While most of you will be setting off sparklers and sipping beer around a BBQ on the 4th, San Francisco-based artist Jennifer Locke will be presenting her latest solo-performance at the Portland art-gallery RocksBox. Locke’s work often focuses on the power structures specifically dealing with the human body and its relation to modern technology. This will definitely be a intriguing evening for those looking to get away from the fireworks and find a little bit of art on the 4th. Show starts @ 9pm.
Check out her site and past works at her website HERE.
Celilo
Local Americana folk-rock act Celilo was featured on OPB’s In-House earlier this month where they performed tracks off their new LP Bending Mirrors. The new record channels such post-rock bands as Do Make Say Think and Tortoise and blends it with the psych-folk of Wilco. Check out their live in-studio performance on HERE on OPB.
Trunk PDX
Portland is a city full of young, creative people who maintain the innovative and captivating nature of the city that keeps people coming in droves to see what the Rose City is all about. A recent blog called “Trunk PDX” is one small recent contribution that has captured my attention. “Trunk PDX” goal is to “photograph people, their bags, and the contents within as a way of exploring how they acclimate to their ever moving, ever changing lives. Entering into these places of privacy help us better understand our friends, perfect strangers, and a trend that has emerged from necessity.”
The results so far have been fascinating and act as an interesting way to engage and profile the people of Portland. Highly suggested.
Summer means mainly one thing to music lovers: festivals! Lucky for us in the Northwest, the lineups have been released for two of the biggest yearly music festivals in the Portland area –Music Fest Northwest and PDX Pop Now! Both look to provide another great mix of local and national acts exhibiting a wide-range of different music.
Anyone that knows me, knows very well that I am a media whore. I take as much in as I can and often times, I really do drink the Kool Aid. I do my best to keep my ear to the ground and my finger on the pulse of media – particularly in the indie, DIY music industry. And to give you full disclosure, it’s because I’m a part of it – for good or for bad. I help artists get exposure, connect with their friends and fans, create compelling content, and put together strategies that help lead them toward some kind of tangible success.
As such, I’ve written a little synopsis of the state of traditional media, as it pertains to the music business. And I’ll go ahead and apologize to my some of friends and colleagues who work and make a living in traditional media, and I know many of them may disagree with my take on things and might even feel as though I’m firing one across their bow. Honestly, I mean no harm with what I’m about to write… My only objective is an attempt to vaguely describe the lay of the land for my fellow independent and DIY artists, whom I hope will find some value in this. So there your have it. Take it as you will.
Do you remember when MTV actually played music videos?
In the not-so-distant past, consumers discovered new music primarily in traditional media outlets. They would watch music videos on MTV and might come across a cool new video from a new, up-coming-band. Do you remember the first time you saw Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana? Or maybe you too almost peed your pants laughing the first time you say Praise You by Fatboy Slim?
Believe it or not, there actually used to be a day when MTV played music videos…and sometimes, bands would break out to national and world-wide success as a result of their exposure on MTV. And this wasn’t all that long ago either. In fact, some would even argue that by simply playing songs on some of their MTV shows, that bands got incredible exposure that couldn’t be attained anywhere else. In fact, you might remember, only a few years ago, The OC introduced a scrappy indie band from Seattle to a national audience – catapulting Death Cab for Cutie into the mainstream and to a level of success and fame that few others reach.
But what happened? Where did the music videos go? Who’s the last band to break out to national or world-wide demand, based on their exposure on MTV? When was the last time you discovered a new artists or band when you were watching MTV? What gives?
Do you remember when the cover of Rolling Stone was what it was all about?
