[00:00:00] James: Welcome to episode 212 of the Bandhive Podcast. It is time for another episode of the Bandhive Podcast. My name is James Cross and I help independent artists tour smart. This week, I am very proud to welcome the one, the only Todd Barriage to the show for not the first time, not the second time, not the third time, but the fourth time. This is an entire.

[00:00:21] James: Measure of Todd Barriage interviews. How's it going today, Todd?

[00:00:25] Todd: Man, it is going quite well. Thank you so much for having me again, again, again, and again.

[00:00:30] James: Oh, it's my pleasure. We always have a blast. was just saying before the episode started, I feel bad for Leland, our editor who has to deal with everything, all the sidetracks because we just get on

[00:00:41] Todd: the derailing we do.

[00:00:42] James: oh yeah, it's, uh, that would be a band name, the

[00:00:47] Todd: wonder if it is. I was about to look it up, but no, let's stay on

[00:00:49] James: No, I'm looking it up though.

[00:00:53] James: Oh, it is.

[00:00:54] Todd: had to be. It had to be.

[00:00:56] James: So we could just do what you did with Theatria. [00:01:00] The D Railers Ha

[00:01:03] Todd: railers.

[00:01:04] James: ha ha! The Railers Well first of all, this episode drops on December 19th Which has a couple birthdays! Your wife Katie as well as my mom Crystal So happy birthday to Katie and Crystal and whoever Else has a birthday on this lovely December 19th. Or if you're listening on the radiator December uh, 27th. But then also, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays, no matter which holiday you celebrate, to everyone who's listening, your families, your friends, all that good stuff, hopefully there's a nice snowy Christmas out there, without a blizzard, because last year we had a blizzard, and the power went out for six days, right around

[00:01:46] Todd: remember that. I remember that.

[00:01:47] James: Never again, please. Knock on wood. Happy holidays. With snow. But not too much snow. And electricity. But not too much electricity. Did you ever watch Wrist Cutters? A Love Story? Back in the day,

[00:01:58] Todd: No, I didn't.

[00:01:59] James: [00:02:00] The lead singer is basically the dude from Gogol Bordello. And the story is, he died because his mic wasn't grounded.

[00:02:06] Todd: Oh my gosh, that's a very real I've gotten some nasty shocks from microphones in my day. That's a thing.

[00:02:12] James: The amount of sound guys who use ground lifts where they shouldn't use ground lifts

[00:02:16] Todd: Yikes.

[00:02:16] James: And I mean like the little ones that go into the wall.

[00:02:19] James: Like the little ground lift switch on a DI box or whatever. Yeah, that's fine. But you don't want to use a ground lift on a 110 volt or 220 volt.

[00:02:27] Todd: Not on a thing that's actually powered.

[00:02:28] James: right, exactly. Anyway, that all said, Todd, I'm gonna shout out your past episodes here, and then we'll get you to reintroduce yourself. So, in order of appearance, We have number 81 from self producing artist to full time producer Todd Barriage starring as Todd Barriage You can find that at Bandhive.

[00:02:48] James: rocks slash 81. Then we have number 102 releasing a song every week Starring Todd Barriage as Todd Barriage. You can find that at Bandhive. rocks slash 102. That's the number [00:03:00] 102. And then number 173, the musicians grind why it's okay to press pause. Todd Barriage as himself. You can find that at Bandhive.

[00:03:08] James: rocks slash 173. And for everyone who doesn't remember those episodes or didn't listen to those because you're new to the podcast, Here's your quick reintroduction to Todd Barriage.

[00:03:19] Todd: Hi, I'm Todd Barriage. I'm a musician. I post a lot of videos on YouTube, covering songs in genres they were never meant to be, as well as occasionally writing my own original music.

[00:03:29] James: that's the part I'm really a fan of. Like, I love the mashups and all that. But then when there's a new Todd Banger, I'm just like, Yes!

[00:03:35] Todd: I appreciate that, thank you. I think, what comes with that, cause like, I, I feel like I agree with you, I prefer doing covers, when I do an original, it's cause I really, really, really like whatever song that is enough to not do the thing I would rather be doing.

[00:03:52] James: That's fair. Yeah, and let me put it this way. I love your covers for the novelty, and like, they're just so creative. And I really get into [00:04:00] them. But when it comes to, like, actually listening stuff, I've always been kind of an album guy. So going back and listening to Theatria, I can be like, here's the album.

