Networking, residencies, touring: making it as an independent artist

Belarusian ambient music artist Anton Anishchanka shares his experience.

28.12.2024

knowledge

Чытаць па-беларуску

For independent artists, crafting a successful career often feels like a balancing act between creativity and practicality. This guide, inspired by notes from an online workshop by Radio Plato Education featuring Belarusian ambient music artist Anton Anishchanka, explores the critical pillars of thriving in the modern music landscape: networking, residencies, and touring. Drawing from years of firsthand experience, Anton shares insights into his journey, from experimental beginnings and organizing international tours to navigating residencies and promoting music. His story is a testament to the resourcefulness, resilience, and connection-building required to forge a path in the independent music world.

<h2>My musical journey</h2>

– Approximately eight years ago, I became actively involved in music, got into sound experiments and various creative practices, including field recordings. My first experience of this kind was at a laboratory in Apatity, Murmansk Oblast, Russia where I was introduced to non-acoustic microphones and alternative methods of sound recording. This inspired me to create the band called 5/4 (five fourths), where we combined percussion instruments, cello, and keyboards with electronics and field recordings, experimenting with sounds and their combinations during live performances across Belarus, including in Miensk and Viciebsk.

After that, I went on to co-create the Primary Noise project together with Pafnutiy, where I used field recordings and synthesizers alongside Pafnutiy's wind instruments, creating improvisational soundscapes on the fly during live performances. In 2023 we independently organized our first tour of Czech Republic, Germany and Austria thanks to our contacts in those countries.

Then I became interested in Belarusian folklore, which led me to the archives of the Institute of Art Studies at the Academy of Sciences. That marked the beginning of my ethnographic direction, so to speak. As a result, from the recordings I found there, I compiled an album called Płyn', which is yet to be released. The album is a mix of field recordings, traditional Belarusian songs, and synthesizers. I decided to explore the theme further, having been captivated by the depths of our Belarusian heritage, which reveal themselves more vividly in folklore music than in any popular genre. I wanted to work with living singers, as opposed to archive tapes, so I embarked on a four-day ethnographic expedition to the villages of Kapyl' and Slucak regions. Unfortunately, there are fewer and fewer old people who still sing traditional Belarusian songs in villages. During this expedition, I met Hanna Silivonchyk, with whom we created my next project Parus.

– Workshops are an attainable educational format with a participation fee. I wanted to share my experience of participating in CAMP, that is situated in the Pyrenees Mountains, on the border of France and Spain. The resident house where workshops were held and participants lived, was located in a small village, in a beautiful area in the mountains, with stunning views. The limited number of workshop participants – 10 to 15 people – created an intimate creative atmosphere. The participation fee covered accommodation, meals and excellent French wine.

The workshop was led by a number of world-class experts sharing their experience and knowledge with the participants. Our theme was eco-acoustics and focused on field recording and creating projects based upon it. The experts had different approaches. Some would delve deep into the theory, others would emphasize the practical approaches, while one decided to do a Q&A, which baffled many of the participants. My Italian friend Giovanni got upset and kept saying that it wasn't serious and a complete waste of money.

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But these workshops are about community and communication more than just about education. You get to hang out and work with extremely creative people you share interests with. Within weeks you can become close life-long friends working on projects together. Which makes the workshop a wonderful networking opportunity, which, of course, does not necessarily translate to material results. For example, the Parus album I presented was met with a lot of enthusiasm and discussions about releasing it on a label, but, unfortunately none of the participants could offer me any practical help with that, when I followed up with them later. On the other hand, though, I have been able to book a festival in Italy thanks to the acquaintances made there.

<h2>Artist residencies</h2>

– There are many types of artist residencies based on the creative field they focus on. Their format may be similar to that of workshops, but the educational component is usually not emphasized. Project-based residencies aim to create some type of an art product as a result – an album, a play, a performance, etc. The residency is usually based on a broadly defined topic, for example, "artificial intelligence and music," and each participant approaches the topic in their particular way.

The duration of residences is usually much longer than workshops, up to three to six months, and your living expenses are usually covered for the duration. Numerous applicants responding to an open call send in their portfolios, project and concept descriptions, which is why the competition is pretty tough and your chances of getting selected are generally not that high. Plus, responding to many of the open calls out there, you will find that adapting your project concept to the particular open call and finding the best-suited ones is huge amount of work in itself.

Which is why, networking may be your shortcut to getting a residency instead. Personal connections made during workshops, festivals and other events can be a good way in. In my opinion this approach is more effective, as you are getting invited based on your reputation and experience.

