Bob Findlay Tackles Technology and Takes on the Big Guns at Reverbnation
When Bob Findlay returned to the music industry in 2007 it was purely to distract himself from the alcohol abuse which led him to largely stay away from the industry and almost cost him his life.
He moved to the small fishing village of Stanley on Tasmanias' far north-west coast to recuperate from a twenty-year struggle with the bottle and began recording again. Initially he recorded songs that he had written dating back as far as 1988. "I didn't really know what to do next", Findlay said when I spoke to him earlier today. "I knew I was going to be off work for a while but you can only listen to your own material so many times", Findlay added with a laugh.
Not being particularly familiar with computers, Findlay searched the internet for sites that he felt were suitable and free to join. After this his next dilemma was how to get his music from his small mixing desk onto these sites.
"I bought myself a Boss BR8 that used zip disks when it was the best thing out", Findlay said. "Then twenty minutes later, zip disks were obsolete."
It was during this 'twenty minutes' that Findlays drinking escalated to crisis point and he was oblivious to the fact that zip disks were going to be rather difficult to obtain. "For about five years, there wasn't a day that would pass where I wouldn't look at the desk and tell myself that I'd do some recording.....then I'd have a few drinks and there went that idea."
Purely by circumstance, Findlay was talking to the daughter of a family friend who was up to speed on all things computer-related. "It all happened so quickly", Findlay said. "(She) got me thirty zip disks for the price of one, then told me all that I needed was a $6 cable. All of a sudden, here I am."
Findlay, a State Registered Nurse, then had the dilemma of keeping track of the sites that he had placed his music on. As he is due to return to the nursing profession in early June, Findlay knew that he had to centralise. He has opted to use his website http://scotsbob.webs.com and his site at RevernNation www.reverbnation.com/bobfindlay as his focal points but will remain on the other sites and keep up to date as much as time allows.
Prior to this Findlay was somewhat reluctant to rely too heavily on technology. Even with the multitude of effects available to him on his mixing desk he prefers to keep them to a minimum. "I don't want to produce something that I couldn't replicate live", Findlay said.
He does, however, now conceed that there is a place for computer technology in the music industry. "Lets' face it." Findlay said, "How else could I get a song listened to instantly around the world without mp3 audio, even if I don't know what it stands for? It's quite amazing, really. The best sort of promotion that I know of.....on all fronts."
Findlays' music takes those of my generation back to a time when flares, chunky jewellery and big boots were all the rage. Now racing into the Top 150 in the rock charts at ReverbNation, Bob Findlay certainly can't be accused of living in the past even though he maintains that he was born an era too late.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Bob Findlay Tackles Technology and Takes on the Big Guns at Reverbnation