Joshua Bloomberg Interview
Q: I thought the idea of obtaining a 1-800 number for people to call to get your album was wonderful. Did you get a lot of callers and how did you come up with that idea?
A: The idea came out of the frustration I have with streaming services. As most of your readers know, indie artists receive hardly any information about who's streaming their songs - besides what country the listeners live in. Not to mention the fact that the compensation we receive is a joke.
And I worked too damn hard on this album to just ship it off to Spotify and cross my fingers that people would stumble across it. I'm not a touring musician, so I needed a different way to draw focus to the album. Something that was way outside the box.
The idea came to me of changing the name of the band to The One 800s. As a way to market the album, I'd set up a 1-800 number. (Shameless plug - it's 1-800-431-6107.) People could call or text the number, leave their email address and I'd email them a download code good for a free copy of the album.
But in that email, I make a sales pitch. I had plenty of songs leftover after the album was complete, so I took advantage of that by incentivizing donations. For $5, they'd get two bonus tracks. $10 gets you three bonus tracks. And so on. I also incentivized signing up on my mailing list (I make it clear that I'm not going to automatically place them on the mailing list - they have to opt into it). When they do sign up, they receive a PDF of the lyrics which contains a hidden link to yet another bonus song.
So far, the idea is working. More people have downloaded my album - and I've made more money off this album than my last three releases combined.
Is it a life-changing amount of money and downloads? Hardly. But that just goes to show you how easy it was to surpass what streaming services were doing for me. And proof that there are possibilities for indie artists to take back control of our own music. Streaming is a big mountain to get around, but there are ways if you seek them out. By the way, I'm not saying I'm never going to hand this album over to streaming services. Someday soon, I might. But for now I'd like to see how much mileage I can continue getting out of the toll-free number.
As far as what sparked the actual idea for The One 800s and the toll-free number, I wish I had a more interesting story. It was just something that came to me out of the blue.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Before this album, my stage name was Joshua Path. I released seven albums under that name. My first album Headrush was the only one released on a label. Everything else was recorded and released independently. What got me into singing and performing was one of the first jobs I had, which was as a song leader at a summer camp. At night, I would sing songs around the campfire. Every so often I would throw in an original. Days later, I would hear campers singing my original songs amongst themselves. Which made me take my songwriting seriously.
Q: The album covers a lot of different genres. What was your creative process like?
A: I love music of all genres. Punk, pop, reggae, new age, country, electronic, alternative, etc., etc., etc. With the exception of smooth jazz, I'll listen to most anything as long as the songs are well written or musically interesting.
And since I'm fond of so much music, I've never really understood why, as an artist, I should be forced to stay within the confines of one genre. Isn't that the point of being an artist? To explore new and different sounds? As much as I love AC/DC, I wouldn't have lasted two minutes in that band. To keep generating the same sounds over and over would've driven me nuts. "Alright guys, we've already got a couple hundred guitar-driven rock songs, how about an ethereal ballad?"
If you listen to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, or The Beatles White Album, even Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, they're all over the place. Hard rock one track, beautiful acoustic ballad the next, followed by an upbeat pop song (maybe not Zeppelin, but you get the point). These are the bands and albums I was raised on, so I always look to them as my guides, my advisors.
Plus, I still listen to an iPod (comes with the territory of refusing to stream music). I love setting it to Shuffle, and skipping from genre to genre. Why can't albums be the same way? Most people like myself have ADD anyways. Why not keep them on their toes, and emulate a fantastic genre-hopping playlist instead of 15 songs that all kinda sound the same?
And with this album, a whole new set of sonic possibilities opened up since it was the first time I was recording from home. I wanted to explore and experiment. Since I had no one to answer to, no label dictating what I could and couldn't do, I figured, why not?
Q: I thought the idea of obtaining a 1-800 number for people to call to get your album was wonderful. Did you get a lot of callers and how did you come up with that idea?
A: The idea came out of the frustration I have with streaming services. As most of your readers know, indie artists receive hardly any information about who's streaming their songs - besides what country the listeners live in. Not to mention the fact that the compensation we receive is a joke.
And I worked too damn hard on this album to just ship it off to Spotify and cross my fingers that people would stumble across it. I'm not a touring musician, so I needed a different way to draw focus to the album. Something that was way outside the box.
The idea came to me of changing the name of the band to The One 800s. As a way to market the album, I'd set up a 1-800 number. (Shameless plug - it's 1-800-431-6107.) People could call or text the number, leave their email address and I'd email them a download code good for a free copy of the album.
But in that email, I make a sales pitch. I had plenty of songs leftover after the album was complete, so I took advantage of that by incentivizing donations. For $5, they'd get two bonus tracks. $10 gets you three bonus tracks. And so on. I also incentivized signing up on my mailing list (I make it clear that I'm not going to automatically place them on the mailing list - they have to opt into it). When they do sign up, they receive a PDF of the lyrics which contains a hidden link to yet another bonus song.
So far, the idea is working. More people have downloaded my album - and I've made more money off this album than my last three releases combined.
