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andytfish · 4 years

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FREELANCE GUiDANCE: A 10 Part Series- Part 5- GET PAID SON!

The biggest magic trick the Freelancer ever pulled was convincing his client to actually pay him a fair wage.

You want to make it in this business, kid, you gotta get paid.

You can turn to the Graphic Artists Guild Pricing Guide for some reference if you're just starting out. But unless you live in New York or LA (lower Alabama I'm not talking about) those prices are going to be spit-took when the client hears them.

So HOW do you get paid? The easiest way is to negotiate with respectable clients.

First and foremost, make sure you agree up front (and in writing) that you WILL be paid. Not only do I use a formal contract I also insist on ALL communication between me and clients to be via email-- why? Because then I have a paper trail-- I can re-read emails for project details and I have essentially a written correspondence regarding the agreement of trade.

Cause that's what it is-- the client is trading you something (preferably cash) for your services to provide.

When you first hang your freelance shingle up you're going to get approached by a LOT of people offering you work either on SPEC or "for the exposure". Here's a cold hard truth-- unless that company offering you exposure is Time Magazine it's not worth it-- and guess what? Time Magazine actually pays you for work so the point is moot.

This brings up the basic formula of work:

1. Work on Spec - You'll get paid after publication based on the number of copies sold because your work appears in it. I HATE these deals. HATE 'em. If you're going to work on SPEC then work ONLY on something you OWN. In the comics world writers can whip out a 22 page story in a day or two, an artist will take a month or longer if they have a full time job. Yet SO many writers and publishers of small companies offer you spec for payment with ZERO equity in the product. BAD. Make sure if you're providing the artwork you are getting a share of the profits.

2. Work for hire-- You'll get paid up-front or upon completion but you will own nothing. You are solely providing a service, like a plumber installing a new bathroom for you-- they can't come over and use it any time they want just because they installed it. Same thing here, you do the work, you get paid and that's it.

3. Royalty Work-- You get paid up front or upon completion of the work and you will get a royalty based on the number of copies sold.

How do you negotiate?

I use a simple method when someone contacts me-- here's how I handle it and it works 85% of the time:

"Hi Andy-- we LOVE your work and we have (such and such) we think you'd be PERFECT for! We were wondering if you'd have time and what such a project would cost?"

"Great! Thanks! What's the budget?"

That's as involved as it gets, now keep in mind there are a couple other factors--

A- I look over the project that they're talking about and make sure I understand exactly what it is they are looking to hire me for.

B- I calculate a rough budget and time frame in which I can deliver it so I have a number in my head.

Now if that client has a project that I REALLY dig, or if they happen to make me laugh in the proposal AND they show that they've actually LOOKED at my work that will go a long way towards keeping my price down. Steve Altes, when he reached out to me about his graphic novel GEEKS AND GREEKS, not only referenced specific works I'd done but he made me laugh. His online presence was tremendous and he happened to mention a record album he had been looking at that day- and by sheer coincidence I had looked at the same exact one (a vintage one at that) -- I knew it was instant Karma and this was a guy I not only wanted to work with but I found a new friend.

Ok, so about 85% of the time the client will come back with a budget they had in mind. On the 15% of the time they don't I have to give them a number. I've been doing this a long time so I can come up with a number pretty quickly.

I use a simple equation:

WHAT DO I NEED to pay the bills this month?

HOW busy am I?

How LONG will this take?

Let's say you pay yourself an hourly wage of $100/hour and that is what you consider your IDEAL rate. Ideal= you're in good shape bills wise so it's okay if you lose this job.

Factor in the number of hours you expect this to take (a good rule of thumb is to double whatever number you come up with because you're likely to underestimate how much work this'll be).

ASK and UNDERSTAND what your royalties will or won't be. If it's none then you need to up the price a bit. If it's being used for commercial purposes what kind of permissions are you granting? Someone who hires you to design a T-Shirt for a Cub Scout fundraiser shouldn't have to pay the same amount as someone who is hiring you to design a T-shirt for their website that they will then sell in perpetuity with no royalties on those sales.

This is the point where you're going to hear about the magic of exposure. Exposure means you should do this cheap because of the fame you will gain.

I just don't buy into that. I DO free work that I donate to Charity Auctions like Art In The City or the Boys and Girls Club. I do it because I believe in the cause and if it's lead to any exposure no one has mentioned it to me.

In fact you can get a lot of exposure just by building yourself a decent web-presence, but that's next week's lesson.

All right so let's assume they've given you all the details of the project and you want to do it, and it fits in your schedule and it seems to be a good mix for you.

You figure how many hours-- let's say 10 to keep the math easy-- double it because you know how bad you are at figuring how much work something is going to be and you have that hourly rate-- in this case $100/hour which brings us to a grand total of $2000/USD for 20 hours of work granting them whatever useage rights you are comfortable with. NOTE: Specify the currency you'll be paid in. USD = US DOLLARS. It's a world economy now.

