A Musician with Over 800 Tracks on Kompoz–Peter Rand (Ep 177)

Robonzo 0:02
This is the Unstarving Musician podcast. I am your host Robonzo. This podcast features conversations with me, indie music artists and industry professionals. It’s all intended to help other indie music artists be better at marketing, business, the creative process and all the other things that empower us to do more of what we love. Make music.

Robonzo 0:25
Nailed it. Yeah, how are you, man? It’s a it’s a nice day here in Panama. We had rain this morning, walk the dog in the rain. Temperatures ambient as usual. It’s not raining anymore. The sun’s trying to show its face. It’s actually a beautiful day. That’s a good thing to be able to say in these weird ass times we’re in. Can I say that? Sure. It’s my podcast.

Robonzo 0:49
So my guest for this episode is Peter Rand. He is a keyboardist slash multi instrumentalist, and a songwriter. We met on Kompoz the collaboration platform, something you might be tired of hearing me rant about. I spent a lot of time learning about these things and checking some of them out talking to some of the creators, some of the users like Peter. I myself, you may have learned, have used Kompoz, to actually collaborate on something with Peter; contributed some drum tracks that I recorded here at home, which was fun. He’s got a great, he has this great progressive rock bit that he did on there. He’s got a wide range of styles that he plays, though. As you may know, yeah, I’ve been obsessed with these apps. And you may also know if you’ve been listening to this string of episodes, that I recently contributed an article on Forbes.com covering the space of online collaboration apps. Hope you’ll check that out. I will put a link in the show notes.

Robonzo 1:45
I want to give another shout out. I say another one because I did it in the last episode, a shout out to Hairy Rock Radio, internet radio station, Hairy Rock Radio. And in particular to The Scarlet Bayze show, hosted by Trish the Dish, which is is on air on Hairy Rock Radio from noon to four Central Time, Monday through Fridays. I heard from a reliable source that she’s been talking about the Unstarving Musician in her show about the podcast actually. So I thought I’d give her a little shout out here and say thank you Trish, your a dish. And I’ll go ahead and say thanks again to Robert Knowles. He’s another one of their on air personalities. He did a little phone time with me this week to help me out with some research I’m doing for the second edition of the Unstarving Musician’s Guide. Always good to talk to him. We reminisced a little bit because we we actually went to high school together.

Robonzo 2:46
So Peter, yeah, I invited him on the podcast well, because he’s on Kompoz, but also, because I contributed to one of his tracks. And this conversation gives a little bit of insight into Kompoz, the platform and why both Peter and I like it. And Peter just published a 10 song collection of tunes, he co wrote and performed with other Kompoz users, you can find it I believe on all the digital platforms. I know it’s on the popular ones I usually talk about here. So yeah, cool conversation. I hope you enjoy it. Here is me and Peter Rand.

Interview Begins:

Robonzo 3:21
So it was looking at your, your Kompoz profile, and it looks like he joined back in mid 2008. How did you…

Peter Rand 3:29
Yeah, I checked that before, because I thought you might ask me. And so I thought I’d check. I knew it was around about that. And so it’s quite early on, actually, in the old scheme of things when I joined, which, I suppose as an early adopter for a change. You know, which was quite good. I’ve always been, you know, keen on music and Kompoz was just, it’s just a great way of joining a little people and initially, trying to go in on their projects and help and gradually getting the confidence to do me own. And that’s, that’s how it sort of panned out over the years. I suppose, you know.

Robonzo 4:09
That’s good. How long did it How long did it take you? Do you remember to kind of get into doing your own projects?

Peter Rand 4:15
Oh, probably quite a bit. I mean, I probably lasted about a couple of years, just, you know, adding a bit here and there and thinking that wasn’t very good. And that wasn’t, you know, and, and then, because obviously, when you submit the track or audition for something, quite often, it’s maybe not what they want. And so, you know, you got to learn rejection fairly early. But obviously, one way I, one way I started doing my own was, I thought, well, if somebody else doesn’t want this, I might as well start doing my own tracks, and that that’s how I sort of gradually moved down from adding lots of things to other people’s tracks into into more doing my own stuff. And then eventually you get better at that, of course, as you go on.

