Rusty Redenbacher: Making Indianapolis Great
Posted by Justin Boland on Jan 27, 2012 | 0 Comments
When it comes to building something out of nothing, miracles are the name of the game. “It can’t be done” is a comfortable conclusion for lazy artists, but cats like Rusty Redenbacher don’t accept reality — they sculpt it. This is an interview about how he and his team have been putting in work to build a hip hop scene in the unlikely venue of Indianapolis. We’re talking team building, daily routines, digital promo and of course…chicken limos.
AH: How do you prioritize your career in 2011? You seem to wear every hat in the business and you collaborate with a lot of cats - what’s the method behind the madness?
RR: ALL THE TORNADO ALLEY EVERYTHING. It starts with this crew. I mean, man, I do a LOTTA stuff and honestly, being a rapper don’t pay my bills. I host a TV show called ‘The Rock Block’ on Indy’s Music Channel, DJ in clubs, work in a record store (Vibes Music, holla at us on Amazon or come to the shop!), write a column for Metromix, handle all my own bookings, along with the ‘Social Media Savant’ stuff you see online that got you to holler at me (hustle WORKS)…but I’ll always be an artist first. I’ll always be rappin because I will always have something to say. I looooooooooove to rap, man. I looooooooove to play shows. These things give me life. I’ll stop when they pull the plug.
Now, lemme give you some of the ‘method’. Knowing that this is who I am and who I have always been, I stick to it. You hafta be consistent and have personality in all things, but ESPECIALLY now. This is the ‘remote control/”hit THIS link” generation. People don’t give you the time to stay corny or be wack. Also, did you notice I haven’t mentioned ‘the labels’…? Anymore, the viral video is the new demo. You can do as much as them and you’re a viral video away from some money.
I told everybody the entire game was going online about 4 years ago when I started really understanding the power of the internet. I’ve always created tons of content, starting with the original Mudkids Myspace and Youtube pages. Now, with the immediacy of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Tumblr…it’s a whole new game. For example, I have a Facebook Group for the runoff now that my regular page is full…so I use the other three to promote the group page being there. I cross-stream a lotta stuff, but I make sure I keep each pages identity unique. It’s working, man…well, it got you to hit me up.
Yeah, it’s working.
Social-Media is runnin thangs but I remain an Artist, (Capital A) first and foremost. I’m focused, man. On all of it.
AH: What are the biggest mistakes you see new artists making on their first releases?
RR: Trying to sell it…for all the things I said above. Hey, man…new game. You better give em that first joint free and never stop working it. And repeat that process, then book some shows. Here’s another one; spending way too much money recording said project, which will be free whether you like it or not, as soon as the first note hits the innawebs. Yep, somebody finna ‘bootleg’ your joint…if you’re lucky. Shit, blogs are the new labels. They’re calling shots. So the best thing you can do is attack Twitter and keep givin em real personality and quality content. After a while, they watch for the content and you’re being your natural funky self. That’s what you want, bruh. Well, what I want.
AH: How do you approach show promotion this year? Where do you think your efforts pay off the most?
RR: Shows are crazy here in #Naptown, but there’s not a lotta places to play anymore. It’s crazy what is happening with live music; it’s kinda getting pushed to the outskirts. We’re locked in with all the promoters and have been for a while. When we formed The Tornado Alley, we started out with the intentions of playing the right shows. There’s seven of us, all relatively established as artists, that decided to work together. The promotion is easy. I’m online all the time, as are most of the crew, so someone is always talking about what we’re doing between the seven of us. They’ll tell you I go the hardest…and they’re right, but I have the biggest platform, so it only makes sense. We all do it together though, in shifts, throughout the day. As stated in the first paragraph, I’m quick to run a good Tumblr post over to Twitter and Facebook to give it the most views possible. Consistency is key.
I’d have to say what one paid off the best wasn’t even for a show. It was the promotion (and continuing promotion) of the album I cut with Mr. Kinetik, which is called ‘The Professor And The Hustler‘. We just made sure to stick to the dates and never stopped pushing it. Now, we just dropped the video for ‘Cashin In’ and gotta lotta blog love from it, which just keeps the momentum going. Kinetik is my right-hand man when it comes to the promotion and planning for The Tornado Alley online. He runs the Twitter page for the group.
AH: How formal is the arrangement with The Tornado Alley? Are cats paying in or sharing profits?
RR: We don’t talk about money with people till it’s worth talking about. We’re brothers. Trust that we’re family.
AH: What is your definition of the “right” show in 2011?
RR: We gotta have solid promotion from the promoter, for one thing. Our online presence is starting to make a few waves here and there and people know that if you book Son and Feeray or alpha.live, you’re not only getting a great show, you’re getting the promotional efforts of seven people…for free. So match us there. That’s one thing. Also, we’re down to open for the hottest acts in the world, internet or real, as well as any legends, as is the case tonight. Son and Feeray are opening for DAS EFX. We rock with legends and whoever says they bring it. Let us know you’re working for the crowd that we wanna rock and that’s the ‘right show’. We’re just getting started but it’s working…
Are you building direct relationships with bloggers or relying on your platform to make the noise for you? OR BOTH?
RR: Actually, a little bit of both. I have a large platform and stay suuuuuper-consistent with the promotion of all things ‘The Tornado Alley (#ATFU)’. Fortunately within that platform, there’s some very influential people. Funny thing is, in the most immediate form of social-media (Twitter), a lotta those people may have followed me for a year or more and really never did so because I’m a rapper, but because I have strong opinions that I have no shame in giving a voice to. Really though, man, we put the records on the site and just got ta Tweetin, Tumblin, Youtubin, and Facebookin. And we repeat this process with every release. Each artist within The Tornado Alley can tell you that in the 14 months or so that we’ve been a ‘crew’, we’ve ALL learned a LOT about social-media, promotion, and most importantly, music and working together.
AH: What would you like to see changed in the music business today? Assume you have godlike, total power over the Universe.
RR: POWER TO THE ARTISTS. FIRE THE A&R’S. GIVE THE PEOPLE WHO WORK FOR IT THE BUDGET AND STOP TRYING TO ‘CREATE’ STARS. PEOPLE NEED SUBSTANCE AND STARS WILL NATURALLY SHINE.
AH: Any advice for artists looking to make a quality video on a tight budget?
RR: Get a Chicken Limo.