Pay for Downloads

{www.nicoleandrewsmusic.com}

Some significant news in the world of Nicole Andrews Music! I am now charging for downloads of my songs!

Don't worry, its still super cheap and this way you will be supporting a musician... Helping me to do what I love.

Originally I had wanted to make my music free and give the option for a donation if someone wanted, but there's more than just monetary exchange happening here. I'm also sharing a product that I have put my hours of love and attention into. This choice is more about valuing my work than it is about making a few bucks.

If you haven't listened to my music yet, please checkout my bandcamp page, where you can purchase my music.

Where have I been?

{Hello from Kiwi-land}

Some of my regular readers might be wondering: where did I go in the last few months?

Basically I've felt a little confused about my position in the blogging world lately. What do I write about? Am I just an online diary or do I write like an informative blog? Do I write about music, paleo, travel, or weddings? I seem to write about all of these things with a sprinkle of burlesque and family stuff every now and then.

So I took a step back and thought: what am I doing?

I have had this secret plan for months and months now to merge my blog and my music website together, and this is part of the "discovery process" I have gone through in trying to figure out what that means for me. Unfortunately it also meant that I stopped blogging a little bit. I still feel a little bit like I'm in limbo with the two sites being separate, but the plan to merge is going to happen, and hopefully will happen in the next month or two.

I also have another side project that I am working on, which will give me a location for my paleo/food related blog posts to belong. This project is still too green to reveal the details, but I'm pretty excited about it.

With these 2 projects in the works, I think that my blogging should pick up again. I just needed to "find myself" a little bit. I had started blogging to share my world of New Zealand with my friends and family (way back in like 2007!), but the longer I write the less relevant it becomes.

So keep your eyes on this space for updates on when this merge will happen, about the food project, and just for more random ramblings as I fumble with my blog content.

Gluten free

{Dinner at Carnevino in Vegas}

Sometimes I tell people that I'm gluten free instead of going down the whole "I'm paleo" route.

It's easier... Paleo often involves a long conversation about what I can't eat (stuff you will now tell me you couldn't live without)... Is it like the Atkins diet (no)... Is it anti-vegetarian (no).... Are you crazy (no one can prove that yet)...

The reality is that paleo is still a bit controversial in the eyes of the general public, and sometimes I just want to be in the vicinity of cake, and have a real excuse not to eat it.

"Here's a sample"

"Oh, no thanks! I'm gluten free."

But sometimes this back fires: "Oh, well we have gluten free too!"

(Why can't I just say no thanks? Who cares, that's not what this post is about.)

So sometimes I just say "I'm gluten free." But I usually say it in a way to keep people from asking more questions.

Gluten free: accepted among the masses as something that some people need because otherwise they get sick.

Paleo: something that crazy people do which will only lead to their early death due to their consumption of fats and animal products. Not necessary and certainly vegetarian haters. 

Sometimes it's just easier being the hippy than it is being the nutritional rebel. But there are a few things I've noticed about posing as a gluten free being. People who choose gluten free get their fair share of discrimination and awkward conversations. 

Here's a favorite: if you stop eating gluten then you will not be able to eat it in the future because your body won't be used to it.... So you are telling me that its like poison... I have to keep eating it for my body to be used to it anymore, and if I stop then my body just can't handle it?... Interesting. Sounds like a necessary food (this is sarcasm).

I've had people tell me that celiac disease isn't real. Why don't I just go to the doctor and know for sure instead of experimenting with my diet for no reason... They can't actually prove gluten intolerance anyway... Blah blah blah. 

All I hear is: you are doing something which makes me question my own opinions on food. Stop it because it freaks me out. I am not a doctor but I will quote things that I think doctors would say.

But I'm happy with my choices. I'm now one and a half years paleo, and even when I cheat I try to be gluten free... And why: because gluten really does affect me. I don't have a habit of flailing from diet to diet, except for attempting vegetarianism every few years. And I have never felt better than I have in the last year and a half. So whether or not you believe that gluten is bad, or paleo is a crock... I am benefiting.

Risk

"An essential element of any art is risk. If you don’t take a risk then how are you going to make something really beautiful, that hasn’t been seen before?"  

- Frances Ford Coppola

I recently read an article of an interview with Frances Ford Coppola, which I was very inspired by. Of course the article was written in reference to film making, but I could directly relate as a musician to almost every word.

One thing he says, is that in the beginning of the film industry, they did not know what they were doing. People were just happy to see moving pictures, and then eventually through experimentation things started to shift, and they discovered what worked. And then with money involved, the risk of experimentation was snuffed out in favor of safe ideas. Which means that if you have a new idea that differs from the proven money making ideas, then you are disregarded and passed up for the someone else cranking out the same old crap.

I believe that over time the audience is also afraid to risk. They like the same old crap, and are cautious of the risk takers. Which is why the same old crap is so profitable. People eat it up. I am guilty of this too. Sometimes you just wanna watch a movie that you know will be good.

You see, I agree with Frances Ford Coppola in that I feel the tried and true methods lack any risk or experimentation, and are therefore void of art. Or rather are a really diluted version of something that was once art.

I've had people try to fit me in a box they can sell, and its just not really what I am interested in. I play music because I love it, and not because I think I will make millions.

Sure, I like the pop songs sometimes, but my point is not that they are bad, but that our desire for money pushes the art out. We know what works, we get some skilled writers, a pretty face to represent it, and we crank out a hit song. You only really need one good song to sell a record, so no need to worry whether the rest of the album works too.

Over time, people forget that there is more than one way to skin a cat. Or to write a screenplay, or to make a love song.

Not everyone can make money with their art, and so if this is your primary goal, and you are not enjoying yourself, then why do it? I hope to live my life at my full potential, and enjoy myself along the way.

"People made money in the cinema, and then they began to say to the pioneers, 'Don’t experiment. We want to make money. We don’t want to take chances.'” 

-Francis Ford Coppola

I suppose this is a good thing.

Well, when you start to get trolls commenting on you online, then you know you must be doing something right. I'm at least getting my stuff out there enough to get some negative feedback. And getting yourself out there is harder than dealing with the feedback. 

I have one person who appears to have subscribed to YouTube today, and the first thing they did was comment on 2 of my videos saying what a horrible musician I am... Well, fine, then move on. Is this your first day on the world wide web? Don't you realize that there are other options out there that do not involve watching my videos? Don't you have a Lady Gaga video to watch?

Actually, it could be someone I know... They live in New Zealand and they have sought me out...  Because they would need to be pretty pissed at me to go to the trouble of creating a brand new account so that I don't recognize them. Who in their right mind would spend their first day on YouTube ridiculing an unknown musician? 

No, they would be busy watching something like Cat sings Game of Thrones.

Anyway, this is time for celebration. Because it is only when you have really made an impact on someone that it evokes a passionate response. And yes, trolls are only wallowing in their own self pity- but this is like a win for me. I messed this person up! They are inspired enough to hate it- so I am doing something useful in the world. Because if they can put the energy out there to despise what I do- then I'm glad I gave them a few uncomfortable moments that they can never have back.