My guest on this episode, Liz Bojanic, is the singer, songwriter, producer, bass player from Superpop and All Good Things.
Listen on: Apple Podcasts | Overcast | Spotify | Stitcher
Liz and I studied jazz together at the University of Adelaide before she and her husband Andrew moved to LA to write and produce music for records, television, films, games and more.
Her work in the studio has contributed to the success of hit albums and her songs have been featured in hundreds of tv shows and films.
Liz and Andrew recently took to the stage of the world famous Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood at the debut live performance of their new band All Good Things. In this episode we discuss its origins as "the band created by its fans", we break down the odds of "making it" in the music industry, discuss the best skill to have as a songwriter and consider how having the rug pulled out from under you can actually be the catalyst that leads to your next success.
In this episode we discuss:
- The origins of the ‘epic rock’ band, All Good Things
- The European music market’s appetite for rock music (Tim Henwood from Palace of the King was my guest on Studio Time ep #01)
- How the #agtarmy got started. The band has pockets of fans who are also into comic books, super heroes, wrestling, anime and military and through keeping engaged with their fans online their audience has grown
- “We spend a lot of our day, when we’re not in the studio, reaching out to our fans”
- Classic Rock call All Good Things “the band invented by their fans”
- Why Liz and her husband Andrew left Port Douglas in tropical North Queensland to move to LA
- Sandy Roberton - Producer Manager
- Production Team The Matrix
- Avril Lavigne - listen to “Let Go” on Spotify
- “We discovered that what we were doing, was in fact being producers.”
- “All we really want to do is make music.”
- Breaking down the odds of those who “make it” in the music industry
- “The competition is definitely a lot fiercer now”
- The best skill to have as a songwriter is to know when it’s NOT working…when to toss an idea or put it aside
- “Taking the emotion out of it took the longest, and was the hardest thing to learn. But once I got the hang of it, that was when we really started to write good songs”
- ‘Tonight’ - Now and then there’s a song that you don’t have any faith in…that just has a life of it’s own
- The benefit of taking a break when you’re feeling creatively stuck
- Tips on how to keep your ideas fresh
- How long it usually takes to write and produce a song from start to finish
- All of the emotions and people’s life experiences are universal.
- “Write from your heart. Try to remember back to a time when you felt like that and how you reacted, because chances are that’s how everybody reacts”
- How the business model of being a songwriter and producer changed with the advent of digital downloads and then streaming
- “People are really diversifying in the ways they’re making money”
- Advice to someone coming into the industry now: diversify, have a lot of strings to your bow, and don’t be dazzled by the big label artists. Don’t be afraid to be on something you think is great with an independent artist.
- Often you’ll make more money releasing your music yourself than you ever would working with an artist who’s signed with a major label
- Thoughts on the change in the US political climate from someone who chooses to be an American citizen
- “We realised that the ugly side of America that we thought belonged in the history books was in fact alive and well. It had just been dormant, waiting for a leader.”
- Liz’s first experience as an activist was as a coordinator of the Women’s March of Los Angeles which brought together 750,000 women
- “It’s funny how something as un-rock and roll as having a kid can be the catalyst to make you work more efficiently, make better business choices and become a more responsible citizen. It’s funny how that works out.”