#also Sandra's proud little look at Max. I love them

[stars-irises]

I absolutely love Chris trying to act casual after getting called on to play the alphabet game

Like look at him.

[crimsonandclover-kataclysm]

Chapter 2- She’s waiting for the bell

January, 1985. Hawkins, Indiana

Mrs. Simmons was resisting. Out of all the water aerobics participants, she was usually the most enthusiastic, but Diana knew that she had some recent health issues and her arthritis was causing her more frequent pain. She was complaining fairly often in this session, giving up on repetitions, and being overall disruptive. For a moment, Diana thought she was dealing with eighth graders again. Diana had come to realize that she really enjoyed teaching. And not just kids either- her time spent at the senior center was every bit as valuable. It had only been a few weeks, but Diana felt like she was gaining so much more than what she was giving, and on top of that, she was making money all the while.

Except Mrs. Simmons kept nagging Di about the pace being too quick, and that caused Diana to want to pull her hair out. And Mrs. Simmons’. 

Class finished, and Diana breathed a sigh of relief, smiling at Mrs. Ellis and Mrs. Poole as they waved goodbye. Toweling dry, she headed to the locker room to dress. She changed quickly into her new pair of loose-fitting, patterned capri pants and the flowing, lightweight blouse her mother insisted on buying her.

Sandra had woken her up early with Betty the Saturday after Hart gave the okay for Diana to work at the middle school. Without much hint to where they were going, Di slipped on some clothes and followed them out to the car. “Your teacher wardrobe is terrible,” her mother explained on the way to the Roane County Mall. “We are getting you some real clothes.” The sentiment wasn’t totally unfair - Diana was on a rotation of sweatshirts and had just worn a hole through her last pair of black leggings. However, from the crowded racks of clothes in the department store to the utter lunacy of finding something in Diana’s price range that she actually liked, less than half an hour was necessary for Diana to remember why she absolutely detested shopping. As it turned out, she was almost grateful to Betty and her mother for the fact that she spent more time in the fitting rooms than on the floor. She didn’t hate trying things on. Just decision making. And dealing with strangers.

The trip yielded some pretty good results. Diana walked out with two new pairs of leggings, around seven loose and breathable blouses, and three types of pants that allowed for movement. Looking at herself in the locker room mirror, she had to admit that it was an improvement on what she wore to her first week. She tugged the scrunchie out of her hair so that loose waves of chocolate fell around her shoulders. As she studied her reflection, she didn’t hate what she saw. Objectively, she looked like an athlete, with broad shoulders that lead down to slim, toned arms, a trimmed waist, and the muscular legs of a runner. She had her mom to thank for her thick, dark hair, and most of her facial features as well. Solid blue eyes fanned by curled lashes, a delicately shaped nose, and a wide, toothy smile. She liked that she favored her mother. Really, the only features of her father’s that she wanted to keep were her naturally thick eyebrows and the small dimple in the middle of her chin. She stayed out of the sun for fear of adopting her father’s olive complexion. Diana thought she looked earthy, like she was always two steps removed from living on a desert island, so she brought out the feminine features that she did have by wearing makeup only shaded in soft pinks. Irrational as it was, she felt like rounding out the angles of her face distanced herself from Kenneth’s sharp jawline and cheekbones.

Blinking a few times at her reflection, Diana remembered that she left her bike at school opting to just walk to the gym. However, 24 Hour Fitness was located on Washington and Kinley, just a block down from the General Store, meaning she was closer to home. Going back to school for the bike would just take her out of the way. She liked running anyway. Zipping up her coat as high as she could and tightening her shoelaces and backpack straps, Diana took off out of the gym in order to make it to her house by dark, prepared for it to be much cooler than it was. Hawkins had been considerably less predictable in regards to the weather over the past couple of months. Despite it being the second week of January, the temperature was quite high, sitting around fifty degrees mid-afternoon. Di actually began to sweat underneath her coat, even with the fading sunlight. All around her were barren trees, though, and the sky was perpetually fixed on a dull gray. She turned the corner onto her street. As she passed the neighboring houses, she noticed a familiar figure standing on his porch repping bicep curls with a barbell. She could have sworn that Billy Hargrove almost smiled at her.

