Creative Mornings - Spreading The Word

In Massachusetts in the 1990s the French language was still a big thing. Everyone took French in elementary school. Thirty minutes at a time a couple days a week we all held a plastic piece of jambon and discussed visiting la bibliotec and l’hopitale. In 1991 when I was in fourth grade the Spin Doctors were also a huge thing. The song, 4:30 was built to annoy adults, but it could also serve to derail a group of French learning etudiants. Innocently I asked professeure how to say “what time is it” in French. The answer is “quelle hor eteil”. I then asked her how to say 4:30 in French. Quator e demi. With that I was armed with enough French to take over the class. For the next le vingt minutes finally, for the first time that year, the class only spoke French. But all we said was quelle hor eteil and quator e demi. Over and over again. She asked us to stop. We refused. I refused. I got the class going. I was overjoyed. I was in charge. And I thought it was bulletproof because it was all in French. The teacher pleaded, she went red in the face. But I went redder. I had the chance to get the class under my control and I would not give it up. After the entire class period had been used, I stood with pure satisfaction. The teacher asked me to stay around after the class left. When the class emptied out she, in her Quebecoise accent, told me that I had a unique power to get to people to do what I wanted them to. She told me that was an incredibly powerful skill. And she told me I had completely wasted it that day. I had used it in a way that could get me in a trouble. That day I didn’t get in trouble, but that teacher let me know that the things I can do can be wasted, or they can be put to better use. I can get everyone to do something cool, or I could get everyone to do something we’d all get in trouble for. During that class I realized what I would do with my life, travel the world with the Spin Doctors.

In St. Paul in the 1990s you went to the Kinkos on Snelling to either purchase or steal your flyers. You brought your files, you picked the canary yellow, the astroblue and you printed your copies. You kept those flyers in the back of your pocket if you were sucker, and you put those flyers in other peoples hands if you did it right. You gave a flyer to the reluctant and you gave a stack of flyers to the enthusiastic, let them spread it further. But if you really did that, and if you could actually play, you got the people to your show. You spread the word and people started checking out what you were doing. I was in a cauldron of talent when I went to St. Paul Central. A bunch of great bands and artists were all around the same program. We all put our flyers up on the wall, talked about who was playing where, what we were going to, what was happening. One day I put up a flyer where I was covered in sand up to my neck. My teacher Red Freeberg caught this and said “this is the best flyer anyone has ever made in the class”. It was not an artistic achievement. Red just stated “people who might not go to the show will want the flyer for the laugh, for the novelty. But some of those folks will go to the show to see more of it”. Flyers were another way for me to communicate the viability of the music I was making. It was another way to call attention to the work we were doing. During that class I realized what I would do with my life, work jobs that involve going to Kinkos all the time.

In St. Paul in the 2010s, a lot of bands didn’t go to FedEx Kinkos as much as they did in the 90s. You have Facebook ads, you have blogs, you have radio stations that at times are supportive of local artists. But, by the 2010s I was the co-owner of a trivia company. I worked for the Current, I still printed posters for Heiruspecs and Trivia Mafia in the year before the pandemic was spending about $900 a month just on copies. I walked in to the Roseville FedEx to pick a small order for Trivia Mafia, maybe 20 sheets for a private party. When I said my name at the front desk the guy got a glassy face of recognition and in awe said “you’re Sean McPherson”? So I had arrogantly say something to the effect “what part of my vast media influence are you a fan of Ted from Kinkos, do you listen to the Current or do you like Heiruspecs? He just said, still in a bit of a daze, “naw man, you just make so many copies”.

My life has been about making the word and then spreading that word. I believe in the shit I am a part of. I believe Heiruspecs is one of the great live acts in Twin Cities history. If I didn’t, why the hell would I still bother to print posters out and put them up at age 42? I believe playing a Trivia Mafia trivia night is one of the most awesome things you can do with your friends. I met my wife at a Trivia Mafia event. I think if you play Trivia Mafia you will meet a great romantic spouse. I believe in this shit thoroughly. I believe I am doing you a favor when I give a flyer. Great radio brings you closer to the music. You should listen to it.

I can’t imagine spreading the word about things I don’t believe in. I have friends in my life who spread the word for the highest bidder. That’s probably what some of you do. Excellent for you. Excellent for them. It’s not for me. Spreading the word is sacred. Spreading the word about something you don’t believe will poison the waters for when you have something you believe in again. And also, spreading the word about things I believe in is part of my brand. I’m the flyer guy, I’m the event guy, I’m the person who used his network to start filling 15 bars with trivia. That network was the seeds of a company that now provides trivia to over 160 locations. If you have something worthwhile to spread, you are doing a disservice to not spread it. I understand that art is selfish, I’ve been indoctrinated with that statement for 30 years. But aren’t you glad Erykah Badu connected with a manager and became a household name? Don’t you think it’s wonderful that Jeopardy is on the air? Life is hard. Great art and entertainment make it better. If your work is legitimately good what are you doing not trying to share it?