Print media is experiencing a similar fate these days… Consumers used to subscribe to a long list of stand-by music magazines to keep tabs on what the hottest new acts are that most of your friends haven’t yet heard of. Growing up, I remember having subscriptions to Rolling Stone, Spin, Magnet, and a few others that I considered to be almost holy. In fact, truth be told, I still subscribe to a couple print music mags, including my personal fave, Under the Radar. But if you believe the statistics, few music enthusiasts still lean on the likes of Rolling Stone and Spin to learn about the best up-and-coming acts. In fact, some might even say that the only thing big music magazines are good for anymore is giving more attention to the already larger than life national acts, which many of us have already stopped caring about. Honestly, do you really want to read another article about Bono meeting the Pope? Do you really want to read about how The Killers upcoming tour has been postponed or about Bruce Springsteen reinventing himself for the fifteenth time?
Is there some value in traditional print media? Sure there is… I already told you that I still have a few subscriptions…and there are some articles and stories that I enjoy and appreciate reading. Honestly, I keep them in the magazine rack in my bathroom at home, so I have something to read while I’m in there. It’s really handy! But if asked to predict the future of the print music magazine, I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you that the industry mirrors that of print periodicals across the globe. They are shrinking, and little by little, most consumers are going to go online for their content and music news. The smart publishers are getting ahead of the curve and are rolling out innovative online strategies as I type this. The slow adopters to online publishing will soon be looking for new careers.
Newsflash: The iPod killed the radio star – not the video.
One could almost argue that radio actually built rock and roll as we know it today. This would be to say that without radio, we may not have ever heard of The Beatles or Elvis or, God help us, Britney Spears. In fact, practically the entire present day music industry has it’s roots firmly planted in radio. Radio, in very literal terms, transmitted music out to the masses, exposing consumers to a wide range of sounds, artists, and genres that may not have ever seen the inside of a record store, had fans not gone crazy when they first heard it coming across the air waves. From a certain perspective, anyone who has had success in the popular music industry owes a certain degree of appreciation to radio.
However, considering all of the good that radio brought to the music business, it most definitely had a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde personality which contributed to it’s ultimate demise. The industry had it’s dark side and was built on an economy where the rich got richer and more artists than not, were kept on the outside looking in. In similar numbers to that of a high school football player eventually going on to play in the NFL, the odds of making the big leagues of the music biz and actually getting into a game are nearly impossible for many artists.
Consumers used to discover new artists on the radio. In fact, some still do. Seattle’s KEXP is a fine example of one radio station that was ahead of the curve and may be most famous for being the most widely streamed internet radio station in the world. However, as consumer listening options continue to grow and include the likes of iPods, iPhones, CDs, Satellite Radio, DVD players in cars, Pandora and other popular streaming web radio players, not to mention other new technologies that are on the horizon… consumers simply aren’t listening to terrestrial radio like they used to. Statistics confirm that radio listenership is on the decline in many major markets. In fact, the only time I listen to the radio myself is when I’m in my car, which I drive about once a week, and occasionally in the morning while I’m waking-up…and being the news and current events junkie that I am – public radio is most commonly on the dial. Now I know that by me saying all of this – it is bound to get me in trouble with friends and colleagues I have in the radio business. (I hope only minimal) And don’t get me wrong…I LIKE RADIO! Really, I do! However, as sad as it may be, one simply cannot deny the facts that are staring us in the face. In fact, I have two friends, each employed at the two leading popular music stations (KINK FM, KNRK FM) in Portland, Oregon, whom have both been laid-off in the past few months. …Another clear indication of the downward spiral of traditional radio. Personally, I wish someone with some killer new idea or technology could come to the rescue and save it…but I’m not holding my breath.
While some may want to blame this on the economy or a change in “radio station technology,” one would be remiss to not recognize that the traditional, terrestrial radio industry is in an all out free fall with little hope in sight. Please, don’t kill the messenger here. I’m simply stating what I believe to be true and have witnessed and experienced myself. For any doubters out there, I would ask you to make a list of new artists that your favorite radio station has turned you on to lately. And in many cases, I would wager a big plate of nachos that you can make a bigger list of artists you’ve been turned onto by word of mouth or maybe by a new music blog or website that you check out occasionally.
