
Boss!
requesting proof pictures
Also, r1ch should implement a "tl-swag on display" section, like just a big photo gallery with non-esport real life situations with TL logos on it. Like TBs king of the web billboard, or you in front of a dancing crowd dj'ing in a tl shirt :>
Fun idea imo. ^ I'll deliver.
On March 17 2012 18:09 Marradron wrote: So what has selling the song made you ? Or are you not allowed to disclose that information ? Did you have any DJ experience ? Or do you just turn on the song and stand there acting like you're doing something ?
I honestly have no idea (yet). Generally you don't make a whole lot by simply selling music though.
I had a tiny bit of experience with mixing (on vinyl) from before, then I just practiced two days with the help of a dj and got transitions down by jogwheel or simply pitching, learned the basic functions on cdj and djm's and stuff. Certainly not the most advanced set either, I was pretty much just shooting for smooth transitions and good song picks. I've been a drummer for several years, think that might have helped a bit (since I'm usually counting beats and bars almost unconsciously). I didn't have to pretend because I was constantly searching for the next cue point, also trying to mix early in my headphones so that I wouldn't fuck up with the tempos. ^^
On March 17 2012 11:22 gillon wrote: Sweet track.
I'm also a CS student in sweden (3rd year, Luleå Tekniska Universitet) and if you really feel like this is worth a shot, just pause your studies and give it a shot whole heartedly. Worst case scenario is you''ll realize it's not what you want to do for a fulltime thing and at least you've got that much figured out then and can go back to your studies a bit for focused. ^_^
Yeah exactly, I'm considering doing something like this after the summer. I love my courses so far, but doing several things half heartedly at the same time isn't really working.
On March 17 2012 11:59 AnachronisticAnarchy wrote: That is the most ridiculously lucky thing I have heard of. Good luck in your future endeavours.
Haha I agree. I was probably more shocked than anyone the day I saw one of my songs on house blogs I'd normally read.
On March 17 2012 13:16 EatThePath wrote: Read this blog with the track playin -- very nice experience!
Maybe the trick to succeeding with shallow upbeat songs is just to not care. This track won me over completely by the end, it's so good! ;D
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
Lucky you
The question is, what would have happened if it hadn't been labeled as Avicii? Do the masses only recognize good songs because they are from popular artists? Or would it have been a similar success with his own name on it? Hard to say, still the song is really nice and definitely Avicii worthy. Well done!
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
Lucky you
The question is, what would have happened if it hadn't been labeled as Avicii? Do the masses only recognize good songs because they are from popular artists? Or would it have been a similar success with his own name on it? Hard to say, still the song is really nice and definitely Avicii worthy. Well done!
It's a good song, but why would you search on youtube for Ehrencrona? Nobody has heard of him, but they did hear of Avicii and stumbled by accident on this song. I doubt that it would have been a similair succes with his own name. All his other songs have few views, so yes he got lucky, but obviously having luck doesn't mean anything if it wasn't a good song, nobody would continue to listen.
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
Lucky you
The question is, what would have happened if it hadn't been labeled as Avicii? Do the masses only recognize good songs because they are from popular artists? Or would it have been a similar success with his own name on it? Hard to say, still the song is really nice and definitely Avicii worthy. Well done!
It's a good song, but why would you search on youtube for Ehrencrona? Nobody has heard of him, but they did hear of Avicii and stumbled by accident on this song. I doubt that it would have been a similair succes with his own name. All his other songs have few views, so yes he got lucky, but obviously having luck doesn't mean anything if it wasn't a good song, nobody would continue to listen.
It certainly helped. A ton. I've gotten offers from smaller labels to release a track here and there before but that in and of itself isn't going to help you spread your name and music, so this time I got very lucky I must admit. Still I wouldn't have done that myself. It can be pretty frustrating trying to listen to music on youtube when so much stuff is deliberately mislabeled just in order to attract views.
On March 17 2012 23:14 Necosarius wrote: This is so cool ^^ Good luck with whatever you chose to do!