[00:04:08] Todd: right.

[00:04:08] James: Whereas with your covers, you've dropped some covers and compilations, but sounds are so disparate, I can sit down and I can put this on repeat, like, five, ten times when it comes out, and then just because it's not necessarily on an album, That's like a cohesive album. I don't get back to it, which kind

[00:04:24] Todd: they're a collection of singles.

[00:04:26] James: Yeah, exactly. And you know, pros and cons to both methods, I love both, but where you really get me is the Todd Barriage, not Theatria stuff. That's still original.

[00:04:37] Todd: I haven't done a Todd album since 2014, I think you're going to be really happy with the 10 years later, 2024, probably Todd album.

[00:04:46] James: Nice. I would hope for 2024 because this year is That would be very tight for you, I feel like, 2025 is too far away, but I guess that means we're gonna get Todd's face on a disc.com

[00:04:57] Todd: Maybe,[00:05:00] [00:05:00] Todd: Todd's face on a shirt.

[00:05:02] James: Yeah. Or just, you know, custom vinyl and it's just your face

[00:05:06] Todd: not a bad idea. I've been thinking about not doing vinyls just because the wait times are so high, but putting my face on a vinyl kinda, I think, would make it worth it.

[00:05:15] James: Yeah. And, and it would just be fun.

[00:05:17] Todd: Yeah.

[00:05:17] James: face on disc.com

[00:05:18] Todd: Yeah.

[00:05:19] James: or you could always get a seven inch

[00:05:20] Todd: That's true. been thinking, too, about putting the songs like, compressing them down so it fits on, like, a four inch floppy.

[00:05:27] James: 1.44 megabytes.

[00:05:28] Todd: Yeah.

[00:05:29] James: You're gonna need a lot of compression, man.

[00:05:31] Todd: I know. Like, I'm thinking mono, 8K, sample rate, you know, like,

[00:05:37] James: Oh, man.

[00:05:38] Todd: I wanna do it.

[00:05:39] James: You can get there, but it's not gonna be easy.

[00:05:42] Todd: I think that's the thing, is like, even just technically making a full length album fit into like, basically a megabyte and a half. the dream.

[00:05:50] James: here's an idea. Do MIDI. And put the MIDI on there.

[00:05:54] Todd: wanna do the full audio. I want the record on a floppy disk.

[00:05:57] James: man,

[00:05:58] Todd: Maybe it's too easy,

[00:05:59] James: I could do [00:06:00] that and a full song. I've done it with an EP before, never a full length.

[00:06:04] James: Whew, keep me posted on that, I will

[00:06:06] Todd: I will, I will.

[00:06:09] James: Oh, anyway man, last time we had you on the show, back on number 173, we talked about your transition from doing weekly content to a when it happens schedule. And that was almost a year ago, that was last March, so it was like nine months ago. How has that transition been going for you? It seems to me that everything is going well from an outside perspective, but how's it going for you?

[00:06:30] Todd: Yeah it's been going amazingly. so I transitioned from weekly, to very briefly. It was like every 10 days to every other week. Like there was still some semblance of a schedule in there. It just wasn't a tight weekly schedule. And then, when I did Deja Vu, which I think was back in September of this year, I decided, deadlines are dead to me.

[00:06:51] Todd: I'm just going to work on what I want to do. Until I have created the thing I want to create and then Put that [00:07:00] out and then take a few days to recharge and do it again when I have another idea and so I've done Deja vu like a 90s eurobeat cover That one was one of the videos I'm most proud of.

[00:07:11] Todd: It didn't perform particularly well, but the next one I did was a mashup of Duality by Slipknot and Shadow Moses by Bring Me the Horizon, which I spent six days working on the video alone on that one. So, you can't do that with a weekly turnaround. that one got over a quarter of a million views. And then I did Chop Suey but it's super emo. that one I rewrote four different times. There's A bunch of incomplete versions of the song on my hard drive that are like, relatively similar. there was always an emo version of the same song. But I would completely rewrite the guitars from the ground up You know, I'd finish it, say on a Monday, and then Tuesday I'd listen to it and I'd realize, like, no, this isn't quite hitting. Like, this is fine, but it's not great. And I've just been with each video trying to raise my [00:08:00] standards more and more and more. So with Chop Suey, I rewrote it four times. And as of us sitting here right now, I think it has 380, 000 views on YouTube.

