Shangri-la

 Wanderlust   

I can’t remember the last time I wrote a personal vacation type post....ironically, I’m not actually on vacation, I’ve been in Honolulu for work all week. I had one day to do whatever I want and I chose to head out on tour to Shangri-la, Doris Duke’s estate. The tours are done through the Honolulu Academy of Arts, one of my favorite art museums in the country. The tour was awesome - only 24 people touring the estate with you and you are split into two groups, so it’s intimate. You can only take photos in the outside areas so here are a few of my faves.

Diamondhead - this is the on the opposite site of Honolulu. Not the iconic view you are used to, but gorgeous nonetheless.

I thought that it was odd that she had these very Greek columns on the patio, but it was so beautiful, so whatevs.

This was the guest house, but apparently it was called the “Playhouse”.

The Mughal Gardens from the entrance (door included).

So for the history/art nerd in me, I was in heaven, It was a really nice way to spend a couple of hours in paradise.

New Tune Alert: Jenny and Johnny

 Rawk Tunes   

I’m pretty excited about Jenny Lewis’ new project with her main squeeze, Johnathan Rice. The latest song from the album I’m Having Fun Now (out on 8/31) is called “Switchblade” and you can listen here. I originally embedded but there isn’t an option to stop auto play so I had to nix that. And yes you can also listen to “Scissor Runner” and “Big Wave”. Or you can dl below:

NPMT 2010: Day 2: Technology for the Greater Good

 Rawk Radio    Rawking   

Disclaimer: I’m going to do a few summaries of the panels I attended. I did tape these sessions so when I am quoting, I am doing so from my recordings. Otherwise, these summaries are my opinions on how these sessions shook out. Take that however you want.

Session description:
For decades artists have utilized the power of music to effect social change and transform thought into action.  With the myriad of online tools and social networks available today, musicians are able to spread their influence and awareness through the Web in real time.  This panel will look at the best new media tools and approaches to take in introducing an artist’s cause or message.

Moderator: Chris Cantore - Sounddiego/KPRI

Panelists:
Scott Riggs - Slacker
Nic Adler - The Roxy
Ben Patterson - Dashgo.com

While this panel was a bit thin as far as who was on it, the information from this panel was great. For most of the session, it was just Cantore, Riggs and Adler - Patterson joined late as he got stuck in the infamous L.A. to S.D. traffic. Having Cantore as the moderator was great since I think he’s really someone in S.D. that has embraced new media.  Because even with his knowledge of new media, he still had questions of the panel that really facillated information to the attendees. Cantore first asked Riggs about hellomusic - which is a service that artists submit their music to so that is can be licensed properly for play over the internet. Artists should also register for Soundexchange - this is who collects the funds that internet broadcasters send for playing an artist’s music.

Adler’s perspective really gave a good overview on how social media really created a community on the Sunset Strip by allowing “conversations to happen”. So you have a community comprised of bands, fans, venues who all feel like they are part of this thing that is happening which gets everyone really engaged. They have a crazy amount of fan interaction on FB - like 89% comment on their posts at one point or another!

Cantore brought up how new media like blogs really can break a band these days. We all know P-fork and Stereogum and the like can really bring an awareness to bands that they didn’t have before with traditional media. So between blogs and social media, there is a whole new way of discovery and interaction.

Patterson joined us and gave an overview on what dashgo is - an artist management platform to manage all aspects of the business of your music. What Patterson emphasized from the get go was that bands can give info via twitter/facebook but they also have to get a little personal and show some personality.

Cantore then brought the conversation to the mobile platform. Riggs talked about how smartphones are the avenue for bringing music to the masses. And that includes your car. I have my own experience with that in the rare cases that I don’t get satellite radio in my rental car - some cars will let you sync up via bluetooth and then you can play whatever music is on your phone via the car speakers. Fancy, right?

And then in direct contrast to the previous session (the radio one), Riggs talked about how getting your song on terrestrial radio isn’t necessarily a gimme for success. “These days it’s all about distribution - it’s about figuring out how you can get your music heard, whether it’s internet radio, myspace, or any type of platform.” As far as the live venue perspective, Adler said that they understand the way social media is used so they can really use that to their advantage when booking bands and promoting their venue. He brought up how mobile phones tell their story - they even have wi-fi in their venue so you can take video and upload while you’re there. That is fantastic - it’s so immediate and really brings people into the conversation when they are getting a visual. 

