In three short years, the Reax/ThxMgmt Hot Dog Show has established itself as a must-attend event of the summer, providing a great opportunity to see a diverse group of bands, catch up with old friends, make some new ones, and of course, witness a hot dog-eating contest. This year, the Hot Dog Show took place on Friday, July 3, at Crowbar. I arrived just in time to see the first female victory in the hot dog eating contest (sorry – I didn’t catch her name!), which was followed by an animated performance by Bealsville/Plant City-based Shunda K of Yo Majesty! Bringing the evening to a dance party conclusion was Sunbears! (Jacksonville).

Sunbears!

The last time I saw Sunbears! in November 2008, I was impressed by their ability to deliver a complete visual experience to go along with their sugary pop, even outside at New World Brewery. Sunbears! has enhanced their candyland set to greater dayglo heights with a variety of props, including a giant red balloon, bubbles and confetti, oh my! Recorded last fall, the Sunbears! cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop Till You Get Enough” now adds a bit of unintentional poignancy to their act … at least until the shock of Michael Jackson’s death wears off. The audience danced up a storm to the Sunbears!’ happy-go-lucky pop tunes while throwing confetti to the beat. Sunbears! is also fun to listen to on disc and their current EP, Dream Happy Dreams, is a perfect summer dance soundtrack. Really, who couldn’t use a little auditory uplifting given the state of the world? I look forward to hearing and seeing what is next for this talented duo!

Sunbears! is Jonathan Berlin (keys, guitar and vox) and Jared Bowser (drums/vox)

Shunda K!

Shunda K, moniker of Lashunda Flowers, is a talented local hip hop artist who defies expectations by incorporating both spirituality and sexuality into her lightning fast rhymes. She is currently allowing fans to download her music for free so head over and check her out!

For more photos, please visit the following links:

Down the street from The Hold Steady at The Ritz on July 2, 2009, New Granada presented a night of local Florida musicians at New World Brewery including King of Spain, Will Quinlan & The Diviners, and Mike Dunn & The Kings of New England.

King of Spain

Alas, I only caught the last two songs but they were the artfully crafted electro-folk songs that are now synonymous with Matt Slate.

Will Quinlan & The Diviners

Though brief, the few songs that Will Quinlan & The Diviners performed provided a delightful dose of Americana.

Performing with Will Quinlan at this performance were Scott Anderson and Soraya Zaumeyer.

Mike Dunn & The Kings of New England

This was my first time seeing Mike Dunn & The Kings of New England. Mike Dunn plays straight up rock n’ roll with a revolving cast of musicians playing the role of the kings. I particularly enjoyed the banter with the crowd. His current release is titled The Edge of America and is available now!

For more photos, please visit the following links:

Pontiak galloped into New World Brewery this past Thursday, June 11, the exceptional headliner of History’s last show in Tampa supported by King of Spain and Glasgow. Another splendid Thx Mgmt show – thanks Joe.

Pontiak

To get the downlow on Pontiak, check out Eric Snider’s interview with the brothers who make up this band. Live, Pontiak delivers a constantly evolving performance, its members switching instruments (who doesn’t love the impact of double drum sets?) and keeping even the most jaded scenester interested. These mistral brothers are a talented family garnering positive media attention from sources as diverse as Pitchfork and Wired.

Pontiak is the Carney brothers: Lain (drummer), Van (guitarist), and Jennings (bassist).

History

Alas, the rumors are true. History has broken up due to Travis’ imminent departure to join the secret service (seriously). To console you, their long awaited new album will finally be released on 24 Hr. Service Station in the near future. History’s special catchy brand of indie-metal-dischord influenced electro rock will be missed. Luckily, there are rumblings that the remaining band members are working on a new project that should be playing out as early as this fall.

History is Matt (Guitar/Vocals), Scott (Analog Keys), Patrick (Drums), Melissa (Keys/fX/Vocals) and Travis (Bass Guitar).