Robonzo 5:06
Do you, do you still do much collaboration on other people’s stuff? Or you just…

Peter Rand 5:10
I try. Not as much as I used to. So if I, I don’t look actively for things to do, because I’m usually doing my own stuff. So I just, you know, I just focus on that mostly, but sometimes somebody who I, yeah if you see a name, that you know, and last time you did something with them, that was quite good. And they were good, you know, you can easily slip onto there and see, Oh, that sounds good. And you try, you still try and add something if you can. I mean, sometimes the the skill sets required on what you can offer, but that’s that’s the way it goes. But I can easily try and force my way into something. If they don’t want it, you know, but but now it’s it’s it’s, it started off with going on other people’s and the first track I did because I wrote this down…, I looked before and it was March 2008. I didn’t do it myself. First track I uploaded the keyboard track to was a track in March 2008. So that’s how long it’s been. You know, I’ve been doing it. But But yeah, it has been mostly over, especially recent years, because I retired from proper work in 2017. So since 2017, I’ve had a lot more time to just do this. This is this is my new work, so to speak. And therefore I used to do it if you like at the weekends or maybe in the evenings. But now I set aside time every day really. And that’s that’s how I do it doesn’t always result in anything. But you know, I try and set aside some time every day to actually for doing music. Usually the mornings because I’m rubbish in the evening.

Robonzo 6:55
I know you feel. So did you when you were doing it part time, or maybe even up until earlier this year, did you perform live out much?

Peter Rand 7:05
We did? Well, I say we. Back in going back to about the mid 2000s. I mean I, for years I played played guitar and keyboards and did things but usually just myself, I didn’t have the confidence to do much about it. So I’ve never had a background in playing live until the mid 2000s. When a group of people through a shared interest in a band called The Strawbs, There an English folk rock stroke prog band. We met up with loads of other people over a min number of gigs. And eventually the five of us brought together, we’re in different parts of the country. So it was a practice run for Kompoz, I suppose because we never, we never, we don’t live near each other at all. But we set up a, if you like, a tribute band, so we’d just be doing acoustic numbers, acoustic covers there. We also strayed into doing our own songs as well. But that sort of that was around about from 2006 to 2010. And I think our last gig was in May 2010. So you know as long time [Yeah. Wow.] But since then, yeah. So not like, you know,

Robonzo 8:21
Oh, well. You like a lot of the same musicians and bands that I do so, just just based on your Kompoz profile, but the Strawbs were one I didn’t know of, but I’ve looked him up and listen to a few things now.

Peter Rand 8:32
Yeah, they’re very English, in the sense of folk the background in folk sphere, if you like, and they started off as a folk band. In fact, as a skiffle band and that type of thing. And in the 60s, they went to folk then they went to folk rock. Rick Wakeman played with him for a bit. I saw that before Yes. And and then they went into sort of a brief, brief horrible intro into… excursion into glam rock in the early 1970s. And the whole thing, got them a hit single but and then, but yeah, I’ve been following them when when it was like a teenager, and it’s one of those bands I sort of grew up with, and I forgot about and I forgot about it, but wasn’t, you know, that interest and then sort of late in life, you think, oh, they were actually quite good. I like that. So you get get you get it all back again, you know? [Yeah.] So, but they were sort of, I suppose. Similar, I suppose that they often compare us to pose a bit a bit to Jethro Tully type of stuff.

Robonzo 9:42
Yeah, I could see that but based on a little bit I listened to

Peter Rand 9:45
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. But you know, they’re, they’re quite, they’re quite a quite a range of material and

Robonzo 9:51
It sounds like it. So going back to Kompoz, How How did you find it and what drew you to it?

Peter Rand 9:58
God to be honest with you, I don’t know how I found… I’m sure I was. Yeah, how I came across Kompoz in the first place, I have absolutely cannot remember how it came to me Obviously I don’t know what Facebook was like in those days or whether it was, you know, I’ve no idea how I found Kompoz. I might have just searched on, you know, collaboration or we, I don’t even know if that’s such a term existed in 2009. Who knows? that I just searched on that, you know, that sort of area? It could have been actually I used to get music magazines. And that’s, it could have been something like that. So that’s, that’s how I signed up. I think there’s a, you know, as a free member originally. And since after a couple of years, I think I’ve you know, decided to pay some money for it. And I’ve been doing that ever since. So yeah. But I don’t actually remember. I mean, it wasn’t, it wasn’t I didn’t think they advertised it as such. I can’t, I can’t remember to be to be frank, how I how I actually was sucked into the universe of Kompoz, but I’m glad I was.