There are also so-called networking and research residences. They are also focused on exploring a broadly-formulated topic, such as, for instance "Identity" through facilitating participant collaboration. They are all about shared experiences and short-term collaborations, rather than creating a final product. These types of residencies are usually short-term – around a week or so – and include expert talks, panel discussions, etc.

There are also individual artist residencies, that offer creative living spaces in artist houses and studios. The participants cover the accommodation and food out of their pocket, but get access to the unique facilities and local resources. This option would suit an independent artist working at their own pace but willing to share the studio space with other artists.

We do have some workshops for sound artists in Belarus as well. For instance, Uladzimir Patapienka's "Indukcyja" short-term program. We also organize on-site field recording and sound perception workshops that last three to eight days and invite experts in the field sharing their knowledge with the participants.

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<h2>Booking tours</h2>

– I book venues for my projects myself. In order to do that I try to make the best of the opportunities that the social networks give us. For example, by checking out an Instagram post with a tour schedule of a musician in your niche, you may already get a list of venues you can talk to about organizing shows. Another example is checking out festivals in your niche. While, in my experience, it is harder to get booked for festivals, you can instead check out the venues where they are held and contact them directly for possible future dates. Such direct connections will be more useful than messaging or emailing general festival contacts.

Here are my top practical tips for d.i.y. tour organizing:

Keep a separate record of all your communications about the tour. Start a spreadsheet to keep track of contacts established, their responses, etc in order to not get lost in the avalanche of information that will come down upon you once you start putting together a tour.
Mind the seasonal nature of the event industry. Most smaller venues are usually either closed or don't attract the best attendances from July to September.
Be geographically realistic about planning your tour's route. Booking dates all across Europe might seem cool, but will prove physically exhausting and financially draining.
Start the tour in places you have good personal contacts in that can guarantee you payment. You don't want to go in the red at the very start of the tour.
Planning should ideally start about six months before the tour. Some places may take weeks and months to get final confirmation, not to mention potential cancellations and re-schedulings that will screw up your entire planned route. Don't forget, you also juggling dates – not just places – while planning a tour.
Make the best of your connections, using referrals and personal recommendations. If things don't work out in one spot, don't be shy to ask about a good local venue alternative.
Squats are always a great option for independent artists. While they will often offer you donation-based payment for the performance, they will happily host and feed you, not to mention the drinks etc. Besides, squats are multi-genre venues with quality, though not always numerous, audiences.
Be prepared to rely on yourself for everything: getting from the airport to the venue and back, doing the sound checks etc. For an independent lesser known artist without his own sound engineer and tour manager complete self-reliance is the best policy.
Keep track of your expenses, such as meals, on the road. They are constant and unavoidable and may quickly rack up. And minimize your baggage, of course, not to the detriment of your rig and sound.
Fatigue management is key! Over time I have worked out the following tour scheduling system for myself. Get to the first venue the day before, which is especially relevant with the unpredictable Belarusian borders. You can then play up to three dates in different cities in a row, after which two days' rest is mandatory. Usually this mini-break will recharge your batteries enough to do three more cities in a row.

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<h2>Releasing and promoting music</h2>

I am rather sceptical about sending your releases to labels. From my experience, without personal connections such campaigns are minimally effective. Another area where networking absolutely rules. Without those well-established connections, it makes sense to self-publish digital releases instead while also independently promoting them.

Besides utilizing your own social network accounts to that end, do your best to get through to the music media. Write a press release – a one-page PDF with artist and album description (with all the links included) will suffice. Start a spreadsheet for the music media that cover your genre niche, but, most importantly, for the journalists that write for them. You will find their names in the reviews and articles in those very same media. Music journalists are often freelancers that may write for more than one publication, so having such personal contacts may prove even more effective than you had anticipated. Do not shy away from writing to major media such as The Wire, XLR8R, Crack Magazine, or The Guardian, although, of course, it is more realistic to get a response from local or regional publications. Most importantly, start this promo campaign about four months before the release date, as most media have content plans prepared two-three months in advance.

Promo agencies deserve a separate mention, although it might me challenging to find one for your type of music. A google search will probably yield either numerous Spotify playlist promotion subscription-based services – and I can't comment on their effectiveness from experience – or large commercial promo agencies that seem to be involved in all genres of music at once. It would make more sense to seek out promo specialists for your niche, and those may be tougher to find. Here, once again, networking and personal recommendations are key in finding the best fit for you.

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