In June of 2001, Vienna Teng printed 1000 copies of her first CD and dutifully
trudged off to sell it to audiences in San Francisco Bay-area coffeehouses and
open mics. By the following summer, she had signed with a small record label,
recorded with a well-known Nashville producer, and quit a lucrative day job.
Less than six months later, her songs were on NPR's "Weekend Edition,"
and she played Letterman. She signed with Rounder Records this year.
I'd met Vienna in May of 2002 at the Sweetwater Saloon open mic in San Francisco, just before she signed with Virt Records. She introduced herself after I got off stage, and scribbled her website address on the back of a scrap of paper. Neither one of us had business cards. There we were, both struggling artists playing our two-song sets to strangers. Except that she hit the big time shortly after that, and I was still dog-paddling. I asked Vienna about the fast track to success.
Tell me how you got where you are.
I put out my first CD, "Waking Hour" in June of '01. The release
party was in my old college dorm, and I think there were like twenty people
there. I made the rounds of coffeehouses and open mics, and put the CD up on
CDBaby and Amazon's Indie music site. Then I sent it to some of the sites that
will review unsolicited music.
In April of 2002, I was contacted by Michael Tarlowe at Virt Records. He wanted
to meet with me and talk about working together.
Uh, you mean Michael just approached you cold?
Yeah. He was actively recruiting new artists at the time. He found me on CD Baby and he'd seen positive reviews of my CD online. We met in San Francisco and talked it through, then he offered me a contract. I went back and forth for a while before I signed.
I decided that if "Waking Hour" was going to be re-released, I wanted to re-track three of the songs for AAA radio, including "The Tower." Michael put me in touch with a few producers, and I ended up working with David Henry in Nashville. The re-release of the album meant that I would have to tour to support it. Michael asked me how much time I'd be able to take off work, but I'd already burned my vacation time on the Nashville trips. I gave notice at Cisco and left that August.
The time between August and the November re-release was mildly terrifying. I was working full time on music with no idea how to go about it - doing all of those things that an artist without a manager has to do. I had to figure out how to book myself, how to make and distribute a press kit, how to work with the label.
What happened next?
Virt landed me a spot on the front page of the entertainment section of the San Jose Mercury News. Their angle was that a successful computer programmer was leaving her a great job in order to do music full time. That article generated interest from NPR, and they aired a Morning Edition segment on me in January.
And that was how Letterman came about.
Right. They called Virt, and I did Letterman a week later. That was the most interesting time. A three-minute spot on a national TV show is a huge thing, but it's still just a certain demographic, and it's not like everybody knows you. I booked a southwest tour with Dani Linnetz, and we went back to playing coffeehouses - sometimes only for tips. I was doing the grunt work that everybody has to do to win fans.
Vienna neglected to mention that CNN also did a spot on her during this time, and that she was selected as Tower Records' Artist of the Month. Re-tracking her song "The Tower" also paid off. In early 03, she began getting calls from friends who had heard her song on the sitcom "Ed" - a licensing company had landed her song on prime-time TV. She had a concert air on PBS, then in 2004 she again made Artist of the Month at Tower Records. Discussions with Rounder came shortly thereafter, and Vienna signed with them.
What's most important for an indie musician who wants a go at the big time?
Michael was attracted to my work because he saw a strong response from people even though I wasn't trying very hard. I was playing coffeehouses and selling five to fifteen CDs nightly. People liked what they heard, and he reckoned that with a bigger audience one could expect the same result. The indication that an artist is willing to work hard and work smart is also positive.
In many ways, I went about it backwards because I recorded an album before I played shows. But recordings are important. If you make a good recording that people want to have, and they can download mp3s, it's a good thing. Making a good recording is worth investing in.
Our career paths all look different, but what do they have in common?
Everybody starts differently. You might earn fans through relentless touring, or good radio promotion, or people sending your mp3s around on the Internet, but then you're going to have to plug into the conventional system and work with a booker and publicist.
Anything unusual is a plus. I play the piano, and that's a little rarer than the guitar. Being Asian/American is also distinctive. The press needs a hook, too - not just good music.
How should a beginner start out?
Before anything else, you should decide what you really want, why you want it, and what you're willing to do to get there. Your definition of success has a lot to do with your day to day.
Tell me about that.
Well, it influences what kind of opportunities you pursue. I'd decided I'd be happy if I could just make a living and tour a bit in medium-sized theaters. I started playing coffeehouses and open mics - small audiences of ten people that grew to twenty. If you were intending your songs to be played in house music clubs or if you fronted a punk band, you'd have a different approach.
Then what?
Work on your music, make a recording, start playing live, become as good a musician and songwriter as you can. Making a recording is crucial at this point because of the exposure that the Internet can get you. Home recordings can sound very cool - you don't have to spend a lot of money. But definitely make a recording that is representative of what you do. Then put it out there - MySpace, download sites, and even if it's minimalist, create your own website. That's your business card.
Sidebar: "The Tipping Point"
In Malcom Gladwell's "The Tipping Point," he discusses the roots of
social epidemics. It's a great read for anyone who is making a name for themselves,
because he identifies how hype becomes commercial success. I asked Vienna about
the "Tipping Point" in her career.
"So much of my path has to do with the people who stepped in to help me
at certain points in time. It doesn't happen all at once. But when one person
makes a commitment to something, it legitimizes it in the eyes of other people
who then step forward.
The new album (Dreaming through the Noise) was produced by Larry Kline. Being affiliated with him and with Rounder has opened up lots of cool stuff, like a great publicist who did Norah Jones and Elvis Costello. It's great that all these people have signed on just because of my current associations with people who have a reputation.
Nobody else is steering the ship, so lots has to do with what you ask for and how you decide things will be. I decided early on that I didn't want to be an Asian/American artist foremost, and Virt agreed to that. Not actively pursuing that niche has shaped the way people see me, and therefore the way my career is going.
It's important for your own sanity is to be realistic about who you are and what your skills are. If you play for ten people and two people like your music, that's a sense of what kind of career you can have. If all ten like you, that's another strong signal. The question is how you're going to work with that.
Be who you are and work as hard as you can on your passion, tempered with a
very grounded idea of how the world might receive it. You could easily have
a modest touring career playing small gigs - but if you want to play for hundreds
of thousands, there are things you have do and people you have to contact."