Robonzo 11:03
Yeah, have you? Have you used any other collaboration platforms besides Kompoz?

Peter Rand 11:10
Well not really know, I tried a couple, and I don’t think they exist anymore. But there was one on the way there where you could just send little bits of riffs and things like that and small snippets of music. And that really didn’t work. That’s I think I started that before Kompoz. But, but no Kompoz is really the first. First first and only I mean, I have seen others since then I’ve signed up for a couple have never really taken it further as such, because I mean, he put, I don’t know, but I think it probably get confused between all different, you know, I’ve got quite a lot of people in the same on some of these things as well. And then they sort of they migrate across the different platform, I think, but I’m just happy sticking with the one I’m familiar with. It’s the same way as I’ve used FL Studio, and before that Fruity Loops were my way, way, way back. And I’ve tried others, but I just, you know, you’re familiar with something and you just stick with it. And it suits me as a you know, as a workstation that’s that suits me.

Robonzo 12:16
Yeah, I suppose I suppose that I’ve already. I mean, I’m not terribly active, as you probably have surmised. And in fact, the one contribution I’ve done was to your new… New Gods track. You know, it does have a, there’s like a sense of familiarity already. I’ve been you may have seen that I’ve been working on some articles and podcast episodes about the space of online collaboration. And there [Yes.] Yeah, and they’re the sort of ones that are, you know, I almost want to say maybe more appealing to the newer generation because their mobile apps, but certainly anyone that wants to work with their own DAW and work on on projects, and do much of it online. Kompoz certainly lends itself a lot.

Peter Rand 12:59
Yeah. Yes, I mean, that the the the… I have got apps on my phone and my iPad for music and that I’ve been trying to, you know, use them and integrate them and I’ve managed to get them now so I can play the keyboard here and then it’ll go through the phone and the sound from the phone will go into there and yeah, it’s okay. Um, but frankly, most of the sounds I can I can already get [Yeah, right.] It’s nothing it’s not they’re not they’re not so wonderfully unique on there that I can’t do them elsewhere. So I’ve got you know, something to overtake the Korg Triton on there, but I’ve actually got a Korg Triton here so I may as well use it.

Robonzo 13:36
Yeah, yeah.

Peter Rand 13:37
So. So yeah, I mean, but but but yeah, it’s the apps, the apps are quite handy just for, you know, if you like ideas, and messing around on things like that, but I haven’t really used them in a great deal of seriousness for for doing actual sitting down and writing stuff. But I’m an old person, and therefore, I my profile probably fits most of the other old people that I think, that are on Kompoz. So…

Robonzo 14:07
I’ve kind of gotten the impression that there are some young younger folks on there too, but I’m was gonna, I’m was gonna say that, I mean, to a degree nowadays, having the means to record at home is a little bit of a luxury. I mean, it’s gotten so much more accessible. But certainly there was this other element of Kompoz that was appealing for me because I have an acoustic drum set and it’s kind of my, it’s kind of my main thing. And there’s just no way around playing wanting to play the acoustic drums and getting some gear. So but as fate would have it, I I just, you know, invested in gear for recording, like, probably February of this year, and then my life sort of changed a bit and I, and I also started coincidentally finding these different platforms. You know, like the single that I sent you that I’m kind of sneak previewing right now.

Peter Rand 15:03
That was really good. I like that.

Robonzo 15:05
Thank you. That was just done kind of old school. But you know, we were three different guys in three different places in my my guy who was mixing it all. You know, we’re just sharing files, not using a website or anything. So I just sent the stuff old school and we went from there.

