WATCH: Steve Onotera talks about his YouTube hit and his music on Winnipeg’s Morning News
WINNIPEG – Guitarist Steve Onotera hopes to make YouTube his main income source. He got off to a good start when the video channel tweeted one of his creations.
Onotera’s “guitarcapella” rendition of Daft Punk’s Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger has almost 60,000 views on YouTube since it was posted Jan. 5 and his channel has gained hundreds of subscribers.
“There’s definitely been a very large spike” in subscribers, the Winnipeg musician said Monday morning.
Onotera, who teaches and performs music for a living, creates his videos entirely by himself, from playing to shooting to editing. In this case, every sound on the recording is produced by his guitar and a spoon, including the “vocals” created by feeding the sound through his mouth. He uses his mouth to shape the sounds into “words” with the aid of a talkbox.
WATCH: Check out a sample of Steve Onotera’s unique cover of a Daft Punk classic
Onotera’s long-term goal is to make YouTube his primary income source. He created his channel in October and already has almost 1,500 subscribers.
“It’s very exciting,” he said. “It feels like every day I’m doing something new.”
The economics of music have changed, he agreed, with musicians no longer being able to “make it” simply by signing with a music label and selling recordings. While some find making a living more challenging as a result, Onotera sees it as an opportunity.
“Anybody can make YouTube money,” he said.
Onotera plays in Velvedere – the rock-country band is holding a single release party at the Park Theatre on Feb. 5 with Leanne Pearson – teaches guitar, writes music and does session work with other musicians. He travels to Nashville to write music, as well. But YouTube has created a new opportunity for him.
“I wanted something that was really purely my own,” he said. “It allows me to basically record whatever I want.”
Onotera’s YouTube channel is Samuraiguitarist and he also has an Instagram account under that name.
Comments