BY STEPHANIE ESLAKE
Imagine you have complete freedom to release the album of your dreams. You could design the artwork. Choose the music. Distribute it however you’d like.
On the flip side, though, you’d have to think about marketing, funding, administration, and a whole heap of other tasks behind the scenes. Nobody would do it for you, and you’d be the one responsible for your own success.
Would you take the risk?
Australian clarinettist Lloyd Van’t Hoff did. He teamed up with pianist Peter de Jager, and together they released their new album all on their own. First, they explored their options — even gaining interest from record labels. But when they had enough information at hand, they made an informed decision to do things their own way.
It turned out pretty well: their album Johannes Brahms: Music for Clarinet and Piano amassed 5000 plays on Spotify in its first week. We wanted to know how they did it, so we asked Lloyd to break down the self-release process. He even breaks down some stigma along the way, too.
Lloyd, congratulations on your debut release. As an artist who has worked so collaboratively throughout your career, it’s interesting to learn about your decision to self-release your debut album rather than opt for a label release. Tell us a bit about how this album came to be.
It all happened very organically, actually. The music of Johannes Brahms has been with me my entire life. As a child, my father raved about the recordings of the Hungarian Dances by Alfons and Aloys Kontarsky, and so those catchy melodies and groovy dance rhythms became part of my experience of the world from an early age.
As I began learning the clarinet, I was addicted to finding and listening to any recordings of clarinet music that I could get my hands on. There was one particular recording that I became obsessed with: a Naxos disk featuring the Brahms Clarinet Trio and Clarinet Quintet. I was in awe of how the instruments sang to one another with such ease and homogeneity.
I felt that I was able to recreate the feeling I had as a young student discovering this music for the first time
For any clarinettist, learning the Brahms sonatas is a rite of passage. The experience of discovering these works never made more sense than when I played with my friend and pianist Peter de Jager. There was a great ease and openness to the experience, and I felt that I was able to recreate the feeling I had as a young student discovering this music for the first time, in that we were able to make the instruments sing together in a way that was honest and entirely unique. I’d never felt this sense of musical fulfilment before, and to have formed a musical relationship with someone that was equally enriching and empowering is quite special. The thought of recording these sonatas was so compelling and unwavering in my mind. We simply had to make it happen!
It’s an album dedicated to our shared love of Brahms’ music. At the heart, there are the two clarinet sonatas, with the rest of the disc being made up of selections of Hungarian Dances and lieder. We really wanted to complement the singing quality of the sonatas by adapting some of our favourite Brahms songs to work for the clarinet. The Hungarian Dances show a different side to the great composer, one full of cheekiness and frivolity, which form the perfect companion to the rest of the music.
All of the music on this album are pieces we just adore, and we wanted to share the joy that we get from playing this music with our audience.
So at what point did you decide, “we’re taking the leap and self-releasing this”? And what were the contributing factors in your decision?
It was one of the first decisions we had to make, because we knew it would shape the entire scope of the project. We approached numerous labels very early on and were met with a lot of optimism. Our artistic idea was very clear right from the start, and we knew exactly what music we wanted on the disc. We also had a fair idea of how we wanted the physical package and liner notes to look and feel. This is a deeply personal album for us; not only have we included personal reflections about the music, but all of the album art, photography, and program notes were created and gifted to us by some of our closest artistically gifted friends, specifically to compliment this recording. So there was already an emotional connection with the content and materials we had prepared for the album.
It wasn’t until we got deeper into conversation with a few labels that we realised we would not be able to include all of these materials that we had become so invested in. Some labels had a very clear visual brand that they needed us to fit into, which did not agree with our idea for the look of the album, whilst others pointed us in the direction of including some different music on the disc. The identity of the album began to change, and whilst it was easy to get caught up in the appeal of releasing with a label, their proposed forms of the album just wasn’t the product that we wanted to release.
We just wanted the freedom to make the album that we wanted to make
There’s also the the topic of remuneration, with labels taking a considerable cut on all revenue generated by the album. It’s hard to begrudge them for this, because of course we understand that they need to make a buck, too. In this instance, we were rather fortunate in receiving generous sponsorship from several people and organisations. And because of that, we were in a position where the sales of the album could generate meaningful income for us, provided we could retain all of the profit.
At the end of the day, we just wanted the freedom to make the album that we wanted to make, and be able to benefit 100 per cent from any successes that it might bring. Self-releasing really seemed like it was the best way to go to achieve this.