[00:08:08] Todd: Which, basically, it took me 2 months to put out 2 videos, where I used to put out 8 videos within the same time span. Those videos used to get anywhere from 5 to 20, 000 views, and, you know, that would be a good number for me. And then You know, you aggregate those all up, and I'm getting roughly a hundred to a hundred and twenty, monthly views on YouTube.

[00:08:30] Todd: Cranking out videos week after week after week. With this new approach of taking things slow and putting quality over quantity, I almost had eight hundred thousand views in the month of October.

[00:08:41] James: That's a massive difference.

[00:08:43] Todd: Massive difference, like six, seven times more eyes on the stuff I'm doing, with me being more proud, with me taking more time, with my audience being more understanding of the fact that I don't make content, I do in fact make music, and it [00:09:00] just happens to be uploaded to the places where content is also uploaded. your Instagram, your YouTube, so yeah, it's, it's been going very great. In fact, I just put out another original song after Chop Suey. Got most of the way through my next cover realized similar to the last episode you had me on which was about when to hit pause.

[00:09:21] Todd: I have hit pause. I'm not putting out another video until uh, January, 2024 at the earliest. And I made that decision in November.

[00:09:29] James: Yeah, and that seems very reasonable. I saw the announcement about that last night. So I was like, that's perfect because we're going to be talking about essentially that exact topic. so important to recognize and Take a step back when you need to

[00:09:41] Todd: I love that you're so open about that. You're like, hey, I got to take a break. I'm not going to do anything for the rest of the year. That's so incredibly important and on a similar note. for those of you who don't know, if you're following me on social media, you know, my dad passed away, around mid November.

[00:09:58] James: And so when that happened, [00:10:00] I took time off from and I'm really thankful that I am in a position where I can do that. I actually, I took the entire week off and then the next week I worked like two days because I got sick immediately after. So it's just like, okay, like I'll check my emails today and that's it.

[00:10:14] James: Like, just zone out. But when I came back and had to schedule a podcast episode, was just like, I hate this, and please do not get me wrong, I don't hate the podcast, I love the podcast, I love recording the podcast, it's everything that comes with it, like the planning, the scheduling, the writing, the show notes copy, putting in all the little links, I'm not into it anymore, and it is something that, yes, I could outsource, but at this point, have an amazing editor, Leland, who does a lot of work, and don't feel like putting it together.

[00:10:45] James: Even more work on him or someone else just because I'm lazy and don't want to do it, And there are certain things that I just could not outsource or would not feel comfortable outsourcing even to Somebody who is incredibly skilled like Leland. I'm just like no, this is something that I [00:11:00] want to do I want to have the final say on this But also like scheduling guests and that kind of thing is very difficult.

[00:11:06] James: It's really great for people like Todd I can just be like I message Todd Want to come back on? It's like, cool, we're doing it in three days or whatever. I think it was like Saturday or Sunday, and we're recording this on a Wednesday. It's super easy, but finding new guests who are qualified and not Absolutely miserable to talk to and is one episode that I hated that interview.

[00:11:27] James: I'm not going to air it

[00:11:28] Todd: Wow,

[00:11:28] James: I'm never going to tell anyone who it was. Honestly, I don't even remember who the guy was. I could find it if I went back and look through my records. But I just remember being like, this was boring. And if it's boring for me, it's going to be 10 times more boring for anyone listening.

[00:11:42] Todd: yeah, that's

[00:11:42] James: So story short, the podcast. is going to be going on hiatus after episode 215. This is episode 212, so there's going to be three more episodes after this. We have some amazing guests lined up, as well as a special surprise for the quote unquote final, for now, [00:12:00] episode. And that's not what this episode is about, so I'm not going to go on about this, but just tossing it out there, folks.

[00:12:06] James: one other thing that I do want to say is it's been really difficult to come up with new topics because I feel like we've talked about pretty much everything that's relevant to an independent artist as far as live production and creating content.

[00:12:20] James: I'm sure there's more stuff out there, but it's either for a scale that most of our audience is not at yet. Or something that's just so far out of our wheelhouse that it wouldn't make sense to talk about it on this podcast. Because ultimately, we are there to help artists succeed in a live music environment.

