May Flowers
We’re five months into our release schedule. Here are some of the good and bad things that are happening:
Good:
We’ve made every deadline so far and released music every month
Roe’s Garden is currently over 5,000 monthly listeners and has caught the attention of a couple PR firms, one of which we’re going to work with to try to grow our artists
I’ve gotten better at drawing
We recently started to gain followers every day on TikTok
Bad:
The New Hippies are performing very poorly on streaming services.
Our days have gotten sloppy - we’re starting later and ending earlier
We’re not making money
I’m not having as much fun as I used to
So, we’re growing, but not enough. I’m becoming more business-minded but I’m not sure how much I like it. Hopefully this is just a phase, growing pains, part of the process. I’m just going to keep breathing and try to pick it back up. We’re almost halfway there.
-J.P.
Room With a View
One thing I wish I had in the studio is a window with a nice view. Never underestimate what having something inspiring to look at can do for your creativity. For example, right now I’m in Solvang looking out at some hills and the possibilities are endless and I feel great.
-J.P.
Good Love Feels Good
Happy release day! Another song is out in the world. This is number 13 on the year (with 14 coming next week [“Say Love” by Roe’s Garden]). Today’s release is “Good Love Feels Good” by The New Hippies. Here’s a couple quotes about the song.
“What? A quote about the song? Eeeeuggghhh… If you thought you knew sunshine before… wait ‘til you hear this one.” - Understanding Diggs
“ “ - My dog Morpheus
Anyway, this song began in Bell Canyon, at the RZA’s studio while Understanding and I were working on season one of Wu-Tang: An American Saga. We had a couple slow days where we got to track some demos and stashed them away for a few years because we weren’t really meeting regularly with the band or working on new music. When we started to plan out this year though, Good Love Feels Good was one of the first songs we retracted in the new studio. It went through about eight or nine arrangements and the RZA even made some structural suggestions that we executed on the version you can hear now. I love this record because it has all four of The New Hippies on it. I also love it because the title tells you everything. What you see is what you get. The song just makes me feel good. I hope it makes you sing along - I hope when you hear it you smile and get up and dance. I hope it makes you feel good! Go get you some Good Love today!
-J.P.
Writer’s Strike
The writers are on strike here in Hollywood. Good for them. They should be paid what they want. I say this not because I find myself particularly impressed with the quality of work they’ve been turning out, but because I may one day find myself looking to become a part of the Writers Guild of America and would like to be paid well. I was thinking though, if I had the money, now would be a good time to go over to the picket line and offer some of them the terms they want and have them help me write this script I’m working on for our fourth act of the year. It’d also be good time to go to Netflix and get a job, but I don’t think my fellow writers would appreciate that.
-J.P.
Give and Take
In the midst of a creative outpouring, it’s important to remember to refill your glass. If you give more than you take, you end up empty. I’m gonna go read a book. A big one. A big book with lots of words and information. Maybe a couple pictures. Maybe a lot of pictures. Maybe I’ll just watch a movie. Movies are nice. Maybe I’ll take the day off and watch movies.
Fine, I’ll read a book.
-J.P.
Be Grateful
I heard someone talk about their success today and in my opinion they seemed to lack the awareness to understand the good fortune they’ve had in their life. It bummed me out. Then I went about my day and didn’t feel great about the work I did and I was having a pity party for myself. While I was in the middle of that, I found out that a friend of a friend, who had recently lost his mom, lost his dad last night.
So be grateful for what you have, tell people you love them, see your friends and family. Give them hugs and listen to their stories. It’s all we’ve got.
-J.P.
My Daily Vibe
I have an app on my phone called “The Pattern” that gives me a daily vibe for every day among other things. Today my vibe is to “tap into [my] discipline to complete one or more projects [I’ve] been working on”.
Fine. If I have to. Stupid app.
-J.P.
