Before you hear my music, I want you to know my true story. Why am I doing this? What do I hope to accomplish? Who am I? The answers can be very long and I can go on for hours but I wanted to be brief and try to give you a glimpse into my mind in two pages or less. So here is my rambling answer without any editing or any type of organized thought pattern whatsoever:
I am just like you. I walk beside you every day. I work next to you all day long. I make mistakes just like you. I cry. I bleed. I am an average person. I am you. We share a special connection.
Have you ever had a dream? I mean something you never thought you could ever really do but you wanted to try anyway? Something you wanted so badly but never allowed yourself the chance to ever pursue? You never really went for it. Life went by. Why do we do that? Is it because we are afraid to fail? Afraid for others to know what we really want deep down in our hearts? Deep into the very core of our souls! Are we afraid to reach for the stars? To be happy? To get what we want? I was. I was scared. I was living an ok life. I had my ups and downs just like you. But I always held back. I never went for it. Well, that all changed after my dad died. I am going for it now. I'm still a bit scared at times but overall, I'm so much happier to finally be myself. To be me. Hiding or repressing a piece of your very core is not easy or fun. No one should have to do that. It is a miserable way to live. Why should I have to hide that I love to write songs, sing and want to be a rock star anyway?
I now admit who and what I am. I am an indie artist. I have no label. That simply means I do not have a huge marketing budget. How many times have we heard a song on the radio by someone famous and hated it? But after listening to it a million times (because it was played absolutely everywhere), it eventually grew on us. We ended up loving it! SO what. I'm ok with having no marketing budget. I do have one advantage though. All I truly care about is my fans. I have no manager. I have no industry expert to tell me what to do. I manage my own website. I've tried many things. Lost money in a lot of different places. I put everything I have ever done on my website. Why?? Well, I do it for you. So you can listen or watch anything I have ever done whenever you want from anywhere on the planet. Download almost 100 original songs (my 1st three years with of work) for FREE and share it with anyone you want. You have my permission. Take my music for free and maybe take the 99 cents for 1 song or $10 for the album and just donate it to your favorite charity instead. They need it more than I do. I'm doing ok. I just want you to listen to my music and tell me what you feel. Does it feel real?
On my Youtube channel, I now make sure there are no ads. They are pretty annoying, aren't they? This way, you can watch my music videos (with or without subtitles), listen to my radio interviews, watch my behind the scenes stories or lyric videos anytime you want. No ads, boxes or annotations popping up. Isn't it annoying when you close them only to have them pop up again? No cross-selling of anything anywhere. No sales pressure. I don't want you to feel like I'm a used car salesman. I also have no ad agency. I post on all my social media sites myself. I have never asked anyone to buy anything. I don't like peer pressure. I'm sure you don't either! My posts will actually tell you something about who I really am. It's not someone else feeding you what the marketing specialists think you want to hear so that you can then go spend your money on me. All my interviews are candid. I don't have to prep for them. I don't ever wear makeup. I don't have anyone telling me how to act and what to say. I try to be as real as I can. That of course doesn't mean I won't use an audio or video effect if I think it adds to my art. I respect you. I listen to you. I will never judge you. You can be yourself around me.
You won't find any other artist doing what I am doing. No one releases a new song every single month, and certainly not until the day they will die. No one writes their own lyrics or mirrors their songs with book chapters. I don't even use a professional recording studio.
All of my vocals have been done on an iMac in my family room, which of course does not have ideal acoustics.I have to sometimes wait and make sure the chirping birds and barking dogs aren't trying to get on my tracks! I've worked hard to control my asthma, get rid of my inhalers, improve my vocal delivery, phrasing, timing, pitch control and range. I won't be lip syncing at my concerts. It will be authentic and genuine. My voice is my own. Whether you love it or hate it, it is mine. Don't you hate it when everyone sounds and talks the same?? Enough with autotune already! Some people love my voice, some don't. That's ok. I realize I won't appeal to everybody and I'm no longer trying to.
I listen to what you tell me and those of you who have been with me from the beginning, have seen your advice not fall upon deaf ears. I have changed. I have adjusted. I do not know everything. I use my ears. I listen to you. I was you. I am you. You are me. As my musical journey unfolds, I will have a lot more to share with you and I've decided to try Patreon and open up even more. I will be vulnerable. I will be real. I will be me. My music and my story will not appeal to everyone. That's not a problem for me. I would be very unrealistic if I expected that kind of response. But I still want your feedback. I crave it. Good or bad. Otherwise I will stop growing. I will stop getting better. I want to get better. This is only the beginning. I hope to continue evolving into a better human being, better musician, better songwriter and ultimately leave the world a better place because of my art.
If you see me out somewhere, please say hi. You will recognize me. I will look the same. I will sound the same. I will act the same. I won't be rude or stuck up. I will be the same person you have heard on my radio interviews or seen in my videos. We are all human. I'm not better than you.
Nowadays, we do get bored fairly easily. I'm trying to vary my music, my singing style, my videos, my hairstyle, my clothes, my facial hair - well, you get my point. Even if you do one day grow tired of me, at least take a listen to my new song each month. It will only take 3 minutes of your time. Read my lyrics. Close your eyes and feel the emotion. Remember, I am always here for you. My door is always open. If you ever leave me for any reason at all, you can come back anytime. I'm not going anywhere...and I won't harbor ill will. I have made more mistakes than anyone else I know so I will never judge you.
By the way, yes, I have a day job just like you. I'm not rich and have had some very real financial hardships in my life. My parents were immigrants and came to this country to live a better life. I was born here in Chicago. I am doing this on the side I guess, although it takes at least 60 hours of my week on average. I'm not complaining. I've always been a hard worker. I do it for me. I do it for you. I enjoy it. I don't consider it work. One day, hopefully if I "make it", I can raise a bunch of money for charity like I always wanted to and do this full time. I wish I could go on tour and share my music with everyone around the world. That would be my dream come true! I've been working hard to make this a reality for the last year and I'm close. That's another reason why I'm starting Patreon. I'll do a gig or show anywhere in the world as long as the pre-sell tickets are enough to get a venue interested and on board.
You don't have to worry I'll ever leave you. No matter what other opportunities or awards I receive, music will always be my #1 passion. Music is life. Music is my life. I will keep doing this for me, and for you. I try to be realistic. I know the odds are overwhelming but even if I've already peaked, I'm still never going to stop. I PROMISE YOU THIS! I will keep doing this forever because I cannot keep this inside of me any longer... and I will think about you every single day as I do! Thank you so much for reading my story. Now it's our story."
And so it begins...
Sarantos
(November 2014)
