MY FIRST TIME: youbloom | HEADROOM #4: with Featured Artists from the Los Angeles 2015 Music Festival

06-Nov-2015 By Shannon Duvall Leave a Comment

It’s all about your first time.

No, not that time, jeez, what kind of freak show do you think we’re running here?

Over the past year our humble blog has been privy to what can only be truly described as the most fascinating backstories when it comes to what makes you independent artists we’re so proud to showcase do what you, well, do. We all know something had to kick start your little rock’n’roll hearts – usually at a very young age – and the stories we’ve been hearing run the gamut from a wonky household appliance providing a chore-time rhythm to the first time you ever saw a live show (because, obviously, some of you have exceptionally cool parents).

The best part about first times? You remember every detail.

Shira Yevin (one woman hurricane, Shiragirl): “My first ever concert when I was a little girl was Debbie Gibson. She came up from the ground on a grand piano singing and dancing to Electric Youth, and the whole arena stood up and went wild. Right then I thought, THAT! I want to do THAT! I wanted to have that power to affect people and bring them happiness and excitement.”

Not one to mess with, Shiragirl’s been doing her own electropunk thing and making no apologies whatsoever about it for over a decade. Striking out on her own from an all-girl band to make music at once gritty and groovy, she’s all of the party and none of the prissy. Bring your best dance partner and get ready to rock. For fans of: Candy Hearts, a less trite Ke$ha, Natalia Kills

Brian Kirk (drums, Round 12): “Everyone in my family plays an instrument and/or sings. I have been around music since I was born.”

A truly eclectic band if ever there was one. Vocals are raw and obstinate. Instrumental phrases seem cobbled together by a deranged Gepetto who was listening to Motorhead at the time. You can bang your head one minute, sway drunkenly the next. It’s capable, engaging, and likeable, as if it can’t be restrained by just one choice. For fans of: Frank Zappa, Stiff Little Fingers, Van Der Graaf Generator (we know)

Aristor Oberson aka. Ded Kra-Z (MC, Ded Kra-Z & Princess Eud): “17 years ago a friend of mine invited me to be part of a band in my neighborhood, Fontamara, in Carrefour (a small town south of Port-au-Prince). That is how I got into music.”

Edouarin Enide aka Princess Eud (MC, Ded Kra-Z & Princess Eud): “It was in my neighborhood, Jalouzi, in Petion-Ville that I started in a group. Since then my musical career has launched.”

While the music scene in Haiti is primarily dominated by mellow steel drum rhythms and the shameless use of autotune, Ded Kra-Z & Princess Eud are busy making funky beats and writing edgy, socio-political lyrics with the sting of some of hip hop’s finest. Musically nodding to their roots and cultural influences, while refusing to bow to stereotype, they represent a new wave of awareness from the small island. For fans of: William Onyeabor, M.I.A, Afrika Bambaataa

Kivi (vocals, cowbell, donut pusher, Kittenhead): “I am told by my grandparents and parents that I sang before I spoke, and that when others sang off-key I would cover my ears and sing the right notes, so, yeah, I am that person. Everyone in Kittenhead had music in their lives from an early age. I know that DD’s (strings, lightsaber, backing vox) mom loved Elvis and VJJ’s (strings, sourpatch kids, random TLC references, occasional rapping/backing vox) mom made them clean the house to Janet Jackson. Owen (percussion, long walks on the beach, beer drinker) was sneaking into punk shows underaged at, like, 13.”

Combining growling vocals and that unmistakeable horror/surf rock hybrid which distinguishes some of the most fun bands in punk, Kittenhead are in no way confused about who they are. Their shows have been described as high energy and exciting. You won’t see another band like them at youbloomLA, so don’t miss it! For fans of: The Runaways, The Misfits, The Independents

Julian Shah-Tayler aka “The Singularity”: “My grandmother and my mother were both huge music fans – my grandma a music teacher, and my mother an opera singer. They used to sing to me all the time. I remember the radio being on in the house and really hearing “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush when I was about four. It affected me massively. When I heard it again later in life for the second time, this wave of nostalgia pulled me back to our little apartment on the top of a high-rise block of flats in South Wales; I nearly broke down and cried.”

