Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bios themselves (they are usually better at playing their instruments than at using basic grammar), and so the bios tend to be full of overly flowery explanations of the band’s origin, their mission, their sound, their myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long and include detailed background information about each band member.
Your bio doesn’t need to be so detailed. Save that for books about your legacy and magazine feature articles. Keep it short and punchy. Like a brand statement or company overview. While I’m not claiming to have the answer to the perfect and entrancing band bio formula, I can impart some tidbits of advice that will make your bio much more powerful and relevant.
Good news for every independent musician in the World. MTV (owners of the Rock Band franchise) just announced its own new distribution platform through the immensely popular musician-simulation game Rock Band.
The Rock Band Network is a revolutionary system that will allow bands, studios and record labels to create and sell playable game content from their master recordings using the same professional tools used by Rock Band developers. Rock Band Network, currently in closed beta, should launch to the public in August (with in-game sales later in the year).
MTV has infused Rock Band Network with professional utilities to enable a community of music makers to get their work to the masses and profit by it. Paul DeGooyer, a senior VP with MTV games, tells Billboard that “We’re talking about a set of serious professional tools to allow people on the front line of writing and recording songs to completely control their destiny with respect to interactive products and then giving them direct access to the download store.”
Based in Clearwater, Mohawk Bomb Records is a new kind of records music label, focused on sharing all music with the World using online marketing, social media networks and mobile technologies. To see the entire Mohawk Bomb Records’ discography…
RT on Twitter: @mohawkbomb Deadline 2 Submit 4 No Lip 3 Comp Jul 5. Time Left: 4d , 3h, 25m http://tinyurl.com/maj92g #tampamusic #727music
Mohawk Bomb Records announced today the release of the debut EP from Ascending to Avalon, whose Soundgarden-meets-Minus-the-Bear throwback riff rock and psychedelic sensibility make them a prime choice to fans of Led Zeppelin, Black Crowes, Foo Fighters and Open Hand.
“Wake the Sleeping Sun” is a 7-song eclectic blend of styles that shows the band’s talent and diversity. Ascending to Avalon was started in March 2008, when Ryen Gerson (vocals, guitar) started jamming with Lance Miller (drums) and Eric Bourne (guitar) on some material that sat around in the depths of his mind. The trio quickly formed a bond which led them to record over 20 original songs and put forth a rough demo recorded in Ryen’s basement. In October 2008, producer Ivan Pena started working with the band and the result was “Wake the Sleeping Sun”, an eclectic display of the band’s range of influences, full of radio rock appeal.
One of the ways people find out about new music is by listening to what their favorite trusted music critics have to say. Whether it’s a local newspaper or Rolling Stone, getting reviewed is very important to bands, especially the songwriters. Reviews provide professional validation and encouragement when they are positive, and derail genius if they are negative or overly critical.
But even knowing the perils, thousands of bands stills send in their CDs to music critics everywhere, hoping that that one person will explain their music in such an accurate and flattering way that fame would be the only logical result from these words being printed. Here’s some advice that may help put things in a more realistic perspective, and why the review doesn’t really matter.
It’s free. It’s for & about musicians and the business of making of music. It’s all happening next weekend. Here’s the full schedule for Homemade Music Symposium.
This second annual FREE symposium for Tampa Bay musicians & the music-loving general public offers seminars and workshops on the business of music-making to explore how to nurture and develop careers in the modern commercial environment. Wade through to see what floats your boat. And please, come check it out. Event info @ www.artistsandwritersgroup.com
Homemade Music Symposium: Preview Event June 10 FREE (details below)
Homemade Music Symposium Weekend: June 13 & 14 FREE starting at noon until 7pm (details below)
Mohawk Bomb Records Showcase June 13 at Crowbar during Homemade Music Symposium
Mohawk Bomb Records Showcase is happening at Crowbar: 1812 N 17th St, Ybor City, Tampa FL (directions)
The MBR showcase is part of the Homemade Music Symposium, a free music conference for bands and music professionals to share, discuss and improve the music scene in Florida. The event is happening all-day at Hillsborough Community College, Ybor City Campus on June 13-14, 2009. To view the full conference agenda, click here.