Schoolwork was becoming a little more difficult to juggle. Almost a month into the semester, Di was having to find a balance between homework, keeping in shape, maintaining her chores, teaching water aerobics, and some odd babysitting jobs here and there. Working with Coach Hart had turned out to be the least disruptive part of her schedule, and she was still having a blast doing it. Even the most mundane of tasks became the work that Diana looked forward to completing, the jobs that gave her the most satisfaction. When Hart told her that she could reorganize the equipment closet to season and relevance, she walked in proud with her mother’s label maker. Going above and beyond to create a specific and up to date inventory for herself, she went so far as to include benchmarks on required upkeep for the equipment and the time periods that those would have to be managed. And even all of that didn’t include the fun of teaching.

Diana Miller, for most of the time, was perfectly fine being left alone. Though she enjoyed company of many different types of people, she wasn’t uncomfortable being in her own head. But Diana could totally and completely admit that she was at her happiest when working with the kids at the middle school. Smart and witty, the eighth graders kept Di on her toes, and it helped that they were weird. Having grown up being the tall, athletic girl who spent a summer traipsing the country with her single mother, Diana knew weird. But she was nothing compared to the students she worked with, and it was fun for her to see their personalities and watch them interact. Above all, she truly loved helping them. Several had approached her outside of class to ask advice on high school courses and social entanglements, to which she would respond happily and honestly.

And even though she knew it was wrong, she had picked out her favorites. She was convinced that some of the best students did not really need her as a teacher at all, and then the others, who may have struggled, made up for their physical deficiencies in intelligence and work ethic. There was Libby, who reminded Diana of a younger version of herself. Strong-willed and fast, Libby could kick the lights out of anyone who challenged her in soccer and tennis. Sam had a great arm- he could pitch and toss and catch, and he made a point to help out those who struggled. Christine could recite each bone in the body without hesitation while also knowing the best exercises to keep up the different functions within the body. Max Hargrove was also among the naturally gifted, gliding quickly whenever wheels were placed beneath her feet. She hung around a lanky kid named Lucas who, at the very least, had phenomenal aim.

Then there was Dustin. Diana absolutely adored Dustin. He had very little inherent athletic ability, but he was bright and positive, and he made a point to respond enthusiastically to each and every one of her suggestions. She had the vague thought that he may have had a little crush on her, but as long as he did his work to the best of his ability, she wasn’t bothered by it.

Birdies were flying over volleyball nets in the gym, and the fault was completely Diana’s. The idea of Badminton always appealed to her, and she had convinced Coach to test out a unit with a few cheap birdies and tennis rackets. With the birdies being so lightweight, there was less inflicted damage than in tennis, and typically it didn’t require as much strength or precision to succeed. Students really seemed to enjoy playing, and Gracie was dominating everyone she faced. Dustin seemed distracted, though, and Diana understood why when Steve entered the gym toward the end of class.

Steve Harrington stood tall and proud with hair that just didn’t quit. He was something of class royalty among the seniors, and Betty had been crushing on him since about the fourth grade. He noticed Dustin and gave a slight nod, taking a seat on the furthest set of bleachers and resting his shoulders on his knees, eyes alert with a grin on his face. From then on, Dustin was a mess. Hyperactive laughing, inattentive and bumping into other kids, maybe hitting two out of seven birdies in total (except Diana was counting the one that soared over the net straight into Dustin’s forehead, which she considered pretty generous), all while his eyes flitted back and forth from Steve.

Coach blew the whistle, and the kids routinely put back all the equipment and headed into the locker rooms to change. As she was checking the rackets, Steve sauntered over to Diana.

She looked up, raising her eyebrows as she tutted reproachfully. “You, sir, are not allowed in here anymore. Poor Dustin lost his mind.”

Steve huffed out a laugh, rubbing his fingers over his lips. “Yeah, the little shit stinks, doesn’t he?” Diana nodded, a grin stretched wide across her face. “We’ve got a standing library date- he helps me with the books, I help him with the looks, you know.”

Diana heard Steve, and started to contort her face into a reaction, but Calculus swam in front of her eyes, mixing with French to form its own terrifying language. Steve noticed her pale in color. “You alright, Di?” he asked warily, turning his head to glance around the room, his hand going to the small of her back protectively.

She shook her head quickly, vision blanking before settling on his look of concern. “What? Oh, yes, just a lot of homework.” A lot.