The perfectionist talents of The Singularity allow listeners a voluptuous electro experience that almost quite literally gets right under the skin. With influences as lusty and powerful as the above mentioned, it’s no wonder, and with the vision to see it through to the creation of a wholly new beast, there’s nothing else quite like it. It’s smart, relentless, and endlessly catchy. And you need to see it for yourself. For fans of: deep space, David Bowie, nights as a teenager, molly

youbloom | HEADROOM #2: Featured Artists from the Los Angeles 2015 Music Festival

28-Oct-2015 By Shannon Duvall Leave a Comment

There’s nothing quite as devilish as a little dish, is there?

You know it’s true, otherwise, you wouldn’t be here at HEADROOM, the official source of all dirt dug on the artists who’ll be tearing up the stages of this December’s youbloom LA 2015 Music Festival . We’ve got over 50 bands lined up already for this winter’s hottest fest, and with that much rock ‘n’ roll in one place, there’s bound to be something juicy to unearth.

In my other job, as youbloom‘s very own private eye, I’ve learned a thing or two about a thing or two, and before I burst at the seams, I invite you to sit down, take a load off, and bask in a little of the gossy stuff – all horse’s mouth, scout’s honor.

You know how first bands can make or break you, musically speaking? Somehow, these all led to make.

Kevin Proctor (songwriter/keys/guitar, Direct Divide): My first band was a group of fellow football players and bored teenagers who played Ted Nugent, Metallica and Slayer covers. We were called War Dance and definitely should have had one of those logos that just looks like a leafless tree. SO METAL! My second band sounded a lot like Hootie and the Blowfish.

Razz: (songwriter/vox/violin): My first band was an all-girl pop punk quartet called the BlowUpDollz. Think 90’s pop punk meets 80’s hair metal and you’ve got the gist. I LOVED that band; we were underage, unapologetic troublemakers sneaking into dive bars to play gigs. We are all still very good friends even though the band isn’t together anymore. We just had a reunion show this year that was hilarious. I definitely learned a lot about stage presence and antics from that group.

It’s a curious thing, the electric violin. At once impossible to ignore and signature (what would The Who’s “Baba O’Reilly” be without it?), it’s a rarity in rock and pop music; its full range of sounds as yet uncharted in the more well-known genres. Putting it front and center are what Direct Divide do, which is both brave and intriguing, their unique sound complemented by tight rhythms, searing vocals, and intelligently placed guitar melodies. For fans of: Lourds, Grace Potter & the Nocturnals, Andrew Bird’s darker stuff

BJ Smith: When I was 17, I met up with another male vocalist and two female vocalists through a friend of my parents who managed bands. We used to toy around singing songs a capella, and quickly formed a vocal group called Black Suede. Our manager said we needed a band and knew of one looking for a vocalist. We went to Santa Ana, California to meet up with this band (they called themselves Oasis, but not the Oasis you’re thinking of). We walked into the rehearsal – they sounded great! They were funky!! They had a conga player, a dude with timbales, synths, a sax player, and a drummer with electronic triggers. They were groovin’ all the funk and R&B jams you heard on black radio stations. I was in awe, like, damn this is the S#+t! Then out of nowhere, their manager and bass player started arguing. They knuckled up and started straight out brawling! We stood there in amazement; we’d rehearsed on our way there, but still had not sung a note! When the fight was over, the bass player grabbed his gear and left, and so did half the band. It was all over before it even started. A few weeks later we came back, they had a few new members and we did our first gig together in LA. We didn’t have a sound man, our mics were feeding back…we thought we sounded great until we were done, and the DJ started spinning the songs we’d just played as a way to mock us! That was last gig Oasis featuring Black Suede ever did; nevertheless, I got the bug, and the rest was history!

Cool, clever, and impassioned, the masterly BJ Smith has the kind of industry chops you hear whispered about across the bartop when he walks into the room. He produces. He sings and plays. He writes songs. He tours with top brass; picks his own band members; slides an R&B song your way like passing a love note. He’s impeccable. Don’t miss him. For fans of: Luther Vandross, Freddie Jackson, your own heartbeat

Brian Kirk (drums, Round 12): The first band I was in was with my two cousins who lived 35 and 120 miles away. We would practice once a month (if we were lucky). We were a “christian punk” band and we were booed off stage at our first performance.