Cover is $5 or free if you purchase an All Access VIP wristband during the day at the Symposium for $10, which gives you access to 4 music venues. Sponsored by Mohawk Bomb Records and Honeycut Drums.
Paramorevocalist Hayley Williams has told Rock Sound that naming the songs on the band’s upcoming third album might be an easy process:
”We only have a few song titles confirmed at the moment,” she admitted recently. ”I was looking through my journal the other day and wondering if we are going to keep a lot of the working titles we have been using while writing. I know a lot of people have grown used to novel length song titles that are pages long but that has never really been our thing, I think we might keep the song names as they are at the moment and not change a thing!”
Following that comment Williams stated that ‘Ignorance’, ‘The Only Exception’, ‘Brick By Boring Brick’, ‘Misguided Ghosts’ and ‘Feeling Sorry’ are the only confirmed track titles thus far.
Paramore have been playing new song ‘Ignorance’ live recently (video below).
Currently on the road opening for No Doubt, Paramore is one of the better/lasting acts to come out of the Warped Tour in the last 5 years. This third as-yet-untitled release may solidify their status or doom them to overhyped limbo. The Tennessee-based band pop-punk band found breakthrough success on their 2007 album “Riot!”.Read the rest of this entry »
Homemade Music Symposium - This a mini-SXSW in Ybor City. That’s what we are going for. We say we have the talent. Now, let’s see the support.
The second annual symposium is offered free of charge to all Tampa Bay area musicians and the general public. The numerous seminars and workshops are focused on the business of music making and will provide area musicians assistance on how to nurture and develop careers in the modern commercial environment. Woven through the two-day schedule are a number of special live performances and showcases.
What: Homemade Music Symposium
When: June 13-14, 2009
Where: HCC-Performing Arts Building-Ybor City Campus, located at the corner of Palm Avenue and 14th Street.
Cost: Conference is free to the public. We will soon have information on a multi-venue wristband for the Night Showcases.
Audience: Panels geared towards musicians and music business issues, Night Showcases for all! (18+).
Showcase Info: Mohawk Bomb Records is hosting a showcase on June 13 at Crowbar (1812 N. 17th St., Ybor City, FL 33605) featuring Mohawk Bomb Records bands and choice local talent.
MayDay Festival was conceived a few years ago by Ted Morgan and Ben Wavel in Houston, TX, with the hopes of creating an exposure outlet for their favorite local bands. On May 23, they will bring the rock to Orlando. Through the festival, they have helped many bands get bigger followings and gotten the local community to take more notice of their local crop of bands.
The showcase will take place at The Crowbar starting at 8pm and will feature Rise of Saturn and Ascending to Avalon, among others. The winner will get a 30-minute slot and will have a chance to meet Mohawk Bomb Records CEO Ivan Pena. Also, the winning bands will have one of their tracks featured on the upcoming No Lip Vol. 3 compilation due out this Fall.
Hello fellow geeks! When I woke up this morning, I found out some AWESOME news. Today is Star Wars Day. HAPPY INTERNATIONAL STAR WARS DAY!
May 4 is called Star Wars Day because of a play on words based on the similarity between “May the 4th be with you” and “May the force be with you”, a phrase often spoken in the Star Wars movies.
Dorky, but this is a great occasion to do a blog post about the Top 5 Movie Themes of All Time. Here’s my 5:
Radio behemoth Clear Channel is one of the latest victims in the music business downfall. The official news is as follows:
US radio giant Clear Channel Communications has announced a new round of layoffs, with 590 workers in its radio division to be cut. The new layoffs, which follow a round of 1,850 in January, will include employees in programming, engineering and customer service. The January layoffs were primarily in sales. Shows canceled due to the layoffs will be replaced by nationally syndicated shows. Clear Channel also said that it has suspended matching contributions to employees retirement accounts, but would resume making contributions if the company is successful in reaching 90% of its internal cost saving targets.
It sucks that people are losing their jobs, but is anyone really surprised? Radio has been a corporate game for so long, that it’s no longer relevant. So what now?
The Mars Volta’s fifth studio album, Octahedron, will be released June 23 by Warner Bros. in the U.S. and on June 22 via Mercury Records to the rest of the world.