“Come to the library with us. We’ll keep you on track,” he offered with a weak smile, pulling his hand away and crossing his arms over his chest. Breathing a sigh of relief as he could only do after watching someone look as if they were seeing a ghost. Or something else. She shot him a thoughtful glance before nodding yes. In the time it took for Dustin to rejoin them, Di was able to finish tidying up the gym, closing up the electric blue matting on the wall that covered the storage space for the volleyball net. Dustin’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a new addition to the group, especially this addition, Diana thought. As they began to walk out of the gym, Dustin started on what must have been twenty different questions for Steve. “How was your day? Did you ace that science quiz? Did you see me hit the birdie?-“ he continued speaking, barely letting Steve get a word in, and Diana thought briefly about the dramatic difference in Steve over the years.

The Harringtons lived away from the rest of the neighborhood, secluded in the woods outside of town. Those woods bordered the property across the street from the Millers, so it was a straight shot walking through about an eighth of a mile through trees to reach their house. When Kenneth left, Mrs. Harrington offered to help Sandra get back on her feet by having her be a semi-permanent babysitter to Steve. Though Steve and Diana had gone to school with one another all their lives, they only began to really speak in the spring of their third grade year. Steve’s parents were top businessmen, so they went away frequently. Because Steve practically lived with Di, even at school they were inseparable, playing together during recess, sitting next to one another in class, pairing off on homework. Steve quickly became her adopted brother, and Sandra loved the bond of their little fragmented family. A year and a half later, when Sandra was able to support herself and pick up more jobs, and the Harringtons came home more often, Di and Steve would still interact. However, people get older, and people change, so though they were always cordial and though their friendship would never really dissipate, it also never really was the same. And then Steve grew tall and handsome and popular, and Di grew tall and pretty and reserved. Both of them knew they could have been better friends for longer, but neither of them ever challenged it as they grew apart.

Dustin was still talking while the three of them stopped at his locker. Out of the corner of her eye, Di could see Max and Lucas, close enough to one another to be holding hands discreetly. Lucas said something that made Max belly laugh, and a smile crept across Diana’s face at seeing Max light up the way she did. Suddenly, Max pulled away from Lucas, eyes focused on the clock hung above the door, “Shit, I’m late.” Lucas nodded frantically heading in the opposite direction to the trio. “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he called. Max gave a short nod and ran towards the front of the school building.

By this point, Dustin had stopped speaking. He was looking at Steve with a funny expression- wide eyed and open mouthed. Steve shook his head and shrugged. Whatever was happening in this exchange, Diana didn’t understand, so she began walking the same path Max took to the entrance. The two boys followed a little further behind, and Diana heard hushed whispers, rolling her eyes at the secrecy. Books held against her body with one hand, she pushed the door open, noticing the passenger door slam on the bright blue Camaro parked right out front. Billy looked livid, breathing heavily with his fists clenched at his sides. He was in the same position as the last time she saw him outside the school, leaning against the trunk of his car. Hearing the sound of the door, his eyes shot up to her. Studying her, she saw that same sly smile play at his lips, however it was gone as soon as it had come. His eyes were focused behind her.

“Harrington!” he called, almost angrily, pushing off of his vehicle and strutting toward the three of them. “What’d I tell you?” His gait was slow and relaxed as he strode toward Steve. Dangling out of his mouth was a cigarette, and as he walked past Diana, his eyes flickered to her and then back to the boys behind her.

Relaxing back on his heels, Steve matched Billy’s stride until there was only a foot between them. Dustin was almost entirely behind Steve until Di’s fingers cinched around the arm of his coat sleeve and she yanked him toward the bike rack. “What are you on about, Hargrove?” Steve was calm and resolute, and Billy wrapped his arm around Steve’s shoulders.

Steve tensed with Billy’s hand gripping him so tightly. They were close enough that Steve might as well have been enjoying the cigarette too, tendrils of smoke billowing up into his face. When Billy spoke, his attention was toward the ground and his voice was low. “Plenty of bitches. I just… you know, I wish you’d saved me this one,” he took the cigarette out of his mouth as he spoke, gesturing in small sympathetic waves.

Diana watched the odd exchange closely, and though she was not able to discern what Billy said, she did see the muscle in Steve’s jaw tense. She watched him elbow Billy away, responding with a quick, “Screw you.” Taking large steps to close the distance between him and Dustin.

