Issue #16 of 50K MUSIC MAG is out after a long period of silence.

Enjoy reading about Alex Highton, The Subways, Cornershop and a lot more. Also I have included the two interviews with fan-funding platform founders Benji Rogers (Pledgemusic) and Peter Sorgenfrei (Crowdbands).

Read it on Scribd.

Download it (pdf 18 MB)

50K MUSIC: In December 2009 you signed up to SellaBand and in January 2010 we’ve featured you as a Promising Newcomer here on 50K MUSIC. Please tell us what has happened since then.
Gussie: I have been working on perfecting my profile on Sellaband and reaching out to the community overseas and here in the United States. I realized that I needed more video on the site, so I got together with indie director Jonathan Lewis and we produced a few EPK (Electronic Press Kit) videos to create more interest in my project. The first one is already posted on SAB and YouTube, and the next one will be posted soon to hype the release of my first single.

50K MUSIC: You have just raised about 800 € and you’re still far away from reaching your goal. Are you disappointed that fan-funding on SellaBand has not worked for you so far?
Gussie: I would have to say that I had hoped that things would have gone a lot quicker…but then again, I probably need to reach out to the SAB community more often, so I can’t actually blame them. I have really worked hard to give them more content and more new music.

50K MUSIC: What are you working on at the moment? You have announced to release a single soon? Is that right? Please tell us something about it.
Gussie: I have been working long and hard on the release of my first single from “Forever Plan” which was entirely self funded to show the SAB community that I am a viable artist and that I am worth investing in and believing in.

The single is called “What More Can I Say” and was actually the first song I started recording back in 2001 one when I decided to start a solo CD. This of course was WAY before SAB but had a few things that slowed me down like a divorce, a custody battle for my kids, and then a incredibly bad hard drive crash that wiped out most of the data on two different drives, so I really had to start from almost scratch. After having to recover the drum tracks which were played by Tris Imboden of the legendary group Chicago, also had to put all the guitar parts back in the right places. The guitar parts were pretty easy since I had actually cut them first with my dear old friend Reggie Boyd Jr. who is a well known session musician here in Los Angeles. I then moved on to re-doing the keyboard parts which were originally all played by me into MOTU’s Digital Performer before I started using Logic Pro. Somewhere around 2007 I asked my musical director friend Alex Alessandroni to come by and replay all of my keyboard parts since he just smokes on everything he touches..LOL It was actually right after those sessions that I had my horrific hard drive crashes (they were Lacie Drives) and I would NEVER use one of their drives again! When I finally got back to working on the CD in 2010 after a bunch of personal stuff, I asked my friend Valerie Davis, who is a veteran L.A. session vocalist to come by and sing on the backgrounds with me, and at the same time we also cut the EPK shoot during these sessions so I have a lot of great stuff that we be seen soon. After that I asked my longtime friend Cleto Escobedo of ABC TV’s Jimmy Kimmel LIVE fame to blow some sax on the track so I would have some choices, and to rap it all together, my mentor legendary mega producer Peter Wolf to play a Bass part on the track which tied it all together! I am very excited about the quality of the performances and I’m very happy with my vocal as well!

50K MUSIC: What more plans do you have for the next few months?
Gussie: My main focus will be mixing and mastering the single and getting it out on iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Cdbaby, spotty, Napster and Emusic worldwide and producing a music video for the single as soon as possible, which will be directed by Jonathan Lewis and assistant-directed by my son Nate Miller and produced by Kellie Yackie. We will be in full PR promotions mode to get the word out about the CD project and use those funds from the sale of the CD single to help fund the rest of “Forever Plan”

50K MUSIC: And again my question: How can we support you to reach your goals?
Gussie: I could really use all the promotion I can get. Links to my SAB profile would be great, and in general spreading the word about me and my music all across the world!

So please support Gussie’s efforts and spread the word.

http://artismusicai.blogspot.com
www.sellaband.com/projects/gussiemiller

50K MM:

Years later, after I became an adult, I lived with my Uncle and got to know my second cousin, James Allen, who is one of the S1W in the legendary rap group, Public Enemy. I desired to sing at the Apollo Theatre, so James escorted me to the Apollo to sing at Amateur Night, because he believed so much in my talent. My background includes being a child actor, and being on cable and national television, including WBNS TV and QUBE TV, which later became the Nickelodeon Network.