A good rule of thumb is if they aren't going to pay you royalties then add 30% to the quote. So now we're at $2600. I'd also be comfortable giving them a 180 days exclusive rights to the image, after that it reverts to you so that you can use the image on your own product. If they want to keep the image as an exclusive to them in perpetuity (essentially forever) then add a few more bucks to the job.

I like the rule of 1/3s for payment- so 1/3 up front for me to start, 1/3 at the halfway point and 1/3 at completion with the agreement that they get the final useable image with the final payment.

Meaning of course, that every file you sent them for approval through the stages was at 72dpi and NO bigger than 500 pixels or so tall. This ensures they don't just take your prelims and run with it never paying off the balance owed.

Remember if you give them a price that's too high you can always lower your price, but you can't raise it.

In that same vein, if you are in financial straights as this potential assignment comes in you can simply follow up your quote if you don't hear from them within a day or two and tell them it's negotiable if you were far off from the number they had in mind.

It's all about NEGOTIATION.

NOW WHAT ABOUT THE CLIENT WHO WON'T PAY ME?

It's going to happen, sooner or later. A client runs out of money before the balance is paid. Unless they file for Bankruptcy protection your best option is to file a civil case against them in your local court system. In fifteen years I've never had to do this, but I've come close twice. It's not hard to do especially if you have a contract and a paper trial of your conversations. It's a simple filing fee and the clerks will usually walk you through it. You'll have to see a constable or sheriff about notice getting served to the (likely now ex) client but that too will be explained to you when the time comes.

You should also use your instinct. If a client comes to you with a project someone else had been working on in this day and age of the internet it's not hard to track down the previous creator and find out why the relationship ended.

If a client comes to you with a project that is scattered with fallen creators that should give you a pretty good insight into how smooth this project is going to be. It certainly could be that this person is a great partner to work with and all those creatives were the guilty parties, but far more likely is that this is a difficult client who is never happy.

Add that to the equation when you're providing your quote (should you decide to work with them).

I was approached by a client once who I was warned against by several friends who stated they were difficult and slow to pay.

When I quoted the job I did my usual hourly rate x hours x2 only I added ANOTHER X2 to the equation so essentially the quote was DOUBLE what I would have normally charged.

They balked at the price, I stuck to it-- they finally relented and we were off to the races. They weren't the most difficult client I'd ever had but they were "tweakers"-- so there were a lot of revisions along the way. They were also a committee which is another FLAG-- committees are slow to green light and that usually eats into the deadline.

If a project needs more than one person's approval I stipulate when the approvals need to be in hand in order for the project to come in on schedule. This way I can point to this when we start running late. I also insist on ONE CONTACT person from the group so I'm not getting multiple directions taking me all over the place.

By the time the project was over it had taken me twice as long to finish it as I'd projected-- good thing I doubled my quote.

When they came back for a new project I knew what I was getting myself into up front and used the same quote system.

BECAUSE SOMETIMES IT'S OK TO SAY NO.

No matter how much they like you, how much they love your work, how much they're willing to pay, how desperately they want to work with you. Sometimes the right thing to do is to pass.

*OK so what about that HOURLY rate? $100 might seem like a lot or it might seem dirt cheap depending on where you live and how long you've been doing this Freelance thing. Your best bet to discover the going rate in your area is to keep yourself familiar with the work being done in your industry.

Locally you can attend Chamber of Commerce and Business to Business events, but I find local means little money (at least here in Central Massachusetts-- I've found the same thing in Boston too). So I keep my client base international via the web.

But network with other artists, find out what they're charging. Look at ads via sites that advertise for freelancers and see what clients are paying.

A site like FREELANCED.COM can give you insight and fits of laughter too. I'm always amazed at the number of people who will apply for a gig that pays something like $2 an hour. Amateurs no doubt, because a professional couldn't keep the lights on for that rate.

Meaning keep an open mind when perusing the offerings. Like the reviews on Amazon, you have to weigh in the value of what the person is saying.

Which will take us to the next lesson:

Part Six: ESTABLISH AN ONLINE PRESENCE

Andy Fish is a freelance artist and writer who has been living the lifestyle longer than there has been an iPhone on this planet. The advice given has worked for him, it might work for you, he hopes it does. But like all advice, take it with your own situation in mind. If you want to contact him shoot him an email [email protected]

Which will take us to the next lesson:

Part Six: ESTABLISH AN ONLINE PRESENCE

#ADVICE #FREELANCE #FREELANCE LIFESTYLE

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sukisdeliveryservice · 3 years

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hi ash! sorry that im a little late, ive been a bit preoccupied these few days, but im glad you like talking to me :D i rly like talking to you too <3 i appreciate that you put so much effort into answering everything T-T i do have discord actually! id love to continue talking over there after this :D also this is crazy long so dont rush yourself sjhdjdjd

if you want any nct music recs in the future you can come to me 😌 i really love hello future!! i say this about every title track during every comeback but its really my favourite one right now!