What was it like to enter into a process that was entirely unfamiliar, and placed so much responsibility on you — not only as an artist, but as a manager of your own album?
I really get a kick out of learning how to make something. The end result is always more rewarding for me because of that journey of discovery. It also provides you with the tools to more deeply reflect on the end result, informing you on how to do it again better next time.
Self-releasing has given you artistic control over your work. I’d like you to tell us a bit more about what this looks like on a practical level. How would you describe ‘artistic control’ and its value to you as a musician?
The thought of releasing something out into the world forever is a frightening one in many ways. Knowing that many people who we know and respect personally would hear and see this album also added to the pressure of getting it absolutely right. It had to be uncompromisingly everything that we wanted it to be.
I think that self-releasing, and being able to have that artistic control over our product, has allowed us to realise this.
I believe that many artists have a tendency to underappreciate their own artistic ideas. We’ve all become used to settling on ideas that make other people happy more than it necessarily makes us happy. It would be a great shame to live a life with regrets. In the case of creating an album, something that will forever be out there in the world, going through the experience and being unhappy with any given aspect of the design or content would be largely unfulfilling. And so this entire process has been incredibly enriching and liberating in many ways, and knowing that we were able to construct this album which is so uncompromisingly ‘us’. I’m not sure we could have done so if we didn’t value having this kind of artistic control over the project.
What were some of the surprise tasks along the way? We’ve looked at artistic control, but you controlled distribution, how you’d market it, recording, and other administrative activities. What were the challenges you didn’t expect?
The thing I underestimated the most was just how much time it takes to get it all done. Initially, we recorded the album in February 2020, with hopes to release shortly after in May. As it turns out, we didn’t end up releasing until March 2021! The pandemic was a blessing in disguise for this project because, in hindsight, there’s no conceivable way we could have gotten everything done in that timeline. There were a few weeks across the summer where I was devoting almost all of my time to getting the release organised, with the majority of time being taken up organising the marketing and distribution for the album — there are just so many people to contact!
One of the most stressful tasks came through organising the digital distribution of the album. We went through a company called CD Baby, who were excellent to deal with throughout the entire process. They do however have a very strict template for naming classical titles, which I seemingly missed when I first submitted our tracks for distribution. Sure enough, my first submission of the tracks was rejected, four weeks before the release date of the album, and it had taken them three weeks to come to this conclusion. I quickly fixed up all of the errors in my titles to make them fit within their requirements, and anxiously awaited their approval.
Thankfully, it all ended up being fine. But for anyone thinking of self-releasing, please allow for more time in every step of the process than you think you might need.
When you emailed CutCommon to share the news about your release, you said, “the idea of self-releasing an album in our industry is often stigmatised”. How do you think people perceive an artist who self-releases an album, and why do you believe there’s stigma attached?
What a record label adds to a release is a sense of legitimacy and validation. There’s a certain consumer trust associated with the big record labels, and I feel that audiences have an expectation that any artist worth listening to should have their music released by a label. So, attached to that, there’s this idea that self-releases don’t do as well because they don’t benefit from the pull that the big labels can create — and that perhaps, self-releases are for those artists who couldn’t, or aren’t good enough to, land a deal with a label.
We didn’t want to be seen as further perpetuating this stigma, and allowing the big labels to continue to have this kind of monopoly on artistic products
It’s this stigma that I really struggled with early on when we were considering the self-release. Part of that is related to my own ego; I knew that we were good enough to be on a label, but was really worried about how we would be perceived if our album wasn’t associated with that lucrative label deal — worried that it might be the wrong step forward for my career. But also, we just wanted what was best for the album, and the potential for exposure that records labels can offer is certainly too interesting to ignore.
Ultimately, though, we’d already invested so much of our own time, money, and artistic property into this album that on this occasion, we couldn’t justify letting another entity, by means of a record label, take credit for and make profit from all of our hard work. It would hugely devalue what we created. But, more importantly, we didn’t want to be seen as further perpetuating this stigma, and allowing the big labels to continue to have this kind of monopoly on artistic products.
In what way does a self-release empower artists, rather than demonstrate that they have not been as “successful” as someone releasing through a label?
Through the recent development of several ingenious internet-based initiatives, we’ve seen a huge proliferation in creative individuals benefiting from being able to share their work with the world. Think about models like YouTube, Twitch TV, Patreon, which have all given a voice and audience to creatives, and offered them the opportunity to generate meaningful income through the sharing of their ideas and work with people on the internet.