King of Spain

King of Spain (KOS) is the musical project of talented Tampa musician, Matt Slate. KOS earned stellar reviews for Entropy (New Granada Records), including a coveted review from NPR. KOS is a hybrid form of electronica and folk that sticks with you long after seeing a live performance or listening to the record. In addition, KOS’ e-mail list regularly posts in progress and newly finished songs – this is one mailing list you won’t relegate to your spam filter.

Glasgow

New on the Tampa scene, Glasgow delivered a solid performance for the few songs I caught this evening. I am looking forward to seeing how these guys develop both their sound and live performance presence.

For more photos, please visit the following links:

I am dating a guitarist. Original, I know.

The point is, though, that I have a unique inside vision to the woes that local bands endure. Joel, my boyfriend, is in the band Dreadful Memories (who freakin’ rock by the way — check them out). They work so hard, I mean really. Whenever Joel and I both have a day off, it’s hardly spent together because he needs to get to practice. All the members of the band have at least one part time job, some of them have two and all of them struggle to make ends meet.

I have bought more than my fair share of tickets to their shows, just to make sure they sell enough to be able to play. They’ve dealt with producers and agencies that seem to care only about profit rather than actually helping local bands make it. They struggle to have enough time for the band and the rest of their lives. They deal with the struggles of everyday life while trying to win the right to their dreams day after day. It just seems like they can’t get a break.

For example; drummers suck.

Out of the three drummers they’ve had in the year that the current members have made up the band, not one of them has been reliable. It’s funny to me because my dad is a drummer (and a guitarist and pianist, among other things) and I’ve never seen him as unreliable… but maybe that’s because of his multi-talents.

Guys who are just drummers, the one’s who pride themselves on hitting the round noise-makers with sticks, are the most unreliable assholes I’ve ever encountered. I mean, yeah, it takes a certain amount of talent to be able to bang the noise boxes hard enough and long enough to create a beat — but it isn’t rocket science. You’re not doing some great justice for the world. Drum machines sound just as good … and cause none of the problems.

In case you were wondering, I dated a drummer too. He had all of the aforementioned characteristics … hence the term “dated.”

But to Dreadful Memories’ drummer problems. The first drummer, the brother of one of the guitarists in the band, decided that he would flip out and choke another guitarist in the band, resulting in immediate termination due to the fact that his crazy ass might do it again. The second drummer, friend of one of the guitarists, was way too lazy to practice and actually came up with a story that involved him being in jail for underage drinking in order to avoid practice one day — which also resulted in a boot to his ass.

The third and current drummer is already in another band, so Dreadful Memories doesn’t really matter to him, he’s only in it to help out the suffering band members. So in the meantime they have been searching fruitlessly for another, more reliable and motivated drummer to join the band. Ha. They spoke with one over Myspace who was supposed to come “interview” with them, but he called a day before the interview to explain that “dire circumstances” are preventing him from showing up … It might just be me, but if I don’t show up for an interview, I don’t expect to get the job. DRUMMERS!

We knew it would be hard to start a band and become successful and maybe we’ve been jumping the gun a little bit for success, but they’re anxious to get things rolling, and I have to say I wouldn’t mind rolling either … (in the dough of fame-dom) but we just never expected to find such a personality trend in the drummers.

For the sake of being politically correct, however, I’m not saying that ALL drummers are awful scumbags, only that the one’s we’ve experienced in the field have proven to be so. They’re sometimes nice guys that get wrapped up in the drummer persona and the large-ego world of the supposed back-bone of a band… but that’s where they need to stop and realize who and what they are becoming! I would whole-heartedly support a drummers-anonymous meeting, for those who enjoy drumming, but would like to avoid the lifestyle. Until that happy day, however, we’ll just have to catch a young one and hope he or she isn’t corrupted yet. Possible? Yes. Probable? You be the judge.

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.

Bands: Win a chance to play. Click here for details.

More info: www.mohawkbomb.com or www.artistsandwritersgroup.com

Leilani joins Stephen and Joran in the studio to welcome Jim Morey and his band as they perform two tracks live and talk about their strange brand of Neo-ragtime, NOLA jazz, stumblin’ roots rock.