[00:12:37] James: And sometimes, you know, that does include marketing. So that's why we're here talking about marketing and making YouTube videos, and it includes mental health, which is why we had you talk about, changing from releasing a song every week to releasing a song whenever you want. Like, that's all incredibly important.

[00:12:53] James: So it's all related to being able to go put on a live show.

[00:12:57] Todd: it's the same thing.

[00:12:58] James: It all ties together, but we're [00:13:00] probably not ever going to go talk about, how to write a split sheet. We might say split sheets are important, but we're not going to say, this is how you do it. Like, no, that's, not in our wheelhouse. And there's probably going to be episodes here and there where something just pisses me off so much that I'm like, Oh, this is an episode, and I just crank one out. that's going to happen for sure here and there. So it'll be very much like. Todd, the way you release videos, but probably even less than that. I'm envisioning like every maybe three to six months I'll drop a

[00:13:28] Todd: right. Because, because you're envisioning when the moment strikes do this thing, where for me. I don't plan on ever stopping, doing what I'm doing. I'm just recognizing the appropriate pace for how to do it and keep doing it for myself. Where there are different things, like, I'm taking a break through the month of December, but that's like, for the month of December.

[00:13:50] James: Whereas I'm taking break through the month of forever.

[00:13:53] Todd: right, on indefinite hiatus, and you can still make podcasts, you just [00:14:00] don't like doing it

[00:14:01] James: Yeah. And that's the thing, like, the actual recording process I love.

[00:14:05] Todd: right, right. Yep.

[00:14:06] James: fun.

[00:14:06] Todd: It's all the other stuff.

[00:14:07] James: from everybody. People being like, this is so good. Like, I never thought about this. Thank you so much. Or people who are like, this has changed my entire outlook. We're so much more successful because of this.

[00:14:17] James: Like, love that. Anybody who's listening if there's an episode you want to hear about like if there's a topic that we haven't covered Let me know James at Bandhive. rocks is my email madrockxvx on socials Let me know because I will still be keeping a list of topics that have been requested and at some point We will get to them.

[00:14:36] James: And there's one big advantage to this as well We've always been so far ahead with the podcast that when something happens I can't put out an episode in a timely manner without shuffling a bunch of things around. Like, the episode before this, Todd uh, 2. 11, was about the big Spotify change with the royalties not being paid out for songs under a thousand plays.

[00:14:57] James: That episode's, like, a month and a half after the [00:15:00] news broke, because we were so far ahead. Now, if something happens, I can have it out on the next Tuesday.

[00:15:05] James: you know, maybe if it's Monday night or something, I can't have it out by Tuesday. But if it happens on, like, a Wednesday or a Thursday, I can, like, boom.

[00:15:12] James: Episode. Doing it. Dropping it on Tuesday.

[00:15:14] Todd: for myself at least, that's a healthier way to do things. Because I've experimented in the past with having like a schedule of videos want to do, and it's gonna be these videos in this order, and without fail, I get, at most, three videos into this list of like 10 to 16 videos, and I, Can't commit to that, because you can't predict, the external cultural factors of, say, like, Lil Nas X puts out the League of Legends World's Anthem.

[00:15:39] Todd: Well, you drop what you're doing and you cover the Lil Nas X song, right? And that breaks up your schedule. Or, you get to your fourth idea and you realize, man, I don't want to do that.

[00:15:49] James: absolutely. And I think I want to highlight too here, which is something that we talked about on Episode 173. No matter what you're doing, it's okay to take a break. Whether you're doing YouTube videos, a [00:16:00] podcast, music, as an original artist.

[00:16:02] James: Graphic design, video, whatever it is, if you're not enjoying it anymore, take that break.

[00:16:08] Todd: Or even, take the break before.

[00:16:11] James: Yeah,

[00:16:11] Todd: you really want to be proactive about it, like You shouldn't reach the point where you're not enjoying it anymore. If, if, if you're Yeah! and that's a problem I struggle with, with having depression. Is I can't tell the difference between, feeling awful because my brain is broken, and feeling awful because I've burned myself out.

[00:16:31] Todd: And the situation I found myself in throughout the entire month of November, was it was actually both. I See, I, yeah, I thought I was just having a bad day, and I was like, Yeah, that's fine, like, bad days happen. And so I just, like, kept working, and then you wake up the next day, Eh, yeah, it's just another bad day, that's fine, not gonna let it keep me down.

