Aaron Dowd

I made a new short teaser video for our upcoming acoustic album, Bare-Bones:

Kolton wanted a old-school video look for videos for this project, so I added the VHS effect in post using the Rarevision app.

I shot most of the recording session with multiple cameras, the angle in this video was from a disposable 35mm lens on a Sony A7C.

The disposable lens does provide a cool “film camera” look that I find appealing, but it has several limitations, mainly it’s terrible in low light settings and also looks “low-resolution” straight out of the camera.

It’s easy to fake that grainy film look for footage and photos from a good lens, but it doesn’t work the other way (you can’t make footage from a Dispo lens look “good”).

I’m fond of the look of the disposable lens, although after reviewing the footage, I plan to stick to using my good 35mm lenses (Sony 1.4 GM and Sony Sonnar 2.8) moving forward.

It’s been a few weeks since I had a full time job, and I have to tell you: This freedom is doing wondering for my energy and my creativity. I’m thankful to have enough savings to pay bills for awhile while I figure out what I want to do next (besides everything I’m doing for my band, which I’ll keep doing).

After spending a couple weeks considering my options, I’ve decided that I want to get back to offering lessons for Logic Pro, podcasting, and marketing/storytelling. I have so much experience that others could benefit from, it seems a waste to keep it all in my head.

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Started with a 6:15am Crossfit class, shoulders and core work. Morning workouts are essential.

Spent some time yesterday cancelling subscriptions and non-essential services—going to extend my runway as far as possible by eliminating all extra spending.

Finished uploading the 12 tracks for our new acoustic album to Tunecore. There’s some interesting stuff related to account management happening over there, might write about it in the future.

Kolton sent over audio tracks for 5 songs from a video project they recorded in the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, TX last week. Hell yeah, I love mixing and mastering. Will probably work on that tomorrow.

We have show rehearsal at our studio this afternoon, I’m going to bring my cameras and record some interview style video content for a teaser video for that acoustic album, and take some headshots of the guys too.

I need to write an email to send out to the email list reminding them to buy tickets for the upcoming shows, and also a few text messages to the people near those cities who signed up for text updates.

Speaking of upcoming shows, if you’re in or near one of these cities, would love to see you there! More info and ticket links here: www.koltonmoore.com/tickets

Also thinking about what I want to put on my personal website on the “work with me” page, if I should set up an LLC for freelance work, what billing system to use, etc.

Big week! Lots to do. I should probably clean up this desk at some point.

My time at Spotify has come to an end! It’s been a fun ride but I’m excited to get to spend more time on video production & audience growth for my band, and developing as a drummer and live performer.

I want to give a huge thanks all my friends from the OG Chartable crew: Dave Zohrob, Harish Agarwal, Jake Shelley, Christian Buckler, Brittany Hall, Joey Milewski, Rae Knopf, Lhanzi Giambrone, Jarred Trost, Karo Chakhlasyan, and everyone else that was part of the team over the years. My life is significantly better because of our time working together, and I appreciate you all so so much. 💙

Big shoutout to my colleagues from Megaphone: John Bennett, Kyle Perron, Becca DiCenso, and the rest: Y’all were great teammates and I wish you the best of luck with your future work at Spotify.

And to all the podcast publishers I worked with over the years: It was a pleasure to work with you and I hope we get to work together again sometime.

Whew. What a ride that was! On to the next one. 🫡 ✌️

I’ll have somewhere between 10-20 hours a week available if you have any projects you’d like help with, just reach out with the details and I’d be happy to chat.

Currently reading: Get More Fans: The DIY Guide to the New Music Business by Jesse Cannon 📚

Man I miss working on podcasts