“It’s more mellow. It’s a little more of what we consider our ‘acoustic’ side,” singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala told Australian radio station Triple J of the new record. “We know how people can be so linear in their way of thinking, so when they hear [the new album], they’re going to say, ‘This is not an acoustic album! There’s electricity throughout it!’ But it’s our version,” the singer said. “That’s what our band does — celebrate mutations. It’s our version of what we consider an acoustic album.”
Hailed by The New Yorker as “perhaps the most musically adventurous act currently signed to a major label,” The Mars Volta formed in 2001. The band’s recorded output includes their 2003 debut full-length, De-Loused In The Comatorium, as well as Frances The Mute (2005), Amputechture (2006) and the Grammy-winning The Bedlam In Goliath (2008).
In this post I will impart the 6 things to keep in mind when making a flyer for a show or event. It may seem simple and trivial, but a good flyer/poster will give people all the information they need to make up their mind to come to your show or not.
The purpose for the flyer/poster is to entice people who don’t know your band or the other bands playing to come check you out. You are asking them to take their leisure time and hard-earned money and spend a fraction of it with you. Also, the flyer needs to communicate to your fans and provide them an incentive to return to your concert. Here’s what 10 year of making flyers has taught me:
1) Highlight the date – The most important element is the time element. “When is the show?” is the most important question in your potential concert-goers mind. Also, the time the show starts is a nugget of information to never omit.
Ume (pronounced ooo-may) is a My Bloody Valentine/Sonic Youth-influenced rockin’ three-piece from Austin, Texas that is one of the more exciting bands I have heard in a while. Critics from all over are drooling over the beautifully brutal songs delivered by easy-on-the-eyes frontwoman Lauren Larson. Check it out:
My buddy Wes Price from Polysound Studios sold me on the fact that this handwritten note was created by Jazz God Thelonius Monk in 1960 as an advice sheet for his new drummer. I think that most of the advice here is valid for anyone in the music business. This is a great companion piece to Quincy Jones’ SXSW Keynote speech. Enjoy!
This release from Rage Against the Machine’s Zack de la Rocha and former Mars Volta drummer Jon Theodore came out back in July 2008. I think its interesting to see what some jam sessions lead to among career musicians. At a mere 5-songs, the repetitive yet inspired debut eponymous EP seems like a good weekend jam that was captured and carved into entrancing neo-funk hip hop riff rock, without guitars. You can check them out at www.onedayasalion.org. Thanks to Disqo for the tip.
Touring is hard. With the current economy, its even tougher for independent bands to hit the road and actually make some money. Despite the financial constraints, touring is the most effective way to spread your music across the land. Sure MySpace will get you some ears, but nothing beats seeing the band live, seeing them sweat all over their instruments and meeting them after a gig. Touring is what the music business was built on and is a tradition that will never go away.
Many new bands ask me how they can go about booking a tour. Everyone is so eager to hit the road. I always tell them that it takes patience, perseverance and planning. Also, it takes money and self-sacrifice and its not for everyone. If your bass player needs to mommy and daddy (or his girlfriend) to tuck him in every night, or if your singer needs to eat sushi everyday and wash it down with Evian, chances are touring might not be the best for your band. If you get sick of a car after 2 hours of driving, don’t even THINK about touring.
Promoters can be very effective in breaking new bands and creating a music scene. A promoter is a person that contacts venues, sets up shows and assembles a bill of bands that he thinks will draw lots of patrons to the venue. Successful ones are usually well-connected, popular and fair to the core bands they work with.
I have seen many blossoming promoters in town that get bad reps because they mistreat bands and venues. It is really easy to get burned and banned from clubs, so here I offer up some hard-learned tips.
This just in! Submit for your chance to play The “Kia Kevin Says” Stage on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour. This is an opportunity for a Tampa band to get noticed and maybe even sell a few CDs.
Sonicbids has partnered with Warped Tour to bring bands this opportunity. The Kia Kevin Says Stage is a stage on the Warped Tour that features hand-picked local, regional, and independent bands in every market. There is one performance slot in each market reserved for a Sonicbids artist.
