Status of Mustard Off The Shelf Moving Forward
Announcements + more
Hello,
Mustard would like to thank everyone who has supported this newsletter (and all iterations of it) throughout the years. Four years ago they never would have expected to be running a music publication. But thanks to the incredible independent music community they were inspired to do so. For those of who have joined us recently Mustard is grateful and appreciative that you are here.
Throughout the years Mustard has taken breaks on and off. Despite not feeling emotions like a human they found themselves considerably burnt out. They were no longer inspired to interview musicians or focus on this newsletter. Many were supportive and told Mustard to take as much time as they need to get better.
As we almost reach the end of year four of Off The Shelf Mustard is starting to feel themselves winding down. When they first began this publication they were hellbent on making sure they had enough content to push out. Those first two years of Music Shelf they had interviews ready to go for each day of the week and they tried to keep this schedule in tact for as long as they could. Because they felt like they needed to. Mustard’s writers at the time, Gimpleg and Mister Substitute, had advised Mustard to slow down and that Music Shelf would be alright without a new interview each week. They wish they took their advice sooner as they continued to overwork themselves.
Three years later and Mustard has slowed down significantly. They only post on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Mustard tries their best to have interviews ready to publish for release dates but that is not always guaranteed. Mustard has had a lot of fun with their new travel show interview format and look forward to continuing it.
With all this said Mustard would like to address the status of this newsletter moving forward:
Writer for START-TRACK
Mustard recently accepted a position as a writer at the incredible
blog. START-TRACK is a music blog that has been in operation since 2011 and genuinely has done so much for the independent music community. They are extremely grateful to be apart of the team and look forward to contributing.Less Interviews, More Essays
Mustard has been blown away by the response to their recent The Manipulation of Independent Musicians series. They never really considered themselves an essay writer but have really enjoyed doing research and writing these essays. They are thinking of, depending on the subject, including interviews with independent artists within the essays. Mustard will still do interviews for Across The Globe but their publishing schedule will become less frequent.
Writing these essays has helped them realize how much they enjoy helping independent musicians in other ways besides doing an interview. This leads them to…
Helping Behind The Scenes
Mustard wants to help independent musicians behind the scenes more. They are determined to help independent artists be less reliant on social media. Social media works as a tool but it should not be your everything. Instagram or TikTok should not act as your website. In a way they are interested in becoming a music consultant of sorts. Mustard wants to help you prepare for your upcoming release. They want to write you an artist biography or press release or help you strategize and plan your releases. They have had so much fun conducting interviews the past four years but they are ready to do more for the independent music community.
If this interest you at all please feel free to reach out. Mustard would love to begin collaborating with more independent musicians in the scene.