YOU PLAYED DRUMS?? thats so cool :O ive always found drummers rly attractive sjshjehdjsh

the have i evers :

i have never! been to a concert, ive just never had the chance :/

i have! sneaked out, but it was with the help of my mum where my dad didn't know lmao ehejenjdhen

i have! gone through both a one direction and bts phase. 1D came first and it lasted for almost half a year i believe? and i discovered bts in 2018 thanks to my friend, but i started exploring and eventually drifted apart from them in early 2020. jungkook still has a special place in my heart tho :))

i have! had a irl crush actually :'D he actually knew i liked him but did nothing at all and we remained pretty good friends, but he stopped talking to me about over a year ago, and i lowkey don't wanna admit it but i miss him sometimes :')

i have! pets. i have 3 dogs and a cat currently, and i have 6 other unofficial dogs and a idk how many fish which are at my grandma's side :DD

i have! performed in front of a crowd, i was in a storytelling competition when i was 9 and 10, and then i learned to play the erhu when i was 12 and performed a few times :))

i have! fic wise, i also love by-moonflowers fics sm! T^T i read her tokyo ghoul au and i actually didn't have a clue what tokyo ghoul was, i looked it up on wikipedia before reading it djbfkdhdjd and her exes confront each other series was really amazing too. and im rambling but her jeonghan magic au, all the stars we steal, that was probably the first fic of her's i read and it hit something in me and i really wish i could read it again like it was the first time 😔 i really loved it sm. book wise, i will never forget jodi picoult's small great things. and also like any book reader, ps. i love you is definitely a favourite of mine :') it was so touching and i just genuinely really love that story.

i have! there's quite a lot of moments like that, but this one where i went on vacation in the mountains? we stayed at a very nice place. on the first day i was really tired so i slept til the evening, and when i woke up it was drizzling and there's was quite a breeze, so i sat in front of the open door of my room. in front was a swimming pool so i just put on some music and watched the rain drop into the pool. it was the most relaxed i had felt in a while and i wish i could go back :')

i would say i have! when we can talk anon off i'll tell you which one, but i really enjoyed writing this one drabble/oneshot and im glad other people seemed to like it as well :DD

and ofc i have! i met seventeen when i was pretty down, and i treasure them the most now. they helped me through a lot and really changed me and im really grateful to them

i wanna know your answers to these too! so, have you ever

been to a place/been in a particular mood after a specific event that you wanted to stay in forever?

written a piece of work that sparked energy within your fingertips?

met a person/have someone in your life who you now just treasure so deeply?

the next mission is out dkhdkdhfj but i'll continue for now, would you rather (pls dont hate me after this)

only listen to seventeen or txt forever

spend a week with soobin or chan

only eat bingsu or only watch 1 studio ghibli films for the rest of your life

sign with sm or yg or jyp

know how to play every single instrument or speak language in the world

be a master at something you love (singing, dancing, writing, that kinda thing) or something unique (like having a photographic memory or like ice carving? or even mouth reading)

i also suddenly remembered, but knitting is also one of my many hobbies :D

- 💎 anon loves you and wishes you a good day!

you can reply whenever you are ready anon. it excites me that we've been having a steady back and forth but sometimes life happens and you should definitely prioritize any other responsibilities you have!! i'll always be here 😌 knitting is a fun hobby anon!! i used to do that and crochet a lot too ,,, i should get back to it. what do you make?

before i go ahead and answer these can i just say how much i love that you personalized it?? that really means a lot to me <3 anyways~ here we go!! when we get to turn off anon i would love to hear some nct recs!! most of my irl kpop friends ult them and i'd love to get to know more!! and discord would probably be the best way to share because the asks just get longer and longer LOL (i love them)

drums yes!! i've been told that i look like i'd play the piano instead bahaha but i think drums are pretty neat :3 i also saw this person ask huening kai about band txt and he said soobin would play the drums :O need i say more?

thank you for your answers!! we definitely gotta talk more about them once we can chat on discord!! i loved reading them and they were just so lovely <333 for the last 3:

i don't think so? i have yet to be in a moment where i am completely lost in the energy - but the closest i've been to that level of peace would be the late nights where i'm playing my favourite music and about to drift off to sleep. i feel almost content, and sometimes wish i could stay in my dreams forever :3

my very first fic!! flights and feelings - i was writing it on a whim at 2 am? and i wasn't planning on posting it until i did randomly and now i am a tumblr writer :O

seventeen like you said! i don't think i would have made it through the rest of high school without them, and as of now they've been one of the things keeping me going :)

the next mission is out owo playlist making do i see? anyways onto these first!! how dare you write these anon my head is SPINNING

only listen to seventeen or txt forever ...seventeen, they're my ults!! but also because they have more music released atm, we have yet to see the amazing things txt have planned!! i wouldn't be surprised if i start ulting txt in the future as well :3 i...bought 3 of their albums a few days ago

spend a week with soobin or chan // WHAT KIND OF QUESTION IS THIS ARE YOU TRYING TO GIVE ME A HEADACHE (moots please look away) soobin <3 i love them both very much but i think soobin and i will vibe more maybe it's my delusions THEY'RE BOTH MY ULTS and i'm scared of talking to both D: but soobin is slightly younger than chan so that's why i think he'd be easier to talk to T_T the thought of spending a week with soobin makes my head spin