[00:16:49] Todd: Keep working. And then by the time I had recognized that, is not just a bad day, This is like, I'm having a depressive episode, And this [00:17:00] is ongoing, By the time I made that realization, I had accidentally burnt myself out.

[00:17:05] James: Man. I'm so sorry. That's awful.

[00:17:07] Todd: It happens.

[00:17:07] James:

[00:17:07] James: with that. Well, I mean you can brush it off and yeah, it happens But that doesn't mean a good thing

[00:17:14] James: it shouldn't be expected.

[00:17:15] Todd:

[00:17:15] Todd: it shouldn't be, but reality of just like the way my brain is and the creative industry, it is expected. So within that, I'm very fortunate that when it happens, I'm able to go, Okay, I'm not making anything for six weeks. Like, I can just say that, and thankfully, you know, I can post on my Patreon, Hey guys it's mid to late November right now, you're not gonna see me for two months.

[00:17:41] Todd: And, everyone isn't like scrambling off the ship, cause like, they just, they get it. Cause like, everyone understands that like, my default ideal mode is make things.

[00:17:50] James: what you enjoy, most of

[00:17:52] Todd: Yeah,

[00:17:52] Todd: yeah, it's it's what I'm wired to do. It's what I love to do. I have found a way to do it that is like the most selfish [00:18:00] and Fulfilling And I'm not talking down to anyone that does this but like I'm very fortunate that I don't have to go play at a bar Four hours three nights every weekend other people's songs that maybe I'm not a huge fan of To be able to make music my life, right? I'm able to actually just do whatever the thing is that I feel inspired to do at whatever moment I feel inspired. So I'm very fortunate in that sense that I'm able to do that, so with that being my circumstance, I'm able to shrug off the depressive episodes, cause if that's the price I have to pay to be able to do all these other cool things, it's like Yeah, I'll be depressed for a few weeks.

[00:18:39] Todd: Like, it's whatever. Like, I know from my own experience that if I worked a normal job, I would actually just be depressed every day anyway, and I couldn't take the time off. recognize that I'm very fortunate. that's what allows me shrug off, you know, whatever, difficulties I encounter.

[00:18:56] Todd: Is that have lived a much worse life previously. I [00:19:00] recognize that even at my lowest now, I'm still very blessed and very happy.

[00:19:03] James: definitely good being able to take that break. Because, like you said, so many people can't. They have a regular job, and it's like, nope, just gotta keep going.

[00:19:11] Todd: I feel like it's unfair to them to not take the break. there are people that can't, and for a lot of people, and this is me before I was able to create for a living, I was so dependent on, in my free time, being able to entertain myself and distract myself from the pain of everyday life with the creations of other people.

[00:19:29] Todd: Like, music and art in general is so powerful in that regard, now that I am, thankfully, one of those people that does get to create for a living to hopefully make other people's days brighter, I owe it to them to take those breaks,

[00:19:42] Todd: to make sure my longevity is there.

[00:19:43] James: Because if you don't take the breaks, you're gonna fizzle out and not be able to make that content anymore.

[00:19:49] Todd: Which is what they're

[00:19:50] James: there for.

[00:19:51] Todd: Yeah, that's what I said in my message my Patreon members, was, look, I could either try to push out this video and [00:20:00] try to keep making videos through December and get super burnt out and not put out any of those videos.

[00:20:05] James: Yeah,

[00:20:06] Todd: I could just say hey, I'm not gonna make any videos.

[00:20:10] Todd: Let's be realistic one way or another these videos aren't happening So let's do it the way that I get to play Pokemon and not kill myself

[00:20:19] James: exactly, like, want to have a good time and do whatever it is you need to do to cope. you've mentioned Patreon a bunch of times and I think it's really great that you have that platform that can keep you afloat even when you don't put something out for a month and a half.

[00:20:33] Todd: would be screwed without my

[00:20:36] James: The OGs.

 

[00:20:37] Todd: Yeah, like the people that have stuck around for now my like fourth or fifth. I'm taking a break cycle You know what? I mean? Like this is not the first time I've said guys. I'm depressed. I'll see you later

[00:20:49] James: Yeah,

[00:20:49] Todd: And there's never been a max exodus of people because of it,

[00:20:52] James: I think people see that too, that they realize that's the vibe in that Patreon community, and they're just like, cool, well, other people aren't leaving, so [00:21:00] I'm going to stick through it too, because they've been here before, they know he's coming back. I also want to talk about how. You found a way to make it profitable and monetize that, even when you do take those breaks.