Billy turned slowly, a smirk settled upon his face as his eyes followed the three of them. He saw just enough red to give him that rush. The kind that rose like flames through his gut but didn’t yet overcome his actions. Then he remembered that Max made him wait again, on top of King Steve winning out and getting the one girl that interested him. His fingernails dug into the palms of his hands, enough to draw blood to the surface. Eyes narrowed and mouth clamped shut, he took slow, careful steps toward his car.

Steve was mum on his interaction with Billy. No matter how many times Dustin pestered him about it, he pinched his lips closed and shook his head. Diana figured adding fuel to the fire wasn't appropriate, so she sat quietly and studied her history notes. The quiet shuffling of bodies through the library helped her concentrate, and by the time Dustin and Steve were ready to leave, she had accomplished nearly twice as much more than she would have at home, she suspected. The three parted ways after Steve drove them back to the school so Di could get her bike, and she started home, standing on the pedals for more power. Wind nipped at Diana’s cheeks, and with the change in weather, even her coat wasn’t offering her too much protection. As she rode down her street, she noticed Max sitting on the steps outside her house with a roll of duct tape and her skateboard, split in two. Skidding to a stop, she propped her bike up on the mailbox and walked toward Max, sitting down next to her on the stoop. Max gave her a small smile, but Diana could tell by the aggression in her taping up her board that smiling was not something she felt like doing.

“Isn’t it a little cold for you to be out here doing this?” Diana asked, grabbing the two parts of the board and holding them still so Max could tape evenly.

Max lined up the tape precisely and pressed it down with care, smoothing out any creases and bubbles.Then she grumbled, tilting her head toward the house, “I wasn’t about to do it in there.” Di nodded as she twisted her lips to the side, helping Max rip the tape after a few more wraps.

“The hell is this?” Max tensed out of recognition. Circumstances with Billy had improved after their tête-a-tête at the Byers’ back in November, but now that things had calmed and Max wasn’t wielding a bat chock full of nails, Billy’s anger had started to get the best of him. They had an… understanding, but Max knew he hated the town and missed California more than he would let on. And since he wouldn’t talk about it, all he knew to do was get angry. Max respected that he was unhappy, she just wished he would distinguish between anger at a situation and anger at her. His inflection as he stood on the walk with his thumbs holding the waistline of his jeans was not angry though. From the lifted corner of his mouth to his raised eyebrow, Max thought it might have been playful.

Diana’s eyes scanned up Billy’s figure until she met his gaze. “Just saw your sister needed some help. I figure I’ve got the time.” Billy gave a slight nod, still wearing that signature smirk of his. “Besides, it must take a real creep to break a kid’s skateboard.” Max’s eyes shot up wide at Diana, while Billy’s narrowed at the challenge.

“Yeah, well to be fair, Maxine can be a piece of shit.”

Diana was not impressed, lifting up to her feet and dusting off her jeans. “From what I hear, so can her brother.” Her glare matched the intensity of the full, toothy smile that crept over his face.

His voice dropped half an octave as he took a step closer. “Oh? What else do you hear about me?”

His question was met with no response as Diana turned to Max, her cheeks heating up in frustration. “Maxine, if you ever need anything, I live in that house,” she pointed for emphasis. “Please do not hesitate to come by. You-“ she turned quickly to Billy, “you shouldn’t make a habit of breaking other people’s things. It could come back to bite you.” Billy’s mouth opened, but he didn’t say anything. Instead, his tongue swiped across his teeth in a laugh as Di jogged to her bike, throwing her leg over and pedaling away. Max’s gaze was fixed on Billy, whose eyes followed Diana down the street and as she took the steps by twos to her house. His hand came toward Max, and she almost fell off the step in trying to protect her board. It was a shock then, when Billy’s hand landed on top of her head, his fingers giving her hair a light ruffle. She looked at him, mouth agape, but he was still staring at the Miller house, fingertips of his other hand trailing over the grin on his lips.