In the closing round of comments before Cantore let the audience loose at the panel, Patterson made the point that as an artist you have to have a plan - it’s not a good idea to release a song on i-tunes 24 hrs after it’s recorded because you don’t have the support in place for that song. (Makes sense...) He said “people aren’t looking for music, they are waiting for it to find them”. (Again, true for those people who haven’t already been described previously as “the freaks”.)

We got some great questions from the audience - the first one was a zinger - is myspace dead? Adler says it’s not as far as listening to a band’s music, but that shouldn’t be your only web presence. Riggs agreed - “it’s still relevant though it doesn’t have the sexiness of twitter or facebook and maybe the activity but it’s still a great place to post your music.”

Next good one - what’s the best strategy for emerging bands? Riggs started by saying that a band should get out and play as much as you can. Then have a good recording - it can just be a couple of songs. Have a web presence and build social media. Adler said to gather content - building content resonates in their offices. Patterson said to get a domain name, register your band’s twitter name and facebook. And connect to other bands - you need that support structure.

And the age old question - how do you make money off your music? Riggs summed it up nicely - “I would say that the voice of reality if you are an up and coming musician is don’t plan on making a lot of money.”

That seems like a good way to end this post....I may get inspired to write a more general summary of all sessions later. Or not.....

NPMT 2010: Day 2: All Things Radio

 Rawk Radio   

Disclaimer: I’m going to do a few summaries of the panels I attended. I did tape these sessions so when I am quoting, I am doing so from my recordings. Otherwise, these summaries are my opinions on how these sessions shook out. Take that however you want.

Session description:
As radio continues to twist, turn and change before our ears, it’s becoming difficult to make sense of the numerous formats and technologies delivering music.  This panel of radio professionals from a diversity of backgrounds will help clear up the confusion and provide useful insight into each radio platform and how they can best serve local musicians.

Moderator: Mike Halloran

Panelists:
Mat Bates - Slacker Radio
Garrett Capone - XTRA
Gary Gorman - Atlantic Records
Lisa Worden - KROQ
Christine Chiappetta - Island Def Jam
Tazy Phillips - KROG The Rogue / skaparade.com
Kevin Stapleford - X1 FM

Quite a panel there. I can’t imagine what people who don’t know the back story of the panelists were imaging as this session unfolded. Everyone on the panel has had a lot of experience with terrestrial radio and the conversation definitely steered that way. I think what the average person sitting in that session wanted to hear the answer to this question - “How do I get my music on the radio?” And certainly there was a discussion about that. But first things first. The question that Halloran posed to the panel to start was “Is terrestrial radio dead?” Kevin Stapleford made a fine point that “radio is really about content. Internet radio is exciting because it’s a different way of delivering the content. Terrestrial radio won’t go away but it has to keep up with the technology”. It was interesting to hear the perspective of the label reps (Chiappetta and Gorman) whose jobs are to push their artists to play songs on the radio. There were a lot of stories about bands they worked with who ended up big after being played on the radio. But in this day in age, that does not translate into record sales or “success” per se. Then there was a whole convo about songs that should have been “hits”. (Slightly Stoopid - 2am - really?) But the session got interesting to me when Mat Bates started talking about Slacker. Did you know they have 15 million listeners? Talk about reach. Bates did a great job explaining how Slacker works and how they program their stations in addition to the tools they have to glean info from each person’s listening habits. Kevin Stapleford also had a good perspective on non-terrestrial radio - he called us “a bunch of freaks” because that group are not your “normal” listeners. Very true. The best part of that conversation was using “boner meters” when describing a person’s reaction to new music played on the radio. Thank Hal for that one.

When Halloran opened the forum up for questions, the conversation got a bit lively. I honestly can’t remember too many of the details since I had a bit of a technology failure and ran out of space on my recorder. There was definitely a difference of opinion on the advice that was being given to the session attendees on how to get their stuff on the radio. Mostly it was stuff about writing a good song but that’s not particularly practical. I don’t think anything that was said by the terrestrial radio people was really encouraging to someone who is starting out and trying to “make it”. For me, it just reinforced how out of touch radio programmers can be about what they play on the radio. As you can probably guess, I have lots of opinions about that, but this isn’t really the forum for that discussion.

NPMT 2010: Day 2: Creating a Music Town

 Rawking   

Disclaimer: I’m going to do a few summaries of the panels I attended. I did tape these sessions so when I am quoting, I am doing so from my recordings. Otherwise, these summaries are my opinions on how these sessions shook out. Take that however you want.

Session description:
We’d all like to see our respective music communities grow and thrive, and this panel will feature discussions on just that. From increasing audience size and working with other artists to grassroots efforts and corporate tie-ins, discover methods that have worked to strengthen music scenes in the past as well as new techniques for the future.