It’s natural for artists to focus their efforts more on selling to tangible audiences — the ‘real life’ people who come to concerts — because their feedback and gratification is immediate and able to be felt or experienced. But this model is incredibly archaic. And I feel in the ‘classical music’ world, we’ve been slow to embrace this newfound freedom of expression that we’ve been blessed as a result of the internet era.
I see the internet as being our biggest audience, and generating success on the internet doesn’t necessarily translate to success in in-person scenarios, and vice-versa. But as the markers for audience-driven success change to accommodate internet audiences, so to does the potential to engage with audiences in different ways.
In the first week of its life, our album amassed over 5000 plays on Spotify. I know that seems like a fairly modest number given that Spotify has over 200 million monthly users, but I couldn’t imagine our album being listened to by 5000 live audience members in the space of a week here in Australia. That’s 5000 more people who have heard our music who otherwise wouldn’t have, which for me is a really a huge success! I suppose the downside to this is that it doesn’t give you that same warm and fuzzy feeling that you get from a live music or in-person experience. It’s difficult to get buzzed just by looking at numbers and statistics on a screen, no matter how impressive they may seem.
People are consuming classical music via the internet now more than ever, and it’s never been more easy for artists to self-release and get their music out there
However, the fact of the matter remains the same. People are consuming classical music via the internet now more than ever, and it’s never been more easy for artists to self-release and get their music out there in the world through platforms like CD Baby, Spotify, and YouTube. It also places all the control and responsibility directly on the artist. You get out what you put in in terms of success, and it’s far more gratifying knowing that if your release does well, it’s all because of your own hard work.
With physical sales declining and labels taking on fewer recording projects, the way forward for them seems to be to try to occupy some space on the internet. That puts individuals and labels on very similar footing. When you consider the ability for a self-release to create meaningful income for its artists — by virtue of retaining a higher percentage of the profit form sales — it’s easy to see the potential for an artist to be more greatly empowered by self-releasing their work.
It’s at this point that you’ve got to ask yourself: what’s the relevance of a record label in this current internet era?
A fascinating question. Now, let’s talk about your collaborator throughout this entire process: your debut album also features Peter de Jager. How did you work together and come to share ideas about how this release should go, and how to make it successful? Was it easy, or did you have a few artistic differences along the way?
Peter is the dream collaborator, and so my answer to this question is rather boring, because for the main part we were largely agreeable on our shared vision for this album.
In the interest of trying to provide some insight into our process, it’s hard to ignore that fact that we are both really different people. Peter has a great capacity to look for meaning in everything he does, whereas I’m perhaps a bit more spontaneous and kind of just do what I feel in the moment — for better or worse! This can be greatly problematic. But what I think helps us bridge these personality differences is mutual respect that we have for one another.
Whilst there were many occasions where we’d disagree on a certain musical idea or aspect in presenting the album, there was enough shared trust to know that whatever decision we made, we could eventually make it our own. So the process was very easy-going in that sense.
Now that you’ve done it, would you do it again?
Yes, absolutely!
I’ll be the first to admit that self-releasing comes with a lot of risk and much anxiety. In hindsight, seeing how well the album has done, I think it’s a completely valid and practical option for any artist wanting to get their music our there into the world. We’ve received as much of a positive reception — by means of reviews, radio airtime, digital streams, and even charting on the ARIA charts — as any other release through a record label. And I really see it as the next logical step for artists to have complete artistic control and freedom over their work.
It’d be remiss of me not to bring up the fact that we had a lot of generous financial support behind the project, which allowed us the liberty to consider self-releasing as a viable option. Each situation is different, and self-releasing made a lot of sense for us on this occasion.
I think you’ve just got to do what is right for you in the moment. If the time comes for me to release another album and the best option might be to do so through a record label, then of course I’ll pursue that lead. It is comforting to know that I’ve now enough experience in this area to bring a recording to life myself, and I know that will inform any future expeditions I take in my recording career.
What advice would you give to other artists who are thinking about their debut?
I’d encourage every artist to form an understanding of why they want to record their debut album, and what exactly they want to get out of the experience. See if you can refine these answers to form a one-sentence mantra or mission statement. Understanding the meaning of these two questions will inform the entire process, and you’ll be able to make any tough decisions with greater ease if you have a clear idea of exactly what it is you want to achieve.
The most important thing is to allow yourself to be in the situation where you are uncompromised, and have the freedom to dream up the album that you want to make.
Listen to Johannes Brahms: Music for Clarinet and Piano on Spotify or your preferred streaming platform, or purchase the album through Bandcamp.
Images supplied.
