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That's a lot of BIG and IMPORTANT questions.
Usually, we can't even plan for five years in advance, because... life happens. But let's give it a shot.
Yes, music will be a huge part of my life in 30 years. Whether I am still writing it, producing it, performing it, or distributing it - I don't know. But that doesn't matter. Music has been a huge part of my life since I was old enough to flip a vinyl record over from side A to side B.
How will DFTBA have changed? 3 years ago, DFTBA didn't exist. So 30 years from now, DFTBA Records will be unrecognizable to us today. But DFTBA is all about distribution. About creating a network of awesome media creators, whether that's video, music or.. eventually, books. So maybe we're more of like an Amazon in the future, a one-stop shop for made of awesome media. Maybe we distribute media, like YouTube videos, movies and music, all streaming in a DFTBA player, etc. I dunno, just throwing out random thoughts.
And finally, the internet has already affected the way artists promote and distribute and, even, create their music. This will only intensify in the future. But I also hope we have a few more artists like Price, who shun the internet. Part of a music experience is all the tangible products available, like deluxe package albums, and intangible experiences, like concerts. The internet deprives us of both more often than not. -
"Best" is really hard to quantify.
Hank and John are important vloggers, they open up younger people to some important and mature topics in an entertaining and approachable way. And that's insanely difficult to make look as easy as they do.
WheezyWaiter is unbelievably good at carrying a recurring or inside joke for many months. And that's something that most vloggers can't carry well through a single video.
Nerimon makes every single viewer feel like Alex has his arm around them while making them laugh. He will succeed at anything he does in the future, as long as he can personally pitch it and use his charm.
Then there are a hundred people who are terrible vloggers, but lead interesting and inspiring lives, so I put up with all of their rambling videos so I can still be a part of those lives. =) -
I don't know any more. No one has any time for anything. We're all too busy. I miss the high school kind of best friends who spent every weekend hanging out.
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Probably Hank Green. The first time we ever talked was me emailing him and asking him to parody himself in a video about videos that had recently been on the front page. We didn't know each other at all, but I had watched a few vlogbrothers videos and felt like I knew his online persona pretty well at that point. So I wrote a script for the collab video and he said, "yes, I'll do this, but only because this script is great, it sounds like something I'd actually say!" Neither of us knew it, but it was the start of what would be a long and fruitful friendship. <3
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No, it's not my appearance that bothers me. It's emotional/mental. I get physically sick and panic. If I knew why, I'd work on fixing it and beating it. But for now, I just have YouTubers come stay over at my house one at a time until I've met them all. =)
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Yes. I'm currently working on my next album with Luke Conard. It even has a title! Munday is back on the team again too, and a few other familiar names from the Erase This band. ;)
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You can if you can find me. I didn't attend VidCon last year and I most likely won't again this year. It's nothing against VidCon, I love the idea, and love Hank and everyone else involved - I'm just deathly afraid of crowds and socializing IRL.
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Nerimon. He's flown over here to help pack for two big releases (the first Chameleon Circuit album and for Hurricane Charlie), and I had a great week both times hanging out with him, packing and chatting.
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I know edited versions are available, I just think people are far too sensitive. Knoffer was playing a character in that song, a character that would typically have used that language in regular conversation with his other refrigerator moving buddies... It's the same as editing Twain, which was all the rage on the internets earlier this week. Guitar Hero is so excessively whitewashed that they cut out the entire second verse! rather than just bleep the one word. It's ridiculous, in my opinion. I grew up with the original vinyl, listened to that song 50 times in my lifetime, and it didn't turn me into a bigot.
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There will be a publication of at least one book, but I can't give details on what it will be yet. Everyone's always touring. Lombardo and Driftless Pony Club are touring I think. Alex and Tom and Edd will all be playing shows, I assume. Those guys are always playing in the UK, and I know they all want to perform at VidCon again. Now that we have a 100% customized cart we can finally do some fun stuff on the website, like posters!! and mp3 downloads for sale directly on dftba.com, etc. Should be a good year, BUT YOU GUYS TELL ME, what do you want to see this year?
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Tetris Nerd, because I designed it and therefor I actually profit from it. Haha. I wear my "What Happened To You?" shirt a lot too from Alex's 117% Complete bundle. That one's cool.
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Best: building equity, working on home improvement projects and knowing I will be here for a long time - if not forever - to enjoy them. Not having to worry about incoming and outgoing roommates. Not worrying about rent ever going up ever again.
Worst: if anything breaks, I have to pay to fix it. No landlord. My house is only 7 years old, so the structure is great. And I bought all new kitchen appliances and new waterheater and washer/dryer when I moved in, so we're ready to rock for a few years of maintenance free living anyway. =) -
Save them up and send them when I go on, or just ask them when you think of them, I always read through the old ones when I sign back in.
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Walk to the freezer downstairs.
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Put on Offspring's discography, very loud, and just push through it. That's what I do when I have to pack 3,000 Charlie CDs in two days haha.
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Making sure that every artist feels equally appreciated. Obviously people like Alex and Charlie sell the most, and therefor make us the most money. So it's easy to focus on them and give them preferencial treatment over the others, but I need to give the same amount of time and energy into working with Skyway Flyer as I do Alex, and vice versa. I'm available basically 18 hours a day for our artists. Phone, gchat, skype, email, etc. And with time differences between me and the UK guys, I get calls throughout those 18 hours.
But I love managing DFTBA, I tried starting a record label when I was in high school, recording my friends' bands and the local punk bands. It was a failure of course, selling CD-Rs at local cafe shows, but it was a dream that never died. A few years of experience and the worldwide audience available via YouTube finally allowed that dream to become a reality. -
Can we do it over the phone? I don't leave my little town very often. I hate traveling, at any distance.
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I live in a very small town, I think I might be the only one here who knows what a YouTube is... so no, I haven't been recognized, and neither have any of the famous tubers who've come to visit me. The funniest not-getting-recognized story probably comes from when Alex "nerimon" Day was visiting the first time. He and I walked into Subway and were standing in line. The four kids waiting behind us were talking about FRED. I wanted to turn around and yell "I'm standing here with ALEX FREAKIN' DAY and you're talking about FRED?!"
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Thanks! Luke and I had a discussion a few weeks ago about a "rock version" of "Summer of '09" but we agreed it just wouldn't work. "Summer of '09" was originally written for my album Erase This, but was left off because musically the dance stuff wouldn't work. So I doubt an acoustic version would work, but people are welcome to cover it with an acoustic guitar and prove me wrong.
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"That Will Be The Day" ..I mean, who can resist Lombardo covering Buddy Holly? =P But no, seriously, it's my favorite of his, and he knows this.
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Alan Lastufka’s Bio
I'm Alan. I have an awesome girlfriend named Kris who is funny and smart and pretty and she hacks my formspring sometimes =)
