After achieving modest commercial success in the Age of MTV, singer, songwriter, and storyteller Brian Vander Ark has struck out on his own to make and play music his way. The humble former Verve Pipe frontman talks about how the Internet enables his independent music career, why the local music establishment stifles aspiring artists, and finding his voice.
You grew up just south of Grand Rapids in Middleville and live in East Grand Rapids today. How's the local music scene different today than when you were coming up in the late 80's and 90's?
It's more scattered these days. There are more bands and different styles compared to that post-Seattle grunge scene when a lot of bands seemed to sound alike. But the biggest difference today is probably the number of kids who are picking up guitars. It has a lot to do with the Internet
How so?
Music is much more accessible, and the idea of being a musician is much more accessible compared to the 90's.
Is that a good thing or a bad thing?
One of the good things is that kids are being more creative. One of the bad things is that it's getting harder to find the really good stuff because you have to filter through a lot of material that's not good.
We've heard plenty about how the Internet has changed the face of business. How have you seen it affect the music industry?
We used to have a physical mailing list and we would lick thousands of stamps each month. We actually used to have stamp licking shows where we'd play and have a table on the side of the bar with free pitchers of beer for whoever wanted to sit and lick stamps. Today you can send an email and touch thousands of people at the push of a button.
How does that technology enable you to earn a living as an independent artist?
It doesn’t matter where you live anymore for one thing. I can live in a town like Grand Rapids, MI and still be part of the scene. I do everything with MP3's if I want to send around demos. I can sell albums and merchandise and promote shows online. And there's potential for far less traveling involved. The Internet provides tremendous reach. And it's a very cost efficient approach.
Minimize travel? Isn't life on the road part of this idealized image we Americans have of musicians.
Because of live webcams and other technologies the urge people have to see you can be satisfied in new ways beyond the traditional concert. You don’t feel compelled, for example, to go in the hole financially touring Europe when you can do a show here and have it cast over there.
But you still travel, right?
I go out for about three weeks at a time. I drive myself. Usually take a rental car. You just don’t get paid playing these shows. You get $150, maybe $200 guaranteed to play venues in New York, which is ridiculous. I'm fortunate that I can strip down to an acoustic guitar, drive myself to the gig, play the show, and sell some records.
Sounds like you're experimenting with a dramatically different way of doing business than the music industry is traditionally accustomed to – the big tours, high volume sales, etc.
The old school is still alive, and they're a bunch of curmudgeons with their own way of doing things. But the days of FedEx'ing demos are past. Why would I pay $26 to send something I can email for free in an MP3 file? We're still dealing with people who don’t work with the fancy computer programs, or they only use equipment that tapes. They're actually very proud of that, which is fine. But this Old Guard is still running the industry. That's why it's tanking. They're unwilling to adapt.
Sounds like the same general problem plaguing the depressed State of Michigan.
All I can say is that fortunately these people are going to pass. I don’t know when we'll see the shift economically or politically as a state. But in the entertainment industry something's going to break wide open in the next five to ten years. The guys that are willing to adapt are making money.
You play regularly across the country. How does the West Michigan music scene stack up?
When it comes to talent there are plenty of great acts and great musicians. People here know how to write songs. On the establishment side, this is a terrible place to be an aspiring musician.
Say more about that. Where do we fall down?
There really aren’t any good places to play. The expectation is that you owe the club something because they let you play their stage. It should be the exact opposite. If you're the entertainer, they should pay you. But here we have so many places that pay according to how many drinks are sold and that kind of garbage. From a business perspective, they want to bring in the bands that bring in the people that want to drink a lot. I understand that. But it has nothing to do with music.
What can be done to improve local venues?
Smoking in the bar is just such an archaic thing. Everywhere else I go seems to be nonsmoking. Even the cigarette capitals of the world, the places we play down south, are nonsmoking. But you come up to anywhere in the Midwest it's just awful.
Still, the Midwest has churned out some serious music talent, including singer/song writers as diverse as Bob Seger from Detroit, Michael Jackson from Gary, and Ani DiFranco from Buffalo. Why do you think that is?
Rebellion. I think the surge we saw in the 70's, 80's, and probably the 90's was due to the fact that kids basically had nothing to do and nowhere to go. There wasn’t a great deal of culture, except in major cities like Chicago. And we grew up with parents who said 'why waste your time with music.' They didn’t exactly encourage artistic creativity. Typically with rebellion comes really good song writing.
Bill Szymczyk, who has worked with the likes of the Eagles and the Who, also is a Michigan native. Muskegon, in fact. What was it like collaborating with him to produce your recently released 2008 self-titled album?
Bill and I have been friends for several years. But we never really worked together. So this last record I decided to start sending him demos. I found out immediately that he's a tough guy. He said half the demos were crap. One of them he said he wouldn’t even record. Ultimately, that turns out to be a good thing because he really pushes your creativity.
Have you found your sweet spot? You seem really comfortable with where you're at in your professional life.
I've done the experimentation. In the beginning you're just trying to find yourself, borrowing elements or ideas from this song or that song. But at some point you want to hone it in and say 'this is who I am.' I feel like that's starting to happen for me now. And it is as simple as a guitar and vocals. Seems ridiculous that you have to go down this whole path to get back where you started from. Picasso spent his whole life trying to paint like a child. That really rings true for me. In the end you just want to get rid of all the ambiguity.
You're playing the Performing Arts Theater at Aquinas College on March 22, and taping a DVD of the event for release later this spring. What was the impetus for the show?
For me personally it's about finding a venue in Grand Rapids with no smoking that the older crowd – people my age – could enjoy and appreciate music for an hour and not have to deal with some 21-year-old drunk hitting on them or the pool tables or the TV's or all the other nonsense that goes on. I also want to prove to my agent that we don’t have to travel all the way down to places like Florida to play a show for $150 to make a living.
How's that going?
We're self promoting the event. So it's our ass if nobody buys tickets. But the tickets already are more than half sold. Were pretty confident it will work.
This interview was conducted, condensed, and edited by Andy Guy, Rapid Growth's managing editor. Andy, a Grand Rapids resident, also serves as a project director at the Michigan Land Use Institute and blogs at Great Lakes Guy.
All photographs of Brian Vander Ark:
Upstream in North Carolina
Photographed at The Photography Room in Grand Rapids
In conversation with Rapid Growth at The Sparrows Cafe
Roadside in North Carolina near an abandoned mine
Writing music in North Carolina
Recording vocals in North Carolina during the making of Karma Generator (a short film documentary to be screened before the March 22 concert at Aquinas College)
All Photographs by Brian Kelly - All Rights Reserved
You can order tickets for the concert via this link.