only eat bingsu or only watch 1 studio ghibli films for the rest of your life // bingsu!! i would not mind that one bit :3

sign with sm or yg or jyp // as someone who is a terrible singer and dancer, i would not survive in either of these companies. however, under the assumption that i can do these things, i would say... jyp. i don't think there's an entertainment company that treats their idols completely right but out of these 3 i feel like i'd cry less in jyp. is kq entertainment an option? idk all the details but they seem to treat ateez okay, or maybe IU's company...again i don't know all the deets

know how to play every single instrument or speak language in the world // speak every language in the world!! it upsets me everyday that i'm not close to my culture because of this :(

be a master at something you love (singing, dancing, writing, that kinda thing) or something unique (like having a photographic memory or like ice carving? or even mouth reading) // i'd say maybe something unique!! it's kind of thrilling to always be looking for ways to improve on something you love <3 so i'd go with something unique...a photographic memory would be very helpful for studying!! but maybe i'd like to have a talent in making people smile!!

thank you for these questions anon!! i'm heading out to work now but i'd love to write you some more would you rathers later on :) i should have packed more questions into this reply but i really gotta go now sorry :( so instead just tell me how are you!! also i would like to know your answers to these ones!! you are very creative with these btw :3

which of your biases would you want to spend a week with?

what food would you be okay with eating for the rest of your life?

would you rather:

sign with sm, yg or jyp?

know how to play every single instrument or speak language in the world?

be a master at something you love or something unique?

#💎#have an amazing day as well anon!#i was supposed to answer this last night but uh...something came up #when i get to speak to you properly i may or may not enlighten you on what that was #its nothing than what you think it is LOL #love & letter 💌

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knno-archive · 7 years

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11 questions tag (x3)

Rules:

Post the rules

Answer the questions given to you by the tagger.

Write 11 questions of your own

Tag 11 people

I was tagged by @starlightdae whom i luv @kjonginswife whom i luv and @gentlejongin whom i luv

(doing both tags together bc i cant come up w 33 qs are. you kidding me.)

1. You and your bias are going on a mega fun trip!Where are you headed?

we’re going all over canada i’m gonna show him around

2. What’s your favorite room in your home?

my bedroom 👅 bc it’s away from other people 👅

3. What Is Love or My Lady?

what is love cleared my skin

4. Which do you like better? Noodles or rice?

noodles

5. If you had to pick one beverage to drink for the rest of your life, what would it be?

water??? i have to stay loyal to my man

6.If you were in a band, what would your stage name be? (do you have a cool nickname?)

idk but my rapper name would be Lil Moot

7. What’s your favorite thing to dip your fries in?

nothing... im boring

8.Which is cuter: Yixing’s dimple or Jongdae’s kitty lip curl?

9.If you had to pick a movie to live in, which one would you pick?

moonrise kingdom for sure

10. Your bias offers to buy you coffee, and when you taste it, its absolutely awful! What do you do?

you don’t wanna know

11.Do you like going to the beach?

i live near the great lakes so i go all the time in the summer but im not big into lake swimming... i like sittin on the beach though!

1. go roller skating with baekhyun or go to the movies with jongdae?

i can’t roller skate but i doubt jongdae and i have the same taste... i’ll go see cars 3 with him

2. as an album, ex’act or the war?

the war

3. bake with yixing or go to a water park with chanyeol?

we baking macarons

4. as an era, overdose or growl?

overdose, love the choreo

5. go to a fair/carnival with jongin or go go-kart racing with minseok?

w jongin! we’d get cotton candy :(((

6. white noise or chill?

chilllllllll

7. spend the day shopping with sehun or go to an art museum with kyungsoo?

man i want both so bad... i feel like shopping w the king of fashion would be too intimidating so... kyungsoo

8. the eve or artificial love?

idk an artificial love, the eve killed her

9. netflix & chill or go on a roadtrip with junmyeon?

again i want both but i love road trips and i love my man so :(

10. she’s dreaming or what if?

I LOVE BOTH but if one gotta go...... shes dreaming stays

11. go clubbing with chanyeol, sehun & jongdae or with baekhyun, jongin & yixing?

not into clubbing but i would literally die if i went with the first three, so im going w bbh kji and zyx

1. What’s one movie or tv show that never fails to make you feel better and why do you love it?

i have several films! i watch lawrence of arabia when i want to be distracted nd immersed in another world; star wars episode iv: a new hope when i’m sad/there’s been a big change in my life; and grand budapest hotel literally whenever

2. If you could only listen to one Kpop song that is not sung by any of the members of EXO what would you choose?

shinee is my second fav so i’ll go with the only kpop song that matters, which is lucifer

3. If you had to remain one age for the rest of your life, how old would you be and why?

19 bc i’m about to turn it and i’m lovin life rn except i can’t drink in canada until that age lmao

4. What is your go to in order to relax after a long day?

well ive had a long ass (ride) week and every day i come home and go on tumblr lmfao and maybe nap a bit

5. If you had to have one Idol as your roommate for the rest of your life who would you choose?

minseok, he reminds me of me and we’re both tidy, we’ll get along... also hes old nd wise and wouldn’t bother me bc we’d both keep to ourselves lmao

6. How did you choose your ultimate bias?

after i saw the lucky one mv he emailed me the contract :/

7. Do you have a go to meal you always order at a restaurant you’ve never been to before if so what is it?

chicken caesar salad

8. What are your top 3 comfort foods?

i’m more of a snacker so i’ll say fruit and goldfish crackers and bread

9. Is there a millstone in your future you are excited to reach?

graduating university!