I want to start making music or dj:ing myself but I have no knowledge at all about how to start and learn and shit so it's still just a fantasy
That's like the single most awesome thing about producing electronic music, it's sooo easy getting started. Just get yourself a DAW software and start playing around. These days there are a lot of youtube tutorials that'll cover pretty much any question/problem you'll encounter. (or send me a pm and I'll try my best to help)
After that, someone posted it mislabeled as an avicii track on youtube, which attracted a stupid amount of views, and before I knew it I was getting several messages on soundcloud from various internet labels.
Lucky you
The question is, what would have happened if it hadn't been labeled as Avicii? Do the masses only recognize good songs because they are from popular artists? Or would it have been a similar success with his own name on it? Hard to say, still the song is really nice and definitely Avicii worthy. Well done!
It's a good song, but why would you search on youtube for Ehrencrona? Nobody has heard of him, but they did hear of Avicii and stumbled by accident on this song. I doubt that it would have been a similair succes with his own name. All his other songs have few views, so yes he got lucky, but obviously having luck doesn't mean anything if it wasn't a good song, nobody would continue to listen.
It certainly helped. A ton. I've gotten offers from smaller labels to release a track here and there before but that in and of itself isn't going to help you spread your name and music, so this time I got very lucky I must admit. Still I wouldn't have done that myself. It can be pretty frustrating trying to listen to music on youtube when so much stuff is deliberately mislabeled just in order to attract views.
On March 17 2012 23:14 Necosarius wrote: This is so cool ^^ Good luck with whatever you chose to do!
I want to start making music or dj:ing myself but I have no knowledge at all about how to start and learn and shit so it's still just a fantasy
That's like the single most awesome thing about producing electronic music, it's sooo easy getting started. Just get yourself a DAW software and start playing around. These days there are a lot of youtube tutorials that'll cover pretty much any question/problem you'll encounter. (or send me a pm and I'll try my best to help)
I'm not blaming you at all ^^. It's a good song and deserves all the attention it gets, I was listening to some of your other tracks and I really liked them, they do have a Avicii ''feel'' to them, so I can see how somebody could mistake your song for his.
On March 18 2012 01:39 ShoCkeyy wrote: :O Hifriend, you better remember me when you're famous
:D
How's it going with Reason?
Great! Can't believe you remembered that haha... Man, I've been following your music forever now, great to see that it's coming up on the charts! Really happy for you.
On March 18 2012 17:59 Coagulation wrote: I dont think OP understands what trolling is tho.
Answering a request for a song by making a song with the op's vocals sort of falls within the realm of trolling I would say. Not severe trolling, just kind of a light semi-troll? ^^
On March 18 2012 01:39 ShoCkeyy wrote: :O Hifriend, you better remember me when you're famous
:D
How's it going with Reason?
Great! Can't believe you remembered that haha... Man, I've been following your music forever now, great to see that it's coming up on the charts! Really happy for you.
This is so cool! Such a nice story of success, and I love the song, its not something I'd normally be into or look for, but its one of those pleasant musical discoveries. To beatport to buy this song!
On March 21 2012 17:40 Starparty wrote: Ive been following the progress of this track man, big grats to you!
Ty ty
On March 21 2012 12:08 Whole wrote: So why are you still keeping the mislabeled full version? Any reason, or you just don't particularly care?
Ah I never actually uploaded those versions, other people did.
On March 21 2012 18:28 Oozo wrote: This song is really amazing! Gonna go and buy this when I get home
On March 19 2012 23:39 Kerotan wrote: This is so cool! Such a nice story of success, and I love the song, its not something I'd normally be into or look for, but its one of those pleasant musical discoveries. To beatport to buy this song!
Thank you!
On March 19 2012 19:14 haduken wrote: hey OP, how do I buy your music? Can't find it on itunes..
Hey, only beatport as shockeyy said, but I'm sure it'll hit itunes/juno soon!
On March 21 2012 18:31 guN-viCe wrote: Very nice. Congrats!
Any chance you will make a write-up on an intro to making music? I'm curious how to make good music .
Sure I've thought about that. If people are interested I'll give it a shot.