Peter Rand 15:22
Yeah, yes, that’s, yeah, I mean, that’s what we do there. Strawberry Fool, which is the band that was the tribute band I was talking about before. We sort of occasion we sort of, we still are in touch all the time. And we do occasionally get together and share files and do things. Most of the others. Weirdly, they’re on Kompoz, but they don’t really, they don’t either get it or want to be. They’re not that keen on it, generally. Some people aren’t, I mean, some people aren’t keen on other people that they don’t really want to be involved in something being involved in it, I suppose. If you see what I mean. [Yeah.] So you’re on there, and you just want me in sort of the people that you’re already you can make a private collaboration, I know. But or, there’s all this somebody who’s found me. Oh there’s this bloke in Doncaster or something who’s just sent me a bass file. Oh, I want that. But so they do it old school as well, and we send each other, you know, web files and all the rest of it, and somebody suddenly takes on the mixing role and produces it and etc. So, but all that’s all online now. It’s not? We haven’t, especially obviously at the moment, but we used to get together every year or so, and have a few days. But that’s all that’s all gone by the board currently. And so, so yes, it’s also it’s it suits me having little room here. Because it’s, it’s probably probably a recruiting tool for Kompoz as well, I would have thought, the current method, you know, current situation with COVID-19 and everything. There’s a lot of people suddenly having to, you know, not, not go out and, and try and try and connect with people in other ways. And this is this is I suppose one of them is possibly a good one for the Kompoz.

Robonzo 17:07
Yeah, totally. You know, it’s funny, when I talked to Raf Foil, the founder of Kompoz, he, he talked a lot about the community and how, I don’t think this was his word, but you know, well, helpful, I am sure use that word, but how helpful they were to new to new users. And as a, as a testimony or test the testament to that, you were very helpful to me, I came on, I mean, didn’t take too much I hope, but I was a little kind of like, confused about a couple things. And you just sort of clarified some stuff for me, and I quickly saw that, oh I need to upgrade this account, so I can upload separate files and stuff. So I did and

Peter Rand 17:44
Actually, to be fair, most people are, you know, there’s most people I mean, people are people, so there’s different types of people who have written everything, but most people are extremely, you know, helpful and friendly. I found, you know, when I’ve, when I started, you know, way, way back in 2008 there were people who gave me advice on what I should be doing. And, you know, send the sync track with it. And so it lines up with everything and do this and do that. And if you’re going to do this, I’d you know, don’t play all the way through the track. Just do a bit here in a bit there, you know, things like… things that is as a sort of novice, if you like, I suppose novice to doing that would help. So and there’s people who always still give advice. And also, you know, you can ask, you can there’s a community section there, you can ask people questions, you can ask, you know, how do I do things in fact, I found something. This evening, I was watching a video all about loudness, which I thought was actually quite interesting. I tried it was I’m not really a sound expert, if you like or mixing or anything like that. I’m not really I just sort of, you know, play it and if it sounds good, it’s all right. But, but there’s all these technical aspects of music which I’m a bit, if you like, backward on which I found, but I found that really interesting. So a lot some people who are better than that and they usually end up hopefully mixing some of the stuff I’ve finished.

Robonzo 19:17
Yeah, I didn’t know that that you know, you weren’t. Didn’t you know that you considered mixing not to be one of your fortes. But um, yeah, I gathered from Rob that there are there’s always somebody there who can do that. And it’s funny when I listen, I’m not sure I’ve heard all the permeations yet of what’s going on with the song that I contributed on with you. But yeah, I heard this one and, and I think it’s one of the guys who contributed bass and I’m like, oh, he… some… maybe I think it was him. He did a nice mix for me on the drums.

Peter Rand 19:50
Yeah. I mean, I I tend to put the tracks up there, including hopefully the sep… the separate files or the stems or And usually, hopefully, somebody else will end up mixing it. Because I mean, I can do it. But I’m, you know, I’m a bit of a, I will tweak this now, what does that do? I don’t know that sounds alright. And that’s how you, that’s how I do it. But you know, there are there are certain rules, which people tend to follow. I have no idea what they all are. And then of course, I’m offered then of all the presets during all these programs. Oh, yeah. I love it sounding like that. Thank you very much. Doesn’t quite always work. But you know, yeah. But that’s how I, that’s how I do mixing I’m more I’m on the other end, rather than the, if you like the back end of it.