If you are an artist considering spending some resources on a radio campaign, I recommend being as strategic as possible about it. I would only target markets that you plan to travel to and perform in and I would first try to develop relationships at a small, targeted number of stations. The tangible and financial payoff for a big radio campaign simply isn’t what it used to be. I suggest executing more of a laser beam strategy, compared to a flood lamp. But this is true with most things in the indie music world…
A new hope: Digital Media
Fortunately, the state of traditional media in the music world is by no means an implication of a sinking demand for music, music media, stories, and articles on new music, videos, podcasts or other content mediums.
Welcome to the World Wide Web (Web 2.0 specifically) and the iPhone generation. I’ll write about online media and how DIY, independent artists can leverage new technologies and the web in my next entry. Many of you can probably write it yourselves…
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For all you Shins fans, word on the street is that they’re looking to release a new album in 2010 on James Mercer’s new label, Aural Apothecary. Here’s The Shins performing a new song The Rifle’s Spiral in Oaktown. Note that only Mercer and his trusty axe man Dave Hernandez are the only familiar faces on stage. Mercer has apparently ditched his longtime drummer, Jesse Sandoval, and keyboard/bassist, Martin Crandall, for reasons that appear to be creative more than anything.
Mercer’s new bands mates include Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse) on drums, Ron Lewis (Grand Archives) on keys, and Eric Johnson (Fruit Bats) on bass. Not a bad little super group, huh? For more info on James Mercer’s shaking up of things and kicking his longtime band mates to the curb, you can read more at Local Cut.
Team Marmoset: Joe Solis
Key Words: 2010,Aural Apothecary,Joe Solis,Live Mercer,New Album,New Label,Oaktown,Performance,Team Marmoset,Performance,The Rifle’s Spirla, The Shins,Live, modest mouse, grand archives, fruit bats, local cut
Portland, Oregon duo, Viva Voce will be releasing a new album, “Rose City” on May 26th off Barsuk Records. After two years of constant touring, Kevin and Anita Robinson have spent the last year building a home studio, while playing local gigs around town. After finishing the studio, the two spent a furious month recording – resulting in their brand new album, titled for their hometown.
Originally hailing from Alabama, Kevin and Anita have since become something a staple in the Portland music scene after relocating. Kevin has produced such local acts as Tu Fawning and Thao with the Get Down Stay Down. Not to mention – on the most recent Shins record, “Wincing the Night Away,” Anita contritubed her beautiful voice on some of the harmonies.
In addition to an new album release, Viva Voce recently hosted a release party May 19 at Mississippi Records featuring the world premiere of their new music video for the song “Octavio” directed by one of our favorite Portland music leaders, Alicia J. Rose.
Here is the track “Devotion” from the new album, Rose City:
Here’s a flashback video from one of the biggest pioneers of the Hip Hop world to infuse Rock and Rap. If you’re like me, you know there’s a lot of crap out there. Many try – yet only few succeed. Here’s Rock Box by on of the truly great Hip Hop acts of all-time, Run- D.M.C!
Despite the fact that Portland’s very own The Thermals has gone through more drummers than I can count on my hands, they haven’t let it stop them from churning out some of the catchiest punk-ish pop music around for the last couple of years. However, the best thing about The Thermals may be that the energy they bring to their live show. Last week, the Thermals stopped by KEXP in Seattle to record a couple songs live from their latest album Now We Can See. Here is the video of the track “We Were Sick”:
First Thursday Today!
Also, if you are a Portlander then you are well aware that First Thursday is today. If you are planning on heading downtown for the evening then I highly suggest heading over to the Elizabeth Leach Gallery to check out an installation of new work from Vietnamese-born artist Dinh Q. Lê. His latest installation seeks to “address a system of signs that have developed in Vietnam which signal the availability of certain goods and services.” Lê’s work captures the physicality of this system by taking everyday artifacts from modern Vietnamese culture and combining them with objects that can readily be identified with the political or economic. This pairing of seemingly contrasting artifacts is a fascinating and engaging exploration into Le’s own culture that demands your attention.