Panelists:
Mitchell Frank - Spaceland
Tim Mays - Casbah
Josh Feingold - SESAC
Vicki Hamilton - Band Manager/Talent Booking
Scott Pactor - Mr. Cat Dirt himself

This session was moderated well by Josh Feingold who was able to really channel the conversation to how “music towns” are built. (Staying on topic is not as easy as you think.) One of the main themes that will occur at these types of sessions is the SD vs. LA thing. Mitchell Frank was really interesting to me as he was one of the people that really built up the Silverlake scene, where so many good indie bands are coming from. He said that “good bands migrate to the top”. So true. But it seems like in SD, good bands migrate to L.A. and then to the top. One of my favorite questions was that someone asked if the panel thought if SD created something like 6th Street in Austin in the Gaslamp, would SD become a good music town? The answer all around was a vehement “No”, I mean, really, in the Douchelamp? Not gonna happen. I actually posed a question to Scott Pactor because I wanted the room to hear him talk about his experience trying to create this elusive “music town”. I’m sure his way of answering my question was lost on some people, but the best snippet of his answer was that “it” is happening but in a different form. Using screamo band Pierce the Veil as an example, he said that there are bands that understand the present conditions they have been able create their own music town and succeed where others fail. Ultimately, the point seemed to be that if your town isn’t a music town, then you have to create your own. Whether that is a physical scene like the one in Silverlake/Echo Park or even the Sunset Strip in the 80’s or if it is a great online community with a gazillion followers on twitter and fans on Facebook, it doesn’t matter. Scott pointed out that all the bands who recently have had some success all knew each other in SD, played with each other and what not. Despite the lack of support of their town, these bands built a music town based on each other. And that worked for them. 

The takeaway from this? You’re pretty much living in a super apathetic and fickle town when it comes to people coming out to see live music. So figure out how you can connect to your audience and create the scene for yourself.

NPMT 2010: Day 1: Keynote Session

 Rawking   

So Day One of the Nprth Park Music Thing. I had planned on going to earlier sessions, but I only made it for a bit of the Social Media session (a big yawn) and the keynote speaker, Mr. Kim Fowley. A little surprised how that session went - after he introduced himself and his entourage, he basically had people come up to the mic, sing their best song and then critiqued them. Now that could have been a train wreck, but we are lucky that we do have some talented people in this town. What really struck me is that no one seemed to know each other even though it seemed like there were a few people doing the same type of thing. I guess I’ll get into that more when I do the rundown of today’s sessions, but it speaks about the SD scene as a whole. When Mr. Fowley wasn’t holding auditions, he did come up with some zingers. One of the things he said that I whole heartedly disagreed with was that he said you don’t have to move to L.A. or N.Y. to make money on your music? Hmmm. The last few bands who have had any degree of success that started in SD (Crocoldiles, Wavves, Soft Pack, Dum Dum Girls) never drew a big crowd here - it was only after they left for L.A. that they achieved the amount of success they now have. Anyway, regardless of some of the things he said that I disagreed with, he’s obviously a successful person in the business, so what do I know? In any case, it made for an informative and entertaining keynote session.

My Morning Jacket at SDSU Open Air Theatre

 Rawk Shows   

I don’t even know where to start with this. The short of it - opening night of the MMJ tour. A super talkative Jim James. Over 2 hours of epic-ness. The set list to prove it:

My Morning Jacket
SDSU Open Air Theatre
San Diego, CA
8/11/10

Encore:
Wordless Chorus
Circuital
Steam Engine
One Big Holiday

A lovely night at the OAT - over 2 hours of worship at the temple of Jim James. He was full of praise for San Diego and very appreciative of the crowd. As you can see by the set list, they played quite a bit of songs that spanned a good part of their catalog. I rather like the material from the Z album, so I was a very happy camper early on with “Off the Record” and “Lay Low” and of course, the first song of the encore “Wordless Chorus”. “Gideon”, “Dondante” and “Mahgeetah” are staples of their live show and really fired up the crowd. And I was kinda surprised that they didn’t play more from Evil Urges but am not complaining. TMIGTS (both parts) are really fun live and “I’m Amazed” and “Smokin from Shootin” were my faves from the last tour.  The only bummer of the night (and I only know this because Rosey tweeted it) is that they had 2 more songs on the set list that they didn’t play because of the 11pm curfew. But if you must cut your set short, you might as well do it with “One Big Holiday”. Seriously, just awesome.

Bonus: Russ shot video of “O is the One that is Real” with his new iphone. Watch it here.