10. What is your favourite EXO album and why?

the war has a special place in my heart bc it was my first (im a baby stan)... i just love every song ok

11. What is one of your happiest memories in life so far?

this entire summer

my questions are:

best era for your 3rd bias?

what’s your favourite author?

what’s the last text you sent say?

whose power do you wish you had, and why?

since lmr romantic universe is the best mv (lmao), what’s the second best?

if you were to make your bias a flower crown, what would it be made of?

what’s your favourite play/musical?

denim or leather jackets?

lmr or cmb?

favourite cbx song?

favourite station song by an exo member?

i tag @suhosbulge @my-bobohu @cutekai @official-lightsticks @exordiam @xjongin @foreverdotmp3 @sooing @ilovezyx @ohpeachyboy @milky-waee

#you dont have to ofc #this was rly fun!!!!! thanks ppl for taggin me #about

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wellamarke · 7 years

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ULTIMATE PLAYLIST: 2016 EDITION

Woops, it got to be March without me posting these. Here’s a little thing I’ve been doing since 2010, where I make a playlist of my favourite songs from the year. The 2016 list is very Lenka/Ingrid Michaelson heavy, for various reasons (but a big one being that Ingrid’s newest album ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense.’ is one of my favourite albums of all time. The entire record features on this list - that’s never happened before.)

Putting the track listing under a cut because I tend to ramble on!

1. Blue Skies - Lenka “It's gonna be blue skies for you and I, we'll step out of the shadows and walk into the light” In some ways this song doesn’t feel very Lenka-y, being a little bit techno-y with echoes and such, but in all the ways that matter it’s a classic piece of Lenka goodness, uplifting and cutely cutely cute.

2. Somewhere Out There - Danny Pudi and Donald Glover “And when the night wind starts to sing a lonesome lullaby, it helps to think we're sleeping underneath the same big sky!” So, if you’ve been following me for any amount of time you probably know that I became utter trash for the show Community this year (like, we’re talking, top 2 TV shows of all time level of trash, I love it so much, I don’t know how or why I lived before it) and especially Troy and Abed and their friendship. They sing this song as a duet to their rat in season 1 episode 10, aka the episode where my soul was finally consumed into Community hell never to return. The whole end section of that episode is a true gift, and it’s overlaid with this song. Which then becomes HORRIFICALLY APPROPRIATE for the two characters later in the show, leading to me just wanting to cry and/or die every time I hear it. So y’know. Top quality stuff.

3. Another Life - Ingrid Michaelson “It's in the galaxies and all the history books - I think we shared another life, don't you?” A beautiful song to start off the torrential downpour of tracks from this album (I’m not joking, every multiple of 3 on this list is from ‘It Doesn’t Have to Make Sense’. This is serious obsessive business.)

4. Get Together - Lenka “Now we're all together and I hope it lasts forever, got my people here tonight” Listen, show me a song that somehow alludes to a group of friends who love each other, and I’ll show you my new favourite song. I can’t. Get. Enough. (If you were wondering what appeals to me about the aforementioned Community, I’ll, er, give you 3 guesses?)

5. Ampersand - Bittereinder “Daar’s iets primitief in ’n stem en ’n beat, dis die eerste musiek, dis die voete om ’n vuur” I think this is the first year that Afrikaans has made it as the only extra language (not an Italian track in sight, woops) and this is prooobably the first song that’s ever got on one of these lists that could properly be called a rap, haha. I don’t know what it is about Bittereinder...I don’t usually like anything like this....but... it’s Bittereinder. They own me.

6. Celebrate - Ingrid Michaelson “This is my throwback song, it’s just like the ones, the ones that we used to know” My my, is this a nostalgia song? Welcome to my favourite songs ever, you rose-tinted bag o’ wistful feelings!

7. No Harm Tonight - Lenka “Nothing will harm you tonight, all of your darkness will turn into light” This song is sooooo beautiful, lyrically and musically and gaaaaah, it’s just so adorable. In a year when I have become even less emotionally demonstrative than ever (I know, but yeah apparently there was room to go further) I have compensated by collecting some of the mushiest songs going. Ya gotta reroute it to somewhere, I guess.

8. Toe Vind Ek Jou - Francois Van Coke (with Karen Zoid) “Ek het genoeg gegee, ek het genoeg geskree, ek het lankal terug geleer, maar nog steeds het ek probeer” AAAAH this song maaan. So good. If you’ve ever read one of these lists or just in general seen me talking about music, you may know I have a bIG weakness for duets, and particularly male/female duets, so, with the added bonus of it being Francois, this was always going to be a winner for me. Such a good song UGH.