[00:21:12] James: Because when you started the Patreon, it was weekly, and we, we talked up the grind originally, and then we talked down the grind, and now here we are.

[00:21:20] Todd: I was young and healthy man, the grind was sick And then I got old and fragile. Well, I think the thing too is the kind of people that are gonna support an artist on Patreon, love the art, and probably also love the artist. So like, one of the people that I support on Patreon, cause I'm not just gimme gimme gimme there, like, if there's an artist I love, I'm supporting them too.

[00:21:43] Todd: I think he's in the military, like, that's his proper job. And he, like, won't be making anything for six months. And it's like, the thought didn't even cross my mind to cancel that. Cause it's like, I want him to know that when he's back,[00:22:00] I will be there. Literally the second his next video drops, I am going to watch it as it premieres, like there's very few creators on YouTube who I, I, it doesn't matter what I'm doing, like, I will be in the middle of filming my own video, say, for example, Fuzzpixels drops a video, I'm taking a break, I'm watching the new Fuzzpixels video, like,

[00:22:20] James: there's just those creators were like. This is getting watched now.

[00:22:23] Todd: yeah,

[00:22:24] James: it makes such a difference.

[00:22:25] Todd: the recent, like, controversy on YouTube, I don't know if you've seen it, but Hbomberguy put out a video about plagiarism. It's four hours long, and he basically shows how video essayists on YouTube plagiarize. Massively. Indiscriminately.

[00:22:40] Todd: Don't even change words around. They're just reading articles that someone else wrote and getting ad revenue for doing that without crediting them. Stuff like that. And so, it took him a year to assemble all the evidence to make this video. And a large pocket of the internet didn't see or hear a thing from him for a year.

[00:22:59] Todd: He drops this [00:23:00] video and they're all right on there watching it. think it's very important that people like him set precedent that YouTube is not just a content mill where it's just, pig slop, pig slop, pig slop, here you go, enjoy your weekly content. There are people there that are dedicated that put out the video they intend to make at the level they want to make it, which is a little better every time, and it's going to take however long it takes.

[00:23:24] James: Mark Rober

[00:23:25] Todd: Oh, absolutely. Yes. Yes, and there's a lot of examples that and I have been looking at that and been Looking inward as well. And it's like what am I trying to do on YouTube because during the grind phase I just wanted to be a youtuber, right? And so if you want to be a youtuber, you're just gonna do the grind That's what it is But like now that I have somewhat of a stable following I'm fortunate enough to, to, enough money's coming in passively from the over a hundred videos I've put out that I can slow down and still pay my groceries, and pay my bills, and[00:24:00] just make the video I want to make.

[00:24:01] Todd: Cause the thing I want to do on YouTube, I don't want to be a YouTuber, at all, actually. I love YouTube the platform, but I want to be a YouTuber. What I want to do Is make the best alternative, warped tour genre, covers on the platform. That's what I want to do.

[00:24:19] James: I mean, honestly, I think you've already succeeded at that. Like, there's other people who do it, and maybe they have more views, but they're not as good.

[00:24:25] Todd: I appreciate you saying

[00:24:26] James: speaking, I'm not just saying that because I like you and I like your

[00:24:29] Todd: music I'm saying that

[00:24:30] Todd: because.

[00:24:30] James: like,I listen to it and I'm like, those drums sound terrible.

[00:24:33] Todd: a thing. That's

[00:24:34] James: had this discussion where I thought you were using real drums, and no, your drums are programmed, but they sound amazing. They're

[00:24:39] Todd: I'm using, I'm using Modern and Massive just like everyone else.

[00:24:42] James: gotta get you into uh, robot dog drums.

[00:24:44] Todd: Robot dog?

 

[00:24:45] James: Yes, We'll talk,

[00:24:46] Todd: Okay, we'll talk. but, with the, mission statement of wanting to make the best, Let's say, hypothetically, I'm gonna take your word for it here, Todd Barriage is currently making the best covers. That means that my next video has to be better than the last one,[00:25:00] otherwise I have stopped making the best ones.

[00:25:02] James: That's scary.

