The last few months have pulled the studio in a different direction than I expected. For a while I was promoting The Listing Agent Finder as the main thing I was building and talking about. I still think the app is useful and I keep it running, but most of my creative energy has shifted back to the band — and the work that happens behind the scenes for a band that wants to play out more.
Running social media for Under The Influence
I've been doing more of the social media and advertising work for Under The Influence. That means writing posts, scheduling content, editing videos, making graphics, and generally trying to keep the band visible in the places people actually scroll. It's a different kind of creative work than writing code or music, but it uses the same muscle: figuring out what a stranger needs to see in three seconds before they swipe away.
The biggest surprise is how much of it is logistics. A single post can take ten minutes of copy, five minutes of design, and two days of coordinating with four people to find the right photo. The creative part is the easy part. The hard part is consistency — showing up even when the algorithm feels like a brick wall.
Moving toward "scam information" videos
The next content push I'm building toward is a set of "scam information" videos focused on real estate scams. I started noticing the material while working on The Listing Agent Finder: fake rental listings, lead-generation bait that reroutes buyers to agents who never saw the property, spoofed agent profiles, and the small-print tricks that make public listing data harder to trust than it looks.
The goal is short, direct videos that pull examples from the app's own documentation and from the real-estate search patterns I kept running into while building the tool. The first batch is in outline form now, and the plan is to publish them regularly once the summer gig calendar settles down.
Four upcoming shows
Under The Influence has three gigs on the calendar, and I have one coming up with Heartbreakers. That is the most concentrated performing schedule I've had in a while, and it means the practice routine has become non-negotiable. Set lists, transitions, tone tweaks, backing tracks, and the hundred small details that make a band sound like a band instead of five people who happen to be on the same stage.
I'm posting the completed performance videos to the music section here as they happen. The most recent one is Live at the Vineyard, and the goal is to keep that section current so anyone who finds the site can see that the project is active, not archived.
Golf in July, which is a bad idea
When I am not doing band work, writing scripts, fixing apps, or answering emails, I have been playing golf. In July. In the Midwest heat. I am not sure this is a rational decision, but it is the one I keep making. There is something about being terrible at a sport on a Saturday morning that clears the head in a way that scrolling a phone never does.
The course is too hot, my handicap is not improving, and I have a standing bet with myself that I will not need a second ball by the back nine. So far I am losing that bet. If you see a sunburned person in a cart at the studio the next morning, that is why.
What this means for the studio
Wounded Duck Studios is still a one-person operation, but the mix of projects keeps changing. Right now the split is roughly: band promotion and video work during the day, music and app maintenance in the cracks, and golf in the cracks in the cracks. It is not a tidy business model, but it is an honest one, and it keeps the work from feeling like work.
I'll keep posting the new videos, gigs, and whatever the next strange project turns out to be. If you're curious what the band is up to, the music section is the best place to check.