Matthew Irwin (rhythm guitar/lead vox, Foreign Affairs NI): The first band I was in didn’t have a name. When I was 15 I was desperate to create my own music and play punk rock songs in any way I could! So I got into contact with a few friends on social media and we jammed and unsuccessfully played one show! We didn’t have a drummer so we borrowed another bands’ and he arrived late and too drunk to hold a beat! I was also a massive cringe – it was all very embarrassing. However, it did make me feel cool at the time so it wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

An ardent, sincere take on a well-loved genre. Sounds are clean and tight. There’s energy and storytelling in spades. Foreign Affairs NI show up with their hearts on their sleeves, ready to sleep on your kitchen floor if you’ll let them play a gig. This is how the best pop punk should be. For fans of: The Ataris, You Know The Drill, The Get Up Kids

youbloom | HEADROOM #1: Featured Artists from the Los Angeles 2015 Music Festival

22-Oct-2015 By Shannon Duvall 1 Comment

Welcome back to the HEADROOM! The only place on the web where music freaks such as yourselves can get acquainted with unsigned bands before they hit the stages of the youbloomLA 2015 Music Festival.

Here at HEADROOM, we take pride in our poking and prodding abilities. We’re bona. fide. gossip merchants, born at your great auntie Joan’s kitchen phone and raised by one too many Q&A pages in rock’n’roll magazines.

We like the dirt. The skinny. The real weird stuff.

And we make one heck of a great cup of tea.

It’s no secret that rock bands – and musicians of all genres, really – have no shortage of strange and positively indecent stories to tell. I mean, the people, the places, the…the… hairstyles!

It’s…scandalous altogether.

So pull up a chair, really, honey, it’s no trouble. And just wait til you hear this…

We asked artists to tell us about the first experiences they had with music (hey, we all have to start somewhere). Here’s what a few of them had to say:

“My first experience with playing music was in the after school band program at my elementary school in Tacoma, WA. I played the flute. I remember the magic feeling of learning my first song and playing it with the other band musicians. I’m sure we sounded terrible; all us seven year olds blowing away on our horns. But to me it sounded like the best noise in the world.” – Cooper, (bass & vox, The Ultra Violent Rays)

Mirror, mirror, on the wall: who’s the noirest of them all? The Ultra Violent Rays aren’t exactly violent, but they do craft a masterful, cold sultry sound that promises something hot-blooded despite being surrounded by a kind of endless chill. Lovingly produced, carefully communicated electro-class for the space rogue in all of us. For fans of: Joy Division, Gary Numan, Patti Smith

“My first experience was the result of a worn out bearing in our washing machine when I was a kid. Every time it went into the spin cycle it produced ethereal poly-rhythms I only recognized years later when I heard Fela Kuti and Ginger Baker. Eventually the damn thing just broke, but by that time I had discovered Slayer.” – Jim Priest, (singer/songwriter/storyteller)

Hypnotic acoustic guitar meets wrong side of the tracks storytelling, leading us down a dark alley of spoken-word intrigue; it’s tangible, like a newspaper headline – we wonder where it all went wrong. Jagged harmonicas tear in, reminding us that we’re only listeners, but we’re involved, affected all the same. Jim Priest is not to be missed. For fans of: Tom Waits, Loudoun Wainwright III, Sage Francis

“When I was younger, I had older cousins who listened to super heavy music, and it was crazy to me! Up to that point I’d only heard music that was on the radio. I probably didn’t exactly “get it” because I was too young, but I think even on a subconscious level I had a switch go off that there was a whole world of different music out there that wasn’t mainstream. That’s probably when music “discovery” started for me. I actually went in search of different music that excited me instead of just listening to whatever was available or on the radio and MTV.” – Eric Rickey (vox & songwriter, Rabid Young)

Dreamy and wistful yet energetic and soulful electro-indie made in Vegas, baby. Expect to be filled with a nostalgia for a time and place you were never part of. Impressive stuff when a band can do that. For fans of: Imagine Dragons (kind of), Grouplove, eighties guy/gal duos

“I was introduced to music when I was a freshman in high school. I moved into a lower income complex where I (made) friend from Little Rock, Arkansas, who was very passionate about poetry and music. I had a karaoke machine in my bedroom that we would put cassette tapes into and record ourselves singing. Eventually this grew into songwriting for us and we recorded a track called “The Anthem”. I continued to pursue music throughout high school until it became my main career goal.” – Anthony Greene (sick rhymes, Prada Gino)

Sincere prose is woven through thoughtfully chosen samples and surprisingly sultry and classy beats. Belongs on a list of the top intellectual rappers in the game. Hometown Chicago oughtta be proud. For fans of: Kid Cudi, Illogic, Eyedea & Abilities