St. Vincent!
Finally, if you haven’t heard the new St. Vincent “Actor” then you’re missing out on the latest contender for album of the year. Here are some tracks:
Sure, it’s Mothers Day. But it really doesn’t matter what holiday it is when we’re talking about a lineup like this: Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, Stephen Malkmus, Storm Large,The Minus 5 featuring Peter Buck of R.E.M. and Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, , The Dimes, and more!
Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah will actually be performing solo for the first time ever on the West Coast, the beginnings of what will be the promo efforts behind his upcoming solo debut release. Here is one of his brand new, yet to be released songs titled, “15 Oceans with Harp”:
Caught in the middle of a slumping economy, city bureaucracy, and what appears to be a nasty game of politics seeded deep within Portland Public Schools, Portland’s Leadership and Entrepreneurial Public Charter High School (www.lephigh.org) has been targeted for closure at the end of the school year. Working hard and fighting back with every available resource, communities across Portland are taking a stand to raise the necessary funds to keep the school operating for at least another year. In addition to the benefit concert, Rock ‘N Roll memorabilia, including autographed items from Elvis Costello, G Love, and an acoustic guitar signed by The Decemberists will be raffled off to help raise money.
The Portland Public School Board voted on March 30th to close the LEP School at the end of the current school year, deeming it an economic failure. While Portland Public Schools (PPS) claim the charter school has a $143,000 deficit, LEP School administrators argue that those numbers are outdated and claim the actual deficit is approximately $60,000 – which they plan to raise before the school year ends.
Portland Public Schools’ board of education voted 6-1 to deny LEP High’s future at their March 30th session – a meeting packed with a diverse cross section of Portland’s community, including students, teachers and parents. Most of those in attendance voiced that they’d been hoping for a different outcome for the school.
Steve Berlin of the legendary rock band, Los Lobos – also the father of a LEP student – explained, “I am honored to be part of a benefit for this wonderful, inspiring school. LEP High has made a huge difference in our lives and my daughters’ approach to learning. I am hopeful that the school will continue to provide similar opportunities for all Portland students and parents.“
LEP High is a small (250 students) enrollment school offering a rigorous curriculum, integrated academic support, and hands-on learning geared toward helping every student achieve excellence, regardless of economics, background or other challenges. More than 60 percent of the students attending LEP School qualify as coming from low income families.
Faced with an imminent crisis, the community continues to rally around the LEP School and many groups appear determined to raise the necessary funding to change the school district’s mind. May 10th’s LEP Rocks! event is expected to be a community celebration and yet another reminder of the impactful role the school plays in the City of Portland.
Tickets are available at www.mississippistudios.com for $25 in advance; $30 day of show and there are a limited number of VIP seats for $75 which include private seating, an event poster, wine and hors d’oeuvres.
MORE INFO: For more information, media inquiries, interviews, hi-res images and more, please contact Ryan Wines of Pet Marmoset PR at 541-981-0003 or ryan@petmarmoset.net.
On Saturday nights at around 9 o’clock, chances are you are already buying the first round of drinks at the bar. However, if you decide to stay home, or don’t start your night until later, I suggest turning on OPB to check out the show In House hosted by Jeremy Petersen between 9 and 11pm on Saturday nights. Last weekend’s sets included everyone from Leonard Cohen and Peter, Bjorn and John to local acts Mimicking Birds and YACHT.
Petersen plays a diverse mix of highly enjoyable music by local artists, big-name indie rockers and live performances. With each show, In-House continually proves to be a great source for discovering up and coming bands and new music. When not on the air, Petersen also blogs about music over at OPBmusic.org. If your Saturday nightlife is just too busy to listen, In-House is back on the radio on Sunday nights at the same time as well.