Is it a life-changing amount of money and downloads? Hardly. But that just goes to show you how easy it was to surpass what streaming services were doing for me. And proof that there are possibilities for indie artists to take back control of our own music. Streaming is a big mountain to get around, but there are ways if you seek them out. By the way, I'm not saying I'm never going to hand this album over to streaming services. Someday soon, I might. But for now I'd like to see how much mileage I can continue getting out of the toll-free number.
As far as what sparked the actual idea for The One 800s and the toll-free number, I wish I had a more interesting story. It was just something that came to me out of the blue.
Q: Can you talk about your musical history?
A: Before this album, my stage name was Joshua Path. I released seven albums under that name. My first album Headrush was the only one released on a label. Everything else was recorded and released independently. What got me into singing and performing was one of the first jobs I had, which was as a song leader at a summer camp. At night, I would sing songs around the campfire. Every so often I would throw in an original. Days later, I would hear campers singing my original songs amongst themselves. Which made me take my songwriting seriously.
Q: The album covers a lot of different genres. What was your creative process like?
A: I love music of all genres. Punk, pop, reggae, new age, country, electronic, alternative, etc., etc., etc. With the exception of smooth jazz, I'll listen to most anything as long as the songs are well written or musically interesting.
And since I'm fond of so much music, I've never really understood why, as an artist, I should be forced to stay within the confines of one genre. Isn't that the point of being an artist? To explore new and different sounds? As much as I love AC/DC, I wouldn't have lasted two minutes in that band. To keep generating the same sounds over and over would've driven me nuts. "Alright guys, we've already got a couple hundred guitar-driven rock songs, how about an ethereal ballad?"
If you listen to Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, or The Beatles White Album, even Led Zeppelin's Physical Graffiti, they're all over the place. Hard rock one track, beautiful acoustic ballad the next, followed by an upbeat pop song (maybe not Zeppelin, but you get the point). These are the bands and albums I was raised on, so I always look to them as my guides, my advisors.
Plus, I still listen to an iPod (comes with the territory of refusing to stream music). I love setting it to Shuffle, and skipping from genre to genre. Why can't albums be the same way? Most people like myself have ADD anyways. Why not keep them on their toes, and emulate a fantastic genre-hopping playlist instead of 15 songs that all kinda sound the same?
And with this album, a whole new set of sonic possibilities opened up since it was the first time I was recording from home. I wanted to explore and experiment. Since I had no one to answer to, no label dictating what I could and couldn't do, I figured, why not?
Q: Can you talk about some of the themes and topics on the album?
A: As I get older, I care less and less about impressing everyone else, and more about feeling artistically satisfied, so I tend to write about what I'm drawn to, which oftentimes is darkness. There's a truth resonates for me in the shadowy side of music and lyrics. So that theme is very present throughout this album.
Also, I'm fascinated with spirituality, mysticism, God, the devil and death. You know, lighthearted subjects. You'll see a lot of those themes thought the album as well. And love. Love songs will never get old.
Q: You recorded the album yourself and sounds great. Can you talk about the recording process?
A: This was the first album I recorded mostly on my own. So I not only had to learn how to use the equipment, but every time I sat down in front of my laptop to record, I came face to face with my harshest critic: myself. So there would be months where I wouldn't record at all because I was driving myself crazy.
At the same time, it was incredibly liberating. There were all these new sounds at my fingertips. I no longer had to wait days or weeks to get into a studio. I could record whenever I wanted, and spend as much time as I wanted doing it. (At least until my dog started growling at me that she needed a walk.)
For mixing, I used a professional studio for several of the songs. The album was mastered by a pro as well. Each of those stages helped bring additional warmth and depth to the album. In the end, it was the longest I've ever taken to record an album. Usually takes me six months to a year. This took just under three years.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: You can check out my older albums as Joshua Path on any streaming service. For the latest one as The One 800s, I hope to hear from you at (800) 431-6107. Operators are standing by. (They're not, actually. It's just voicemail.)
A: As I get older, I care less and less about impressing everyone else, and more about feeling artistically satisfied, so I tend to write about what I'm drawn to, which oftentimes is darkness. There's a truth resonates for me in the shadowy side of music and lyrics. So that theme is very present throughout this album.
Also, I'm fascinated with spirituality, mysticism, God, the devil and death. You know, lighthearted subjects. You'll see a lot of those themes thought the album as well. And love. Love songs will never get old.
Q: You recorded the album yourself and sounds great. Can you talk about the recording process?
A: This was the first album I recorded mostly on my own. So I not only had to learn how to use the equipment, but every time I sat down in front of my laptop to record, I came face to face with my harshest critic: myself. So there would be months where I wouldn't record at all because I was driving myself crazy.
At the same time, it was incredibly liberating. There were all these new sounds at my fingertips. I no longer had to wait days or weeks to get into a studio. I could record whenever I wanted, and spend as much time as I wanted doing it. (At least until my dog started growling at me that she needed a walk.)
For mixing, I used a professional studio for several of the songs. The album was mastered by a pro as well. Each of those stages helped bring additional warmth and depth to the album. In the end, it was the longest I've ever taken to record an album. Usually takes me six months to a year. This took just under three years.
Q: What else should we know about your music?
A: You can check out my older albums as Joshua Path on any streaming service. For the latest one as The One 800s, I hope to hear from you at (800) 431-6107. Operators are standing by. (They're not, actually. It's just voicemail.)