Confirmed bands for the 2009 Warped Tour include: Thrice, 3OH!3, The Ataris, Chiodos, The Devil Wears Prada, Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Less Than Jake, NOFX, Anti-Flag, Bouncing Souls, Silverstein, Underoath and many more.
What is the Red Bull Music Academy? That is what I first asked myself when I heard about it. The multi-faceted energy drink brand has branched out into the realm of DJ culture and music conferences with its “yearly celebration of all the journeys and breakthroughs, all the dreams and intricacies that go into the music we love.”
The Academy shifts location to zoom in on micro-cultures and new musical hybrids that are springing up all over the world. The next major RBMA event will hit London in the Spring 2010. Having just returned from SXSW, I believe that music conferences are where ideas go to be incubated. There is an immeasurable value in spending time with fellow creatives, talking about creative things and hoping to fulfill creative dreams.
For two weeks, attendees get to attend lectures from today’s most relevant names in electronic music (for example, ?uestlove from the Roots in video below), create and share with other like minded folks and party their ass off.
Who: Rise of Saturn, Drew Street Mary, Ascending to Avalon with special guests Stalling Dawn.
Rise of Saturn: Formed by members of Soulfound and WeakSauce, this Incubus-meets-Gnarls Barkely funky sextet is playing their first show. Demo recording coming soon.
Drew Street Mary: A sing-along, power pop band from Satefy Harbor, DSM’s Beatles-meet-Seville sound is sure to keep you humming the songs for days. Their song “Barfly” was recently featured on the No Lip Vol. 2 compilation.
Ascending to Avalon: This new post-grunge quartet is sure to fly with fans of Open Hand, Foo Fighters and Led Zeppelin. Their song “Salvation” was featured on the No Lip Vol. 2 compilation.
Stalling Dawn: This Tampa-based rock band has a new record out and is opening for Third Eye Blind this weekend. They are a head-banging blend of Thrice and Killswitch Engage.
What: Mohawk Bomb Records Showcase. Mohawk Bomb Records is a Clearwater-based music label, production house and ad agency, focused on sharing new music with the World, finding new ways to make our artists known. and adopting technology advances to provide better distribution.
Friday, March 20: Day 3 of this madness. Yesterday, Joran and I must have walked at least 5 miles trying to catch as many bands as we could, so my calves were a bit sore. Regardless of the bodily pain, today was the best day.
Taking advantage of all the free stuff you could get, I moseyed over to the Natural American Spirit cig table and got 2 free packs of smokes. I don’t usually smoke, but today I felt like it. While I was lighting up, I met two French filmmakers, in town to make a documentary for the French Government (so they said). I thought they were cool enough, so I did a quick interview with them.
Afterwards, I went to a panel discussion about how to survive as a musician in the current economic recession. The panel featured big wigs from Sub Pop Records, Jive Records and Atlantic Records. Also, Ian Montone of Monotone Inc. was on the panel. He is the manager for bands like The White Stripes, Cold Ward Kids and Dredg. The discussions themselves were standard: times are tough, the internet killed the biz and everyone has to work hard to make it.
The highlight for me was when I offered up an idea for a federated, regional music business model. After my statement and a follow up question, Montone and the guy from Atlantic looked at each other and I could read their lips, “That’s a good idea.” I hope they don’t steal it, but oh well. After the panel I met Montone and an old friend of Soulfound’s, producer David Eaton. I gave Montone props for sticking with Prog band Dredg through all these years and he invited me out to the show that night at Buffalo Billiards.
Thursday, March 19: Day 2 began well. I was refreshed and ready to go to some sessions. SXSW is not only a music showcase, but it is also a conference and has a trade show floor. The sessions were geared towards music business professionals, offering panel discussions on topics from songwriting, using the Web to promote music, bands and brands and how to survive in the current economic climate. Every panelist was an accomplished professional with an impressive resume.
The first session I went to featured Todd and Jeff Brabec, twin brothers that have some helpful advice about how to make money through music publishing and songwriting. Jeff works in publishing for Chrysalis and Todd is a VP at ASCAP, so these guys know what they are talking about.
Wednesday, March 18: I arrived to Austin by 9:30am, exhausted from the previous night’s St. Patty’s Day festivities. On the plane Flee and Jo Ellen (from WMNF and The Globe respectively) had the privilege to watch me zonk out with mouth agape for most of the 2 hour flight.