Taken under the wing early by owners of several major recording studios, I learned the art of production for commercials and TV & Film work. I learned the art of studio production under the direction of John Kiehl from the Soundtrack Group while I was singing for him doing jingles in Boston. While in Boston, million selling artist Paula Cole was a singer in a band I had in the 80′s. (http://www.wolfram.com/products/mathematica/portraits/johnkiehl/) I have since been a performer at Universal Studios and Disneyland (“The Lion King Celebration”).

Also, I have entertained on two major cruise lines. After moving to Los Angeles from Boston, I performed and/or recorded with Gino Vannelli, LaVerne Baker, Cher, Seal, Mindi Abair and Marcus Miller. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4RdVr8TJOM/) While working with Marcus Miller, Marcus used my voice for Chris Rock’s CW Television Show, “Everybody Hates Chris”. In addition, I have most recently been composing music for commercials and film, and my voice can be heard on Chris Rock’s feature film, “I Think I Love My Wife”. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Everybody_Hates_Chris)

50K MM: How did you discover SellaBand?
Gussie: My cousin in Public Enemy keeps me informed of everything going on with PE. He had reached out to me about the power of Sellaband in funding their current project. I checked it out and “fan funding” sounded like a great idea! The vision for my first solo effort, “Forever Plan”, began well over 10 years ago. Due to a tough divorce situation and spending much of my time and finances fighting for the custodial rights of my children, “Forever Plan” was put on hold. I also experienced a workplace accident that pushed back completing “Forever Plan”. However many setbacks I encountered, I never lost sight of where I wanted to go with this project. The time has come now, to utilize the power of SAB to finally bring my vision to fruition!

50K MM: How are you going to convince people to believe (and invest) in you?
Gussie: Being a performer, product spokesperson, and having been involved in multiple music projects, I have networked with many people throughout the years. I am reaching out to all of these contacts via social networking sites, such as MySpace, facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Modern Vocalist, Digg, and my blog, called “ArtisMusicai”, http://artismusicai.blogspot.com/) I am also forging co-marketing and branding agreements with companies I support, such as HeadBlade, http://www.headblade.com/

I am in contact with local and national media, including Time Warner Cable (Southern California), who has a program that is considering doing a feature piece on how I am raising capital to fund my record, using Sellaband.

50K MM: You have raised a small percentage of the budget yet. But have you thought about the time after reaching the goal of 50k yet? What are your plans then?
Gussie: I have had a lot of experience in working on major albums with major artists, as a technician, engineer, producer and vocalist. This has given me a unique perspective on how to put a project together. A wise man once told me, “Most of the time it is not knowing what to do, but who to call.” So, I am calling in favors from songwriters, producers, engineers and artists I have worked with over my long career as a side-man. I chose my close friend, David Isaac, who is a 4-time Grammy winner from his work with David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Anita Baker, and Eric Clapton, just to name a few, to co-produce and engineer “Forever Plan”, because he¹s got some of the best ears I have ever heard. (http://www.titanmusicand filmworks.com/Home.html)

I also reached out to my admired friend, Tony Shepperd, who, along with me, is a Westlake Studios alumnus, to coproduce and engineer because of his work with my idols, Kenny Loggins, Sting and Take 6. Tony was one of the first people to believe in my voice and my vision, and has offered his services to be a part of my team. (http://www.tonysound.com/) My recent experience teaching at Columbia College of  Hollywood has introduced me to some amazing production talent, particularly an up and coming young director, Jonathan Lewis. Jon is slated to direct my music videos and behind the scenes DVD for a future incentive on SAB. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wFWIKrcmnMY)

My band is led by my good friend and all star-musical director, Alex Alessandroni (Pink, Nelly Furtado, Christina Aguilera, Babyface, Natalie Cole). My band also includes my friends who are well known musicians on million selling CDs, including Herman Matthews (Tower of Power, Kenny Loggins, Amy Grant, Tom Jones) drumming in the project. (http://www.hermanmatthews.com/home.php) My SAB plan will be the catalyst in launching my touring of major US cities; showcasing first in Los Angeles at one of the well-known clubs. I will eventually tour throughout Europe, following the lead of Marcus Miller, and establishing a lucrative international presence. Due to Google, I have a very strong internet presence. SAB is integral in pulling all the pieces together by fan funding the “Forever Plan” project.

50K MM: And last question: How can we support you to speed up raising your budget?
Gussie: It would be great to be featured on the SAB front page, just like Hind, Public Enemy and The Jeffersons. That would really help! Being featured in 50K, I’m sure will also draw attention to my project. Any exposure to your part of the world would also be appreciated!

http://artismusicai.blogspot.com
www.sellaband.com/projects/gussiemiller