Robonzo 20:43
Yeah, I can relate, I mean, the, the quality of drums that I gave you were just, the same with the song that I sent you that I did with the other guys, out… outside of Kompoz and, I just had decided, Okay, my job, being a novice with recording, is just to get the best raw sound that I can and give that to the guy who’s gonna mix it for me. So that’s all that’s really all I’ve spent enough, you know, so much time on, in fact that I’ve been thinking here lately, as I’m being encouraged to write some more music. I have that I have that in the back of my head as well. But is that I would like to learn more about the mixing aspect of working with my DAW and the gear that I have. So…

Peter Rand 21:28
Yeah, I think that’s, that’s, you know, one of these things I keep meaning to do, and I’ll never get around to it. Because I’m too up, I want to do this, you know, I want to put my hands on the keyboard or do something, rather, read a book about mixing? You know, yeah. So I do a set routine every day, and I come up here, have breakfast, come up here, and stay here till about lunchtime. That’s what I do. Then in the afternoon I’m, I’m available for other activities. That’s it. But that’s, that’s, you know, that’s I try and keep that as a set thing every day. Because, you know, it seems to work. I mean, you know, seems to work for me, so, keeps me happy, keeps me off the streets. So

Robonzo 22:13
Hey, you know, I’ve talked to, I don’t know how much you’ve explored the podcast, but I’ve talked to a lot of different musicians. And one of the things I explore on a recurring basis is songwriting and staying creative. And probably, probably the theme that always comes back up is, it’s one of them, but it’s having devoted time to write or be creative in whatever your, whatever aspects you’re working on. So that I think that’s great that you do that.

Peter Rand 22:41
Yeah, it’s just a setting aside that’s how you, you know, it’s, it’s, I don’t know, it’s familiarity, it’s like going to work, this is my work. This is it. [What did you…]

Robonzo 22:50
What did you like, what did you do for your regular job when you had one?

Peter Rand 22:53
Well, for lots of years, I, I was involved in direct mail and direct marketing and, and ended up running a company until about 2012. That, that that folded in 2012. And then I then worked for a bank for the last few years of my, until I was till I was old enough to take the money and run.

Robonzo 23:14
Good for you.

Peter Rand 23:15
But so not nothing, nothing to do with music. That’s all that yes, it was, but, you know, it paid the bills for all those years, so that’s fine.

Robonzo 23:26
I read a book. And I don’t think it’s the first time he said it, but he put it into a new book. Derek Sivers the guy who created CD Baby. He said [Oh yeah.], he said that the happiest artists he knows have day jobs.

Peter Rand 23:45
That’s probably right. I didn’t, I didn’t have the time though then so you know. But But then again, I needed to I need to earn the money. So sure that expect, I don’t think, I don’t think I’m going to be anytime soon earning mega bucks off, off of the hundreds of tracks that are languishing on Kompoz at the moment that, I say languishing, obviously, I don’t mean that, but you know,

Robonzo 24:09
Yeah, I was I was on that note, I was you know, I log in every… once in a while I get pinged regularly about you know, different collaboration things that are happening and, But yeah, I kind of look around and go man, there must be a lot of tracks and in fact, Raf told me how many track submissions there are and how many complete, maybe even how many completed collaborations, but it’s a lot it’s a lot.

Peter Rand 24:37
Oh, yeah. I actually worked out again, because I knew I was coming on this I thought, Oh I best actually find out how many have I’ve actually done, and I’ve it’s 888 a nice, nice easy number I, what I’ve created since I started

Robonzo 24:50
Oh, wow. That’s amazing.

Peter Rand 24:51
So that’s… Yeah. I mean, no, no, a lot of rubbish, but it’s still like 888 and joined 300, So that’s the, so the standard track, you know, the tracks where I added things to. So that’s the split allowed? Probably, if you’d have asked me the same question after one or two years, it would have been more joined and very few created. But after a bit, you just, you know, say you just went for it, go for it. ignore everything else do your own thing. You. Yeah, it’s, it’s, it’s the other way around. So, yeah. But but it was quite, because I didn’t know the answer to that question. I thought best, you know, so I’ve been trawling through the pages on the website just before this, to get to the end. And so an animal, you know, yeah. found worked it out. So yeah, quite a few, quite a few.

Robonzo 25:19
Do you do? You know, and I don’t know that they, I maybe have missed something. And I’m not sure that the company even sends something like this out very frequently. But have you heard any news on the next version of the website?

