Kevin Saucier is a comedian in New York City. He performed regularly at the Laughing Skull Lounge in Atlanta, and in 2015 he performed at Bridgetown Comedy Festival (Portland), Crom West Comedy Festival (Denver), and Red Clay Comedy Festival (Atlanta).
You don't have to wait for the gatekeepers to "discover" you anymore.
@oliviacathcart asked me some questions for this article and I answered them, but I wrote so much about my feelings about cobbling together an album, that I want to put her questions and my full answers here.
How did you put the album together? Did you get outside help with any part of it?
The initial idea was very self-indulgent, it was going to be every WonderComedy set I’d ever done, like I was a jam band people loved. I was very comfortable at that show, and I think it brought out the best in me. But ultimately that would have been too much, so it became three sets pulled from over the years. I had my roommate Shalewa Sharpe take a photo of me on our stoop out front for the cover. I took a photo of her in a park around the corner for the cover of her most recent album, “So You Just Out Here,” so having that come full-circle was nice.
I decided to do it in September 2020. Spent two Saturdays making myself listen to all the sets and write out what the setlists were. I think there were eight. In October and November I picked my favorites and cut it all together, then put it out on Bandcamp Friday, the first week of December. It’s called “Me Now Knows.”
Do you have previous experience with audio editing or producing an album (for yourself or others)?
I don’t, but I used to do video editing for news stuff in college, and I sometimes make backing tracks to play guitar along with, so I can move clips around on a timeline. I didn’t enlist anybody else to help. I would’ve wanted to pay them appropriately and at the time I couldn’t really spend money on this. I felt lucky to have a job last year and paranoid about losing it.
Why did you choose Bandcamp and do you have plans to release it elsewhere?
Bandcamp Friday was a big motivator. I knew that if it were to make any money, I’d prefer to get most of it, rather than fractions of a penny per listen on Spotify. If I were somebody who was touring around, or if I was trying to get a comedy job, I could see the value in having it on a bigger streaming site, as a portfolio kind of thing. But I’d sort of made my peace with not doing comedy for a living, like I’d backed away from all the shows I was helping out with in Fall 2019, and then Covid hit in March 2020, so I wasn’t looking down the road at what this could lead to. I thought of it as a bookend and something for people who had already enjoyed me. I thought putting it up on all the streaming platforms might have signaled, “He doesn’t actually expect people to pay for this,” but it was the one thing I’ve put out after nine years of doing stand-up, and I don’t think that time was wasted. I think what I came up with in that time had value. There’s trade-offs. Fewer people will hear it, but they’ll come to it intentionally. With more personal material, it just feels overexposed to have the embarrassing moments you managed to write jokes about just a click or two away. Feels cheap. I’m a big baby about that kind of thing. I only want so much attention.
It just feels more intentional, and a bit of a throw-back. I got really into stand-up albums in college. I used to have to wait a week for ASpecialThing Records to send me an album I’d buy. Bandcamp’s quicker than that, but I would pay money and take a chance on people and it felt meaningful, and I appreciate everybody who’s done the same for mine. You can also stream it a time or two for free, I think. But I just like the idea that whoever’s hearing it is hearing it because they want to. I listened to the most recent Kyle Kinane album last year, sitting at my desk in my room, under one desk lamp, and I was present for it in a way I hadn’t been in a long time. That helped reawaken my appreciation for stand-up albums as a medium. I’d only been seeing it live or watching specials for some reason. Oh, I don’t drive anymore, that’s it.
How much did the pandemic play a factor in releasing an album? Did you kick around the idea beforehand?
I always wanted to put out something, but I hadn’t had a plan to do it anytime soon. Felt like I was hanging onto material for too long and was reluctant to burn stuff.
I don’t know that I would have done it if not for being cooped up. We’re all in different headspaces dealing with this thing, but there were phases where I caught myself and friends simultaneously being reflective. It’s hard to look forward right now. A lot of people’s five-year plans became, “Let’s get through this week.” So being locked in the house for months, missing old friends, gave me an opportunity to listen to old sets. That’s what it was, I was watching a friend’s set on my Vimeo page, because I missed my friend, and one of mine came up after, and I remembered I had audio of just about every WonderComedy set I’d done. I was bad about getting video, but I voice recorded everything. Think that was in early September of last year, and I just went and listened through a bunch and was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, (https://twitter.com/SoSure/status/1302363231600640007) then later that week I tweeted I was going to do something with them, (https://twitter.com/SoSure/status/1305282074983698434) so then I had to.
What were your biggest reservations about doing this and why did you ultimately decide to proceed (if applicable)?
I worried about the audio quality with it being phone recordings, but I think I got it to a point that it was decent enough. Had to remind myself that some of my favorite albums have some of the most obnoxious laughers in the world on them, and I still loved driving around listening to those jokes. Some stuff is only going to bother me because I know it’s there. Putting an album out did a lot to help ease any feelings of bitterness I had about where I am. To spend as much time as I did doing comedy and then let it just fade out of my life felt sad and cowardly. It wasn’t just a hobby I picked up and put down. It defined a period of my life. Putting an album together helped me remember that I made people happy and I enjoyed doing it, and it’s now on record. I get an e-mail when somebody buys one and it always means a lot to me. When I plug it on a Sunday night at the end of me and Shalewa’s Taste Testin’ show on her IGTV, I always get a few listens or sales the next week. It’s nice.
Would you recommend it? Do you see this as something that could be transformative in the industry/for individual comedians?
I regret I’m not more prolific, because I like the bandcamp platform so much. I’d love to have a page full of stuff on there. I think people who go on the road could make good use of it. One of the artist benefits is album codes. You could have people at shows venmo you for a code, and get around bandcamp taking a cut off those sales, and that might be gas money to the next town.
Are there any misconceptions about putting out an album or bad advice you’ve received in the past about self-producing vs. holding out for distributions/production or just recording in general?
It’s different for everybody and I’ve tried to worry less about what other people are doing or what kind of track they’re on. One person’s hoarding of material is fear-based self-sabotage, but that habit in another person’s hands looks like shrewdness when it pays off. Confidently burning material at every opportunity helps some people write more and leaves others in a bad spot.
I used to want to be asked to release something, and I had a lot of faith in traditional gatekeepers just noticing me, but eventually you realize that’s only going to happen for so many people, and you have to decide if you’re willing to wait, if you’re putting yourself in the right places to be noticed, or if you even respect the opinions of the people you want to notice you. Are you twisting yourself into knots and asking, “What do these people want from me?” Buddy, put out what you’ve got and relax.
What’s some of the issues you see re: albums and digital content in general in the comedy industry, barriers to entry, etc. ?
I don’t have anything insightful to say about this. There’s just a lot of people doing it and it’s hard to be noticed and that’s nobody’s fault. I think if you make a lot of people feel really good, they’ll put you on their shoulders and carry you where you want to go, but then you’ve got to worry about them dropping you, or taking you somewhere only they want you to go. Or at least that’s what I’d worry about, if a crowd of people were to suddenly pick me up.
Neighbors have a backyard party with a marching band once a month and I hear this in my sleep now. https://www.instagram.com/p/Brdg9zYDJR2/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ewvy1qytamp4
Running around with Grammy and Sue. I don’t know Sue but Grammy says she’s cool. (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/BqdmXjeHMkb/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=hoi6f494ezdg
Feel like this is where I meet the ghost of a horse. (at Mount Arab, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpZ1LBJgj7X/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=2l18wueo6mjw
Met a cat named Catman at my manifesto writing retreat. (at Mount Arab, New York) https://www.instagram.com/p/BpYVlqrAFHu/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=20ehx9ra9swv
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