Yes, they brought in a monkey, and yes, we got it on video.

Download the MP3s of Gypsy Wind and Wishing Well after the break.

Download

Read Leilani’s interview with the band here.

Watch the Video for “Gypsy Wind”

MP3s:

Gypsy Wind

Wishing Well

It was a long time coming for session number six, but well worth it, as Clearwater-based hard rockers Soulfound join Joran and Stephen in the studio to talk about playing locally and nationally, recording and playing together for a decade and their decision to go on hiatus. They also bring their amps and put them to good use. MP3s of Temper Temper, Occupation and Looking For Me can be downloaded below the jump, along with pics.

Download

MP3:

Temper Temper

Occupation

Looking For Me

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.

1) Don’t Rely on Bands for Promotions: The biggest mistake promoters make is putting the fate of the show in the band’s hands. As a promoter, it is your job to PROMOTE the living crap out of the show to ensure its success. Promoters have the responsibility to get the posters to the venue 6 weeks out, make handbill flyers to pass out at other shows, contact local music publications to promote the event, create and promote Facebook and MySpace events, email everyone you know, text message everyone you know, etc… Promoters should enlist the band’s help and motivate them to participate, but in the end, its your reputation on the line. Don’t blow it and don’t get lazy.

2) Assemble a Street Team: Every great promoter has had a loyal and effective street team by their side. A street team is a group of people that go around posting information about your show around town and assist in spreading the word. Street teams are very effective when properly coordinated and incentivized. Pay them or compesate them in some way. That way, everyone feels like they get something out of the relationship. Free tickets to the show works. So does free merch from the bands playing, free drinks and free food. To keep them engaged, schedule bi-weekly meetings and talk about successes and failures of promotional activities and get their feedback on your shows/band selections.

3) Set Attendance Expectations: This one is key. Set realistic attendance expectations for the show based on the venue, bands playing and amount of promotions done. It’s all a numbers game. For example, if you handout 5,000 handbill flyers, you should expect at least 1-2%  (50-100) of those people to come out. Chances are more will, but expecting a 1% return on your promotional activities will set your expectations on the lower side. If the venue only holds 100 people, then you don’t need to do that big of a blitz, so you can adjust your promotional efforts accordingly. Another way to get a good idea of how many people are coming is to ask them to RSVP via text message, email or posts to your blog and give them incentives to do so (discounted ticket or free music). On the day of the show, make sure you communicate to the venues and bands what kind of crowd you are expecting.

4) Invest in Your Business: After you make a little cash from your shows, you should always re-invest in the business. You can go to bigger venues, raise the profile of the bands playing, invest in mass media advertising and grow the street team. You could even expand to neighboring cities and replicate your success. The key is to not get fat and happy and stop. It’s to keep building the business until you can make a living from it.

Enjoy. Share.
Ivan

About Ivan
Ivan Pena has an Advertising degree from UF, 8+ years in corporate and consumer marketing, 10+ years in graphic design and promotions. Ivan runs his own independent record label and boutique advermarketing agency, Mohawk Bomb. Join Ivan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mohawkbomb

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.

When: Saturday April 11, 2009 @ 8pm

Where: Gasoline Alley, 14042 66th St, Largo, FL 33771

What else: www.mohawkbomb.com | www.myspace.com/mohawkbomb

Root/Cause: A Birthday Party for the Garden!
Saturday February 28th, 7:30 pm, 1013 MLK Street S.
Join the Bartlett Park Community Garden for a night of music, food and art under the stars. Twigs and Leaves Native Florida Plant Nursery hosts this landmark celebration.Sat, Feb 28th 7:30pm
Twigs & Leaves
1013 MLK Street South, St. Pete

MUSIC:
Nessie (10:45-11:30)
The Sheaks (9:45-10:30)
The Turncoat (8:45-9:30)
Pink Orange Red (7:45-8:30)

ART: (silent auction)
Chad Cardoza, Alana Tomasso, Hugh T. Williams, Hunter Oswald, Zen Glass and more