Ancaster songwriter making music in his parents’ basement
You don't have to be a master musician or a studio magician to write and record a song these days.
Just ask Anthony Marzanek, a 22-year-old novice songwriter whose self-made music is drawing hundreds of thousands of listeners through online streaming platforms.
Marzanek, who sings and produces under the name TonyTone," began his musical career a couple of years ago in his parents' Ancaster basement while on a summer break from studying science at Western University.
Other than banging on his rec-room drum kit, Marzanek had no musical training. He started out by free-styling vocals over instrumental beats with friends. Then he got interested in writing songs and learning how to record them.
Marzanek didn't need a studio. He simply downloaded some recording software onto his laptop computer and started experimenting with beats, hooks and melodies purchased from online music sites. He then got up the gumption to sing some original lyrics over the instrumentals he had pieced together.
I had never really been much of a singer," Marzanek told The Spectator. I first started recording on my Apple ear buds, trying it out, getting used to the software, mixing and production."
He upgraded to a studio quality microphone and kept at it. His friends started telling him his pop-rap songs were good, sounding a bit like Drake or The Weeknd. So Marzanek decided to start posting them to online streaming platforms like Spotify and YouTube. His first attempts drew only a couple of thousand listeners, but things dramatically changed in the last year.
His latest single Poppin" has drawn more than 40,000 hits on Spotify alone. Marzanek figures it has drawn 80,000 on all platforms combined. He's now posted a total of six original songs with a total of some 300,000 streams.
I just really like doing it," Marzanek says. It's awesome seeing random people post videos of my music half way across the world. People are listening in Argentina to something I made from scratch in my basement. Random people are reaching out to me through social media, telling me it's really good and I should be signed to a label. It's amazing."
Marzanek isn't alone. Earlier this year, Spotify founder Daniel Ek announced that close to 40,000" tracks are now being uploaded to the Spotify platform every day. Many are by laptop musicians like Marzanek.
You can do everything through software on your laptop now," he says. It's crazy. Almost anybody could do it. Almost anyone could independently be a musician."
The biggest challenge for Marzanek was getting his songs noticed from among that ocean of new material. Marzanek began reaching out to bloggers and online influencers. He even hired a freelance publicist.
You really have to work on marketing and your pitch to people as much as the music itself," he says.
Marzanek hasn't yet found a way to make money from his music. Streaming platforms pay a pittance and he's now exploring ways to monetize his songs through publishing and licensing.
I'm just going to keep working at it, making better music, networking and making more contacts to get noticed among the 40,000 other songs being released every day," he says. When I finish something that I made from scratch, listen to it and know it's good, that's a great feeling."