Blog
Relevant Tones: the Reboot
It’s been almost exactly a year to the day since my last live broadcast for WFMT at Le Poisson Rouge. I’ve been asked countless times since then if I’m planning to launch a podcast version of it and the answer has always been no. I spent 2019 writing several chamber pieces, a feature film score and my first opera La Jetée, plus producing a dozen or so events in three different cities and my let’s not forget my day job at ACM.
I don’t know how I would have done a weekly radio show on top of that let alone launching a podcast from scratch. The other night I was back at LPR for a show, and a publicist I know came up to me and said “how’s retirement?” It took me a while to figure out that she was talking about Relevant Tones. I was like, oh yeah, some people only know me as the former radio guy. How strange.
Overall it’s true that I don’t miss doing a radio show. The deadlines are constant and the truth is that we were never on solid footing with the network which was stressful. The threat of cancellation hung over the show from day one. There was also nearly always someone telling me not to do the things I really wanted to do.
I didn’t want to just play music. I wanted to engage with composers on the important topics they were thinking about or that affected their lives and the music they create. Art doesn’t happen in a vacuum after all. I love music but like most composers, I have a wide range of interests and I wanted to do a show that reflected those interests. What are composers thinking about automation, climate change, the rise of Japanese whiskeys, you name it.
In classical radio though, talk of any kind is bad. The mantra is the more we talk the more listeners flee in droves and apparently the Arbitron numbers bear this out so I’m not giving them a hard time. But who wants to listen to a playlist you can’t control? How are we providing value if we’re not telling the listeners what they’re listening to and why we love it? What are we doing to reach new listeners? And why isn’t radio doing a better job embracing digital media?
The last couple of months I’ve started thinking of bringing Relevant Tones back as a semi-regular series broadcast live through streaming. We streamed a few of our last live broadcasts for WFMT and the results were intriguing. I’ve mentioned this idea to people recently and their responses have also been intriguing.
There’s an interesting divide along age lines. People roughly 40 and over ask if I’m partnering with WFMT or another old school media company. People under 40 just ask Youtube or Facebook?
As I got more serious about this idea I started to reach out to media outlets to partner with. In the end I decided to go with Caveat in NYC. Caveat is primarily a venue as of now but they have a sophisticated setup for streaming and they are looking to launch their own media company in the near future. They also are fluent in millennial which, well, there’s a lot of them so that seems good right?
I’m doing a pilot program on February 23rd. If they like it then I’ll be entered into their incubator program. Incubated! Sounds so warm and cozy. I know a lot about broadcasting and event production but they know a lot about the people I want to reach and how to reach them through digital media so, though it’s a totally new direction for me, I think I made the right choice.
I don’t know how often I’m going to do these yet because, as a composer, I’m really enjoying this whole getting a piece performed every few weeks thing lately and want to keep that momentum going. A lot of it will depend on what kind of support team I wind up with. I realize, though, that composing alone isn’t enough for me. I have this need to reach people, to share music and ideas and I’m really excited to do that again.
Plus, it turns out I’m kind of an extrovert and I miss being on stage.
- Written by: Seth Boustead
- On: January 8, 2020
News
-
‘Reciprocity Failure’ Film Score Performance
My score for Ben Westlake’s short film Reciprocity Failure will be performed as part of the Thirsty Ears Festival in Read More
-
‘Reciprocity Failure’ Score at the Sound of Silent Film Festival in Chicago
My score for the short film Reciprocity Failure by Ben Westlake will be performed by Access Contemporary Music at the Read More
Blog Archives
- July 2022
- June 2022
- April 2022
- March 2022
- January 2022
- October 2021
- September 2021
- August 2021
- February 2021
- November 2020
- October 2020
- June 2020
- April 2020
- January 2020
- December 2019
- November 2019
- October 2019
- September 2019
- July 2019
- June 2019
- May 2019
- April 2019
- March 2019
- January 2019
- December 2018
- November 2018
- October 2018
- September 2018
- August 2018
- July 2018
- May 2018
- April 2018
- March 2018
- February 2018
- January 2018
- December 2017
- November 2017
- October 2017
- September 2017
- August 2017
- July 2017
- June 2017
- May 2017
- April 2017
- March 2017
- February 2017
- January 2017
- December 2016
- November 2016
- October 2016
- September 2016
- July 2016
- June 2016
- May 2016
- April 2016
- March 2016
- February 2016
- January 2016
- December 2015
- November 2015
- October 2015
- September 2015
- August 2015
- July 2015
- June 2015
- May 2015
- April 2015
- March 2015
- February 2015
- January 2015
- December 2014
- November 2014
- October 2014
- September 2014
- August 2014
- July 2014
- June 2014
- May 2014
- April 2014
- March 2014
- February 2014
- January 2014
- December 2013
- November 2013
- October 2013
- September 2013
- August 2013
- March 2011
- August 2010
- May 2010
- October 2009
Leave a Reply