Archive for April, 2010

Call for applications: WriteOn – A Workshop with Ralph Murphy

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

The Queensland University of Technology and Arts Queensland are calling for application for the WriteOn workshop with Ralph Murphy.

Nashville-based songwriter and internationally renowned educator, Ralph Murphy, will deliver a two-day song writing workshop in Brisbane 23 & 24 June 2010.

The workshop is designed for writers in both country and pop genres.

Canadian, English and American songwriter Ralph Murphy has achieved near-legendary status throughout his career as a performer, producer, songwriter, publisher, and most recently, Vice President, International and Domestic Membership, ASCAP.

To find out more about Ralph Murphy’s ‘Laws of Songwriting’ visit his website: http://murphyslawsofsongwriting.com

•    Applications Open: 12th April
•    Applications Close: 10th May

All applicants will be notified of the outcome no later than 31 May 2010.

http://www.ici.qut.edu.au/writeon/

Application process hosted by QMUSIC.

Studio 301’s APRIL deals

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

STUDIO 301 - NEW EP RECORDING MIXING & MASTERING PACKAGES

Economy EP Package: Record, Mix & Master up to 5 tracks In Studio 6 301

6 days recording & mixing in Studio 6, 5 track mastering with your choice of Mastering engineer and a bunch of extras!
Cost: $4500 + GST

First Class EP Package: Record, Mix & Master up to 5 tracks in Studio 1

Includes 7 days recording & mixing in Studio 1, 5 track mastering with your choice of engineer and also a bunch of extras!
Cost: $10,500 + GST, overtime & additional materials

Production Packages begin at an additional $300 per Song depending on choice of Producer. Studio 301 are also happy to tailor a custom package to suit your project to include additional tracks etc.

TRIAL MASTERING FOR ALL STUDIO CLIENTS

If you are booking into 301’s Recording or Mixing Studios why not get a sample Master done by one of their reputable Mastering Engineers?  Free one track sample Master for studio clients and only if you dig it will you have to pay for it!! No strings.
Usual terms and conditions apply, contact:
Anita / anita@studios301.com / 02 9698 5888

Check out Studio 301’s facilities in Byron Bay and Sydney at their website - http://www.studios301.com

Itunes Single of the Week - My Escapade

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

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We’re told, among other things, that isolation instills an acute creative awareness. Then it should be of no surprise that out of the mythical isolation of North West Tasmania can emerge a band who creates musical sound and performs with an obvious demonstration of an acute sense of creativity. A band whose four comrades shared a modest musical upbringing in the mythical ambience, and remote wilderness, of North West Tasmania. A band who had the audacity to call themselves my+escapade.

The world is taking notice, as they scored the highly coveted iTunes single of the week position. Download ‘It’s Your Move’ for free this week here on My Escapade

1.     Congrats on being chosen for iTunes Single of the Week! Did you at any point realize that this track was going to stand out as the single? Was there a magical moment in the studio?

During tracking this song I remember sitting back, listening to the track come to life, and realising that this song was something special, but had no idea it would go to the places it’s gone so far.

2.    You’ve had your music featured on television show, Rexona’s ‘Australia’s Greatest Athlete’. A lot of artists out there are interested in sync and similar opportunities. How did this come about? What advice would you give to young musos out there about getting their music placed on television or movies?

It came about because of a number of fortuitous events. Our manager Jonathan Tibbits from White Cub Management was able to get the track to the right person, they heard it and loved our music. It’s Your Move seemed to sync particularly well with the TV show, even though it was never written with that in mind. It was almost strange to see it on a sports TV show. I’d never encourage anyone to write songs with something like a TV show or product in mind, song writing has to be real and genuine for people to connect with it. If it happens to work with some form of product, great, but its always got to be about the art.

3.    You’ve moved from beautiful but isolated Tasmania to the Gold Coast – polar opposites in lots of ways. How has the transition been? How do the music scenes differ?

Stepping out of Tasmania has been an interesting journey for all of us. Tasmania was a great place for us to nurture and establish our sound as there’s basically no music industry there at all. We gigged around with a lot of other local bands, and supported a lot of the bigger mainland artists coming on tours to our home state, until we felt that it was time to bring what we had created to a broader audience. We’ve had a lot of fun since we arrived. We’ve quite enjoyed checking out the local scene in Brisbane and the on Gold Coast. Been enjoying some of the bands.