9. Drink You Gone - Ingrid Michaelson “Like a sinking ship while the band plays on, when I dream you're there, I can't even sleep you gone” This song is honestly so painful. Aaah the emotion in the chorus is just, that shouldn’t be allowed in mp3 format. No, Ingrid, stop. (By which I mean never stop.) A deliberate misinterpretation of this song makes it an EXCELLENT and DEVASTATING Karen/Pete song (Humans ship of sadness). She can’t drink him gone, she can’t smoke him out... she can’t eat away the way that he ate her heart out.... because she’s a robot... ha .... geddit.

10. Joni Was Right - Marit Larsen “Time just sent me off to bed, love was just a word we said, I thought someone would always keep me safe” For obvious title-based reasons, I would have loved this song even if it was three hours of a duck trying to play a harmonica, but as it turns out, it’s my favourite kind of nostalgia-laden, bittersweet lyric and it’s so, so beautiful. Like, Marit Larsen didn’t even have to try to win me here but she still brought this masterpiece. Amazing. (More on the ridiculous levels of coincidence surrounding this album later in the list.)

11. Grow - Frances “You know I'm here holding on, tying up your loose ends and your drifting esteem” I can’t remember how I came across this song now... was it a fanvid for something?... but I’m glad I did, because it’s beautiful. You know how my writing is so often in a kind of wannabe hurt/comfort genre? Yeah, my music isn’t all that different. Supportive friendship is such a great concept! The application is... ew.... but the theory’s great.

12. Hell No - Ingrid Michaelson “Stop crying, stop crawling, can’t you see that I have stopped falling?” This sooooong has the kind of attitude I strive for, I LOVE it. As much as it’s a rage anthem, it has a positive message about self-reliance and is SO FUN TO SING. That’s an important ingredient for me. (Also, there are lines in it - like the ones quoted - that are scary relatable.)

13. Roll With the Punches - Lenka “When life tries to knock all the wind out of you, you've got to roll, roll, roll with the punches” Now THIS is the Lenka I have known and loved for so long - she made my first Ultimate Playlist and she’ll probably make my last. But for so long I had only ever heard ‘The Show’, the album I was obsessed with in 2010. This year I discovered, like, 3 other Lenka albums, which was a joy, and this song....SO FUN. SO CUTE. SO SINGABLE. SO LENKA. I can’t say enough good things about it.

14. Fools - Lauren Aquilina “I don't want you to go but I want you so, so tell me what we choose” I kind of wish this song had come to me earlier, because it really caught me on the very tail end of its relevance to my life, but then, these things often do. I like having a concise way to look back on things, though, so this works just as well in hindsight as it might have in realtime :D

15. I Remember Her - Ingrid Michaelson “Things they fade, things turn to grey. As much as I try to save them, they turn to grey.” Just. I cannot. This song is sooo sad. It might be the saddest one ever to make it to one of these lists, unless I had ‘Song for Josh’ last year, which I think I did, so call it the joint saddest. I mean I guess both subjectively and objectively 2016 was a pretty sad year, so it makes sense. Damn it, Ingrid!

16. Kwaad Naas - Bittereinder “I grew up in the Moot, but my Afrikaans is limited to net ‘n paar woorde” Another awesome bilingual raptastic track from Bittereinder, my loves. This lyric especially illustrates why I love it so much, for I too communicate sometimes in a mixture of Afrikaans and English (usually when trying to Afrikaans and forgetting half the words. Dis ‘n curse, ek kan nie help dit.)

17. Sad Song - Lenka “Everyone's compelled to look into the mirror when they're crying, but just because your tears are pretty doesn't mean they'll get you by” Oh Lenka, you sound so happy but you talk so wise. I love this song so much, it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna be deep when you hear the general sound of it, but then it is. That’s kinda Lenka’s thing, I guess. The chorus especially is IMMENSELY singable.

18. Light Me Up - Ingrid Michaelson “Well you’re not what I was looking for, but your arms were open at my door” There are a whole bunch of repetitive lyrics towards the end but my oh my, what a beautiful sound. Just gorgeous.

19. Morgan, I Might - Marit Larsen “I might have been guilty of thinking one day I'd find myself waking up with you.” Listen, Marit Larsen has always had a timeshare on my brain. I just accept that now. That’s the only way it makes sense that she can write things so exactly right. But she used to be subtle with it, you know? She used to leave the names out, so that I could sleep at night able to tell myself that it might just be a coincidence, that she can’t have actually stolen my diary. But this year? All of that went out of the window. She wrote the sequel to the first song that ever made me go, “damn, somebody gets it”, she splashed that name all over this song, and then she splashed my name all over the album title. Honestly, woman, was it so hard leaving room for reasonable doubt? (At least she had the decency to get the timing a little off, because this isn’t how this is anymore, but it so, so, so was.)