[jessicakehoe]

Here’s All the Culture News You Missed This Week

Ryan Murphy released a first look at his upcoming series Halston Iconic American fashion designer Roy Halston—most closely associated with 1970s glitz and glam—is getting a biopic courtesy Ryan Murphy (the creator of The Assassination of Gianni Versace). Ewan McGregor plays Halston, who rose to prominence when he designed a pillbox hat for Jackie Kennedy in 1961, going on to launch his own ready-to-wear line in 1969 and becoming the designer of choice for the Studio 54 set in the decade that followed. In a since-deleted Instagram post that shared a teaser of the Netflix series, Murphy wrote, “After a long 20 years of twists and turns, the limited series Halston starring the fantastic Ewan McGregor began production today. I am so proud of our director and leader Dan Minahan, and Christine Vachon of Killer Films. I am thrilled to be producing this great and meaningful show with them and Alexis Martin Woodall and Pamela Koffler.”

Ewan McGregor as Halston and Rory Culkin as Joel Schumacher shooting Ryan Murphy's Halston series and OMFG WE ARE LIVING FOR THIS SHIT ARE YOU KIDDING ME?https://t.co/TZmbEmwkry

— Tom & Lorenzo (@tomandlorenzo) February 20, 2020

Sandra Oh announced a new project with Amanda Peet Award-winning BBC show Killing Eve may have been renewed for a fourth season but its star Sandra Oh has signed on to another concurrent project, this time on Netflix. Amanda Peet is set to write, produce and showrun the series, which will be co-executive produced by Peet’s husband David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the duo behind HBO’s Game of Thrones. Titled The Chair, the six-episode dramedy revolves around the head of a university’s English department, played by Oh.

'Killing Eve' star Sandra Oh (@IamSandraOh) will play the title role in a six-episode Netflix dramedy from Amanda Peet and the creators of #GameOfThones. All the details: https://t.co/7lMgFji2uv

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) February 21, 2020

Grimes released her new album After her last album back in 2015, Canadian musician Grimes is back with her highly anticipated fifth studio album, Miss Anthropocene, which she dropped at midnight on February 21. The album features 10 tracks, three of which had already been released as singles in 2019: “So Heavy I Fell Through the Earth,” “Violence,” and “My Name Is Dark.” Grimes calls the sound of this new album “ethereal nu metal,” and according to Pitchfork, the “convoluted” narrative of Miss Anthropocene is “about personifying climate change through a fictional cosmology of demons and villainesses giddily celebrating global warming as a force of good.”

View this post on Instagram

Miss Anthropocene is out everywhere now !!!!! Thanks everybody who put up with everything it rly means a lot 🥺 <link in bio> ___________________________________________ In loving memory of Lauren Valencia. Couldn’t have done it without you, glad you saw it to the end. Never Forget And special 🤍 to the team 🪐

A post shared by Grimes (@grimes) on Feb 21, 2020 at 12:02am PST

Gemma Chan received Max Mara’s Face of the Future award Following in the footsteps of Emily Blunt, Katie Holmes and Zoe Saldana, British-Chinese actress Gemma Chan is the latest recipient of the Women In Film Max Mara Face of the Future award. According to the brand, Chan was selected for her “confidence and poise with effortless glamour” for this prize, which is awarded annually to a woman “experiencing a turning point in her career.” Following her breakout role in Crazy Rich Asians, Chan’s upcoming projects include Marvel film The Eternals alongside Kumail Nanjiani, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie, and Let Them All Talk with Meryl Streep and Lucas Hedges.

View this post on Instagram

Honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Women In Film x #MaxMara Face of the Future Award. Thank you for inviting me to your beautiful show @maxmara

A post shared by Gemma Chan (@gemma_chan) on Feb 20, 2020 at 12:14pm PST

Ottawa Bluesfest announced its full 2020 lineup Ottawa music festival RBC Bluesfest has revealed the full lineup for its 2020 program, which features Rage Against the Machine, blink-182, Daniel Caesar, Charlotte Day Wilson and Marshmello among many others. The 10-day festival in July also features one very special performer: Alanis Morissette, who will be making a stop in LeBreton Flats as part of her Jagged Little Pill anniversary tour. Tickets for the festival are now on sale.

