Making a Scene Presents

Making a Scene Presents - The Music Industry Does Not Have a Fan Problem. It Has a Customer-Ownership Problem An independent artist sits in front of a laptop, staring at numbers that should feel exciting. The new single has passed 100,000 streams. A video has collected thousands of views. The band’s social pages have picked up followers from several countries. Last month’s show sold well, and the...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Todd Mack For more than 40 years, singer-songwriter, producer, and community-builder Todd Mack has followed the road less traveled, creating a life in music that has taken him across continents, cultures, and unexpected stages. His songs have carried him far beyond the usual club and theater circuit, with performances at the famed Hong Kong Foreign Corresp...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Ciarán Hodgins Ciarán Hodgins is an emerging Irish blues and rock artist from the northwest of Ireland, fronting The Ciarán Hodgins Band, a high-energy rock and blues power trio based in Ballyshannon, County Donegal. Rooted in the electric tradition of blues-rock, the band brings together raw guitar fire, driving rhythm, and a deep respect for t...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with The Customers Customers are a guitar-driven rock band originally formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995 by songwriter and vocalist Ryan Sexton. The group’s story began when a demo of Sexton’s songs made its way to Elliot Roberts, Neil Young’s longtime manager, who was then helping launch Young’s label, Vapor Records. Roberts heard promise in the songs...

Making a Scene Presents - Arrangement Before Mixing: Fix It in the Song, Not the Plugin Welcome to the Plugin Pileup You press Play. The drums sound powerful. The bass sounds huge. The guitars und like a choir descending from the heavens with excellent credit. There is only one small problem. You cannot hear the song. The lead vocal is buried. The bass and kick drum are wrestling in a dark basemen...

Making a Scene Presents - How AI Can Turn One Song Into a 30-Day Marketing Plan Your Song Is More Than One Release-Day Post Independent artists are often told that they need more content. More videos. More posts. More stories. More emails. More reels. More reasons to dance in front of a phone while pointing at words floating over their heads. The pressure never stops. The problem is not that artis...

Making a Scene Presents - Fan Data Is the New Currency of the Music Industry—and Why Are Artists Still Broke The Gold Rush Nobody Told the Artist About Every time a fan streams a song, skips a song, saves an album, watches a video, buys a ticket, clicks an advertisement, follows an artist, visits a website, or abandons a shopping cart, something valuable is created. Data. That data may reveal wher...

Making a Scene Presents - The Breakthrough Myth Has a Cash-Flow Problem A viral moment can make an artist look successful. A durable mix of shows, merch, direct sales, publishing, licensing, fan support, and useful technology can help an artist stay successful. Week One of The Artist-Owned Middle Class replaces the lottery-ticket version of the music business with a system working artists can actu...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Brigitte Purdy Brigitte Rios Purdy is a Los Angeles-born singer and songwriter whose voice carries the warmth of classic soul, the emotional depth of the blues, and the smooth elegance of R&B. From an early age, Purdy understood that singing was more than simply having a gifted voice. For her, music became a way to translate inner feeling into sound, turni...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Stone James of Hollis Dorian Hollis Dorian is an award-winning country singer-songwriter whose music blends country roots with rock and pop energy. His sound is built on strong hooks, honest storytelling, and a modern country edge that reflects the wide range of influences that shaped him. The title track from his debut EP, Country By Birthright...

Making a Scene Presents - Using AI Tools to Improve Your Mix Without Letting AI Take Over The New Home Studio Problem The home studio has changed everything for the independent artist. That little room in the house, the spare bedroom, the basement corner, the treated garage, or the desk with a laptop and a pair of headphones is no longer just a demo space. It is where songs are written, arranged,...

Making a Scene Presents - How To Use AI To Write Better Email Subject Lines For Fans The First Line Is The Front Door Every indie artist knows the feeling. You have a show coming up, a new single dropping, a fresh batch of shirts on the merch table, or a membership offer you finally got the nerve to launch. You write the email. You care about the email. You know the people on that list are not str...