4.    Your music has been likened to the Temper Trap and Coldplay – two astounding acts. Have they influenced your sound? Which artists and bands out there do you find inspirational?

Thanks for the compliments. Two fine artists indeed. I think people tend to hear elements of artists they’re already familiar with, we often have people say we sound just like an artist I’ve never heard before. I’ve only actually just recently discovered The Temper Trap, so it’s interesting to be compared to a band that we weren’t drawing influence from at the time of recording Soul’s Reflection. We probably share similar influences, which give us those similar sounding elements. Vocally I’m a big fan of Jeff Buckley and Adele, throw in a lot of jazz stuff too. We all come from very different musical backgrounds - Chris knows a lot of jazz, Alan’s more classically influenced and Simon and myself grew up in punk bands - quite the mixed bag.

5.    Your website is a great introduction to you as a band. Did you play a part in it’s design?

From the start we’ve always had a strong idea about who we are and who we want to be. We worked closely with our manager, who primarily designed the site, in developing something we were happy with. We’ve got a lot of ideas for further creative expansion. I do a lot of photography work also so that side of things has always been a passion for me. From artwork to press stuff we always stay pretty heavily involved - we’re working with some acutely creative people and there is a lot of collaboration going on within the my+escapade lair.

6.    Finally, what’s in store for My Escapade over the next few months?

We’ll be continuing to promote the Soul’s Reflection EP. We’ve got a few shows lined up around Australia to coincide with Single of the Week, and we’ve also been lucky enough to be involved in a promotion with the new iTunes U program, so there’s things happening in all quarters. In the near future, we’ll also be releasing our next single, All That Confronts You, with the accompanying film clip - which was filmed in our practice room back in Emu Bay - an abandoned classroom that we’d been rehearsing in for the last year or two. We’re really looking forward to all that the next few months have in store. Be sure to watch this space closely. Thanks!

Building your “Team”

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

As far as I can see, the power in the music industry shifted along with the advent of digital music and (digital) distribution became possible for everyone.

Great, right?team_player_keychain-p146143611757739440qjfk_400

Absolutely.  What it does mean is that it has created a generation of musos who are doing everything for themselves and are more skilled, knowledgable and educated on how to self-manage, distribute, book and hold the power and rights for their band, where traditionally a label and management have done everything for the band and kept them at arm’s length of the business side of the industry. There’s a good and bad point to the old arrangement.  Good that the artists get time to be artists (i.e.creative) and bad, that they don’t see what’s going on and very quickly lose control and knowledge about what is going on in their own band (and often money that is rightfully theirs.) Remembering that knowledge is power, that’s a bad position for bands to be in.

Somewhere along the way, an imbalance happened and musicians became expected to do and know it all themselves ALL the time.  It seems to me that there is a middle “working class” of bands, who lose out both ways. They are expected to create amazing music as well as do all of the management tasks, book the band’s tours, manage all the promotion and publicity, be the graphic designer, get the album/EP distributed, document all sales, co-ordinate studio time and much more.

Solution? Well, that’s where the music industry shift has been great too.  As it turns out, the shift in power in the music industry has given rise to an entrepreneurial spirit and industry workers are now drilling down on specific elements in the music industry and working as consultants or contractors to combat the loss in numbers of 9-5 jobs in the music industry. This means that there are a lot of opportunities for bands to work on a non-exclusive, one-off/periodical basis with industry workers, with possibilities for creating long-lasting relationships.

It seems to me that the best way for an artist to multi-task, once they hit a certain level (most likely when the band has too much on their plate business-wise and hopefully enough money to pay) is to start building a team around them who can be delegated tasks.  A trusted group of skilled individuals/businesses who can be called upon and hopefully paid when tasks need to be achieved. It’s exactly why non-exclusive, fee-for-service, no lock-in, term based contract services where artists/labels hold all the rights are the most viable and lucrative to artists (long-term career wise) at this point in time.

The band or the manager can now be the label, negotiating distribution deals, while hiring publicists and a plugger for radio, as well as working in conjunction with someone to gain sync opportunities.

The biggest question to ask is: What does the band need to do themselves and what can be delegated and paid for?

Who do you want on your team?