DIG THAT: THE NEED TO BE HEARD

AUTHOR | AUDREY RYAN
PUBLISHER | BURST AND BLOOM
RELEASE | 11.5.11

I got a pretty good chuckle here in the office when the “D.I.Y. Issue” of Billboard magazine arrived a few weeks back. The irony was not lost that the bible of the corporate music industry was giving advice on how to do it without them.

The Need to Be Heard is the exact opposite. Via a small press, a very DIY-oriented musician, Ms. Audrey Ryan, talks to other new industry leaders about what it means to truly do it yourself. Through honest real talk (“There is no formula for success,” “I fucking hate Emergenza!” “DO NOT SLEEP WITH PEOPLE IN YOUR BAND!!!”),

she cuts right to the heart of being a musician in the twenty-teens.

Ryan is quite the star here, but she also goes one-on-one with her peers and mentors: Dana Colley (Morphine), Ian McKaye (Fugazi) and the like, plus industry leaders like the Managing Editor of Pitchfork, the CEO of SonicBids, distributors, labels and so on.

It’s both a guide for musicians and a peek into the world of DIY. In some ways, it’s a kind of post-modern guide within a guide. It’s easy to lose yourself in the sometimes ramblings of a creative soul. And never, ever sleep with people in your band, especially bass players. They’re trouble.

PICK UP A COPY OF FROM BURST AND BLOOM HERE.