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It's here! The #RBCBluesfest2020 lineup! 1-Day Presale starts Weds., Feb. 19th at 10AM. Stay tuned to www.ottawabluesfest.ca. ☝️link in bio • • • #RBCBluesfest #ottawabluesfest #musicfestival #summer #ottawa #rageagainstthemachine #jackjohnson #alanismorissette #marshmello #danielcaesar #thenational #boyz2men #vancejoy

A post shared by RBC Bluesfest (@ottawabluesfest) on Feb 17, 2020 at 9:35pm PST

The post Here’s All the Culture News You Missed This Week appeared first on FASHION Magazine.

Here’s All the Culture News You Missed This Week published first on https://borboletabags.tumblr.com/

[jessicakmatt]

Writing an Effective Music Bio: The Musician’s Guide

Writing an Effective Music Bio: The Musician’s Guide: via LANDR Blog

Your step-by-step guide to writing an effective music bio.

Writing an artist bio is one of the hardest things to do as a musician. It’s hard enough to write—let alone write about yourself!

But your music bio is one of the most important parts of your musician press kit. Especially once you release music, you need a solid promotion plan. So a good bio is your starting point.

Your bio is a key tool that communicates why people should care about you and your music. A good bio gets people intrigued to listen to your music—especially if you’re not already known. It may well be the reason why more people come see your show!

You need an ‘about’ blurb for all your social channels, gigs and festival applications because people crave the stories and context behind the music.

So here’s your step-by-step guide to writing your best artist bio possible with tips from seasoned professionals.

1. Take Notes

Open up a blank document on your computer. Write down all your basic info and everything you consider a milestone in your music career. Point form is fine!

Need some help? Answer these questions:

Where are you based?

When did you start making music, releasing music and/or playing shows?

What was the ‘aha’ moment that made you start making music?

What genre can people expect to hear?

How do you describe your sound? Get specific.

What are your influences?

What are your releases so far? (EPs, albums, mixes, remixes, etc.)

What are the most notable shows you’ve played?

What are you doing right now (touring, recording, collaborating, etc.)?

What other related projects are you involved in (a radio show, event organizing, etc.)?

2. Start Simple

Once you’ve filled out the bullet points above, you’re ready to start writing.

Begin by fleshing out your notes into full sentences. Write in the third person (i.e. “He/She/They” instead of “I”). Start with a factual, neutral tone.

Avoid opinion based phrases like: Incredibly influential, critically acclaimed, wickedly talented, etc. Leave that up to journalists and fans.

In the editing phase, make your music bio more writerly. Think about how the sentences flow one after the other. Read it out loud to see how it sounds—it’ll give you a good idea if it reads well.

Write everything you need to, then edit ruthlessly. Cut out 50%.

If it’s too hard to even start, ask someone else to help you write it. Pick someone with writing experience. Give them the bullet point notes and your music for reference. Ask for an honest draft—and compensate when necessary!

3. Edit and Style

Structure is Key

Split up your text into 2-3 easy to read paragraphs.

The first paragraph should be the most important one—journalists might copy-paste only that part when writing about you. It should give a good picture of who you are as an artist, what kind of music you play and your top achievements (shows, releases, collaborations).

Go more in depth in the second paragraph. Give some background. But no need to go too far back either… “Sandra became a music lover at age 9 when she first heard the Beatles…” That’s unnecessary!

The last paragraph should be about what you’re currently working on.

Once you have that, rewrite three versions of your music bio:

The ‘Tweet’ version (one-liner)

The short one paragraph version (150-200 words)

The longer 3 paragraph version (max 300-400 words)

Do it With Style

Don’t over-embellish or distort the truth. Even if you aren’t an international touring artist, find the thing that makes you special and focus on that. You don’t need to have a won Grammy to write an interesting bio.

Don’t name drop too much. You’ve opened or played with famous artists? Name 1-2, those that matter the most and best match your stylistic affinities. Even better: describe your musical aesthetic without falling back on other artists.

Hot Tip: Train yourself to become specific at describing music and sound by reading a lot of good music journalism—for example The Quietus, The Wire or the book How to Write About Music. Also read record descriptions on online stores like Beatport, Hardwax, Bleep or Boomkat. You’re a music fan anyways, so it’ll be fun!

Get a few writer friends to thoroughly spellcheck and edit your bio. The spellcheck again!

If it makes sense for the kind of music and scenes you’re involved it, add some humour. If it doesn’t fit the music, abstain yourself.

Go Global

Consider translating your bio into 1-2 other languages by natives or professional translators. A background in music will help—music genres have a lot of quirks that not all translators will get. Choose wisely!

