Found Around: SXSW 2011: If In Doubt, Throw Blueberry Muffins
Written by Lynsey Grey Posted in: Found Around on March 25, 2011
Martin Atkins -- musician, author, and maverick -- opened South By Southwest 2011 with memorable advice and ramblings about the music industry, states a recent article in the Chicago Tribune. He noted that, essentially, everything we think we know about the music industry is entirely and completely 100% incorrect. His advice was straightforward, and based largely off of his own successes and failures. Atkins' message mirrors IndieAmbassador.com's ideals rather closely by encouraging artists to live and work within their means to create a sustainable career in music. True to his unique character, Martin's speech was riddled with minor mockery and a few choice words. To conclude his appearance, he threw packages of blueberry muffins into the audience, further reinforcing the idea that one should utilize any and all resources at his/her disposal to be memorable and different. We've included the Chicago Tribune article and a quick snippet of Martin covering similar topics below. Check them out and see how you measure up!
-Lynsey
Martin gives his top 5 tips for independent musicians
(Chicago Tribune) SXSW 2011: Martin Atkins throws blueberry muffins at music industry
credit: Greg Kot
AUSTIN, Texas -- It started with Martin Atkins apologizing for using the "F" word more than 160 times in his recent book about surviving the music business and ended with the bespectacled punk-rock drummer tossing packages of blueberry muffins into the audience.
Nobody in the audience was all that fazed, however, an indication that desperate times call for desperate - or at least humorous -- measures.
Atkins -- who has accumulated thousands of horror stories about what not to do in the music business while pounding the drums for Public Image Ltd. and Pigface, among countless bands, and running his own Invisible label out of Chicago -- brought a maverick's perspective to the opening address at the 25th annual South by Southwest Music Conference on Tuesday.
Central to his advice was the notion that just about everything we think we know about how music and culture intersect with commerce is wrong, or at least needs to be rethought. He offered plainspoken advice, much of it gleaned from the near-fatal mistakes and accidental triumphs that have defined his own circuitous route through music the last 30 years. Even his old pal Johnny Lydon was not beyond a little mockery; the onetime punk singer showed up in a video snippet of a TV ad for a butter manufacturer, an example of what not to do if an artist hopes to retain a crucial measure of authenticity with fans who now are more involved in making or breaking bands than ever.
"Be honest-ish," Atkins said. "You have to be authentic. The curtain is pulled back now."
Other words of advice for aspiring artists from the mouth of Atkins:
"It's tragic when the biggest problem you have is yourself."