Peter Rand 25:59
I saw what he refers, Raf has had a little piece on the community page that at the top, it’s pinned to the top of the community page. Now, if you go on to version three, if you click on that, it’ll tell you I did. I did look at it early on, I have but I haven’t, haven’t been following it to be honest with you, because everybody’s obviously putting their suggestions in as to what they want in version three. And I’ve stayed, they pretty much clear that because, you know, I was I was I was on version one originally. Then version two came along, that was a bit of a shock. But that was fine. And I’m used to version two, and no doubt when [Robonzo laughs.] when version three comes out. I’ll have thought, Oh, my God, what’s this? You know? And eventually, I’ll get, I’ll get get the hang of it, you know? So, you know, it’s, it’s fine. I think, I think so. I think some of the things like search after search for things and things like that, and the way it presented information, I think he’s having a bit of a look at. [Yeah.] Because it’s searching is quite difficult. You know, and also the, you know, so like, if you’re wanting to add drums to things, I’m not sure. Because I’ve given up looking by people who want keyboards or people who want whatever. And I just, I just look at the newest collaborations on any every now and then and listen to something. And if I like it, then I’ll have a look into further I don’t actually, because of the way the search is, it doesn’t always really, you know, give you the full the whole picture and the current version. I think that’s going to improve in maybe number three.

Robonzo 27:40
Yeah, I think you’re right. I know from talking to him, he has some aspirations to do some, some good things. And as a new user of the site, I can see that, yeah, I can see some obvious room for improvement and things like searchability the way things are presented, but you and we are able to do all these collaborations.

Peter Rand 27:58
Yeah, I thought I had a wonderful time at Kompoz, I mean it’s been, you know, it’s helped me immensely. I mean, just it helped me in terms of actually learning stuff, and becoming better, if you like, at what to do not saying I’m brilliant, but, you know, you got to, you know, in 2008, I was at a certain level, and hopefully it’ll get to a better level now, I think. And that’s in no part in some parts. Are you down to Kompoz? I think

Robonzo 28:25
Yeah it’s that daily routine.

Peter Rand 28:27
Yeah, exactly. And daily routing, yeah.

Robonzo 28:30
All that practice time. So what if, I don’t know, if you ever do this, or if this opportunity ever comes up? Or if it comes up often rather, but if you know, you met some musician, or maybe you know, one of your existing musician, friends were to ask you about it, or ask you anything that might make you think, hey, maybe they would like Kompoz, why would you? What would you say to someone as far as what, why they might want to look at Kompoz?

Peter Rand 28:58
Oh, gosh, um, well, um, one is the quality musicianship. I mean, obviously, it’s varied, because different people have different skills, but, but by and large, there’s some good quality musicians on there, one. two the community, and the help that gives you by and large again, when you know, I’ve had lots of help over the years as have other people, and, and three, the, if you’re, if you say, if you’ve got a song that you you, you’ve got in your head, and you want to, you’ve got a certain idea of it, it may well turn out exactly like he thought he was going to but it may well turn out that you’ve got a song that you thought was either no death metal, and it turns out as a folk song, because somebody has come along and put a track on it that Oh, yeah, actually, that sounds good. This and it takes it in new directions. And you can, you can also obviously, quite often get two or three versions of the same song floating around on Kompoz as a spin off when somebody wants to do a different type of version of a particular piece of music. So that’s quite, I find that quite, quite good. I mean, there’s, it’s, it’s educated me, and therefore, hopefully it’ll educate others who join that, you know, just because you’re into I don’t know, country music, folk, rock or whatever. There’s other bits of music, which he probably thought I don’t mean, I’m not really into that, then you hear something, you know, it gets you It gets you. It broadens your horizons. Potentially, [Yeah.] Well, I mean, you know, I, I got asked to do a track piano thing on blues rock and rolly type thing, which I’m not really, I don’t really do, but I did it. I you know, it’s, it’s not, it’s not my, you know, I don’t do you know, blues piano, you know, in a big way or generally have done, So but it but it turned out actually all right, touch wood. So I was quite happy. But it is stretching yourself a bit. So you know, that you end up doing things that are outside your comfort zone, and that’s always good for, you know, expanding what you you’ve, you’ve, your abilities are, I suppose?

Robonzo 31:19
Yeah. As we’re talking or as you’re, you know, elaborating on the the answer there. I’m thinking of a friend who kind of somewhat recently got into recording for obvious reasons, or reasons you can imagine, and he’s really enjoying it. And he’s also he’s, he’s pretty he’s, he’s a multi instrumentalist, but you know, nowadays with the recording software, you don’t really have to have a drummer, but it is a skill that to program good drums. Right? And I was thinking I should introduce him to, I need to introduce him to Kompoz, because he’s probably at a perfect stage where he, you know, could find people he’d really enjoy working with.