Making a Scene Presents - How To Build A Simple Artist CRM (Customer Relationship Management) Without Getting Overwhelmed The Fan List Is Not The Boring Part Somewhere along the way, independent artists were tricked into thinking the “business side” of music was a separate, joyless dungeon where creativity goes to die under a pile of spreadsheets. The myth says the real artist writes songs, plays...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with The Silverteens The Silverteens are a Minneapolis band with deep roots in the city’s rock, punk, new wave, and power pop history. Long known for an eclectic live set that pulls from obscure 1960s garage rock, late 1970s punk, power pop, and other high-energy corners of rock and roll, the band brings together musicians who have been active in the local scen...

Making a Scene Presents - The Next Music Manager May Be A Workflow Designer The Old Music Business Loved A Gatekeeper For a long time, the dream was simple. Find a manager who knew the right people, could get the right meetings, and maybe knew which hotel lobby to haunt during a conference. The manager was the person with access. They had the phone numbers, the relationships, the mystery spreadshe...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kaatwalk Kaatwalk is a Twin Cities-based singer-songwriter whose music is rooted in quiet honesty, emotional presence, and the kind of storytelling that turns everyday moments into something deeply human. Inspired by artists such as Brandi Carlile, Phoebe Bridgers, and Joni Mitchell, she writes with a reflective voice that values truth over polish and conn...

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Trace Foster of Close Enemies Close Enemies is a rock band built on contrast: raw emotion and polished intensity, grit and melody, chaos and calm. Their sound blends hard-hitting guitar riffs, driving rhythms, atmospheric textures, and haunting vocals into music that feels both familiar and fresh. Rooted in the spirit of classic rock but shaped...

Modern audio mastering has shifted from a focus on sheer volume to a nuanced understanding of loudness normalization across streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. The provided text explains that LUFS (Loudness Units Full Scale) serves as a vital measurement tool for human perception of sound rather than a strict creative limit. Musicians are encouraged to prioritize mix density and dyna...

Making a Scene Presents An Interview with Kyle LaLone Kyle LaLone is a roots-rock journeyman whose music lives at the crossroads of classic country, Americana, and heartland rock & roll. A guitarist, songwriter, and performer with deep roots in American music, LaLone writes songs built on grit, melody, and hard-earned truth. His sound nods to the guitar-playing storytellers who came before him, fr...

Making a Scene Presents - The Indie Artist’s AI Content Calendar That Actually Leads Somewhere Stop Feeding the Machine for Free Most indie artists do not need more content. That sounds wrong at first, because every platform tells artists the opposite. Instagram wants another reel. TikTok wants another clip. YouTube wants another short. Facebook wants another event post. Spotify wants another canv...

Making a Scene Presents - The Artist Revenue Ladder: How Indie Artists Turn Free Fans Into Real Income Over Time There is a dangerous lie floating around the music business, and it has been sold to indie artists for years. The lie says that if enough people hear your music, the money will somehow show up later. Get more streams. Get more followers. Get more likes. Get more views. Feed the machine....

Making a Scene Presents - The Return Of The Regional Music Economy Why the Future of Independent Music May Be Closer to Home Than We Think There was a time when every serious artist was told the same story. Get out of town. Get in the van. Hit the road. Go national. Chase the playlist. Chase the press. Chase the algorithm. Chase the booking agent. Chase the big festival slot. Chase anything that l...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Maura Dunst Maura is a Minnesota-based multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, and songwriter whose work moves with ease through bluegrass, Americana, roots, and folk. Known for her expressive fiddle and mandolin playing, strong harmony instincts, and sharp songwriting voice, she brings both fire and feel to every stage she steps onto. http://www.makingascene.org

Making a Scene Presents Gerry Casey's Interview with Ghalia Volt No barriers. No boundaries. That has always been Ghalia Volt’s approach to American roots music. Born in Belgium and now based in New Orleans, Ghalia Volt is a blues-rock singer, guitarist, drummer, and songwriter whose music refuses to stay in one lane. Her sound reaches across borders, pulling from the flamenco and traditional Span...

Making a Scene Presents an Interview with Kat Blue KAT Blue & The True Believers are a blues band built on fire, feel, and full-throttle conviction. Their new EP, Clock Strikes Blue, captures a group locked into what KAT calls an “all asides, all the time” spirit: no half-measures, no phoning it in, just hard-hitting blues played with purpose. http://www.makingascene.org