AUSTIN, TX—To be successful in Austin, TX, musicians have to work hard and have internet presence.
Jake Laporte was 10 years old when he first wanted to be a musician.
“I heard The White Stripes song ‘Seven Nation Army,’ and I knew I had to play guitar because I thought it was the coolest thing ever,” Laporte said. “I got one from Best Buy. It was a piece of [expletive], but it worked.”
Laporte bought his first guitar at 10 years old, was in a band at 13 years old, and when he was 18 years old, he turned down Berklee College of Music to move to Austin, TX.
Three years ago, Laporte started a band with his roommates called Toast Party. The band falls within the genre of garage rock, and its namesake hails from a list of band names which included Trash Salad and Robocougar.
Despite the unusual names, Laporte is serious about his work. He invests 40 hours a week into his music. Aside from the work he puts into Toast Party, Laporte teaches guitar lessons and is a part-time student at Austin Community College.
Laporte describes the Austin music scene as large, but not as lucrative.
However, because Austin is a tour destination for so many bands, it gives local bands the opportunity to open for big names and grow their audiences.
Laporte is not alone in working double-time in the music business.
Brodie Elkins is the founder and face of Brodie’s Fault.
“I call it a music label, but to simplify it, it’s a professional service company. We [Brodie’s Fault] take over everything the artist shouldn’t have to focus on, and we think the artist should only focus on music,” Elkins said.
Like Laporte, Elkins balances music with education. Elkins is a full-time student at St. Edward’s studying marketing.
When looking ahead to the future of Brodie’s Fault, Elkins sees it as a project he can focus on during the weekends while working full-time.
“[Brodie’s Fault] started as a hobby, but it could make money,” Elkins said. “It’s not lucrative in the grand scheme of things at the moment, because I back all the productions financially. But I own half of the artist’s publishing rights. When they get signed by someone else, which is what we want, we’ll make money.”
In order for an artist to get signed, their best bet may be the internet.
“The internet is really blowing things up right now. It’s how a lot of artists are found,” Elkins said.
“The internet is the best. I recorded a song and released it, and people thought we were cool before we even played a show. You can definitely market yourself on the internet,” Laporte said.
Another voice in the music scene had a different opinion.
“I think it’s sweet [the internet]. Ideas get passed around; it’s great for creativity. But it can water music down a whole lot, music listeners and consumers get oversaturated with music and become desensitized to good music,” Mason Dennard said.
Dennard is an intern at a local studio who’s on the path to being a sound engineer.
“Sound engineering is basically the behind-the-scenes of the song,” Dennard said.
Dennard decided to pursue sound engineering when he realized that the hip-hop scene in Austin was not as prevalent as other genres of music.
According to David Sollee, a full-time musician, the music scene in Austin can be lucrative if you’re willing to play covers in addition to your own music. An artist who performs cover music performs other artists’ songs.
“You need to play covers because they’re listener friendly. People don’t want to listen to the same artist’s songs for three hours at a time,” Sollee said.
Sollee, a ukuleleist and singer, is part of a two man band called The Soulies. His band member, Poopie, plays the drums.
“For someone who has a lot of drive and people skills, Austin is a great place because it’s independently driven. Austin is great for a touring musician because you’re close by to Houston and Dallas,” Sollee said.
Sollee agrees that the internet can contribute greatly to an artist’s success.
“You have to have the internet. You have to be online. You have to have a way for people to find your stuff. You have to have a way for your fan base to find out what you’re doing,” Sollee said.
Sollee’s philosophy on finding success mirrors other musicians’: music becomes lucrative for those who work for it.
Follow the artists on Twitter and Facebook:
Check out the artists here:
October 19, 2016 at 1:42 am
Well, hmmm, you didn’t actually produce any multimedia (uploading artists’ tracks to SoundCloud doesn’t quite cut it, I’m afraid). The story itself would have benefited from more reporting, particularly about the larger state of the music industry. How common is it now for musicians to really be able to launch a career online as opposed to with a record company? Interviews with record company execs, A&R types, festival folks at SXSW and ACL (how do they decide who to book, for example?) How important are these festivals to musicians? What about clubs? Do they matter at all anymore (I mean, do they have anything at all to do with being the “Live Music Capital of the World”?)
Next time, push yourself. Cast a wider net. Get beyond the anecdotal interviews.
On the writing: Very nice, but small journalism things (not Austin, ,TX; just Austin for this class because we assume you’re writing for an Austin publication. And does “Poopie” have a last name? We need full names.