“The mainstream music business focuses on… what is popular and what makes money. And that’s what the “mainstream” music business should do… after all it’s a business. ” @GitGroove

October 14 8:20 pm et: http://www.blogtalkradio.com/avaliveradio/2015/10/15/episode-265-ava-live-radio-behind-the-music-with-jacqueline-jax

GETTING TO KNOW GIT GROOVE
by Jacqueline Jax host of A.V.A Live Radio

The mainstream music business focuses on…
what is popular and what makes money. And that’s what the “mainstream” music business should do… after all it’s a business. But that can’t possibly support the wealth of music out there. There’s tons of artists and more music than the world can possibly digest. If an artist measures success by getting more money, profit and fame, they will end up very disappointed and disillusioned.

Artists should focus on bringing a unique contribution to music and give people something different that they don’t hear from other artists. What has helped me has been focusing on my music and the art form of marrying it with video and social networking. The fans I have appreciate the unique art that I create and what’s different about it… not that it’s the same as other popular music out there.

Social media…
really gives an artist a way to promote their music in a way that wasn’t possible before the Internet. Artists are empowered to “self promote” much easier than before. Social media really has paved the road for so much of the Indie music that’s out there. Let’s face it, consumers of music can find just about any music nowadays, right from their computer or mobile device. If I could travel through time, I’d go back 30 years and tell people that in the future, they’d control their lives using their thumbs… just to see the crazy looks on their faces!

Singles vs an album…
I usually release my songs very frequently in the form music videos or short films. That’s because a huge amount of my fans are into youtube or facebook video. These people get their changing entertainment weekly or sometimes daily. Some fans just love this rapid delivery of an artist’s creativity and want to see new stuff all the time. I try to get new music videos out every few weeks – sometimes on YouTube, Facebook or even Vine.

But when I release traditional music media I prefer releasing my music in a full album instead of singles. There are a few reasons for this:

I love old school albums… The artwork alone was one of the best parts of buying an album. Of course I sell all my albums on iTunes, Amazon mp3, Google Play and most everywhere online. But I also have physical CDs manufactured and If a fan wants, they can get a FREE cd mailed to them if they buy the digital download. They can do this for any Git Groove EP at http://www.gitgroove.com

I tend to pour my soul out in chunks of songs and they have a similar feeling and belong together in an album, at least when sold online.

The mainstream music industry definitely places emphasis on current and trendy music…
that’s what fuels the machine. It’s very frustrating for many artists. But artists should stay focused on their own individual style and unique sounds. At the end of the day, music lovers hear what’s unique about your music and will follow you.

When I was younger in the early 80s…
I loved listening to guitar music by artists like Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Angus Young and others. Listening to these artists over and over made me want to be able to do the same. So at age 14 I bought a guitar and started a band.

Look At You…
This song was written about the love of my life and how she helps me stay optimistic and focused on the future. I’ve been married to my beautiful wife for almost 30 years. She keeps me on a positive path and keeps me focused on the future and I love her for that. I wanted to write a song that talks about this and pays tribute to her.

The song “Look At You” is from my upcoming CD – Need Your Love. It is a bit of a departure from my last album “Killing Me” that is much darker. I really wanted this album to have a more positive message and be a bit more melodic. I think that’s something I’ve really been paying more attention to in my music lately and “Look At You” is a great example.

My music is mostly…
about guitar and bluesy vocals. But I dig visual and audio together and love producing music videos that create a larger experience. I’m a very techy, geeky, computer programmer, video graphics, ameteur filmmaker, cosplayer kinda guy. I love taking on different personas, going to geek conventions and pretending I am someone else. I have played guitar and wrote music my entire life – so creating unique music videos is a natural extension of me.

I have been with other bands over the years playing both cover music and originals. But Git Groove music is purely from my own soul and I play all the instruments. Some of the instruments are electronic like the drums, but everything else is raw and real. All of my music is online and YouTube is my primary venue. But my fans also watch my music on Facebook, Vine and listen to me on Reverbnation and SoundCloud.

I live in Minneapolis, Minnesota….
The music scene here is incredible. Many well known artists like Prince, Bob Dylan, The Suburbs, etc are from this area and it seems to be a hotbed for musical talent.

Minneapolis is full of cultural richness, restaurants, bars, concert venues and night clubs. I usually hang around at local bars but occasionally go to The Whiskey Junction to see blues bands. Prince has been known to make an occasional appearance there. I actually wrote a song called “Whiskey Business” from my album “Killing Me” that’s about that bar!
I love playing classic rock for people and having fun. I currently play with another band in Minneapolis called “The M.E. Band”. We do all kinds of classic rock, country and some new stuff also. We play a lot of charitable events and bar gigs and just have fun and play great music! We are starting a broadcast streamed live on Wednesday’s at 7:30 CT called “Broad Street Studio Live”. People can go to http://www.gitgroove.com to watch!

I would love to have 5 minutes alone with…
I would love to have 5 minutes alone with Stevie Ray Vaughan. Unfortunately Stevie left us in 1990… a sad day for me and many others. But I’d love to get his insight on guitar playing and just his general viewpoint on life since he’s seen it all.

In my case it’s crazy guitar playing and interesting video images…
I always create a song from my heart and soul and usually do not consider any rules. First and foremost, I like to create music that comes from within and is not fueled by popular trends.

But I always try to remember that my music is not only mine, it also belongs to the fans. After writing and recording music that I think is unique, I always have a crowd review done to get anonymous feedback from real listeners. Sometimes I’ll make changes based on that feedback. Usually comments from a crowd review mention things like intro length, needs less of a certain instrument, song structure, etc. These are things that tend to be easy enough to address in recording software. But I never sacrifice my intent with the song to express myself. For example, If I intended for the intro to have a guitar solo, then that’s the way I keep it. 🙂

I am most afraid of…
My children. Let me explain. It terrifies me that my kids are heading into such a messed up world and face so many challenges. I try to do everything I can to guide them. But in the end I know that they will succeed in life on their own. In fact they ARE succeeding. Dad is just a worry wart I guess.

My overall goal for my life & career is…
My overall goal in life is having a happy family and giving a positive vibe to those around me. My love of internet computing, video and film technology along with my love of guitar continue to provide a career that helps me keep my loved ones happy and productive in life.

3 Ways that I challenge myself and how each one moves me forward towards my goal.
1) Learn new video and film techniques to help me make better music videos.
2) Continue to improve my guitar playing skills to help me make better music videos.
3) Continue making great music videos and give the world something.

Artist Bio
My music is mostly about guitar and bluesy vocals. But I dig visual and audio together and love producing music videos that create a larger experience. I have been with other bands over the years playing both cover music and originals. But Git Groove music is purely from my own soul and I play all the instruments. Some of the instruments are electronic like the drums, but everything else is raw and real. All of my music is online and YouTube is my primary venue. I have done several collaborations including “Emma – by P’like” and “Let Go Of My Hand – by Ivana Raymonda” which I wrote and performed the music and she sang. Both these can be viewed on my YouTube channel.