Tampa Calling

For what we assume will be a very limited time, Pitchfork is streaming the entire epic Guided By Voices documentary Watch Me Jumpstart on its site, for free.

The 1998 film tells the story of the unlikeliest of rock stars (featuring Dayton, Ohio born Robert Polllard, an ex-4th-grade teacher) who never actually became rockstars to the general public but still managed to spawn a new sub-genre of DIY music-making, from recording albums on cassettes to printing T-shirts and album covers in their garage.

You can watch the whole thing by following the link below the jump:

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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.

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With temperatures in the 30’s, a steady stream filed into Ybor’s New World Brewery for the release of Tampa-based alternative-country band Roppongis Ace’s first CD, Into the Night.

The album was recorded this December at Steve Connonely’s Zen studios while Drummer Max Norton and Singer/Guitarist Alex Spoto were on break from college. Spoto says the title simply stemmed from what their recording experience included. “Not much sleep and we went into the night,” he said.

And last night’s performance had the crowd there into the night as well. Many of them have watched the band grow since they were in high school, playing small shows around town.

They were joined by Max’s older brother Jessie on bass and harmonica.

It would seem a salty blues man in his sixties has crawled into Spoto’s vocal chords and made a happy home there. Spoto wrote all the songs on the album, but noted how vital collaboration from the Norton Bros. was to making the sound a complete package.

A new addition to the band was Rebekah Pulley’s bassist, Rob Pastore holding down the steel pedal.

Right off the bat, Roppongi’s Ace had the crowd pumped, but when the speakers filled with a ‘thickfreakness‘ dense version of  ”So it goes”, it seemed that even the most modest of attendees took to stompin‘ without a moments thought. That included Norton and Spoto’s family, who can only beam with pride at the turnout and support for the young band’s talent. More below the jump: Read the rest of this entry »

Mohawk Bomb Records, the award-winning, Clearwater-based independent record label, announces its release schedule for spring 2009.

Soulfound “Live at Zen Recording”: features 5 songs performed live at Zen Recording from their “Is a Rock Band” album, released in September 2008. There are 5 video companions to the songs available on Soulfound’s YouTube channel. The EP will be  available as a digital release on February 17, 2009.

No Lip Vol. 2 Compilation: This 14-song eclectic mixed bag of Rock music anthems is the second release in Mohawk Bomb’s No Lip series. Although leaning towards Punk and Pop Rock, No Lip pulls samples from the Florida, California, Texas, Ontario (Canada), UK and Australian music scenes as a survey course of the caliber of independent music. Profiles on each of the contributing bands will be posted on the label’s Website at www.mohawkbomb.com over the next month. The compilation will be available for sale online after February 24, 2009. Physical CDs will be passed out as free giveaways and sent to music press around the USA.

Mohawk Bomb Records is a new kind of record label, focused on sharing all music with the World using social networking and Web 2.0 technologies.

Once your band gets some songs written and well-rehearsed, it is recommended that you focus on creating a demo. A demo serves as both your product and your business card, so having a the highest quality demo possible makes sense.  Fans form their opinions quickly after they hear the first note of your first song, so why not make it bad ass?

Song List and Pre-production
The first step is to decide what the final product will be. A 3 song EP? A double album? Whatever it is make sure you determine the song list before spending money. This helps keep the project on-budget and gives you a scope. After determining the songs, rehearse and pre-produce the crap out of them. This will save you time in the studio. For my old post on pre-production, click here.

Setting a Budget
You know what you want to record, now you need to get the cash to pay for it. Setting a recording budget can be a chore and may scare you a bit, but it takes money to make money. There are three parts to a solid recording budget:

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Recording can be very expensive for inexperienced musicians on tight budgets. Unless you have spent dozens of hours in a recording studio, it can be tough to envision how long things can take and how different recording to regular-old practicing in the garage. After spending 8-12 hours in a dimly-lit recording studio, you can easily lose perspective and damage your songs in the process.

One thing bands can do on their own time is work out their songs during “pre-production” before going into the studio. Pre-production entails recording rough demos of the songs you will be recording to make sure all the parts are where they are supposed to be. Doing this will in turn yield shorter recording sessions and will keep more money in your pocket for either more studio time or for promotions.

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