It’s been just over a year now since we launched our website and ‘released' 14 Days. In a way it was a kind of experiment to see what an artist could do to make themselves known without spending any money or using conventional channels of promotion.
The experiment continues and with the release of Folk Songs we have a much better idea of what works and what doesn’t.
The music industry still seems to me to be in the same mess it was a few years ago when I was directly involved with it at Dune Records (see biog.), although perhaps to some extent people have got bored talking about it.
On one hand there’s the voice which says ‘Cd’s are dying, the future of music lies in digital downloads’. On the other, ‘People still want a physical object that can hold, look at any artwork/ credits and file it away amongst all of the other music which has accompanied them along their musical journey’. Then of course there’s perhaps the worst voice of all for musicians: 'no one’s going to buy anything anymore because you can find everything for free here or there on the internet'.
The answer for artists in this moment in time is to provide both physical cds and digital downloads for people who still buy music and try to give incentives to those who don’t to do so. We did this with 14 Days, putting our music up for sale in many websites both as downloads and cd’s (with companies who print cd’s at request) at the lowest price possible. What we’ve found out is that regarding downloads, the majority of sales have come from the most well known and trusted places ie. ITunes . As for cd’s, apart from the fact that after their costs we earn practically nothing, the artwork is often minimal and of a poor quality.
So, with the release of Folk Songs, we’ve decided to take a new approach and take our experiment of truly independent music even further. Now you can buy directly from us from our Music Store. For downloads, once we’ve received the payment an access code will be emailed to download high resolution mp3s and album artwork. For cd’s, we’ve printed a full 12 page booklet for Folk Songs, 4 page booklet for 14 Days and have printed cd’s for both. Obviously there’s an element of trust involved here and although we encourage buyers to buy directly from us, the albums will also be available from trusted sources, but only a select few. The ones that work.
Ultimately, we don’t want present ourselves as anything which we’re not. We’re two musicians who have a love of writing music. Everything we do, we do at home from the recording to the promotion in our free time (which isn’t much because we both have full time day jobs).
That said the end product doesn’t really differ from any other artist found in the mainstream of the music business.
Single pieces and albums of music of a high quality available to anyone who likes the sound we make or what we have to say. The only real difference is that we’re almost unknown artists and if people decide to ignore us, if they do chance upon us, the only thing blocking the growth of independent music and any other form of independent art or thought is our mentality and habits.
We’ll carry on writing whatever happens because it’s something inside that’s stronger than us.
If we had to categorize ourselves you could say folk, rock, alternative, pop or even at times country but perhaps the best way to describe the music we make is independent music for independent minds.

Lara

Lending a Voice - Interview with Plunkett - Independent music for Independent Minds by Eddie Dickey >> LISTEN