What I Learned From Releasing 12 Solo Guitar Albums and EPs

Az Samad
Az Samad
Sep 7, 2018 · 4 min read
My first album, Acoustic Gestures, released in 2004 just before I turned 23 years old.

My first album was called Acoustic Gestures. It was released in December 2004, just about a month before I moved to Boston, Massachusetts to study at Berklee College of Music. The whole idea was to document how I sounded like BEFORE I attended Berklee. I wanted to figure out whether the college experience made any difference to how I played.

It was a good decision creatively and I gave my CDs to many of my Berklee lecturers as kind of a calling card or musical name card. If anything, recording and releasing your own CD is good for that. The only issue was back in Malaysia, I had to store about 900 or so CDs at home. However, eventually the physical album was completely sold out and the original run now is a rare collector’s item.

Later on, as my studies progressed in Berklee, I could feel I was learning new things. Yet, I was afraid to record anything new. It was only towards the end of my time there that I released a 3 song EP called Snow and Ice. It was far from perfect and was a little experiment in trying out a short lived MySpace based MP3 sales platform called Snocap. I sold the EP there to try it out and see whether anyone would buy it. No one did. Haha.

Years later, I put the EP on Bandcamp along with the rest of my solo discography.

One fine day in 2010, I released my official second album Emo Attack Turtle. It was literally a response to me not releasing anything new for years. More details on that story in my other medium post, Beware of Attack Turtle.

Since then, I’ve released more albums including the Poskad series (3 releases in one year). Those were a creative challenge to myself to record and release 3 albums in a year.

So what have I learned from releasing 12 solo guitar albums and EP? Let me share the 3 main takeaways:

1) For any album or EP, you need to decide on WHY you’re doing it.

Is it:
a) a way to promote yourself?
b) to document your music?
c) to kickstart a tour?
d) for something else?

Understanding the reason is important as this determines the focus of your entire release and promotional campaign.

2) Figure out how this album fits in the big picture of your music career.

For first albums or EPs, it’s often not really something an artist thinks of but as your career develops, it’s good to consider this.

3) Decide how you are going to measure the success of the album.

Are you trying to sell 100, 500, 1000 or 100,000 copies of the album?
Do you just want to get 10 to 100 reviews of it for publicity purposes?
Do you just want it to be released and that alone makes you happy?
Do you want people to just hear the music?

All these are perfectly fine. You just have to decide.

Some of my albums sold well and continue to garner me new fans. Some I’ve given for free as promotional campaigns such as my The Birthday EP (2011) and Merdeka 61 (2018).

In the end, I feel that releasing albums and EPs are a major part of your creative development as a musician. That’s how you improve and document your art. So yes, go make art!


Guitarist-Composer-Educator Az Samad has recorded with Grammy Winners Flaco Jiménez & Max Baca; graduated & taught at the prestigious Berklee College of Music; performed in the United States, Europe & Asia; and appeared on 22 CDs ranging in styles from Tex-Mex, Contemporary Jazz to solo acoustic guitar. His works have been described as “richly textured, poetic and atmospheric”. His first book, Jazz Improvisation Uncovered received critical acclaim from jazz guitarist Julian Lage and Berklee professor Abigail Zocher.

An experienced performer, Az has performed with virtuoso violinist Roby Lakatos, former Guns N’ Roses guitarist Bumblefoot, singer-songwriter Zee Avi, funky fingerstyle guitarist Adam Rafferty and percussive fingerstyle guitarist Mike Dawes. Az also frequently performs as part of the Malaysian Philharmonic Orchestra and was the classical guitar soloist for the Distant Worlds: Music from Final Fantasy Kuala Lumpur concert conducted by Arnie Roth.

Az has been exploring Malay jazz including the music of P. Ramlee, Jimmy Boyle and most recently Singapore’s Zubir Said. As the musical director and guitarist for A Zubir Said Tribute, Az lead 5 shows at Esplanade Outdoor Theatre, Singapore with an 11-piece ensemble performing brand new arrangements he wrote.

Previously based in Berkeley, California; Az now lives in Kuala Lumpur.

www.azsamad.com
Az Samad’s Books

Az Samad

Written by

Az Samad

Author of Jazz Improvisation Uncovered | Guitarist-Composer-Educator based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | 3-time TEDx Presenter | I make music & teach music =)

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