My best bud, Mario Schulzke of ScrappyMarketing.com, just forwarded me an article he came across – that I hope most artists will find helpful…
Jason Feinberg of On Target Media Group, just posted an essay for PBS.org that highlights seven big SEO mistakes that bands should avoid. Here is the article, courtesy of PBS.org:
There is an entire school of thought, as well as a sizable industry, dedicated to the optimization of websites to show up higher in Google search rankings. Search engine optimization (SEO) techniques vary from simple content changes to tricks that game Google’s system, referred to as “black hat” SEO. Optimization can be a complex topic — read Mark Glaser’s article 9 Tips to Improve Search Engine Optimization to get a good feel for the process.
SEO rules tend to apply universally, but specialty sites require some additional thought. When assessing a music artist’s site in regards to optimization, one has to consider that artistic expression is often more important than search visibility. From this, many artists make decisions in the name of art (or just not knowing better) that have an adverse affect on their search engine rankings. Below are seven of the most common mistakes and how to remedy them.
1) Site Built Fully in Flash
Having a site made entirely of Flash is usually the best way to maintain massive artistic control. HTML, CSS, JavaScript, or any other combination of web technologies simply cannot rival the level of interactivity given by Flash. However, this flexibility comes at a major price — unless properly planned out in the design stages, Flash cannot be indexed by search engines. Therefore, a site built fully with it may significantly hinder SEO efforts.
Why is that? In a published Flash document, most applications of text become bit-mapped graphics and lose their status as individual characters. A search engine has nothing to index and process when scanning for relevant text. In addition, Flash documents tend to contain multiple states and therefore might not display all text at once; a search engine does not have the ability to interact and follow each path the way links allow in HTML.
The solution most SEO experts will tell you is to not base your site in Flash. However, if that is how it has to be to achieve your artistic vision, then there are a number of tips to get around these limitations. Most are advanced and require a solid understanding of multiple web technologies but can be implemented without too much extra effort.
Another common technique for building artist sites is to construct the entire site out of images. Like Flash, this allows a high level of artistic control, but does not provide indexable text that the search engines need to categorize a site.
Fortunately, the HTML code behind images allows for ALT text that serves two purposes — explaining to visitors what is on the site if images don’t load or if they are browsing on a device that doesn’t support them, and providing search engines a description of what the graphics are displaying. In addition, the file names of the images provide information to search engines. All titles should use relevant keywords, and individual words should be separated with dashes (e.g. My-Band-Name-Cover-300dpi.jpg) to clearly delimit the search terms.
RESOLUTION: Always ensure you are providing ALT text behind any image, especially if the site is built primarily or entirely of images. Be smart with file names.
3) Lack of Keywords in Content
Traditional SEO states that the cleanest way to optimize your site is to jam it full of content rich with relevant keywords. For example, if you have a real estate site, words such as “mortgage,” “refinance,” and “realtor” should appear over and over.
For artist sites, keywords are not always so clearly defined. There are obvious terms that are likely to be on most, such as “guitar,” “bass,” or “singer.” Beyond that, however, many artists do not like to define themselves with standard music phrases. Most artist bios and related pages contain a wide range of terms that aren’t necessarily going to be what fans are searching for.
RESOLUTION: Find as many places on the site that allow for the basic keywords you believe your fans will be searching for. If the majority of the site is artistic and full of creative, descriptive phrases, it may be worth adding a static page that is focused solely on band facts — member info, publicity quotes, simple description of the band’s sound, detailed discographies, and more.
To continue reading the rest of the article, please click HERE
Go see Michael Hurley and The Castanets play this Wednesday, April 29th at Holocene for only 7 bucks.
