Sleep

Sleep has been sort of an issue for me for awhile now. I go through fits of insomnia, and even at my best, my ability to be distracted by unexpected sound is dramatic, to say the least. This wouldn't be such a factor if I didn't need at least 8 hours of sleep to function "normally". Due to my need for sleep and my expectation that I may have issues doing so has lead me to be pretty serious about getting sleep. Anyone who knows me knows, short of a life-or-death emergency, not to wake me up. I won't be happy.

My issues with sleep have lead me to, of course, do a little research about sleep - specifically, sleep deprivation (which is what I feel most of the time, regardless of how much sleep I get). Did you know that the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers sleep deprivation to be a public health epidemic (National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion)?


Check out these graphics from the CDC:

There's a great article on WebMD listing 10 negative side effects (they're all negative, besides more time to "do stuff") here. Feel free to check that out and get a description of each side effect, but I just want to briefly post them here.

1.) Sleepiness Causes Accidents

2.) Sleep Loss Dumbs You Down

3.) Sleep Deprivation Can Lead To Serious Health Problems

4.) Lack of Sleep Kills Sex Drive

5.) Sleepiness Is Depressing

6.) Lack of Sleep Ages Your Skin

7.) Sleepiness Makes You Forgetful

8.) Losing Sleep Can Make You Gain Weight

9.) Lack of Sleep May Increase Risk of Death

10.) Sleep Loss Impairs Judgement, Especially About Sleep

(Peri)

Sleep deprivation can also increase the chances of having a stroke, developing diabetes, osteoporosis, and cancer (Huffington Post). All around, not getting the sleep you need is bad news bears.

I just wanted to share a little bit of information and try to shake a smidgen of rust off the writing portion of my brain. I want to close with a brief, but awesome TED Talk about sleep from Arianna Huffington. Sweet dreams.

Sources
National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/Features/dsSleep/

Peri, C. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/excessive-sleepiness-10/10-results-sleep-loss

Huffington Post. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/06/scary-sleep-deprivation-effects_n_2807026.html

Huffington, A. (0). Retrieved from http://www.ted.com/talks/arianna_huffington_how_to_succeed_get_more_sleep.html

LossLess - A New Direction

Back on November 18th, I put LossLess into a temporary hiatus - as it became clear that I wasn't getting anywhere with it. Despite creating 31 songs, I received no interest in any of them. I feel quite confident in the music - and I know enough to know that at the low prices I was offering them for, I must be doing something wrong if I wasn't receiving any interest. So, I put it aside for a short period of time until I could figure things out.

A couple weeks after I went into hiatus, I received an e-mail from a major stock audio provider, telling me that I had been greenlit, and could now submit music to them to be reviewed, and then hopefully, accepted. I had completely forgotten about even submitting to them, so it was a pleasant surprise. This company thought that my production and songwriting was good enough to merit further consideration.

Now, prior to this, I had really just been trying to promote LossLess via social media, with the goal of directing people directly to my music, where they could then reach out to me personally if they were interested in leasing or purchasing any of the songs. I hadn't really been thinking about trying get my music on websites where people go looking for music to lease or purchase. While the direct-selling method I had been trying, I think ultimately will be a very worthwhile way to go (and I will be figuring out how to do this successfully, in the future) - I think that it will also be worthwhile going the stock-audio route.

Going in this direction will force me to try new things, to try and have as diverse of a portfolio as possible. I have been slowly putting up my library on various websites. I haven't made a sale yet, however, I'm not getting discouraged! This is why: most of the sites I'm getting my music onto have review processes, where curators listen to everything submitted and make sure that it's up to par, and just the fact that my music is getting accepted by most of these places tells me that I'm progressing. Had I tried to submit tracks, even a year and a half ago, I don't think they would have been getting accepted anywhere. I'm moving forward, and the lack of sales at the moment aren't going to discourage me, but will keep motivating me to push forward.

If you, or anyone you know, has a need to lease (renting, essentially) or purchase music, here is one site where my music is currently being featured:

http://www.pond5.com/artist/LossLessBeats

People lease music for movies, commercials, web animations, etc. Also, if you're a rapper or a singer and you're wanting music for a demo or an album and you're not musically inclined, or you're just looking for music that's created by people who have been doing it for awhile - this would be for you as well.

I'm staying motivated and look forward to the future of this.

First Update of 2014

There's never enough time in the day. I wish I had more to update, but I only have a little.

There are no links to all The Trying songs, streaming, on www.thetrying.net. All The Trying videos can now also be found here.

As always, The Trying is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/thetrying and Twitter at https://twitter.com/thetrying0. Like/Follow me! I pretty much always respond to all notifications/interactions.

ReverbNation - http://www.reverbnation.com/thetrying
Like the previous update, The Trying is at #2 on the electronic charts in Manchester. I know we can get back up to #1! Also, I have added four more releases to the page: 2009's Love Songs and Ignorance demo, and 2008's Realize, Accommodate and Overflow! demo.

YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/thetrying
There are now playlists available for 2009's The Pink Lady Screamed That, "Dresden Is Still Alive!" and Ignorance demo. Also, if you haven't watched the first promo video for the upcoming Self-Titled album, you can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4g1qSJCkqbg

Soundclick - http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=473634

I've added 2009's Ignorance demo, and 2008's Realize, Accommodate and Overflow! demo

Don't forget to install the The Trying app for Android! Just scan the image below, or if you're on your phone, visit http://www.reverbnation.com/thetrying/android.



While the new album has been finished for some time now, I am working on giving it a proper release. I don't plan on throwing head-spinning amounts of money on it, but I do plan on putting some into it. My income-situation hasn't been the best since last summer, but things seem like they may be picking up soon. I hope to have a release date soon-ish.

In the mean time, head over to any of the sites above or to The Trying's Soundcloud at https://soundcloud.com/thetrying

Peace,
Chris