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Editorial
We really donıt think itıs the millennium yet; thatıll be 2001. Was there ever a year 0? We donıt think so. Therefore, we are getting ready for the real celebration with three new CD projects for Buckyball Records; a return to performing after the ³setting up shop² hiatus of 1999, and a growing website that now includes video clips and MP3 files. Buckyballmusic.com has received over 1200 hits per month, and now visitors can purchase CDs either online with credit cards, or by mail order. Weıve recently secured distribution through EFA Meiden where Buckyall Recordsı releases will be available throughout Europe. We had a bit of a mishap in the middle of the manufacturing of BR006, the Timeline album. We received the CDs, but the front cover had been folded wrong, so the inside of the front cover was showing as the cover. We sent them back to be fixed, and three weeks passed. We got the CDs back, but they were exactly the same as before! We called the manufacturer to find out what happened, and we got a message ³closed for inventory until Monday². We called back Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, same message.....finally on Thursday the message had changed to ³went out of business, hereıs the number of our lawyer². Great, these people have all our film for manufacturing CDs, and it canıt be released because the manufacturing company has filed for bankruptcy. So besides sweating that out, we also had to remove the shrink wrap from all those CDs (1000) with the wrong front fold, fix the fold manually, and then take them to a NYC manufacturer to be shrink wrapped again. By the time this was done we discovered that the people who made the film for this CD put the wrong bar code on the film, so that entailed purchasing stickers with the correct bar code to put over each CDıs incorrect bar code. Needless to say, we feel we now have a very intimate relationship with the Brand X Timeline album.
Where to play original
music in NYC?
Thereıs nothing like ³learn as you go² in something like accounting. We have sent out three profit and loss statements since we started operation 18 months ago, and all I want to say is- do I look like an accountant? (See picture on other side.) Yet one of the decisions Marc and I made when we started this company was that we would offer clear and concise accounting to our artists, unlike many independent labels that pay an ³advance² at recording time, but then you never hear from them again. We want to keep working with our colleagues, proving that good artists can also be smart business people. Itıs actually something artists have to face: we need to spend as much time and energy on the business of music as on making the music itself. If you donıt, you get ripped off. Itıs that simple, really. So in addition to starting a label and putting the music out ourselves, weıve also learned how to operate Quickbooks. Itıs a handy little program, although not totally suited to a record label. Each CD has expenses and income, but unlike other businesses, each CDıs profit and loss has to be kept separate, so that the artists are paid relative to how their individual CD sold. Itıs a bit complicated to keep on top of all of it, and therein lies the reason that many independent labels disappear. Itıs time consuming and can be extremely frustrating, but is an integral part of the business. Now that weıve discussed accounting, we can talk about the difference between mechanicals, publishing and royalties.... but thatıs for the next newsletter.
Copyrights and the Web
Itıs getting tougher and tougher to find decent places to play original music in New York. Unless you are tightly linked to certain clubsı social groups, you can find a nice spot in Central Park- oh yeah but Giuliani is still mayor, so if you donıt want to get arrested, maybe your own living room is a safer place to start. Hereıs a website that tells you everything you need to know about starting your own house concert series:
http://ifolk.org/hc/houseconcerts-02.html#TopOfPage
There are minor problems with this, like itıs not really legal but people are doing it anyway as a kind of protest against conformity and lessening quality in the old establishment clubs of yesteryear.
Buckyball has a lot on its plate at the moment, but a real priority of ours is to create a concert series for artists who want to perform their music with minimal hassle and maximum support. Stay tuned (and please, stay in tune)
Upcoming Projects
Weıve got three CD projects lined up for the fall. The first, Nuove Musiche (pronounced Nuovay Moozekay) is Italian for ³new music² and will feature Sarah Pillow singing modern adaptations of early baroque melodies (in four different languages). The CD will feature some godfathers of early fusion, John Goodsall and Percy Jones. Paul Jackson will be coming to New York this summer from his main residence in Japan to lay down some tracks for Buckyball Records with drummer Mike Clark and electronic vibist Marc Wagnon. All three musicians will be contributing their compositions to the project, and trombonist Josh Roseman will be featured on a few tracks. And keep an eye out for Tunnelsı third release, which will be a combination of composed tunes and live improvisations.
The Buckyball website will be going international by offering opening pages in French, Italian and German. This way other countriesı search engines will find our site more easily. Anybody out there
speak Chinese?.
Web site link
A couple of like-minded entrepreneurs, Ed Schmid and Elena Enos, are the creators of Glass Mountain Studio. They have built a hot shop in Bellingham, Washington where they blow some beautiful glass art as well as lots of cool and unique drinking glasses. Once a year they hold a contest where designer wanna-beıs send in their design for the ultimate liquid-holding vessel; whoever wins gets their design made. And if youıre gonna make glass, you might as well make something to drink out of it. Ed and Elena have an amazing micro-brewery of some of the best beer and mead weıve ever tasted. One option is to purchase one of their glass ³flasks² that comes filled with the current seasonıs vintage. You can keep sending the bottle back and getting it re-filled with Edıs latest brew- itıs part of the purchase deal! Check out their website at:
http://www.glassmtn.com1
Buckminster's Corner:
Itıs true! Buckyballs can come from outer space! (Science News March 25, 2000) Carbon-rich meteorites that hit the earth carry important information from the far-reaching corners of the universe. Carbon molecules (Fullerines, the most famous members being the buckminsterfullerine, nicknamed Buckyballs) can originate outside of our solar system and catch a ride into our world on meteors. This confirms that organic compounds can survive the trauma of impact from a meteor to Earth, and supports the theory that organic molecules from outer space played a role in the chemical processes necessary for the origin of life on earth. Scientists are able to determine the buckyballsı origins (earth grown or outer space grown) by the ratios of helium. Higher ratios of helium confirm the fullerinesı extraterrestrial origins, since it was trapped inside the fullerines when they were first formed, and remained there for billions of years. The trapped gases can give scientists vital information about the history of the universe
The Well Fed Starving Artist (with a sweet tooth)
Truffettes de Chambéry
Chocolate, especially dark chocolate, is derived from beans that contain large amounts of antioxidants called flavinoids. Research has correlated consumption of flavinoids (tea, red wine, now chocolate) with a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease, so we thought this recipe for truffles would be appropriate. Theyıre easy to make, and much cheaper and better tasting than Godivaıs....so enjoy!
6 oz. dark semi-sweet chocolate (preferably Swiss...so what, Iım biased)
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 Tbsp. confectionersı sugar
3 egg yolks
1 Tbsp. rum or brandy
1/2 cup finely grated semisweet chocolate and/or cocoa powder for dusting
Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler, set over boiling water (if you donıt have a double boiler, you can set a heat-proof bowl over a pot of boiling water, but it must be secure and big enough to cover the pot, so steam doesnıt easily escape). Beat in butter and sugar and keep stirring until sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add egg yolks, one at a time, beating very well between additions. Stir in rum or brandy. Turn into a clean bowl, cover with waxed paper and set aside overnight in a cool dry place. Do not chill. Shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Roll in grated chocolate or in cocoa powder. Eat within a day or two.
Makes about 2 dozen truffles, depending on size.
Fat content: kind of high, but full of antioxidants so it cancels the fat out!
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