Peter Rand 31:58
Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think so. I mean, drums, as I think it said, in your thing with Raf, I think drums, drums is one of those things that it may well be easier to program drums, it’s still quite hard to if you’re not really a drummer, I’ve tried and failed miserably lots of times to try and program drums in some of my tracks. And now, I just let them do it. It’s a lot easier. A lot more fun. So, so yeah, my, my my skills of programming drums. That is one that is a step too far for me. I’ll tell you. But But yeah, he if you’ve got a friend who’s multi multi instrumentalist, definitely, you know, Kompoz is something where, you know, if you can do quite a few different instruments, you know, you’ve got a lot of access to a lot of different types of tracks, you can possibly jump in on, or, you know, yes, absolutely.

Robonzo 32:54
So have you, has anything that you’ve done on Kompoz gone on to be published? Or have you published any of your own stuff?

Peter Rand 33:01
Strangely, I’ve just sent you an email, just only before the, just before, because yesterday, was it yesterday? Day before? Twelve songs, that’s like 10 songs, I can’t count 10 songs of mine, which I wrote, I did the music for, other people who have jumped on with, you know, instruments, vocals, some cases lyrics, whatever. I’ve actually just just released it into iTunes and Amazon and various places using Soundrop, if you familiar with them, I don’t know.

Peter Rand 33:35
It’s called sound, sound drop?

Peter Rand 33:37
Yeah, yeah. And it’s quite, it’s quite good in that it’s free. So that’s quite, you know, so it’s so it’s S O U N D R O P dot com, I think Soundrop. Anyway, I’ve tried it, because I heard it again, I got back from somebody and Kompoz suggested I might consider it. So I did. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve been humming and hawing and faffing around for quite some time. And in the end I thought, you know, someday it’s going, I’m going to release it, you know, doesn’t mean, because otherwise it sat there in another five years, or, or whatever. And there’s still be so, you know, so, but it is, it’s 10 songs, it’s called the actual title is About Us. And I chose that because it’s about us. It’s about the community of all these people have been involved, not just me and the songs. So it’s entirely created with people on Kompoz. And so only just only just this this week has actually gone gone out, as it were. But there’s 10 songs there with you know, some people involved who you, I’m trying to think, on the track that you’ve been involved with Timothy Reed, Is he onthat ? I think he’s on that with guitars as a few bits. There’s Nick Dinardo who’s a drummer, who does a lot of drumming on some of my stuff. And on the quite a few of those, so this Yeah, there’s a lot of people from Kompoz in there. And I like it.

Robonzo 35:04
Yeah, I found I found I found it today. I didn’t know for sure if it was you because the profile pic is a, like one of the covers from us one of the songs and maybe Lily I’m not sure, but it looks like it looks like your It looks like you’re an attractive female artist named Peter.

Peter Rand 35:23
Well, that’s that’s my alter ego. And yeah, so that I that yeah, that’s absolutely that’s that’s probably one of the older ones in that collection. And that Yeah, so that I think that’s the first track on it. But there’s about 10 tracks there. So, you know, I’m not, I know we’re not going to make any money out of it. I’ve already everybody involved I, you know, I said to them, well, we’re going to I’m going to do this and if we anything that comes my way we will split obviously, and but we’ll, I don’t think that’s, I don’t think I’m going to trouble the scores. Exactly. But but it’s it’s it’s a good thing from a point of view of just my own. You know, feel good factor about the whole thing. And and currently working on a more an instrumental album as well. More prog rock type stuff. So, you know, one that will be really popular with everybody. (Peter laughs.)

Robonzo 36:23
Well, that’s what I liked about your track. I was like, Oh, this is so prog rock, I got to try and do something. Because so it’s funny. I’ve actually, every time I’ve listened to what I gave you, I’m like, I want to redo it.

Peter Rand 36:39
Yeah, I mean, it’s not it’s not it’s just that that moment because that’s the way with these things. Because I bought these things, I do these things and put them up there and people add things and then I’m on something else now forgotten about it. And then I’m like, what’s that track, what’s that? I forgot the bloody thing sounds like even, I don’t know… come up with that one. And say, you have to listen to it. So you know, but that’s my memory more than anything else. But But yes, I need to I need to probably learn how to finish things a lot more.