[00:25:03] Todd: yeah, so I, I've reached this point now where, my first draft isn't good enough a lot of the time anymore. I can recognize when I'm spiraling and I'm being too self critical. I'm, I'm pretty quick to recognize that. If I'm spiraling for more than a day, I go, Oh, and I do something else.

[00:25:18] Todd: But like with Chop Suey, I rewrote that thing four times, it felt excessive at the time, but it's, within two weeks, it was my most watched video on YouTube. Ever. Raw numbers. Not my most watched within the first two weeks. It beat When We Were Young Festival in nine minutes. It beat Master of Puppets but it's pop punk.

[00:25:38] Todd: It beat Back in Black but it's super emo. At this point, it has engulfed all of those videos in view count.

[00:25:45] James: Like, collectively, all added together?

[00:25:48] Todd: Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's almost at 400, 000 views. expect by the end of the year it might be half a million. and you know there's a tail on that, right? You drop the video, big spike, and it tails off. I'm at a five week [00:26:00] tail, which is the not getting views part of the tail. And due to the success of the Duality mashup, and Chop Suey specifically, I'm getting more views a day now than on a video release day three months ago.

[00:26:13] James: That's huge.

[00:26:14] Todd: And that is a direct result of the uncompromising, I'm gonna make the best thing, I don't care how long it takes.

[00:26:21] Todd: so when I hit that wall in November and I realized, Oh, I'm really depressed and I'm burnt out, I need to take a break. It was a no brainer for me to be like, Well, I want to make more videos like those two. are doing remarkably well. Which means I can't cut corners and I can't compromise. If I can't deliver the highest quality product, which, it's not a product, it's, art. Like, I'm putting myself into it even though it's someone else's song, I'm making it my own the best I can. If I can't deliver 100 percent on the mission statement I have set for myself, I would rather not make a video at all.

[00:26:54] James: Yeah,

[00:26:55] Todd: discussing with my, management and they were saying, Hey, like, you could put something, a little fun, something out [00:27:00] for Christmas. And it's like, why would I do that? That's not the mission statement.

[00:27:02] Todd: The mission statement isn't put something out cause it's Christmas. The mission statement is make the best shit.

[00:27:10] James: Right.

[00:27:10] Todd: and outdo myself a little bit in different ways each time.

[00:27:14] James: and the really incredible thing here is everyone's pushing consistent content, consistent content, consistent content. It's like, yeah, what everyone talks about, but clearly you don't need that if your stuff is actually really good.

[00:27:27] Todd: define consistent.

[00:27:28] James: Consistent quality

[00:27:29] Todd: consistent Exactly. Consistent content is valuable. But it's not consistent as in, Every Monday at 11 AM. It's consistent as in, When my dumb face pops up on a thumbnail You know you're in for a ride. Hehehehehehe.

[00:27:46] James: Todd, this has been incredibly insightful and, know, thank you, first of all, for inspiring me to be able to say, Hey, you know what?

[00:27:54] James: I'm taking a break. Which might be a couple months, it might be a couple years, it might be [00:28:00] Sayonara for the podcast. I do want to reinforce though again, Bandhive is not going away. is still sticking around. Like, I will still be around. If something pisses me off, drop an episode about it.

[00:28:10] James: We have an amazing Discord community, which I just called out Todd this morning for having joined, but not having accepted the rules, so he wasn't actually in the Discord community.

 

[00:28:19] Todd: Yeah.

[00:28:20] James: But if you'd like to join us there, head on over to Bandhive. rocks. com and that will take you to the invite link. We do weekly. Most weeks live calls in our talk channel. That is right now, Mondays, at 8 p. m. Eastern. So if you want to hang out with everyone in the community who joins these calls, let us know. join the Discord and show up on a Monday night. We have the events publicized at least a couple days in advance.

[00:28:46] James: you know, everything else band have does is not going to go away. We're still going to have our program for artists who want to learn how to tour. We're still going to have coaching. We're still going to do all the stuff we do, but [00:29:00] just without the podcast. So that's the only real changes.

[00:29:03] James: The podcast is going to, go away and we're going to have more time to focus on stuff that Is incredibly helpful to you rather than talking about the same five tips for touring that we do on the podcast ad nauseum,

[00:29:16] Todd: Test your cables.

[00:29:17] James: oh, that's a good one. I don't know if we ever Damn it. Maybe that's

[00:29:23] Todd: Okay, episode 216. Cable testing.