Spreading the word is not about brute strength. It’s not about putting up a million posters that will get torn down. It’s about sensing somehow that a flyer at Caffrey’s and the CC Club will yield you more eyeballs than all of the U of M spots that are already plastered with “UPS is hiring” posters anyway. Spreading the word is not about going red in the face yelling “quelle hor eteil?” It is about getting Pizza Luce to agree to giveaway a Heiruspecs promotional CD announcing your upcoming release show with all pizza deliveries for two months. You figure out what you can do, that others can’t or won’t, that will help you do what you love. I love spreading the word.

In the year 2000 in Minneapolis press releases were a thing but I sure didn’t know about that yet. I knew about booking shows and making flyers. I was interning for a woman named Kim Randall who ran a label called No Alternative from town that had artists like American Paint, The Love-Cars and Happy Apple on the rosterer. While helping Kim Randall for almost full-time hours for a winter study I ended up telling Kim that my band was releasing an album like so many interns had told their bosses for time immemoriam. I told her the album was coming out at the end of the month with a show at the Foxfire Coffee Lounge. She asked if I had sent out a press release and I told her I did not know what she was talking about. She showed me a press release. She told me how to find everyones names. She told me where I could find the huge weird 24 hour mailboxes at City Pages and the Star Tribune. I put the press release in and suddenly we got on the radar. Within a year the lady who was music editor at the Star Tribune said I was one of the most reliable publicists in the Twin Cities music scene and she said that would help me get good coverage. NO SHIT. This one kernel of info let me soak up mountains of press because I was ahead of my peers in knowing about issuing press releases.

You need to build an advantage in to distinguish yourself, to create differentiation between you and your peers. When everyone in your scene starts making flyers, you better have the best looking ones. The cream rises to the top, but if you’re the cream, you can’t just wait for it to rise. You better push the cream up and try to find that top. When everyone writes press releases, yours need to come early, with the best quotes and the most insightful strategy. But more importantly, when you’re in a scene, help your competition make flyers, help them write press releases. They have skills you don’t have. You share, they share. Announce your advantages, exploit your advantages, but don’t be stingy with sharing your skills. Ultimately the distinction is always the word, not the spreading. I’m here acting all cool not because of the spreading, but because of the word.

If Trivia Mafia sucked, no amount of facebook invites could change that. If the rappers in Heiruspecs couldn’t rap, or if the band didn’t make great music, we’d just’ve been a weird CD on your pizza in 2008. But the word is good. And there’s no trick to making the work good. There’s no angle to exploit. There’s no workaround. But if you don’t feel like telling your friends about your thing, or more importantly if your friends don’t feel like telling their friends about your thing, something is wrong with the word. And no spreading can fix that. Fix the work, spread the word.

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Do you know what a stage plot is? It’s a graphic representation of what a band is going to place on stage and what they need from the sound person to put on a good performance. But in it’s rawest sense it’s a shorthand way of saying “this group is serious”. Long before you have a tour manager, or your own sound person, you have a piece of paper that you can walk up to the house sound person with. Both with Heiruspecs and with Dessa, before we even finish unloading I’m offering the sound person this piece of paper. I’m getting their name. I’m seeing if they need an extra copy. I’m asking if they have questions. I text their name to everyone else in the band. That way two hours later when Dessa isn’t getting what she needs in the monitor she can say “Morgan, I need more of my vocals”. It’s a way to command respect early on in a relationship. Every industry has its stage plot. You don’t skip this. It demands a respect that not everyone great musicianship will confer upon you.

A very talented rapper from town, Mally, paid me an amazing compliment some years ago. He said that I took Heiruspecs’ work so seriously that no one else in our circle could do otherwise. That compliment touched me. Do you know how often artists, particularly local artists, are simply shocked that when they come in for an interview at Jazz88 I’ve listened to the music, I’ve prepared the questions and I’ve treated them with respect. Given them good directions to the studio. Tell em where to park. Offer them water when they come in. This is basic 101 stuff. But it establishes the right precedent. If I take the artist seriously, they’ll take the station seriously. If I treat the music with respect, they’ll treat the platform with respect.

Are you familiar with the marginally fancy word incredulous. It’s one of those words I understand but rarely use. But I’ve spent plenty of time being incredulous at events like CreativeMornings that they weren’t booking me right out the gate. Look at this guy! Radio host, spectacular trivia company, amazing work as a musician. Are you familiar with the 100% fancy word incredulity? Some of my incredulity wasn’t just pure arrogance, it was that ever important sense that I had given the Twin Cities scene my stage plot. I had told them in many ways for many years that I was serious with mine. I put out great records. I had great ways to promote them. I helped launch a spectacular entertainment company. I snuck in through the backdoor of morning trivia on the Current and parlayed that into becoming a full-time radio host and music director for a one of the best rated jazz stations in the country. But I can’t yell my way on to the CreativeMornings stages. Are you familiar with the fully made up word incredule? I can’t incredule my way on to this stage. All I can do is hand everyone my stage plot. All I can do is prep for every interview. All I can do is try to make the next song better than the last one.