Robonzo 37:10
Yeah, if you have that many tracks, certainly. I think that track is worthy. Well, the beginnings of the beginnings of it are worthy of publishing for sure. I was contemplating throwin’ up a vocal track, just need to carve out the time to do it. But as I was listening to one of the mixes today it’s like okay, now this is kind of inspiring me to do it and so

Peter Rand 37:28
Oh right, well yeah, absolutely. Yeah, please do, cuz I mean, that’s vocals and drummer vocalists and drummers are you know, in short supply

Robonzo 37:38
That’s what Rob told me when soon, as soon as he asked me about my recording and what I play.

Peter Rand 37:43
Yeah or like Yeah, yeah. And I soon soon as you as soon as you get, somebody knows who your vocalist you’ll be, they’ll be all people asking you this that and the other. [Yeah, that’s great.] Yes, it’s um, whereas I think Yeah, I did I actually, I do get asked occasionally as well. So that’s nice as well. Things don’t always manage it, but I did get asked to do it.

Robonzo 38:07
Yeah, for sure. Well, I look I look forward to your, to some collection of prog rock tracks that you do based on just the one that I’ve spent time listening to and working on so you know, I was going to ask I’ve been asking users that I’ve had on from from Trackd the…

Peter Rand 38:24
I heard about that, only because I saw it on your website and, but haven’t actually ventured into it in any way. Yeah,

Robonzo 38:32
Well, I I’ve been asking you know, if they had a wish list for things that they would like to see in the app and, but based on what you’ve told me so far about how you love learning, you know, just learning the way it works and you get so comfortable I’m wondering if you want them to add anything.

Peter Rand 38:46
Well there is that, and I like I said the search thing, making it easier to search will be really yes. I know there are lots of technical things which people get exercised about about like, you know, clip tracks and sync tracks and things like that. But you know, you can usually find a way around most of them.

Robonzo 39:07
Yeah, you know, it’s funny that the sync track, I get the idea, but when when Raf explained it to me, I’m like well sure I mean you just put a, you know a click track at the beginning of the of whatever, that whatever you record for them. But, but I’m a little baffled at even how that works on, in the Kompoz world because as you’ll recall, when I gave you mine, you just gave me your tracks, and I you know, they lined up, I said it should line right up with your track and I guess

Peter Rand 39:31
Well they do mostly. That’s the thing. But my Nick, the drummer who does a lot work for me quite often, he’ll he’ll supply the track, he’ll do a mix and they also obviously given his drums, and then somebody else would take it and invariably, they’ll put his drums about one beat or four beats or whatever, you know, out. I mean, sorry, that’s out again. So you know, it can see why people got to get exercised about it, you know? Yeah. Because they said to me just as a as a, as a punter if you like, rather than as a, as a as a as the person who’s done the drumming? That’s hands on, right? And no, it’s not in the right place.

Robonzo 40:19
Yeah, well, the first time I get one, I guess that has one of the sink tracks that are done on the platform I’ll or, you know, by someone, I’ll probably understand it better. I’m sure. It’s just the same as like, when I started recording my song. You know, what he didn’t even give me, when he sent back the guitar for me, because I did an acoustic demo from from my colab… The guy, you know, did the recording and played most of the instruments? And I said, What do you think of it? I was hoping you’d play guitars on it. So he recorded the guitars and a lot of other stuff and sent it back no drums and and he said, you know, you can just line up here. And yeah, it was not a problem. But But I’ve had other things where somebody puts in a click, you know, but still it, unless it’s a complicated song. I mean, really complicated time signature, just like let me see where the track is. I’m good. I can.

Peter Rand 41:09
Yeah, that’s that’s basically Yeah. So most of them are non complicated. Try and make it easy for meself.

Robonzo 41:17
Hey man, easy’s good. Well, listen, it was really nice to talk to you. I appreciate you carving out time.

Peter Rand 41:25
And nice to speak to see as well. Yeah. Hope to be involved in a few more tracks in future.

Robonzo 41:31
Yes, you’ll definitely see me in there again, at some point.

Peter Rand 41:33
Nice to speak to you.

Robonzo 41:34
Yeah, yeah, enjoy your weekend.

Robonzo 41:37
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Robonzo 42:28
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Robonzo 43:26
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