“My first conscious experience with music was at three; my dad used to drive a lot to every place me and my little brother needed to be, and when we went to the playground or preschool he’d play some cassettes from Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Queen or The Beatles (I cared more for Transformers at the time). We were exposed to lots of music, and sometimes went “off the road”. At age 10, someone gave us a Spice Girls tape, and as soon as we pressed play, my dad turned off the radio and gave me my own first tape, Kiss, Alive 4. From then on it’s been nothing but rock and roll.” – Julián (lead vox & guitar, RendeR)

All the way from Chile, with commercial sensibility coming out of their eyeballs, RendeR are polished, tight, and they know their genre like nobody’s business. Headbangers welcome. *Heads up! It’s in Spanish. For fans of: Frequency 54, Underwhelmed, Staind

*Please note: at this time, individual showtimes and venues have not all been confirmed. We’ll update this blog as soon as they are!

Running riot: Dublin band The Riot Tapes fire things up with new single and video. World appropriately sweats.

18-Aug-2015 By Shannon Duvall Leave a Comment

“Goodbye my faith, goodbye my heart.”

Ah, Elaine Doyle, c’mere, would you ever stop being such a fantastic ride? Look at you there, running around the countryside, looking winsome and windswept, not a bother on you as you purr lyrics in perfect time and stare down the sunset like some badass bog Madonna.

Are your legs tired? Cause you’ve been running through my mind all day.

Well then, at least put a scarf on, dear, you’ll catch your death of cold out there. Yes, even in August; this is Ireland, after all.

–
Just two months on from their ravishing show at youbloomDublin 2015, Reekus Records’ Riot Tapes are are off and running – rather literally, actually – with their latest release, a single called “Hello, Insanity”.

Recorded at Westland Studios in Dublin’s south inner city, and initially intended as a work-in-progress recording, the since-polished song has been receiving critical praise from fans and industry swingers alike; Joe Donnelly of TXFM has called it “…a thunderbastard of a song.”

Well.

You can see where he’s coming from. As Irish mainstream music goes, this is top stuff. The production is so clean and well-considered, it’s as if the group are aliens – seductively frank aliens – dropped off here to totally steal the show. And this is what they do, with cannonball drums and electro-effect guitar thrum burning up the reel. Donnelly goes on to liken the track to “Heads Will Roll”, by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, quite the comparison, and by all accounts spot on, if the response from listeners of his popular radio show Cheer or Sneer are anything to go on. Riot Tapes, are, quite frankly, killing it right now.

So what does a sassy band of audio assassins do when they’re not busy slaying from the airwaves and the stages of Ireland’s best fests? Why, drive up the mountains and get up to all sorts of antics, of course:

“The shooting of the video (for “Hello, Insanity”) was unusual,” says vocalist Elaine.

“Myself and Chris (our guitarist) agreed on the concept which was basically me running up the Dublin mountains singing along to the song. So one cold sunny morning the two of us headed up to the mountains in Chris’s little Fiesta. We had a camera, a tripod, and some red rope. We put the camera onto the tripod, tied the tripod into the boot of the fiesta and began shooting. Chris drove as slowly as he could and I ran after the car whilst trying to sing. The whole point of the video was to do it in one take.”

“One minute in, we had a problem: my jeans were falling down quite rapidly when I ran. Chris cut off some of the red rope and made me a belt. You can kind of see it in the video if you look really close. We did four or five takes, and used the last one for the video. It didn’t take too long to do at all.”

Talented, tenacious, quite obviously full of creative energy; it must have been off to win over more listeners after the shoot, surely? Actually, uh, not quite:

“We spent longer looking for 50 euro that fell out of my pocket while I was running than we did shooting the video!” Doyle laughs. “We never found it.”

Check out all the pants (and panting!) -related mayhem right here in the video:

Riot Tapes play The Big Viking Picnic, a gig for charity, in Kells, Ireland August 29.

How to be a music superfan in 2015!

16-Jul-2015 By Shannon Duvall Leave a Comment

Hey there, you hot mess, it’s 2005, MySpace messaging you crunk peeps from the past with a totally hott message, so listen up.

If you’re a music lover in 2015 – and you’re here, reading this, so it’s safe to assume that you are, fo sheezy – then there are a few things you should know about your, ahem, current status.

