Some of the most dynamic and explosive first EP's of all time sound like they were spontaneously created. The Stooges' first record, for example. The Beatles' early singles. The Strokes' "Is This It." In many cases, these ideas were put to record as quickly as they were thought up and that's a good thing. If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it... well, you know how it goes. It's scary to get on the main stage and put ideas out there.
As CEO of Jingle Punks, taking the lead from these pillars of rock n' roll greatness has led to some unexpected successes, including a new series on a high profile YouTube network (LOUD) that launches this week!
Let me explain.
Ideas can come at any moment. We all know that. And anyone can have a good idea, though most people just talk about these ideas and never get the idea out to world. Many a great band has never existed because they were too lazy or afraid to get out of the garage or mom's basement. The big question is... what should you do with ideas that come to you? Do you act on them? Or do you just pat yourself on the back, but eventually forget about them?
I like to act on them. Cause you never know.
This past March, I took some members of my company, Jingle
Punks, down to Austin for SXSW.
We took meetings and mingled. We ate good food and listened to great music. We even performed ourselves, as our in-house pop and hip-hop chamber group the Hipster Orchestra, with Chiddy Bang at the MTVu Woodies (and did I mention that we lived on a tour bus with our logo on it?). Pretty awesome, and packed, agenda.
But I wanted to do more. Our days had some (not many!) quiet stretches. And since half the word seemed to be in town, I thought there had to be a way we could get the Jingle Punks name out there.
So I took stock of what I had. Well, I had a Roland pad, a highly portable percussion instrument you play with two drumsticks. I had a small amplifier. I had access to a pedicab and driver, whose services we had rented for the duration of our stay. And I had a microphone. Presto... we had the seeds of an idea. Like The Stooges and The Strokes I took the idea out of the garage (or the bus to be exact) and shot what would become Jingle Punks' newest foray into the world of digital entertainment. It may not be "Please Please Me" but it certainly ended up paying for my trip to Austin and our nice bus. Check it out below.
To paraphrase Ferris Bueller: If you had access to a drum machine, an amp, a microphone, and a pedicab, would YOU sit home and do nothing? That's what I thought.
Jared Gutstadt is the co-founder and co-CEO of Jingle Punks, a global licensing and commercial music production company based in New York. Follow him at @jinglejared and follow Jingle Punks at @jinglepunks, and on Facebook.