20. Mr Brightside - The Killers “Jealousy, turning saints into the sea, turning through sick lullabies, choking on your alibis” This song is such a classic but it became much more meaningful to me this past year, mainly because it featured on our group’s roadtrip playlist for Scotland in May, and...yeah, it’s just a #quality song and finally its time has come. 21. Miss America - Ingrid Michaelson “I am the one who is always singing, louder than the rest, louder than the others” Songs that mention singing are the best songs, okay? I don’t make the rules. However, I wish I could get out of the habit of singing ‘I wanna be Miss America’ instead of the actual lyric, which is ‘I’ll never be Miss America’. I mean, there’s basically no way to get the song’s ethos more wrong. Shame on my tongue’s faulty muscle memory.

22. When It Comes to Us - Frances (& Ritual) “You and I, we're one too many worlds apart, it really shouldn't work, but it does” Oh what have we here? It’s another male/female duet. Which is a shame, really, because if it was a female/female duet, it would be a really great Nistrid song. But anyway. Beautiful track with beautiful words, yes please stay with me forever thank you.

23. The End of the World - Lenka “At the end of the world, we will kiss for the last time, and we won't feel the earth collapse into a mess of flood and fire” Listen up, The 100 and other angst-fest post-apocalyptic nightmare shows. This is how you do this. Cheesy and cute and with lots of “aahhh-aahhs”. Get on it. (No, but this song is adorable, truly.)

24. Old Days - Ingrid Michaelson “Heaven help the ones who fly away, heaven help the ones who have to stay and place the blame” Honestlyyyy, what a haunting and beautiful song. All of the lyrics are just so... atmospheric? Like, in an almost eery way but still so pleasing to listen to. I dunno what it is, but this is a damn fine song from my main girl Ingrid.

25. Quicksand - Tom Chaplin “Love's gonna leave you broken, time's gonna work you over; you get up, you get up, you keep rolling on” Awww, it’s Keane’s voice but without the rest of Keane! I love this guy, what a pro. Considering that a massive part of my early music life was taken up by Keane, I really haven’t grown out of my love for his voice. Aaanyway. This is actually thematically quite similar to Roll With the Punches. Was it really that hard of a year?! Ha.

26. Unique - Lenka “No, I don't really make sense, but I know that you know what I mean” Hehe, such a cute song. I want to be Lenka if I grow up.

27. Still the One - Ingrid Michaelson "We dance in the living room, and we dance to the beating of our blood” Aaaah this song is so great, so singable. This was one of the first ones I fell for before hurtling deep into the abyss of adoration for this album.

28. No - Marit Larsen “You could give up, I won’t give in, ‘cause where you end is where I begin.” Another beauty from my girl Marit. A little lighter on the coincidences in this one, thank goodness, because I don’t know if I could take another hit, but still solid gold.

29. We Are Powerful - Lenka “We fell in love on the same dark night, when the moon was high and the stars were bright” Another adorable song, another catchy, catchy tune. Lenka, my love, never stop with your beautifully singable tunes. (When I say singable, I mean both fun to sing and not vocally challenging enough to make me have to swap octaves halfway or sit out the middle 8 because the tune is too crazy. Aka the best kind of music.)

30. Whole Lot of Heart - Ingrid Michaelson “I said, "Let's rule this kingdom now, let's live and love and tear it down, to build it up"” Well, when I listen to this playlist in order, I will fittingly be left with the achingly catchy notes of this last Ingrid track in my head once it’s over. By faaar the catchiest of the bunch, this kind of addictive pulsating sound I can’t get enough of. I think this is might be my favourite from IDHTMS, but that changes regularly, so I won’t commit. Suffice to say it’s a fitting song for the end spot, down to the very last ebbing notes.

.....

Well, that’s it!

I haven’t done the math for every year, but I think this is the most female my playlist has ever been. Only 1/5 of the songs have male lead vocals, compared to the copious amounts of Frank Turner etc that have dominated previous years. GIRL POWER!

If you’ve actually read this post, I applaud you, and I also worry about your apportioning of time. What should you have been doing instead?!

As always, if you make your own one of these lists, please tag me for the sake of my ego and to give me new songs to listen to, because if we’ve learnt one thing from 2016′s list, it’s that I could do with some variety! ;D

#joni's ultimate playlists #music #ingrid michaelson #donald glover #lenka #bittereinder #francois van coke #marit larsen #frances #lauren aquilina #the killers #tom chaplin #jonisultimateplaylists

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starfraps · 6 years

Text

Mode of Transport: An explanation of the songs of Have Some Fun!

Ah yes, the first of a handful of collaborative tracks with one of my favorite human beings on the planet, the one, the only: Mattari 2600. It’s funny that this album ended up having only three collab tracks, and all of them were with Mattari, but it’s also fitting. The title is Have Some Fun! and it’s aptly titled, because the most fun I’ve ever had doing music - hands down - has been anything I’ve done with Mattari. Sorry, everybody else, but that’s just how it is.

