{"id":220,"date":"2008-06-11T16:32:00","date_gmt":"2008-06-11T16:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2008\/06\/interview-with-ingrid-michaelson.html"},"modified":"2008-06-11T16:32:00","modified_gmt":"2008-06-11T16:32:00","slug":"interview-with-ingrid-michaelson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/lessonsfromarecoveringdoormat\/2008\/06\/interview-with-ingrid-michaelson.html","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Ingrid Michaelson"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Ingrid Michaelson<\/span><\/a> is a signer\/songwriter from Staten Island. She released her Girls and Boys<\/span><\/a> album in 2005, with a college radio campaign and a few festivals, which created a small buzz. Not able to quit her day job at that point, she couldn\u2019t go out on tour. So she didn\u2019t expect too much to happen for her music career. Then she put songs on MySpace. A music licensing company found her there and they started working together. It evolved into a management arrangement too. After licensing a song to Grey\u2019s Anatomy<\/span> in 2006, record sales increased. They chose to go slowly. Sales were more electronic than physical. Then Old Navy used her song, The Way I Am, in a TV commercial. Sales escalated and they got distribution with RED for the CD.<\/p>\n

Ingrid\u2019s SUCCESS proves that solid talent can rise to the top when people can become aware of it! Her original goal was to get a record deal. Now she\u2019s reconsidering that, as she likes having control of her musical destiny. I talked to Ingrid to get her take on her SUCCESS. She was very sweet, humble and grateful for what\u2019s happened for her career.<\/p>\n

How do you feel about being independent?<\/span> The whole idea was to see how far can we get before we signed. The further along I got, the more the idea of actually signing faded away. I still haven\u2019t totally crossed that off my mind. I don\u2019t know what the future holds. For now, I feel like the way my career is going and the way the major labels world is going, that I trust myself and feel safe with my own decisions. I know I\u2019m not going to drop myself! While I don\u2019t have a $200,000 push behind me and I\u2019m not getting my face plastered everywhere\u2014all the stuff major labels do, I get to choose where my money goes and what promotion happens. I\u2019m not seeking huge fame so I don\u2019t see a need now. If I can finance myself, why not? It\u2019s kind of a no-brainer at this point. But I don\u2019t ever pooh pooh record deals.<\/p>\n

Did you expect all of this to happen?<\/span> I never expected much. I thought, well, I\u2019ll put my stuff out there and see what happens. Every once in a while I\u2019d get these bursts of needing to figure out what I was doing and how am I going to make this work. And it would always come back to I couldn\u2019t leave and go on tour. I had to stay home and work. So I thought that this wasn\u2019t going to happen.<\/p>\n

The Old Navy commercial was part of the whole upward swing of my career. It was luck that somebody came across my profile on MySpace, heard my song and liked it. Of course it has to do with good songwriting. I didn\u2019t expect it to blow up like it did. That song was like the baby on the record. I didn\u2019t expect it to go much of anywhere. It only played for two weeks. There was nothing to identify me or the song. It was all about people seeking it out, which I think is kind of incredible. Our sales improved vastly. At first it was more digital sales but now it\u2019s become more physical. We have a lot of promotions going on in different retail stores.<\/p>\n

How did you progress after the first song was on Grey\u2019s Anatomy?<\/span> Record sales started to go up, so we ordered more. We started out really slow, with all indie stores, iTunes and CDBaby. I\u2019d periodically order more CDs but had more sales on iTunes though. Once the Old Navy commercial happened, we knew we had to step it up. So we got a whole bunch more. Now I have a distribution company\u2014RED.<\/p>\n

Why did you go slowly?<\/span> The pieces started coming together and we kept the demand higher than the product. We didn\u2019t want to overshoot it. That can be terrifying. So we have been inching along. Within the span of the past year and a half it seems to be going pretty fast. We could have made a lot of choices to speed things up but we kept holding the reins and keep holding the reins. Now I\u2019m at a point where we\u2019ve sold over 200,000 records and we\u2019re still selling. We\u2019re also aggressively touring across the country. Things have tapered off a little. That\u2019s how it is. It\u2019s peaks, then it goes down. Then it goes back up again and then goes down. As long as it doesn\u2019t go back down below the last low point, as long as it stays on a basic incline, then everything is good.<\/p>\n

You\u2019re on your first major tour. How do you feel about it?<\/span> I sort of went backwards. I sold the records before I went out on the road. Now I\u2019m trying to connect with the people who bought the record by going all over the country. I\u2019m not going to just sell records and not do anything. You have to follow through. I have to connect with these people who are fans now. They don\u2019t even know what I look like. A huge part of the music business is the live show. That\u2019s one thing that can never be replicated. You can make DVDs, people can watch you, they can steal your music. But there\u2019s nothing like the connection you make with people when they\u2019re at a show and you\u2019re all in the same room together. That\u2019s something that nothing can duplicate. And now record labels are trying to take touring money. Touring is a mixed thing for me. You feel displaced all the time, in a different city every day. It\u2019s sort of disorienting. But when you have a great show, it makes it all worth it. Connecting with fans is like a drug. Of course when a show is bad, you think what\u2019s the point?<\/p>\n

How would you like to be able to give back?<\/span> I\u2019d love to have my music in something I support. I\u2019m hoping, fingers crossed, that one of my songs is going to be tied to an organization [that\u2019s a charity I believe in]. Things like that make you feel more human.<\/p>\n

Is there anything you learned about having the right attitude that helped you? <\/span>Be thankful and grateful. Live it like it\u2019s going to be gone tomorrow. Enjoy it in the now. Be humble about it. You could be nothing next year. Treat everybody the same and with respect. Be grateful for everybody who comes to your show.<\/p>\n

What are you most grateful for?<\/span> There\u2019s so much. Right now I\u2019m most grateful for the people who have helped me make this life happen. I\u2019m also grateful that I was given a talent by some higher being or wherever it came from. I feel very lucky that I\u2019m able to make music that people like, that I like.<\/p>\n

Best advice for musicians who want be SUCCESSFUL? <\/span>You can\u2019t expect anything. But that doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t try really hard. Put your music in as many places as possible. And, align yourself with artists that you like. I have a great community of people in New York and a great community of people in L.A. It really helps to have friends, that you think are talented. Everybody looks out for each and helps everybody out. I opened
\nfor Josh Radin. He introduced me to different people. He\u2019s very sweet and helpful. Write music that\u2019s really from you and not what you think other people want you to make. That\u2019s what happened with my first record. I made songs I thought I should make.<\/p>\n

What does SUCCESS mean to you?<\/span> I want to have money when I\u2019m older. SUCCESS is being able to take care of yourself financially and being able to do the thing you were meant to do. If you\u2019re content, that\u2019s SUCCESS. And if you can do what you\u2019re passionate about and make a living out of it, that\u2019s really SUCCESS to me.<\/p>\n

Check out Ingrid Michaelson<\/span><\/a> and her music. She’s touring and may be coming to a city near you!<\/p>\n

If you enjoyed my post, please leave a comment and\/or click on the bookmark and write a short review at some of the sites, especially Stumbleupon and Digg. Thanks!

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