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Interview: Kelly Pettit (Pt. 2)
Interview: Kelly Pettit (Pt. 2)
- Genre : More Music
- Type: News
- Author : Super Admin
- Date : Fri, 18 Apr 2008
When you were making those records, did you plan to produce and distribute independently, or did you plan to shop majors?
I never shopped majors. I don't really know why. Maybe it was a lack of knowledge, or a lack of exposure. The first CD came out just before I came to Japan. When I came to Japan, I had the CD with me, and I was performing all these gigs in Japan. The CD was selling like hot cakes and that's when I said, "This isn't a bad little business I started here." I was going to write a CD and see if I could do things on a bigger scale. As you know, this business is changing every day, and it seems as if the majors aren't the way to go anyway. I've kind of been doing these last three CDs in a revolutionary age, where your music evolves to be independent now. You can actually make a living now being an independent artist, whereas 10 years ago you couldn't. It was a lot harder.
It just speaks to the way that you promote. You work hard to promote your music in order to get it out there, especially with this UBL contest you wound up winning.
Yeah, that was tough work. I had a lot of great staff, and a lot of great supporters on board to really help me out with that. Mind you, one of the hardest things about being a musician is that once you have a product, you have to turn around and be a businessman. You've got to buckle up and see if you can make a business out of it. That's what I try to do with the CD, promote it and push it. It's a tough thing to do. Living in Japan, I've got a little bit of a bonus over here because I speak the language, but I have a hard time dealing with a lot of North American stuff at this stage.
When did you first decide to pack up and go to Japan? How did you get into the scene there?
Our band was playing a nightclub, and a Japanese agency approached us and said, "Do you guys want to come over to Japan?" To make a long story short, we packed up and flew over here. We did a six week gig at a couple of different venues. One was a theme park, and one was a five star hotel. It was really cool at the time. A couple members of the band at the time were married, so when the six weeks expired, they went back to Canada. I said to the agency, "I just graduated from university. Do you want me to stick around? Is there anything I can do?" I signed a different contract with them, and that lasted about two or three years. Then I went out on my own. Now that I can speak the language, I've just been marketing myself over here. Between you and me, I'm looking to get back to North America in the near future. I mean Japan's been a fantastic ride. I just feel that, emotionally, I'm at the end of it. I am from Canada, and ten years is a long time to be away from friends and family. I'd like to find a way to get back. I made a lot of connections in Japan being here the past 10 years, and it'll be a tough thing to throw them away, but I need a good kick in the butt anyhow, and a good challenge again.
The adventure is half the fun of being a musician.
Yeah, it is. I mean, it's kind of scary. You wouldn't recommend it to your friends unless they absolutely love it.
Talk to me about the movie scores you worked on.
That was just me trying to network, putting my music out there as much as I could. Some filmmakers put a pretty good movie together—it put a smile on my face. I emailed them and said, "If you guys have anyplace where you need some backup music, give me a call." It was another two or three months before I got an email back from them. They just gave me the feel of the movie. I had to write music without seeing it. I recorded a bunch of stuff, and gave it to them. They threw it in, and it was a good experience. It wasn't a Hollywood movie, but you've got to start
I never shopped majors. I don't really know why. Maybe it was a lack of knowledge, or a lack of exposure. The first CD came out just before I came to Japan. When I came to Japan, I had the CD with me, and I was performing all these gigs in Japan. The CD was selling like hot cakes and that's when I said, "This isn't a bad little business I started here." I was going to write a CD and see if I could do things on a bigger scale. As you know, this business is changing every day, and it seems as if the majors aren't the way to go anyway. I've kind of been doing these last three CDs in a revolutionary age, where your music evolves to be independent now. You can actually make a living now being an independent artist, whereas 10 years ago you couldn't. It was a lot harder.
It just speaks to the way that you promote. You work hard to promote your music in order to get it out there, especially with this UBL contest you wound up winning.
Yeah, that was tough work. I had a lot of great staff, and a lot of great supporters on board to really help me out with that. Mind you, one of the hardest things about being a musician is that once you have a product, you have to turn around and be a businessman. You've got to buckle up and see if you can make a business out of it. That's what I try to do with the CD, promote it and push it. It's a tough thing to do. Living in Japan, I've got a little bit of a bonus over here because I speak the language, but I have a hard time dealing with a lot of North American stuff at this stage.
When did you first decide to pack up and go to Japan? How did you get into the scene there?
Our band was playing a nightclub, and a Japanese agency approached us and said, "Do you guys want to come over to Japan?" To make a long story short, we packed up and flew over here. We did a six week gig at a couple of different venues. One was a theme park, and one was a five star hotel. It was really cool at the time. A couple members of the band at the time were married, so when the six weeks expired, they went back to Canada. I said to the agency, "I just graduated from university. Do you want me to stick around? Is there anything I can do?" I signed a different contract with them, and that lasted about two or three years. Then I went out on my own. Now that I can speak the language, I've just been marketing myself over here. Between you and me, I'm looking to get back to North America in the near future. I mean Japan's been a fantastic ride. I just feel that, emotionally, I'm at the end of it. I am from Canada, and ten years is a long time to be away from friends and family. I'd like to find a way to get back. I made a lot of connections in Japan being here the past 10 years, and it'll be a tough thing to throw them away, but I need a good kick in the butt anyhow, and a good challenge again.
The adventure is half the fun of being a musician.
Yeah, it is. I mean, it's kind of scary. You wouldn't recommend it to your friends unless they absolutely love it.
Talk to me about the movie scores you worked on.
That was just me trying to network, putting my music out there as much as I could. Some filmmakers put a pretty good movie together—it put a smile on my face. I emailed them and said, "If you guys have anyplace where you need some backup music, give me a call." It was another two or three months before I got an email back from them. They just gave me the feel of the movie. I had to write music without seeing it. I recorded a bunch of stuff, and gave it to them. They threw it in, and it was a good experience. It wasn't a Hollywood movie, but you've got to start
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