T
ool & D
ie page 23
Tool & Die
page 23
Photos provided by
Mike Meselsohn of
Black Water Rising
tional exposure, which
short of having a re-
cord label pushing
your song to radio, is
something that a band
that's on its own could
only dream of. And it
happened organically.
Johnny knew this guy
Jose who works up
at Sirius. He gave a
Jose a copy of our re-
cord and the he liked
it. Jose then gave it to
the music director, and
he liked it and spun it
once. He said the reac-
tion was o the hook,
so he spun it again, and
the phone calls and
emails kept coming in.
So he then put it in to
regular rotation. e
song is "Brother Go
On". We're very ap-
preciative of Jose, Je
and Kaylee at Sirius for
their support.
T&D- You guys have
a lot of visibility on
MySpace. Do you
do your own online
m a r k e t -
ing?
Mike- Yes, we do all of
our MySpace marketing.
We are on there every
day; adding friends, an-
swering emails, answering
comments. It's free and it's
a great way to reach people
and make new fans. Every
day we try to add four hun-
dred new friends, which is
great because we have fans
all over the world who would
have never heard of us other
wise.
T & D -
What's your take on the
current music industry?
Mike- Honestly, I think it's in an interest-
ing place. I think the model has changed.
Back ten, or even ve years ago, the way for
a band to succeed was to get the interest of a
record label; sign a deal; have the label give
you the money to make and market the re-
cord; and get it out to the public. Now, be-
cause of the internet, you can do a lot of that
on your own. Because of Pro Tools, you can
record your own record, as we did. en
you can get your music on iTunes. And if
you work hard enough, you can get a distri-
bution deal and get your CDs in stores. So
you really can do it on your own now. Is it
harder? Probably. And is it a longer pro-
cess? Yes. But in the end you are in a better
position to make more money, because you
own the rights and you have more control.
T&D- Do you have any advice to other
new bands?
Mike- Stay true to your artistic vision. Don't
let anyone tell you what you should sound
like or look like. Play music that you're
comfortable with, and that you like. Get
out and play as many shows as you can. Get
on the internet to market yourselves. Keep
plugging away and hopefully you'll make
some noise and make a living at it. at's
it! You do it because you love it. [A Tool
& Die commandment btw!] And don't do
it because you have some kind of illusion of
grandeur of being a rich and famous rock
star. Do it because you love music and want
to make a living at it. If you can become a
working musician, you've succeeded.
T&D- Are you or any of the other guys
in to any machines?
Mike- If you see our video on our MySpace
and YouTube there is a '68 Firebird in there
that Rob drives around. Yeah, we're totally
into old muscle cars. Oddie is into Harleys.
He has a custom Wide Glide. It's bad ass! I
don't ride, but he told me he's going to teach
me to ride his Sportster when the weather
gets nicer.
en Mike gets a cue to get inside the club and
hit the stage. We all pile out of the van and
run inside. e performance kicked fucking
ass! I'd like to thank Mike for taking time out
to talk to us during the hectic minutes of usu-
al chaos before a band goes on stage to play.
I normally don't do interviews of newer bands
going to this length. But as you've read, Mike
is a very interesting guy and his views on what
comes along with being in a band are a wealth
of information to other musicians. I'm proud
to have been a part of this interview. Check
out Black Water Rising at Myspace.Com/
BlackWaterRising.