Michael Hurley
Chances are you have never heard of Michael Hurley. However, amongst avid-fans of American folk music, Mr. Hurley is practically a legend. Starting his career in Greenwich Village in the early 60’s like so many other folk artists (Bob Dylan, anyone?) Hurley immediately gained popularity. However, after releasing his first album on the infamous folk label Folkways, Hurley has been somewhat of an eccentric rolling stone who has released records sporadically and inconsistent touring. Nevertheless, Hurley’s influence has been far-reaching and at the age of 67, he is still playing and recording music. Currently, Hurley resides in Astoria, Oregon and is signed to San Francisco based, Gnomonsong Recordings. Seeing him live will surely be a fun experience for fans of the folk.
Here’s a few songs in Hurley’s catalog to get you acquainted:
The Castanets
The show also features the always captivating Ray Raposa aka The Castanets. In many ways, Raposa could be considered a contemporary version of Hurley. However, Raposa’s music deconstructs American folk composition in an attempt more fully extract the tonal emotionality rooted deep within the music. The results effectively walk a thin-line between the highly experimental and familiar conventionality. This makes for Raposa’s live shows to always result in the unexpected. Previous Portland shows featuring The Castanets have all been highly different from one another and yet equally intriguing.
Here is “You Are the Blood” from the album “Cathedral” released on Asthmatic Kitty.
Fans of Picaresque beware: The Decemberists are in full Tain mode for their latest release, “Hazards of Love”, their second on Capitol. It’s a classic Colin Meloy star-crossed lovers tale centered around a young man named William (whose forest queen mother is one of the principle antagonists) and a woman named Margaret, who is plagued by a shape-shifting beast.
Detractors will say that the story is convoluted and hard to follow (Meloy ‘acts’ in three separate roles throughout the story), and that may be true. But what really impressed me about this album is that each character has his or her own musical identity. That is to say, William’s melodies are unique to William, and the Rake’s melodies are unique to the Rake. Even though both characters were voiced by Meloy, I could immediately tell who was speaking without the benefit of the liner notes.
The album really kicks into high gear on the eighth track, entitled “The Wanting Comes in Waves/Repaid”. In the context of the story, it’s basically William asking if he can go be with Margaret for the night, followed by a big “NO” from the forest queen mother. Musically, it starts off as a pretty familiar sounding Decemberists song (very reminiscent of The Island), but then it makes a sharp left turn with a blistery blues riff by lead guitarist Chris Funk. My Brightest Diamond’s Shara Worden provides the voice of the Queen, and she absolutely nails it. My past experiences hearing her sing have all been as a backup vocalist for Sufjan Stevens, and I had no idea what she could really do with her voice.
The final track, “Hazards of Love 4 (The Drowned)” is a hauntingly beautiful end to the album. I would say it’s the strongest track on the entire record, but context really makes some of the tracks stand out more than they normally would (I won’t spoil it, but just wait until you get to Hazards of Love 3).
This is definitely a challenging record, and those looking for an easy listen akin to Picaresque or Her Majesty will sorely disappointed. Sonically, this album is brilliant. It represents tremendous growth for an already extremely talented group of musicians. That being said, I think they’ve taken the long-form album as far as it should go. Now that it’s out of their system, I’m eager to hear where they will go next.
You can listen to the first single from Hazards of Love here:
As often as we can, we try to drop some insights and knowledge that we hope DIY, independent artists may find helpful. Here's some topics we've covered so far:
From Seattle to San Francisco, there's plenty of dynamite places for musicians to play. Based on our experience, here's a select list of Pet Marmoset-approved venues.
They're listed in random order and in basic sizes: S, M, L, and XL. Small is appropriate for solo and small acoustic acts, XL is usually where national acts play. M is 250-400 capacity.
A variety of new music and some Northwest-born ditties that Team Marmoset has on repeat. More than four hours of steaming music that you can listen to anywhere you've got a decent internet connection. Try it.
Here's some fresh cuts from some of the NW's finest and beyond - Free MP3 downloads. If you like what you hear, support the artists by buying the record and going to their shows.
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