We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Dennis McCarke. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Dennis below.
Dennis, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you recount a story of an unexpected problem you’ve faced along the way?
One of the big challenges of my professions (music and wood working) is learning to be flexible and think on your feet. I think that is a great question – so let me share a story about a time I dealt with an unexpected problem or issue. It is inter related to both my arts (music and wood working) and also showcases a success story and making the most of a tough situation. It is a precautionary tale to all creatives, to be diligent in their contracts and business structures, and how to come clean when the time is right.
In 2016, I was finally working full time in music. I had a really big hit with a few clients I had produced, but really had the fortune of working with a couple of omnichord players in Nashville (Ross Colier and Zeke Bandy) and the album I produced for them really had some big placements. I modeled these artists on Milli Vanilli, so while they were the face of the project, I really was making all of the creative decisions.T This project “A Very Omnichord Christmas” was remastered in 2016 and I started getting a lot of mailbox money from it.
I started. Branching out, more and more, and was working with lots of other artists, including international ones. I had obtained some letters of transit which allowed me to travel freely, and was in contact with a few Moroccan artists that really were excited about my work. It was around that time that I found out, afte rconsulting with an entertainment lawyer, that my contract with Zeke and Ross for Omnichord Christmas was poorly drafted and included some problematic clauses for my creative reality. I found out that I was obligated to four more albums with Zeke and Ross, and had to produce more and more. By this time, I was ready to move on to new creative works. I was getting into wood working and was apprenticing at a local shop in rural Georgia, honing my craft and my iniminatable vision. I was working with some Moroccan musicians remotely and was ready to transition to this. My lawyer also pointed out to me that I had been misunderstanding the business structure of my relationship with Zeke and Ross, and the money that I had been receiving for “A Very Omnichord Christmas” was not my individual split, but was actually the full amount. I was legally obligated to split the money with these two artistes.
After realizing I was on the hook for over $60,000 to be paid to ZEke and Ross, I panicked, and had to make the most of a bad situation. In 2017, I was reported dead — but few knew, that the truth was so very different. I faked my death and fled to Morocco, with hopes of reinventing myself. In the wake of reports that I had been sucked in, headfirst, to a woodchipper, I took a one-way flight across the Atlantic, and finding myself in a new place, began to re-work my image. I immediately found success as a producer in the creative scene. I was living in one of the outer arondissements of Casa Blanca, عين الشق, and produced a version of “As Time Goes By” for former Moroccan football star Mohamed Fakhir that began a local hit in Moroccan radio and was placed in several commercials for Raja CA.
My success, however, proved to be a prison, a shackle, an albatross. All of my time became consumed by cover hits and Karaoke versions to spec for a growing creative community of retired Moroccan footballers. The money was good, but it became impossible to find time to work on my real passion. Wood working. In 2020, when the pandemic occurred, I began to realize my grave mistake, and the weight of guilt and shame for the way I treated my true friends, ZEke and Ross, started to lay heavy on my fragile soul.
I finally came clean to ZEke and Ross, and faking my death in Morocco, fled back to the U.S. to start anew. ZEke and Ross were furious, but agreed to amend our contract — I would be a free agent after I completed my obligation for two more albums. I interned for them during their production of their final two albums, “An Omnichord for Christmas” and “A Very Omnichord Christmas, Again”, which were released to critical acclaim. Even though I did not produce them. Which I think was a bit of wasted talent, to be honest.
I have spent a lot of time reflecting on how I navigated so many ups and downs with this situation, and I often tell young creatives and producers that “you have to make mountains out of mole-hills”, AKA, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Well, I am a really good producer and i think that all the songs i have worked on are really special. Especially a very omnichord Christmas. This was the first project I ever worked on as a producer, and I think over the course of the 4 albums (I don’t count the last two because I didn’t produce them, I only interned for them) you can hear my signature sonic sound develop.
I also love woodworking and I have a number of really cool pieces that I’ve made in Nashville’s We-Ho SoHo house. It’s also really cool that they gave me a membership in exchange for putting my art there. I made the bespoke wood urinals in the green room bathrooms.
I think the crossover between my wood working art and my producing is a really interesting thing to consider and I’m proud of how I have been able to become such a recognizable name in my industry.
Looking back, are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?
Yes, I wish I had music ai and knew how to use it when I was just starting out. I used to work in FL Studio 6 XXL On my dad’s Dell Laptop when I was just starting to make music. I had a free version of the software which was really cool and I made a lot of awesome music on it. Unfortunately it took me a long time to make beats, and then I lost a lot of files when that hard drive crashed, because I had been downloading music illegally on LimeWire. Now, with the advent of AI in music, we have the possibility to avoid these hardships. I would tell all young creatives to use AI in their art. It makes everything faster and so much better.
Can you share your view on NFTs? (Note: this is for education/entertainment purposes only, readers should not construe this as advice)
I think NFTs are definitely here to stay. They are a solid investment — with the leftover cash reserves after my big DogeCoin investment in 2021, I spent the rest on NFTs. I think my ROI is a little down right now but I feel confident they will come back up any day now. 
Contact Info:
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dennis.mccarke
- Linkedin: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwigh7DSg4eAAxUsD1kFHY5iDiwQFnoECA0QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.linkedin.com%2Fin%2Fdennis-mccarke-179bb5bb&usg=AOvVaw0V0Ra_Pel8eUkn5WfT_6A0&opi=89978449
- Other: https://omnichordchristmas.bandcamp.com/album/a-very-omnichord-christmas-remastered-vol-i-iv
Image Credits
I made all the artwork