A Moment With 1000x/minute

Hey friends,

This post is something I’d been thinking about writing for a good couple of months now, but it took about that long for me to figure out what I was going to say. So, if you’re interested on what goes on in a late-20something music blogger’s head sometimes, read on. It also concerns the direction of this site, some inevitable changes, and a few promises to anyone who stops by.

When 1000x/minute got started, I lived in Japan, was single, and had nothing but time to expend on my hobby of searching for and listening to what I considered to be awesome music. That was 2008, and you really couldn’t even call it a music blog then. As I streamlined the way I found, listened to, and shared music, the site came into its own as my music blog around the beginning of 2010. At the beginning of 2011, my friend redesigned the website (he did a great job, btw. His site is here) and I began writing a lot more along with each track, mix, & vid. I also became pretty active on twitter, learned a ton about music blogging ethics, and started to talk up the local music scene here in Grand Rapids.

Well, to keep things short, circumstances change. In February, I began dating my best friend. By August, we were engaged, and on October 7th we tied the knot. Sounds pretty fast when I write it out like that, but hey, when you know, you know.

Anyway, something like that has the ability to shuffle one’s priorities around big time. But even that alone probably wouldn’t have caused the mini blogger’s existential crisis I went through for the last month or so. I think I had become a bit burnt out, sometimes jaded by both the blogging community, sometimes tired of the mass amount of music I was taking in with barely a breather given to myself to enjoy the classics, sometimes a lack of response to some of the things I was working hard to put together/share, etc. None of those things on their own was enough to change what I was doing - but all of them together over a long period of time started weighing on me. I wasn’t enjoying music the same way anymore!

There was a sense of relief in the weeks before my wedding and on my honeymoon when I didn’t have to care about writing anything. I began listening to songs and artists I hadn’t heard in months, and the joy started coming back, finally. But it’s coming back in a different way now, I realize.

So I guess what I’m here to say is that 1000x/minute is going to change. Not in style or taste, but in frequency of posting and quality of content.

My original vision for this site was one new, good song every day. There’s enough music out there to make that happen, for sure, but it’s a pace that one man simply can’t keep up with, short of having a huge appetite and tons of time to dedicate to that end. Now, however, I want to focus on music that can’t not be listened to. I’ve never posted a song on this site I’ve hated, or at least I tried not to - in fact, I go back to delete tracks that in hindsight I realized I posted too quickly (songs that don’t last, in my opinion, and ones that I wouldn’t listen to a few weeks down the road) - but now I want to post music that in my opinion needs to be heard.

That will inevitably change the amount of music that gets posted on the site, and a lot of bands won’t get covered that probably deserve it in some way. I wish I could do something about that, but I just can’t anymore. The good thing is, I don’t have to! Here’s a list of sites I frequent in order to hear the latest jams: Slowcoustic, IGIF, Captain Obvious, Tympanogram, Music For Kids Who Can’t Read Good, Hyperbole, Obscure Sound, My Old Kentucky Blog, Gorilla Vs. Bear, Cover Me, and Faronheit, among many others! Each of these sites has a dedicated mission to provide music in their own way, and many of ‘em have multiple writers just to keep up-to-date.

Anyway, all this to say, I seriously considered closing down 1000x/minute for a while there. In no way do I want to overstate this blog’s importance - I know, in the end, it’s just another blog in a sea of people with “good taste” (honestly, who thinks they have bad taste?) - but shutting it down would have been, at the very least, a big deal to me. It may never be as grandiose as I once aspired, but it still has a lot of meaning for me, and sharing music that I think needs to be heard has always been at its core. Maybe the day for me to say goodbye will come, but it’s not yet.

So, until then, expect fewer posts, but expect the music I share to be, what I personally consider, among the absolute best out there. And if you want to stay, cool. If you want to tell your friends, even cooler. And if you want to be a part of the conversation on twitter or on facebook, even cooler still. And if I could add one selfish plea: let me know how I’m doing. Message me through tumblr, “@” me on twitter, and/or comment on facebook/the posts on the site. Ask questions! You have no idea how much it can mean to me.

Thanks for reading! Now go buy the new ARMS album Summer Skills.