 

[00:29:28] James: plug it in and wiggle it around and make sure it works and you're not getting any cutouts. Oh, anyway, Todd. Thank you for inspiring me to be able to say, Hey, I'm going to take a

[00:29:40] Todd: Man.

[00:29:40] James: and call it.

[00:29:41] Todd: And thank you so much for having me on here. And, uh, just supporting what I've been doing since day one. That is bonkers to me. That like, anyone would have looked at me two and a half years ago and been like, Yeah, that's the guy.

[00:29:53] James: you had already gotten so much really cool stuff under your belt, namely with the Sigma Stardust Covers, which you sent

[00:29:58] James: me like a

[00:29:59] James: demo of that [00:30:00] in 2017. And I was like, Oh, this is going to be good when it's done. it was like, I want to hear this. I want to support this. But anyway, all that aside, you're taking the rest of the year off.

[00:30:11] James: Which is by the time this episode drops, like, 12 days. But, without saying what's next, because I know with Todd, we never know what's next, but what's next?

[00:30:20] Todd: I'm just gonna, I wanna make heavier music. I'm gonna keep making the Super Emo series of covers, where I, make blasphemous remakes of classic metal songs. That's my favorite thing in the world to do. There's also going to be a Todd Barriage album at some point in the future. Ten to twelve original songs that just clap cheeks, man. that's all I wanna do. I wanna make the best album that I we'll see what that ends up being.

[00:30:46] James: I'm really looking forward to hearing the rest of that, because I think I've heard two of the songs already. At least one, but I think two. I can't remember how many you put on Patreon as of now. Or maybe you're doing completely new stuff and those two won't be on there. I don't

[00:30:57] Todd: there's like five. Well, I mean, it depends. Like the album's [00:31:00] done when it's done, right? So it's not like I'm going to write 12 songs and be like, okay, it's done. Unless those are the 12 songs, you know, the heart wants what it wants.

[00:31:06] James: If You

[00:31:07] James: decide that those are the best 12 songs you've written, then that's the best 12 songs, and that goes on the album.

[00:31:11] Todd: literally later today, by the time this podcast comes out, I'll have another demo up for sure. Yeah, no, I am writing I'm not taking a break. I'm writing an album

[00:31:19] James: now, I gotta ask, are you making me wait till the 19th, or are you me to wait till the end of today, December 6th?

[00:31:26] Todd: I'm saying that like By the 9th, hopefully there will be another Todd demo on patreon

[00:31:32] James: Sick. I'm looking forward to that. So. If you want to hear that demo, it's already out because we're, we're in the future right now, which is in the

[00:31:39] Todd: Yeah, probably two more by the time this episode comes

[00:31:42] James: head on over to patreon. com slash Todd Barriage. You can also check out Todd's face on a shirt. com at Todd Barriage on Twitter and Instagram and anywhere else that matters.

[00:31:54] James: And Todd's discord, as well as his band Theatria, which all of these links are going to be in the show notes [00:32:00] at Bandhive. rocks slash. 212, that's the number 212. Did I miss any, Todd? sure there's more.

[00:32:06] Todd: YouTube. com slash Todd Barriage, my home planet.

[00:32:09] James: yeah, that's like the important one. How did I, oh, you know what? I have that on the list and I just didn't read it. Whoops. And we've only been talking about YouTube for the last hour, but. Todd, I want to say thank you, not only for coming on the show today, but for being the guest who keeps coming back.

[00:32:28] James: It's always a

[00:32:29] Todd: of course.

[00:32:29] James: you. Thank

[00:32:30] James: you so much for being

[00:32:31] James: on the show four times over the years. All the way back from episode 81 to now. And this is 212, so

[00:32:39] Todd: Wow.

[00:32:40] James: like, hold

[00:32:41] Todd: That's a widespread.

[00:32:42] James: 212 minus 81 is 131, so that's a solid two and a half years spread of having you on the show. So dude, thank you so much, thank you for being a friend of the show, for being a friend of me, and keep killing it with the amazing music you make.

[00:32:58] Todd: I'll try my best.[00:33:00] [00:33:00] James: Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha. I know you're gonna do it, man.

[00:33:02] Todd: Yeah.

[00:33:03] James: much and Have a great day, dude. it's been a pleasure having you here.

[00:33:05] Todd: Yeah, always, always.