Excitement was high as soon as I deplaned. Dozens of people carrying guitar cases were scurrying about the terminal as if late for a very important meeting. I took a shuttle to the “Little” Ramada on the far ass north of town, where I would be staying during my visit. The driver ran me down the key places to visit in Austin (Bat Country, The Capitol), the great restaurants to visit (Guero’s) and that I shouldn’t walk the streets around my hotel alone at night. At first impression Austin seemed tired and run down, with haggard bums adorning every street corner.
Upon arriving to the hotel, I met two bands off the bat: Colombia’s Raton Perez and London’s Little Thief. I took advantage of my “journalist status” and did a quick interview with each:
Today is my third day here and Ifinally have enough time/internet connection/patience to write a quick hello. I got this new Asus EeePC and the mouse/touch pad is fucking annoying the crap out of me.
Below is a quick run down of what we’ve been up to the last two days. I have some great new bands for you guys to check out, some tips for how all musicians can try to make some money and a few observations about what I’ve gotten from this trip.
I have been traversing (mostly by foot with a 30 pound back pack) the streets of “The Weird City” with Joran for a few days thinking of what my blog post on my maiden voyage to the country’s largest gathering of cool kids would be. I have gotten to interview some bands from all over the world. I sat in the front row while Quincy Jones spoke about his illustrious career for 2.5 hours. I have seen some great rock bands and some not so palatable ones at a handful of the city’s hundreds of well-packed venues. I have seen some friends from Tampa Bay and met some new ones. I have eaten lots of delicious Mexican food and drank lots of Dos Equis. I bought a Jesus Lizard CD at Waterloo. I bought some obnoxious buttons and a t-shirt for my wife.
I hope to have some videos uploaded in the next few days. Joran has been getting lots of great footage which he will be posting as well.
I have been out of touch for a while. I am neck deep in promoting Mohawk Bomb Records’ new compilation, shooting Soulfound’s farewell documentary and getting married. Alas, I am back with a new post that I have been wanting to do for a while in which I get to flex both my music and movie muscles.
Here are my Top 5 actor’s portrayals of some of music’s most legendary characters. There are dozens of great performances that I have not included that are great portrayals of musicians on film. Many of the best ones are not even about real bands like Almost Famous, The Commitments, That Thing You Do!. The point here is to show how foolish it can be to have a musicians as a role model and how entertaining/inspiring it can be to see what some folks have gone through to become household names. Enjoy.
Clearwater-based Mohawk Bomb Records announces the release of No Lip Vol. 2. Available through www.mohawkbomb.com and via all major online music services (iTunes, Amazon, eMusic, Rhapsody and Napster), the compilation features 14 songs from 14 artists spanning the entire Rock music spectrum.
No Lip Vol. 2 celebrates independent bands from all over the World, with bands from Florida, California, Texas, Canada, England and Australia. Among the songs featured are previously unreleased tracks by Soulfound, The Redlight Stare, Ascending to Avalon and Soul Destroyer. Also, returning are 900 Pound Gorilla, Bull Lee and Drew Street Mary (along with Soulfound) who were all featured on No Lip Vol. 1.
Version 1.1 – WITH MORE BASSISTS! – I’ve always wanted to write a post like this. I have been a student of the Bass Guitar for around 15 years and have always fought the “apparent unimportance” of bass players in contemporary music. Through this post I hope to once and for all assert the position of bassists everywhere in the highest echelons of cool.
Soulfound’s newest release, “Live at Zen Recording,” drops February 17 on all major online music retailers Worldwide. CDs will be handed out as promo by each of the participating bands and the Mohawk Bomb Records Street Team.
This five-song EP is the latest release from Florida’s Soulfound on Mohawk Bomb Records. The EP was recorded live at Zen Recording Studios in Pinellas Park, Florida in November 2008. The five tracks are from Soulfound’s last studio album, 2008’s “Is a Rock Band”. The tracklist is as follows:
1. You Only Get One
2. Occupation
3. King of the Sandbox
4. My Kind of Thing
5. Looking for Me
This is a raw snapshot of Soulfound doing what they do. No trickery, tracks or gimmicks here, just pure, unrefined rock music.
