PropertyOfZack is extremely excited be to be launching our second Contributor Blog today with Jenn Enders. Jenn, who is Ace Ender’s wife, has an extremely interesting and very unique point of view on the industry that not many others would have the chance to experience because of her relationship with Ace and how the two of them handle nearly every decision regarding his career. Jenn, in her first of many blogs to come, discusses her views on individuals who do not approve of bands seeking to continue on their career in anyway possible, how brutal the industry can be, and most interesting of all, the I Can Make A Mess internship program that we have been hearing about for a few weeks now. If you’re interested in following her life at home as well, be sure to check out her TourTot blog. Make sure to give it a good read because there are a bunch of great thoughts the industry and explanations on how the internship program will work!

Anyone with the misconception that the only reason it’s tough to make money as a musician is because people don’t care about your music aren’t even worth my time, yet here I am giving it to them just a week after Alternative Press shed light on the issue in the virally popular article “No Money, Mo’ Problems,” showing how a huge number of talented, successful, mainstay bands can’t make ends meet. It only makes me realize the obvious fact: That although sometimes they are few and far between, people love to hate. You could save the lives of a million babies and kittens and they will hate. Still, I can’t seem to keep my mouth shut. I feel it’s necessary to lay some things on the table, not to call anyone out and draw attention to negativity, but to better understand how we can create the community of support that could start moving music in a better direction.

I would hope that everyone in the world could agree that any band with a strong, loyal following deserves to make a living from their talent. I can’t really understand why anyone would want artists to have a hard time unless they’re living bitter lives of envy and regret. I can’t comprehend any criticism of a person for simply attempting to continue their career in spite of the widespread financial collapse of their industry that is affecting all musicians (regardless of age and length of time as a band). I also can’t wrap my head around criticism for being inspired by the help that supporters want to give. Especially when the person at the brunt of the criticism is just as dedicated to finding a solution for other musicians as they are for themselves.Cliffnotes: My husband Ace Enders is awesome and I think you should agree.

Seriously though, this isn’t about genres being in or out, age, success or popularity. Another Alternative Press article, also by Emily Zemler, delves into the issue of whether or not a band has an “expiration date.” I recommend reading that as the best, unbiased source (because as the wife of a nearly 29-year-old musician, I can admit that I’m biased…) to show what I’m talking about here. This is about independent music having a shot. Just like some haters seem to want for themselves. Because (true story) after they criticize you in every possible way and tell you that you don’t deserve to make a living from your music anymore, they’ll ask you to focus on being a producer and helping their band?! If these people would pay attention for just one second, I hope they’d see that helping all people who create and love music is actually the point of what I Can Make a Mess is doing. Sounds like a utopian, hippie daydream, but whatever. It’s worth a shot.

And that shot is basically this: The new I Can Make a Mess internship program. Bands aren’t always the most savvy when it comes to business, until they learn the hard way most of the time. They rely on labels, managers, etc to help them out with absolutely everything while they focus on creating. More and more, bands have taken all aspects of their careers into their own hands because it’s getting easier and more necessary to do so, but even for the most experienced full time touring band, it’s really tough and overwhelming unless you have some solid resources (and those resources are usually reinvented by the same labels and managers who you may want to stay away from). Not to say that you want to stay away from labels and managers in general, just that it’s really important to take as many aspects of your career as possible into your own hands these days. If a band takes that same creativity that they put into their music and applies it to every other aspect of their presence, it can be something really special. Carrying it out and spreading it is the complex part that we’ve been struggling with for a while and we’re testing out a new way to solve that.
We’ve created a team of 157 volunteer interns and assistants around the world to act as one big mash up of a record label staff including a publicity team, sales representatives, social media specialists, graphic designers, film makers, photographers, event coordinators, web designers, and on and on. Our staff ranges in age from 17 to 30; high school and college students with tons of ambition and cool experiences, full-time employees with valuable skills and connections, members of other bands, and us. About 20 local interns will be helping us coordinate the program from the shabby, little, red shack that I Can Make a Mess calls an office. We’re lucky to have the passionate, dedicated fan base that makes this possible.

Whether or not our utopian, hippie daydreams of a world where artists are respected and rewarded with admiration and financial stability, fans have the type of connection to music that goes beyond the cookie-cutter stuff that floods the airwaves, and everyone spreads peace, inspiration and all good things through music actually comes true doesn’t really matter. We’re giving it our best shot learning and sharing and enjoying the process. And the process is breathing new energy and excitement into the music. This is our own community of support, moving our own music in a better direction. And maybe it’ll catch on.