Think of what audience and countries your music is reaching. When you release with LANDR, check your dashboard to see where your music is streaming the most. Translate your bio into the languages of the top 3 countries.

Keep it Fresh

Don’t forget to update your music bio often—take a pass at it every month or so. Edit it based on new accomplishments, releases, shows and projects.

4. Tips From People Who Read Hundreds of Artist Bios

We asked some industry professionals to give us their best tips for writing music bios. Take notes!

PATTI SCHMIDT — festival curator and radio personality

Patti Schmidt is a curator for the world-renowned MUTEK festival. She writes most of the bios on their website. She also has over two decades of experience writing for radio—everything from short blurbs to 10-page artist profiles.

Patti’s DOs

When I’m reading artist bios, I’m always looking for a conceptualization of the artist. I like a little bit of background: Where did you start? What was the revelatory entry point into creating or producing?

Think about your audience—who is the bio for? Make several versions for several audiences: for the public on your social media, for festival submissions, for press.

Think about the experience you offer as an artist. The bio should make people excited to come see your shows.

I’m always trying to get people interested in something they don’t know they might like. So I’m searching for that nugget, that thing that conveys what is touching or interesting about an artist. I want people to come see it.

Describe your aesthetic with attention to precision and what is unique about you.

When it comes to music, you’re trying to create entry points—especially if you’re an experimental artist. This is big point of debate, because some artists think that their art should stand on its own. But that doesn’t help me! My business has always been to convey. It’s not about dumbing it down, but creating access points.

Patti’s DON’Ts

Avoid a long list of releases and reviews. The music bio should not seem like a series of record reviews or lists. Mentioning recorded work can be helpful in understanding an artist, but it’s just one component to use judiciously.

Stay away from comparisons to other artists—treat yourself as a unique artist.

Avoid passive sentences. Use the active voice—where the subject of your sentence performs the verb. For example:

Passive voice: Boundaries get pushed by Aurora Halal’s music, which mesmerizes in a bold quest for both experimentation and intimacy.

Active voice: Aurora Halal’s music pushes boundaries and mesmerizes in a bold quest for both experimentation and intimacy.

Avoid boilerplate genre identifications. ‘Electronic’ is much too broad. Even ‘techno’ could use more specifics. Is it hypnotic, dreamy, dark or inspired by 90s Detroit?

CHRISTINE KAKAIRE — music journalist and editor

Christine Kakaire is a music journalist, editor, copywriter, curator and radio host. She writes for all the biggest names in music journalism—Pitchfork, Resident Advisor, Red Bull Music Academy, Boiler Room, Ableton, Google Play, Berlin Community Radio and Electronic Beats.

Christine’s DOs

Shorter is better. If you’ve been making music for multiple decades then take up more space—if not, 300 words is more than sufficient.

Cover your top 4-5 achievements you are the most proud of.

Include descriptions of your music and sound in your own words. This makes your bio more personal.

If someone is reading your bio in full, it’s because they already have an interest in you—let the music do the selling for you.

This is a functional piece of text geared towards media, bookers and promoters. Journalists will most likely just cut and paste the first couple of paragraphs… so front load the first paragraph with a brief overview of your most recent stuff and talk about historical stuff later.

If you’re writing it yourself, get another person to check it before you publish.

If your music bio is being written in a language that isn’t your native tongue, ask a native speaker to check the grammar.

Always: SPELL CHECK!

Christine’s DON’Ts

If you’ve been active as an artist for a while, no need to include every single gig, remix, track, release, review from your entire career. A music bio should be a highlight reel, not a longhand version of your Discogs profile.

Of course your bio should be positive, but avoid filling it with over-the-top adjectives. Substance always beats style. If you’re not sure, err on the side of toning it down.

Don’t open with “John’s love of music started when he heard X band on the radio for the first time…” 99% of bios have a similar opening sentence.

Avoid long laundry lists of names, venues, record labels or festivals within sentences. Most readers will lose interest by the 4th or 5th name, so only include the most relevant ones.

Never skip the spell check. Check and double check that all proper nouns (names of people, record labels, magazines etc.) are spelled and formatted correctly.

CHRISTOPHER CARGNELLO — composer and songwriter

Christopher Cargnello is a composer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He’s toured the world, written music for TV and topped the Quebec charts with his band Skinny Bros. He’s also been hired to write multiple bios for other artists.