Soulfound has been touring the Florida circuit since 1999. Originally formed in Gainesville, Florida, this Clearwater four-piece prides themselves in their sing-along songs and strong live performances.
Finding a new and profitable business model has eluded major record labels since the decline of recorded music sales began as MP3s took hold. In his presentation at MidemNet — one of the most elite music business event in the World — Techdirt’s Mike Masnick profiled Trent Reznor’s recent successes selling his music without the help of a major record label and condensed it into a simple formula. Masnick ventures to say that Reznor made over $1.6 million from his latest release alone. That notion definitely got my attention.
According to a new music personality test from Signal Patterns, they can codify your taste in music, give you music options to listen to and even connect you to people with similar music tastes by taking a five-dynamic music taste test from their Website. Signal Patterns is a team of scientists that are “developing a technology that gives people new ways to explore their personality, their preferences, and their relationships with the people around them.” They are the folks behind some cool Facebook personality tests (if you dig that sort of fare).
My Signal Pattern
My music personality is: Aggressive, Loud, and Percussive. Here’s what my FUSES model says:
Signal Patterns Music Survey
FUSES stands for Forceful, Urban, Sophisticated, Earthy and Smooth. Your music traits cross music genres. For example. if one of your traits is “forceful”, you might like AC/DC’s “Back in Black,” Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, and Puff Daddy’s “Victory.” Our research team has carefully chosen a small number of musical prototypes or “probes” that research has shown can help to better understand a given individual’s musical tastes. The prototypes are the result of more than 10 years of research using tens of thousands of respondents, both on the internet and in laboratory settings.
My Take: Clips were cheesy, but the technology has promise They played 40 different 15 second clips which I had to rate each one on a scale. The scale was from “I really dislike” to “I really love”. Many of the clips were cheesy, Muzak sounding tracks, which could account for why I scored so “aggro-ly”. This test is supposed to look beyond tastes and get results from deeper in the brain. I don’t totally agree with it, but the test was a fun way to spend 4 minutes and if enough people take it, could lead to some interesting data that bands and labels can use to launch new music. Check it out for yourself.
Here at CL, we’ve done our share of ragging on Ticketmaster. Over the years a few major stars have had the balls to step up and rise against the agency’s monopoly (Pearl Jam comes to mind). The latest naysayer is Bruce Springsteen, who caught wind that Ticketmaster was redirecting customers to its secondary site, TicketsNow, where “speculation” occurs, even when face-value Springsteen tickets were still available via Ticketmaster.
Since I posted this item earlier today, Ticketmaster has responded with an “open letter of apology to Bruce Springsteen, [his manager] Jon Landau and the entire Springsteen Tour Team.”
Over the last decade, there has been much talk and figures to support the fact that the heyday of the music industry has passed, or at least shrunk.
For example, the Top 10 selling albums of 2008 totaled 19 million units, including digital sales. In 1988, the 5 top-selling album alone sold over 26 million units (George Michael’s Faith, Dirty Dancing Soundtrack, Def Leppard’s Hysteria, INXS’ Kick and Michael Jackson’s Bad).
Did music lose its appeal? Does Lil Weezy not hold a candle to the King of Pop? Do bands today suck more than those of the 80s? What gives? I am sure there has been some kind of “lack of quality” perception from some old timers and music critics, but for the most part I think its about greed and lack of following supply and demand.
Having an objective and effective band biography can be a challenge for many bands. Often, the bands write these bios themselves (they are usually better at playing their instruments than at using basic grammar), and so the bios tend to be full of overly flowery explanations of the band’s origin, their mission, their sound, their myriad influences. Sometimes, these monoliths are multiple pages long and include detailed background information about each band member.
Attention Unsigned Bands: July 5 is Deadline for 
Paramore
Homemade Music Symposium - This a mini-SXSW in Ybor City. That’s what we are going for. We say we have the talent. Now, let’s see the support.
From today until the end of May, bands can submit their EPKs through 
The Mars Volta
This just in! Submit for your chance to play The “Kia Kevin Says” Stage on the 2009 Vans Warped Tour. This is an opportunity for a Tampa band to get noticed and maybe even sell a few CDs.
