LIKE BOOM

[thayernick]

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My next single The Stick Up is out in a week on March 19th! Can't wait to share it with you! #nickthayer #thestickup #thuglifeanimals #rockyraccoon #newmusic

[thrillschillsandstills]

[the-beauty-of-words-blog]

[misterjasonaalon]

To the person responsible for this image-

I’m a fan of your work.

[thayernick]

Because letlive

[thayernick]

The ideas behind The Dominion EP

My music has always picked up on themes of utopia and dystopia. Tracks like Totalitaria, Rise Up, Soma, Rebirth and Worlds Collide from my most recent EPs are all very direct references to the works of Orwell, Huxley, Wells and other similar authors whose themes of class warfare, consumerism and propaganda resonate with me and how I understand the world. With this EP I wanted to take those themes further, and the tune Our Rules was borne directly out of that. It is an open letter to those who maintain Dominion over us, by forcing us to play their game of work, buy, live in debt, and die. The references are pointed and intentional, and the acutely directed anger is very real. 

The other tune with a featured vocal, Crumbling Down again it picks up on ideas that individual relationships often mirror the way we interact in communities. Sometimes Dominion is taken forcibly and sometimes it is given willingly. I've always loved ambiguous lyrics too. Ones that you can understand in a certain context, but can be just as powerful when put in a different light. Is this song about a romantic relationship, or a formerly infallible world leader who has proved as impotent as his predecessors? 

Inertia has a quote, an alien sample if you like, at the end, that echoes the cry of the Easter Islanders, and I fear will be the cry of humanity if we don't honour our responsibility to exercise dominion (in this context 'stewardship') of our home.

Even the sample in Drop That can be taken two ways. A club context or, as is more often the case, as an act of aggression, of desire for Dominion.

[thayernick]

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No big deal. Just @mrtommyland using my track Like Boom as part of the Cruecifly drum solo during the Mötley show. #kindofabigdeal #reallybigdealforme #becausemylifeisdopeandidodopeshit

[thayernick]

Inertia // Dominion EP

http://soundcloud.com/nick-thayer/inertia-teaser/s-G2CaU

Inertia was a tune borne from experimentation; sometimes in the studio I just see what happens when you plug this into that into the other thing over there, and sometimes I just try playing with every parameter on a synth and save anything that sounds cool. In this instance, everything really fell into place. I’d had the middle section done for another tune, and the intro is my unashamed homage to Queen’s ‘One Vision’ and Dire Straits’ ‘Money For Nothing’. I love the way both of those tunes have huge intros that burst into big guitar riffs, and I wanted to emulate that with a crazy synth sound instead.

Often when writing music it seems as if the song is in control, not me, and my job is to just get out of the way and let things run their course - this is where the title comes from. The vocal right at the end talks about another kind of Inertia: as a society, our demand for things to consume, from food to possessions to lives, is driving us headlong towards extinction. But how can you turn it around, something so amorphous, with so much energy driving it?

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And then, as we grew in number, our resources diminished. Then we were too many, with too little. Our will for dominion had overtaken our ability to survive. And then we were gone.

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Download DOMINION EP FOR FREE: www.nickthayer.com

[music-video-s-blog]

Fatboy Slim: Weapon of Choice (2001)

Directed by: Spike Jonze

[thayernick]

Reposting 'cause this clip is 100% amaze.

[thayernick]

Crumbling Down // Dominion EP

https://soundcloud.com/nick-thayer/crumbling-down-feat-zoe-phillips-teaser?in=nick-thayer/sets/dominion-ep-07-07-14

I absolutely loved the experience of writing Crumbling Down. About a year ago I made a Facebook post asking for recommendations for singers, and somebody (I can't remember who, but THANK YOU) suggested I check out Zoe Phillips. I found her Road Sign EP on Bandcamp and bought it immediately, then I contacted her to see if she might be interested in working together, and, thankfully, she was. I went over to London in November with about fifteen ideas for songs, with the intention of doing a whole bunch of vocal sessions with different singers to see what came out. Zoe and I found a flow straight away, sharing common ground musically and lyrically. The basis of Crumbling Down came together very quickly. Lyrically we wanted something that, on face value, could be about a personal relationship, but upon reflection could be about something quite different. Musically, the sound design and the 'drop' actually took a while to get right. I wanted to make it reflect what was going on lyrically. Put simply, the chord progression and melody are essentially major, representing the hope that could have been, and the drop is minor, representing the reality.

Crumbling Down is about that space of disillusionment between hope and reality, which, in today's world, we all know too well.

Lyrics:

We turn and we catch a glimpse, but the moment's gone, It falls beneath our reach. Embrace the change as we step away, Shadows fade as night turns to day.

I watch as the fear escapes and it starts to break as it pour out of my skin. We watch as the walls shake and come crumbling down, From all that we've been.

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Download DOMINION EP FREE: www.nickthayer.com

Check out Zoe's music: https://soundcloud.com/zphillips

[thayernick]

hii your post was very insightful! How many hours work u put in vs how much money u get.. Also can u manage yourself is the manager also responsible to get you gigs? Is this why many Producers have oopted to have their own labels? There is money in the industry but seems like the artist gets the short end of the stick thank u for being humbke and down to earthnI will def check put ur music and make some purchases!!

Thank you. A manager can be very helpful when it comes to finalising deals, keeping things organised and focussing on a big picture. Generally managers are not responsible for organising shows, though they are responsible for liaising with booking agents. 