Out of the three StarF & Mattari tracks on HSF!, however, Mode of Transport is the only song that was actually intended to be on this album. What about the other two? Well, we’ll get to their explanations eventually, but for now all you need to know is that I originally wanted to do a song in a similar vein to the last track - except all I would do is rattle off excessive amounts of nerdy vehicles from various games and movies. Not even vehicles necessarily, just ways to get around. Motion is a very important part of geek culture, it turns out, and some of the coolest properties have been based solely on the idea of fictional transportation (*ahem*...portal).

When I wrote this song I kept going back and forth on whether or not I liked it. Honestly I still sorta do. There are things about it that bug the shit out of me, mostly just things like “oh my god this beat is so excessive sometimes” or “this hook lasts just way too long,” or even just not liking the hook in general. I kind of wish I would have wrote a different hook, but for the purpose of this song it does do its job, and suffices in being catchy enough - or so I’ve been told. What I will defend to the death on this song, however, is the verses. I think all three verses are extremely solid.

Beyond the concept of simply rapping about nerdy vehicles, I sort of framed both my verses around a theme. The first verse being about flight or space travel and the second being about ground transportation. This actually happened on accident, as I was almost done wrapping up the first verse and realized I had inadvertently only mentioned stuff that keeps you, for the most part, off the ground. The outlier here is the mention of a Mario Kart go-kart, but I feel that I made up for it by specifically pointing out that it’s on everybody’s favorite level: Rainbow Road (which actually is my favorite Mario Kart level, okay? so stop judging me).

When it came time for Mattari to do his verse he actually came over to my house to write and record it, which was incredibly fun and felt like old times. The official lyrics that went out with the download still contain the fact that when we wrote his verse it was headed with “MATTARI SUX:” as a joke. The truth is that Mattari does not suck, and is in fact a much more entertaining and competent rapper than I could ever hope to be. His verse on this song is goddamn hilarious and way more clever than anything I came up with. I specifically remember us both working on some of the lines, and losing our minds laughing when we came up with the couplet “Or glide upon a dragon, high above the land // FUS ROH DUH, BITCH, I'M NEVER GONNA LAND.” Like first of all “fus roh duh, bitch” is incredibly funny, but the idea of rhyming “land” with itself, just in different contexts amused us both for some reason. Ending the final verse with the mention of fast travel was a stroke of genius. I love this man.

Similar to what I did with the previous track, I am now going to add a “read more” break and paste the full lyrics with links to each specific reference! Enjoy!

This is the way I get around, from here to there This is the way I get down, don't leer, just stare This is the way I get around, don't need no passport This is the way I get down, it's my mode of transport

It's a hop skip and a jump from my destination But I gotta rip it up in a stylish demonstration The way I travel leaves 'em stunned, I'm going the hardest Arriving fashionably late just for fun, showing in my TARDIS That's right I travel trough time and space, you know my identity I commandeered a ship and thereby gained me some Serenity Board derelict vessels to settle long dead scores Now I'm launched out in Starbug from the Red Dwarf And I'm plotting a course, of course I've got the style Launching out on rainbow road; go-kart for miles Single file ain't no thang when you play in four dimensions I built this Enterprise and I've figured your intensions At mention of my craft realize your talks all prattle, loser Jim Raynor's by my side, Hyperion, can't board my battlecruiser! Warning written in the clouds, just check the sky banner Single-handedly take you all out; Einhander

[HOOK]

But it can't all be up in the air, stop looking to the sky, huh? I rip up the terra, sporting fastest speeds on the gaia Every vehicle souped up; number one mod chaser Neon lighting, so exciting, all up in my pod racer Squad eraser; battle mechs, goliaths and seige tanks Observe noise laws? Nothing can quiet me, thanks! But it's not all destruction, I've got me a bitchin' light-cycle And a portal gun too! Interspatial holes, Right, I go Anywhere, anytime, I can't make my mind up, shoot That's alright I think I'll bounce around in a wind-up boot It's kinda moot to think you could beat me in the REDLINE. I'll leave you in the dust, ha-ha-ha, MACH FIVE! Talk derives from the cockiness gained from foes battle fear Even without mechanics I take em down with Shadowmere Do you catch my drift? I'll burn rubber in Paradise City Compared to my repertoire your silly ride is lookin' shitty

[HOOK]

MATTARI SUX: My taxi's pretty crazy, I'm beating time limits Destination's up ahead, dropping people off in it Any contest, I'll win it, man, I gotta go fast I'm a unicycle racer and you're 'bout to get trashed Better step upon the gas, now you're under attack boy Swingin' from a grappling hook, I'll kick you in the Sackboy Cruisin' round Pandora yellin' "CATCH A RIIIDE!" Cannon travel's pretty cheap, so go on and slip inside Or glide upon a dragon, high above the land FUS ROH DUH, BITCH, I'M NEVER GONNA LAND I don't think you understand, I'm too lazy to walk So beam me up, mother fucker, you can call me Spock Or I'll go down, down, down in a bathysphere My Atari tank makes sure my path is clear Take a good look around as the story unravels Or fuck it...I'll just use fast travel

#have some fun!#scrub club records #music #explantion #words #mode of transport #starf #mattari 2600 #starf and mattari #skyrim #uniracers #einhander #star trek #speed racer #starcraft #mario kart

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