Christopher’s DOs

Focus on career achievements more than telling your backstory.

Know (and use) correct lingo. It looks bad when a musician gets these terms wrong in their bio. It also looks awkward when an up-and-coming artist writes that they “performed with” a really big act when in fact they just performed at the same festival–maybe even on the same stage, but much earlier in the day.

Here are some terminology tips:

“Shared the stage with” means you were an opening act. Usually in a one-off situation (as opposed to touring with someone as their opening act).

“Performed with” means you were on stage with that artist while they performed, usually in their band, or as a featured performer during their show.

“Compose” usually means you wrote the instrumental portion of a song.

“Write” usually means that you wrote the lyrics.

If you’re speaking about hip hop and electronic music, “produce” means you were essentially the “beat-maker”—the person who created the instrumental track. But if you’re speaking about country, folk, rock, or other kinds of more organic music, “produce” means you were the record producer—more of a creative manager during a recording session.

Nowadays the term “composer” generally refers to someone who writes music for TV and film.

The term “songwriter” generally refers to someone who writes pop songs that contain lyrics and instrumental accompaniment.

Be ready to edit the shit out of your bio. Especially if you have lots of achievements. Shorten or remove some facts to make space for others.

When the list gets too long—especially with touring locations—lump them together in geographic regions. If you had gigs in the United States, Guadeloupe, Cuba, Trinidad & Tobago, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand… just say that you “toured across the United States, the Caribbean, and Southeast Asia.”

Mention something that you are currently doing! Even if you don’t have much going on at the moment, it’s better to say “Max is currently working on new, original material” than to say nothing at all.

Christopher’s DON’Ts

Don’t write bios that are too long. If it’s for an award ceremony or a festival website, give them 1-2 paragraphs, less than 200 words. If it’s for industry people, get everything into 3-4 paragraphs—under 400 words.

You want your music bio to be compelling. Rely on interesting and impressive facts, not clever wording, to make up the bulk of your bio.

Don’t try to stretch an inch into a mile and make it sound like you’ve toured the world and recorded with every important person over the past decade. A small number of achievements written in a factual, confident manner reads way better than a bloated list of hyperboles.

Don’t write every single festival you’ve played at. It’s better to only mention a few. For example: “Camille is a true veteran of the Canadian festival circuit, having performed at dozens from coast to coast, including Halifax Jazz Fest, Francofolies in Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver Folk Fests.”

5. Where to Put Your Music Bio

Now that you have a killer bio it’s time to make sure it hits home.

Here are the places you should put it:

Your artist website and/or electronic press kit (EPK)

Your social media profiles (Facebook, Resident Advisor, Instagram, etc.)

Your streaming profiles (SoundCloud, Mixcloud, Bandcamp, YouTube, Spotify*, Apple Music*, etc.)

*You may need to request access or get verified to edit these.

Don’t forget to make sure you keep it updated!

6. Get Inspired

If you’re still having trouble, read some good music bios to get inspired.

Pay close attention to what’s included in each bio and how it’s written (style, grammar, etc.). Does it make you want to listen to an artist’s music? Does the tone fit the artist’s image and music? That’s what you should aim for.

Here are some places to look for great music bios:

MUTEK festival

Moog Fest

Primavera Sound

Lapsus Festival

4AD

Ninja Tune

True Panther

Your Bio is Key

Writing a drum-tight music bio is the key component of a good music promotion campaign.

Your bio is the tool that will get journalists, festival-goers and future fans intrigued by you. It’s the way you represent your image and music to the world before they even press play.

Words have power—the power to get more people to come see your show and listen to your music.

Remember to make your music bio unique, keep it short and spell check!

Thanks to Patti Schmidt, Christine Kakaire, Christopher Cargnello, Sarah Lamb, Dave Vega, , Ruth Grader, Lowebrau, Grey People, Bruno Belluomini and Volvox for their precious contribution to this article.

The post Writing an Effective Music Bio: The Musician’s Guide appeared first on LANDR Blog.

from LANDR Blog http://blog.landr.com/music-bio/ via https://www.youtube.com/user/corporatethief/playlists from Steve Hart https://stevehartcom.tumblr.com/post/162401633489