First of all, you – yes you, the one reading this – are directly responsible for the absolute interplanetary, warp-drive, ‘let’s-tear-this-space-time-continuum-a-new-one’ success that most of the music superstars in your day are right this minute enjoying. In a freakish turn from expected events, the openness of the internet has not, as we here in 2005 were certain would happen, resulted in the dismantling of the Record Label as we know it, freeing the market and balancing the scales. Au contraire.

Dolla, dolla bills.

The bands and solo artists making the big bucks in the industry have only ended up making more money, getting more media attention, and becoming more popular, and thus immeasurably more valuable to the record companies representing them.

And. The same power you wield to bestow such wild, unbridled, never-before-witnessed prosperity upon those lucky few hundred entertainers has also resulted in the widening of the pay gap between them and, well, every other musician out there.

Seriously.

It’s a sizeable chasm of unprecedented size: MIDiA Research is one company that has been using analytics to track the progress of digital music, and a report released by them last year showed a staggering 77% of all the money in the industry gracing the bank accounts of the top one percent of global superstars.

In short, fancy future folk, you probably don’t realize how influential you are in this, the new music business battle royale.

“Well, I’ll be…”

It’s your choices: your likes and dislikes, your skips, saves and shares, that determine who makes it, and who flakes it. If you’re in any doubt about how true this is, take a look at viral victim/sensation Justin Bieber – discovered singing humble covers on youtube; promoted like there was no tomorrow – and you’ll see what I mean. What you are capable of.

Look at your eyes. You’re already drunk with power.

So how should you flaunt – I, ahem, mean, responsibly apply all this newfound sway?

Click (or swipe, or tap…) wisely. Intelligent analytics are scoping out every aspect of everything you do online, and there’s big money in being able to predict what people are going to want next. If you have a favorite unsigned band, follow them on social media, like their posts, and share their videos. Check in, tweet, Instagram and Snapchat from their gigs.

If they’re on Spotify, even better. Add favorite tracks to your shared playlists, that way other people can discover them on their own time, rather than caving in to your constant OMG ballyhoo.

“Premium or GTFO.”

Interaction is EVERYTHING. Websites like WeDemand allow you to act much like an old village council, telling venues and promoters what bands are wanted where. IndieGogo and other crowdfunding sites let you pitch in when it comes time for an artist to create something, like an album or a run of t-shirts. You can even help send them on tour. And there’s usually a sweet, VIP bonus for digging into your pockets and getting involved.

Other sites, such as Patreon, let you give them money – just because you like them.

One word: collabs. If you’re the creative type, why not get in touch with an artist you really like and offer to work together for mutual benefit? After all, they’re looking for fresh ideas and constant exposure as much as you are.

Are you an artist? Offer to design gig posters, t-shirts, or use your likeness in some rad graffiti somewhere strategically placed. If they like your work, they might end up asking you to design some album art, which would be dope AF.

Musician yourself? How about a remix or mashup? Heck, even a cleverly executed cover of one of their songs can be a great way to show support and appreciation for the work and inspiration of others in your genre or location. This can sometimes lead to working together – on a track, perhaps, or, if you have really good chemistry, an album, split seven- inch (yep, people still do this; vinyl is the top selling purchased music format after digital, and sales are up 54%!), or bill sharing at gigs and on tours.

Can you write? Offer to review songs or albums, then submit your work to blogs and websites that might publish your work as a guest blogger. Exposure for everybody!

Travel blogger? Seek out new bands in places you travel to and blog your heart out to your followers. Take photos and videos and show the rest of the world what they’re missing.

Surfer, skater, or parkour perfectionist? Ask for permission to feature a song in one of your promos. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a song while watching a surf video and Shazammed the crap out of it so that I could add it to my “How to Get Through This Workday Alive” Spotify playlist. This approach is equally great for animators, videographers, and anyone with a smartphone/GoPro and a vision.

The soundtrack of our lives.

Actually go to their gigs. I know it’s hard, but you can do it.

So what we’re saying is this: the millenial music lover has so much opportunity to be connected to the up and coming artists he or she loves. With all that say at your fingertips (literally), and no end in sight to the innovation which continues to break down walls between observer and observed, there’s never been a better time to have your say. Like a true music superfan.
Take it from me, your old pal, 2005, champion of MySpace, the one who started all this internet band business in the first place.