“You’ll remember it now….because you’ve got pain around it.”
A website programmer said that to me once after bailing me out of a 3-hour technical struggle. That must be why I remember NOTHING about the creation of this jingle I wrote for the Atlanta Chamber of Commerce in the 90’s. Producer Craig Miller was so easy to work with, there wasn’t any pain around it:
“We Make Stuff” by Mike Bielenberg
Seriously, I do remember a few things. The guitarist was Peter Stroud (Sheryl Crow, Don Henley). It was recorded on ADATS – hugely popular machines now seen as the bridge between 2-inch tape and Pro Tools. And because the track needed punk-rock male vocals, I got to do all the singing…ok..shouting. I was born with the brain of a romantic comedy film composer…and the voice of a Marine drill sergeant. Go figure.
But by far, the most notable part of this project was my client…Atlanta film producer Craig Miller.
Two months ago Craig was appointed by the governor of Georgia as chair of the Georgia Film, Music and Digital Entertainment Advisory Commission. I’m not exactly sure what a “chair” does, but I hope for Craig’s sake it involves great food. I also hope Craig will be cool with me excessively dropping his name at industry parties.
When Craig and I worked together I witnessed the Zen-like quality that pulled him through thousands of video productions for the likes of Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines & IBM. Craig has personality too. A southern gentleman to his core, it always seemed like Craig had Mark Twain in his ear – telling him the wise thing to say at all times.
That’s why Craig chooses to do so many projects for non-profit and civil organizations. One recent project was a video campaign for Georgia Tourism called “We Love This State”.
Back in the day, while I was busy fussing with cranky session musicians and music software glitches (there’s pain around THAT), Craig was busy planting seeds in this great city of Atlanta with the future in mind. Craig always prioritized the greater good…not just in his rhetoric, but in his actions and the way he did business. It only took a few projects with Craig’s peers/competitors to realize how rarely video producers let their composers take creative risks…or value their time.
Congratulations on your appointment, Craig. I’m proud to call you a friend….and proud of the incredible work we’ve done together.
“Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry.”
-Mark Twain
“We Make Things” can be downloaded free-of-charge at MusicRevolution.com’s Free Music Collection page
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Mike Bielenberg is a professional musician and co-founder of http://www.musicrevolution.com, a production music marketplace with over 40,000 tracks online where media producers, video producers, filmmakers, game developers, businesses and other music buyers can license high-quality, affordable royalty-free music from an online community of musicians. mbielenberg@musicrevolution.com. 
