Deirdre Flint
By Alex Teitz
Deirdre Flint is a creative and imaginative songwriter. Her songs can be incredibly thought-provoking to incredibly funny. Flint was a winner of New Folk at Kerrville this year. Her latest CD is The Shuffleboard Queens. For more information visit deirdreflint.net
FEMMUSIC: Describe your songwriting technique?
DF: 1. Sit around with coffee and single friends and complain about life.
- Make wry observations about relationships
- On the way home, take a phrase and use that for a song.
However, now that my friends are getting married and finding healthy, functioning relationships, it’s harder to find fodder for songs. You’d think they’d be a little bit more considerate.
FEMMUSIC: What was the biggest challenge making your current CD?
DF: The challenge was AFTER making the CD- figuring out how to promote it! I still wonder whether I should have done a mass mailing of my CD to radio stations. I did get lots of airplay – but I had no fan base and no ability to go touring the places that I was getting airplay in. Was that a waste? I don’t know. Should I get a distributor? What do you choose to spend money on with a very limited budget? And the thing is, everybody’s answer is different. So that’s what I found to be the hardest part of making the CD.
FEMMUSIC: What was the best experience making your current CD?
DF: Greg Horne, my producer and Indre Studios in Philadelphia. I knew enough to know I didn’t have a clue about production and Greg could do EVERYTHING; produce, play five instruments, manage our time – Everyone said it was impossible to make a full length CD in 8 days unless you’d practiced with your musicians for MONTHS in advance. Well, I hadn’t even played with most of the musicians before and had NEVER been in a band, and yet I am SO happy with the production of The Shuffleboard Queens. And Indre Studios in Philadelphia has a sleaze factor of zero – everyone there made the experience terrific.
FEMMUSIC: Who have been your musical mentors?
DF: I listened to a lot of Cole Porter and Rogers and Hammerstein growing up. Then I listened to ABBA and the Bee Gees – I never went through the classic rock stage. Most people abhor my taste in music. I think the clever wordplay in my songs refer directly back to Porter, Gershwin, etc.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing have you learned that has helped build your audience?
DF: You are only as “in demand” as you make yourself. If you gig out five nights a week at various places around town, people will think they can see you anytime and then they won’t go. If you have just a couple of gigs a month and lots of gigs other places (even if they’re little coffeehouses two hours away), people make a point of getting out to see you, because they’re not sure when they’ll be able to see you again.
Also, money is really tight, but I think one should really think hard over whether they want to switch to email mailing list only. I don’t think it’s a good idea and I think it should be avoided if you can. I get lots of emails from musicians and rarely print them out because my printer is iffy and I think if a band really wants my support, they should probably use their own ink to get me out to a show, not mine. Even if I really want to go, I usually forget about it if it’s an e-mailer. However, almost every postcard I get from an artist gets tacked to my refrigerator. Furthermore, my email address has changed three times in the last year so it’s not really dependable to use an email only list.
Proof it works: There are a LOT of singer/songwriters in the NY/Boston area, but the one I know the most about is SAM SHABER, thanks to her snail mail. She always writes “hi!” on my postcard so I feel special. And once, I came out to a show. Therefore, she’s already made her money back on me. She’s send me about $3 worth of postcards and the cover was more than that, so there you go. Not to mention you keep seeing her name, over and over and over again because it’s on your refrigerator.
So, I think it’s better to schedule gigs in advance and put out a snail mail every month or two months. But I understand sometimes you just can’t afford to do that.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?
DF: I got a late start in music. I really don’t know enough about it to want to change anything right now. I guess I’d love to know why it’s harder to get press in your own town than anywhere else. Anyone have any ideas on that?
FEMMUSIC: As a woman in the music industry, have you been discriminated against?
DF: If I have, I’m not aware of it. Maybe because I used to be an elementary school teacher – hey talk about discrimination! My switch to music was a liberation. I keep waiting to meet these sleazy guys in yicky suits I hear hang out in the music industry, but I guess I’ve been lucky. I keep meeting really nice people.
FEMMUSIC: What advice would you give to an artist just starting out?
DF: Everyone has a different approach, so my advice would work for some and not for others. Here’s one thing, I think, though: In my opinion DON’T “get your feet wet” at an open mic. Open mics are some of the most important shows you will ever have. Practice a LOT in your living room, in front of friends. The first time you go to an open mic, you should be ready to make a splash. No matter how good you get in three years by playing open mics, they’ll probably still remember you as when you first started out as that “okay” person at the open mic. This will make your path to good gigs longer. You should leave an open mic with everyone saying, “Who is that, and how can I get them to open?” Also, there are NO unimportant gigs and NO unimportant fans. There is someone that is going to help you BIG time at every single show, so do your very best – EVEN if there’s only three people there (well, I play folk music, so that’s actually pretty good numbers) Guarantee one of those three is some amazingly empowered person who either knows someone, is willing to throw you a house concert or do some amazingly generous deed for you out of the kindness of their heart and the enthusiasm for your music.
Also, I know this is a little weird, but if you’re going to be singer/songwriter: MAKE SOME MONEY FIRST. That’s right. Don’t play out for a year – just get a good job, write songs (practice in living room) and bank all the money you can, because you are going to lose money at first. (or maybe it’s just me, I don’t know.) Me, I moved to Korea and saved up about $13,000 to make the CD and etc. I wouldn’t have survived as a musician without that nest egg.
FEMMUSIC: What are your plans for the future?
DF: It would be a great thrill for someone to cover my music. I hope to one day write songs for other people to interpret. That would be SO cool to hear someone else singing a song of mine
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Deirdre Flint….songs about narcoleptic hand models operating Industrial equipment, overzealous Amway salesmen, bridesmaid dresses used as flotation devices