I find that drive to do just that internally and externally. I let myself get my ass kicked and turn that into fuel to be stronger myself. When I slid into filling in on the morning shows alongside Jill Riley, I was pretty useless as a co-host. I had strong verbal skills, I knew music, I could crack a good joke. But I was very light on fundamentals and I was wildly nervous. One of the jobs I was given early on was to read the news on the :20. I would work as hard as I understood I could at the time to make that news break great. It was wildly far from great, with profound omissions, misattributions and sloppy copy. But worse than that I was so stressed about it that at 6:12 in the morning Jill would simply say “how you doing this morning Sean” and I would bust in with “Just peachy Jill. Reports coming out of Washington point to a recalibration of the question of illegal immigration”. Jill would let me run down the whole newscast, get back in to the music and then simply state “you did the news early, not a big deal, there’s just 180,000 people who think they are late for work now”. I saw in her a tireless professional, someone who did it right when no one was looking, who did it right when everyone was looking, and who made it right on the rare times when she did get something wrong. It was a level of professionalism I thought was unattainable. Are you familiar with the kind of weird word strove?I strove my ass off to handle mine like Jill handled hers. I saw how she had an unbelievable array of dates linked to artists we were playing locked up in her noggin that she could drop on the spot when we played the song. I went to check if she had a cheat sheet, a little set of notes. When she caught me looking she just pointed to her brain. The stroving continued. Got to get that sharp, got to get that quick. Got to get the guidance. I brought a more disciplined view to my development in radio than I did in music. Part of that is straight up age. But part of that is also just having made the mistakes with Heiruspecs and not wanting to make those mistakes again. Heiruspecs got relatively successful relatively quickly. I was hitting the road on tours I booked that were breaking even by age 21. We were on the road opening for Fishbone when I was 22. Signed to a label when I was 23. Opening for Cake when I was 24. How could I need to practice bass? We were opening for Cake! What’s a mixolydian scale for, I’m opening for Cake. I was incredulous. We were hot shit and I was lacing up my shoes for a victory lap before looking at a lot of things that were shaky under the hood. I didn’t know how to read music, there was a sophistication of rhythmic patterns that eluded me. I wrote what was comfortable to play with my limited vocabulary. I maximized results in those zones, but I didn’t expand my vocabulary. I avoided situations that would expose my shortcomings on the instrument and my shortcomings as a writer. I curated my career to highlight the things I was great at. Those gaps in my skillset limited what I could offer Heiruspecs and severely limited what I could be used for outside of Heiruspecs. I have made no such mistakes in radio. I have made completely new, completely unique mistakes. But I’ve practiced the things I’ve sucked at. I’ve taken the opportunities that I know will expose my shortcomings. I’ve ignored my successes to soberly look at my weak spots. I am going to lean on my strengths, but I am not going to limp past my shortcomings, I look at them head on, address them and improve my skillset.

My incredulity about not doing CreativeMornings faded away pretty quickly after Drew asked me to speak for this event. I am pretty comfortable doing my “here’s the cool shit I’ve done and here’s some cool ways I’ve done it” stump speech to a group of music students at Augsburg, I’m pretty comfortable speaking to a group of young aspiring anythings and giving out some legit kernels of wisdom. But, for this audience, you’ve covered a lot of that territory in your life already. You’re more likely to dole out that advice than to need to hear it. You’re here to get the extra sauce and I’ve spent a bit of this week of preparation feeling ill-suited to give my extra sauce out. This is not because my sauce is proprietary. It is because I struggled for some time to articulate what my suace is. My sauce at times can feel industry specific, music specific, radio specific. My sauce can feel insufficient. What do all you fancys sitting at Dogwood Coffee with the new kind of Apple charger in the $390 sweater want with my sauce? Many of you make more money than me. Many of you have stronger work ethics than me. Many of you probably have stronger stage plot game than me. But I have some sauce for you that I think will stick. I think this sauce will help you. I don’t want to waste your time. I’m not wasting your time.

Make work that you believe deserves the utmost respect professionally. Make work that you can press play on with no preface. Make work where you don’t have to say “we didn’t get the coloring quite perfect on it, but you’ll see what it’s supposed to be”. Make work that requires no preface for respect. Spread the word about that work with a contagious pride and reverence for the beautiful work you have just made. Be an ambassador for that work day in and day out in a way out that demands respect for the package. Some people will not like your work, but do the ambassadorial work to show them that you take it seriously, that you have presented it with authority and with enthusiasm. Make sure that those that don’t like your work have been given no excuses to also shit on how you package it, how you present it, how you yourself represent it.

Don’t let the success of your work dilute the weak links you know you have. A weak link is just that no matter how strong the other pieces are. Sharpen your skills at every opportunity. And when you happen to come up short of that credo, to not sharpen something you could have, fix it without guilt. Improve yourself and represent yourself without excuses, without asterisks, without drama.