I just released a new, for FREE (trying a new model) via nickthayer.com if you'd like to check it out. 

[thayernick]

OUR RULES - Dominion EP (out now FREE)

I wanted to write something about each track on my Dominion EP (which you can download NOW for FREE from www.nickthayer.com).

Check the video for Our Rules thanks to UKF here: http://ukf.com/video/nick-thayer-our-rules-ft-nfa-official-video/

This was the first track written for Dominion, and it both introduces and sums up the intention of the EP as a whole. Whatever the case, we are in charge of our own destiny. We CAN make the rules. We CAN choose which games we play. I had this beat and I asked my long time friend and soul brother N'fa to come and check it out. We got to talking about the way the world is, and how angry we were both feeling about the state of Australian politics. In particular, the way the current policies dehumanise and even demonise those on the outside, the refugees, those in need or special care, and the homeless, and serve to help the rich get richer. Unfortunately this is a theme all too common across history. Too much of the way our lives are ordered is dictated by vested interests. How can a company that makes money from selling meat be in charge of deciding what is healthy for kids to eat in schools? We wanted to write something about that very real, very pointed anger, in much the same way Rage Against The Machine (a band we both love) so often did. N'fa's word play here is as astute as it always is, with cross references, layers of meaning, and as always impeccable delivery. Musically I wanted to reflect that anger through sounds like the breaking glass on the snare drum, the imposing horns and the laser-gun battle main riff.

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You think I'm stupid, you know I'm not You think I think you're stupid, I know you're not You just a bunch of bad actors Acting like you care for our welfare but you're acting up It's a Game of Thrones that you play I know your method man you aim to bring the pain For the gain of the power, to reign for an hour You point and aim and rain down the showers of the bullets when you pull it But see you never hold the guns you get young guns to do it Believing they the keepers of hope 'Cause you deceiving them Force feeding them freedom until they choke You're the semen of the demons in cloaks Sith lords who ship wars, laws, freedom and coke I don't believe a lot of history cause history's wrote By the hostile winners, Rothschild and co

You can't tell me what to do

We live in our own world We play by our own rules

I never retreated or conceded defeat 'Cause I could see the secrets in your fiendish deceit Yes I, a son of Judah with the Buddhist beliefs I use the internet to intercept the bullshit you teach Proper up of the propaganda of the beast N'fa, yeh, Thayer handling the beats If this life is real, then put me to sleep If I'm dreaming, wake me up I can't breathe I don't mean to be mean but if that's the way that it is Then perhaps you need to change the way you're faking your biz We wising up quick, young kids are mad deep We don't want wars, we all just want peace You see it like chess and we the chess piece Like we all lifeless While the media feeds the East and West with lies designed to make us believe That we need to be controlled when we need to be free

We live in our own world We play by our own rules

You can't tell me what to do

[thayernick]

DOMINION CDs are in my brand new merch store now! Signed and numbered limited edition run of 250. There's also t-shirts and posters. nickthayer.com/merch #iwantdominion #nickthayer

[thayernick]

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Drop That. The fourth of four tunes from Dominion EP out July 7th on nickthayer.com #iwantdominion #nickthayer

[thayernick]

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This is Inertia. The third of four tracks from my Dominion EP out July 7th on nickthayer.com

[thayernick]

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Crumbling Down featuring @zoephillips18 is the second of four tracks from my Dominion EP. Out July 7th on nickthayer.com #iwantdominion #nickthayer

[thayernick]

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Our Rules featuring @nfajones. This is the first of four tracks on my Dominion EP out July 7th on nickthayer.com. #iwantdominion

[thayernick]

Some points of clarification from my post yesterday.

Seeing as my post has been picked up and has had a much wider reach than I expected I want to clarify some points:

 - Artwork costs being $1000 / other EP expenses It has been commented that this is a lot. What I said is that this is artwork 'usable across ALL platforms'. That is, usable as a digital album picture, a sticker, an ad mat, tour art (vectorised and layered to make for easy adaptation) and more. I also paid for the original photo. I believe in paying people properly for their work. 

- Label deals / splits etc It has also been commented that labels will split costs on a 50/50 deal. Without going into the specifics of this contract, I paid for the art up front. The mastering expense (I just looked up a statement) was $1700 and was split with the label, so yes, that does alter my maths a little. I only tried to provide a rough guide anyway. I also mentioned other expenses. These include things such as vocal sessions and lawyers (for sample clearance and for record contracts). These came directly out of my pocket (the track with the sample was completed including clearance before the label was in the picture and a label is not going to pay for your lawyer to sort out a contract with them).

 - Travel expenses It has also been commented that venues should be paying for travel. The deals my US agent (AM Only) works on for me are all-in deals. They do not include flight shares. This is not the case for me worldwide (in Aus and NZ travel is certainly added on top of the fee), but I wanted to use a REAL tour to highlight the situation. 

I wrote this post as a way of being transparent. I spend money on things I think are important to my art, in this case the costs of mastering and art fall into that category. I now do all my own mastering.

I will also say that yes, there are other streams of income for artists I didn't include. There is publishing (which is like a lottery and can vary from $5 to $5000 a year with apparently no reason), there are performance royalties (APRA in Australia) that again seem to operate largely on an arbitrary base. There are remixes and session work mixdowns the like too. My point was to isolate one EP and one associated tour.

Once again I want to state that I LOVE what I do. And I want to thank everyone who has ever supported me, bought my music, booked me for a show or let me stay on their couch.