8 Questions for... Miter

Washed Memoir in Real Time

Photo by Claudio Schwarz on Unsplash

Miter

is the name for the solo recording project of legendary Denver rocker, Ryan Stubbs. Ok, the word “legendary” is doing a lot of work, but Ryan achieved some mild success playing in bands in the late aughts and can accurately say things like: he has played Colorado’s Red Rocks and D.C.’s 9:30 Club; festivals such as SXSW and CMJ; and shared the stage with Nathaniel Rateliff, Kings of Leon, Grimes and Liz Phair. Sure, that sounds semi-impressive but these tangential musical achievements are similar to what you’ve heard from your neighbour or cousin. Ryan releases music, writing and video via his Substack Washed Memoir in Real Time, a publication that is guaranteed to change your life for the better.

1. Why Substack?

First, thanks so much for asking me to do this, Eleanor. It feels great to be asked to talk about one’s creative work. I appreciate this series and your impressive fiction.

The name “Substack” first entered my vocabulary due to Matty Yglesias. I was a listener of The Weeds podcast and remember hearing that he was leaving Vox Media to start the Substack newsletter

Slow Boring

(which would be an apt description for how I’ve started answering these questions). The fact that someone could leave a successful company to start an email newsletter sounded like the miscellany of a madman and it put the idea in the back of my mind.

Originally, the idea for my Substack was to communicate and write about an album I released at the end of 2022. But this immediately evolved to the idea of using Substack as a mechanism for artistic practice; to write, release music, video and other art on a consistent basis. As a musician, when you create an album, you typically engage in the processes of writing the songs and recording them at separate junctures—and then you release the music even later. By the time the album comes out, you are removed from the material. Compacting these tasks, song by song, is empowering and allows for more frequent communication. It is a different way of working with a number of benefits—not the least of which is that it is contrary to the norm.

In my case, I’m a middle aged dad jamming in my basement after the kids are asleep, clinging to creative practice to save my soul. The most exciting parts of my music career are likely in my past and I’m not interested in traditional paths taken by bands to build an audience. I don’t have the ability to get in a van and tour and I don’t want to! Substack offers an alternative to release music and build an audience without relying on a defunct industry that offers nothing to individual artists. It is exactly the same reason why Substack is an appealing alternative to the broken publishing industry for writers.

2. How long did it take you to find your groove?

I’m not sure if I have. I’ve maintained my core objective of writing, recording and releasing a song a month. I’ve experimented in a number of ways such as releasing a TV show and starting a conceptual record label. I’ve settled into a more sustainable cadence of once a month that should work over the long-term. Sadly, my available time does not match my ambitions.

3. How has it changed you?

Substack has been an incredible boon to my personal creative vitality. The marginal wins such as growing subscribers and getting people to actually listen to my music and engage with my art have been more successful than I could have imagined. I’ve learned about the similar struggles for creatives working across disciplines. I’ve connected with incredible people that, like me, are driven to produce creative work regardless of the logic or consequences. I am convinced that this creative drive is core to our humanity.

4. What mistakes have you made?

Mistakes? I’ve made a few. Regrettable Notes, bad takes, wrong opinions and hundreds of typos…most of which were fixed after hitting publish. I don’t think I would do anything differently.

5. To pay or not to pay?

I turned on the paid option almost immediately, primarily due to personal hubris.

Yes, turn on paid. Nobody has to pay, but you should at least give them the option. I see no downsides and if others do then they are wrong.

There is a Substack equity model for my founding subscribers that I implore large Substacks to implement: “5% of all Washed Memoir in Real Time revenues go to a Substack Equity Fund after I’ve reached 160 founding members. The Substack Equity Fund will be distributed as monthly income to selected writers once a program is developed”. As of this writing, I have 0 founding members.

6. What artistic and technical choices have you made?

I’ve tried a number of writing styles and types to accompany the songs: science-fiction, lay-philosophical rants, lay-technical explanations, artistic explanations, and memoir. At first I thought technical explanations for how the songs were created would be compelling, but I’ve lost some interest in that direction. In the future I plan to lean into memoir and allow the writing to inform the songs and the lyrics. I’d like to make more TV if I can find the time and motivation. I think I am most proud of the collaborative work I’ve done on the platform. Don’t tell anyone, but collaborations are kinda the secret to unlocking this thing.

7. What’s been the effect on your writing?

I’m extremely intimidated by the excellent writing on Substack and am loath to call myself a writer. But I’m not really a musician either. While intimidated, I’m also inspired by everyone on the platform and I want to live in the brave space of calling myself an artist and a writer. I’m inspired to continue the practice, improve over time, and chip-away at the imposter syndrome.

8. In it for the long haul?

My plan is to consistently write and release music on Substack for 5 years. If I can do that, I am certain that I will have created something great. Then, I will rehash all of that content for the next five years while living in the Maldives and cashing all those sweet subscriber checks. What could go wrong?

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