What is a rock star? — A stereotypical rock star is someone who by nature is somewhat dangerous, not very politically correct, and relatively out of control. A Rock Start is not afraid of controversy. in fact they feel empowered when they push the envelope as far as they possibly can, regardless of consequence, and…
Category: #SKOPELIFE
YSP!WSD! Swagger and shimmer in Atlanta
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You Say Party! We Say Die!(YSP!WSD!) played the tiny East Atlanta club, The Earl, on Monday. They brought a mishmash of new wave dance shimmer and punk swagger to the small stage. Becky Ninkovic danced on her toes – the pint-sized singer was energetic and pranced around the stage in a gold shiny top and…
BIZ TALK: SOMETHING EVERY ROADIE SHOULD READ
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Sure being a roadie is the toughest job in the Music Business, but keep you head up, you might be a Rock Star one day.
BIZ TALK: BE A RESPONSIBLE PERFORMER
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Many newcomers are unaware of their responsibilities towards the venue, people in the crowd, and even opening acts. Having an incident occur during the show could have disastrous consequences as you are trying to build a reputation regionally as a professional.
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT III
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A&R reps also look for artists who are proactive and possess a strong work ethic. In other words Motivation. Will the members of the band continue to work hard at creating own opportunities once they get signed or will they rely entirely on their label to do everything for them?
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT II
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It’s important to note that A&R’s also rely heavily on referrals from established bands, record label scouts, friends and relatives of industry executives, reputable producers, managers, attorneys, and publishing companies as well. In other words their friends and networking.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – FEBRUARY 2010
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Happy February, my dear readers. In honor of the month of love, I am showcasing women at the virtual club here at Music Up Close with Janie. Though there are so many artists we could bring to you, I wanted to offer you some new emerging talents and a very classy lady that you may…
BIZ TALK: A&R REPRESENTATIVE PT I
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A&R Representatives is an acronym for (Artists and Repertoire) are record company personnel whose job it is to discover new talent and help develop careers. This is the gatekeeper to your deal. Chances are if your music is good, there is a A&R looking for it right now.
BIZ TALK: THE MUSIC BUSINESS IS A GAMBLE
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Once again the bottom line is money. Business ventures are designed to make money plain and simple. I’m not trying to make you a businessman, I’m trying to show you how this Industry operates. An A&R Representative must look for new ways to make money all the time to keep their careers alive.
BIZ TALK: THE BASICS OF LEGAL CONTRACTS
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In the Music Business a “handshake” or verbal agreement is quite acceptable, not to mention it can even be used in the court of law. However when things don’t go according to plan, I’ve seen the golden handshake turn into bad situations in a hurry, especially when the things that don’t go as planned involve…
BIZ TALK: SETTING REALISTIC EXPECTATIONS
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O.K. how about for now we put aside the Limousine, the Hot tub parties & Playboy Mansion Invitations, and set a much more realistic goal for yourself. Let’s start by making a career for yourself an Independent Artists first and foremost. If your band does not gross a million dollars on the local live circuit…
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – JANUARY 2010
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Welcome to a new decade, music lovers! We are starting off the year a little late due to some major internet and computer problems and some remodeling here at the Music Up Close Club. That’s why you hear all of that hammering and the buzz drone of drills. We’re changing up things here so that…
BIZ TALK: HOW MUCH THE PRO’S DIDN’T MAKE LAST YEAR ON TOUR
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If you expect to make a lot of money off your own concert tour, you’re likely to be extremely disappointed. By the time the venue’s concert promoters, ticket vendors, road crew, support staff, various equipment rentals take their cuts, coupled with transportation costs living expenses, food are covered, there may not be as much…
BIZ TALK: THE IMPORTANCE OF LIVE EXPOSURE
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How important is touring and gigging to getting your band noticed? Apart from Professional Radio airplay it’s probably the most effective thing you can do to get your band recognized by a mass group of people. Mass groups of people means mass amounts of money.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – DEC/JAN 2009
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Happy Holiday All You Music Lovers! We have really spruced up the club this month and are showing off some really great Christmas albums to make your holidays merrier. Plus we have a great feature on the repatriation of Haitian music–a sort of regifting back to the people of that country, based on the…
BIZ TALK: TREAT EVERY SHOW LIKE IT’S YOUR LAST
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The following is a true story about how a hot Seattle band blew one of the biggest opportunities they had in under 15 minutes, and didn’t even know it.
BIZ TALK: BE A CONTENDER, NOT A PRETENDER
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I was having with a local metal band concerning the importance of My Space hit numbers. I told them usually a download number over 100,000 will typically get an A&R’s attention pretty quickly. In fact the bigger the number the bigger the red flag. I told them – Usually a hit number over 1 million…
THE MESMERIZING SOUNDS OF BHADRA COLLECTIVE
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Bhadra Collective consists of seasoned musicians who found each other because of a mutual interest in chant music. It is a collective of Toronto musicians representing a variety of cultures. We have members from African, First Nations Canadian, Palestinian, East Indian, Australian, and Eurpoean traditions.
STOLI & AFI ARE GIVING AWAY A GUITAR
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To celebrate the release of Crash Love, AFI and Skope Magazine are giving one lucky winner the chance to win a special Crash Love branded guitar.
SAOSIN & SKOPE OFFER THE “CHANGING” GIVEAWAY
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In celebration of Saosin’s recent release, In Search of Solid Ground, the band and Skope Magazine want to hook up one lucky winner with a major prize pack.
PLANETARY NIGHTS BLAST OFF WITH ‘ELLIPTICAL MOTION’
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Planetary Nights’ debut album “Elliptical Motion” is as singer-songwriter RJ McSweeney describes it “original Americana rock n roll”. It was produced by Mark Hermann and includes Rob Clores (Black Crowes) on keyboards and percussionist Graham Hawthorne (David Byrne).
BIZ TALK: A FEW FACTS ABOUT BARCODES
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I recently attended a SWSW Music and Media Conference in Austin Texas. The first day I was there I witnessed a punk band walk over to give a Top Music Executive one of their CD’s following a hot live performance. Everything was going fine until she turned the CD over and noticed there was no…
SKOPE & CARTEL GIVEAWAY A FLIP VIDEO & MERCH PACK
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In celebration of their recent release, Cycles, Cartel and Skope Magazine want to give one lucky fan a “picture personalized” flip cam along with a merch pack including a signed album, t-shirt, and band poster.
CANADAS’ WILLIAM FUNK
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“The Veronica Sessions” is a fully produced sound with acoustic undertones that is highlighted with “World” and “Latin” beats. Vocals are a mix of smooth rock rasp to clear heartfelt vocalizations.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – NOVEMBER 2009
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My apologies for the lateness of this month’s Music Up Close. I’ve been reveling in unheard of 50 degree temperatures up her in the Northern Plains where I live AND working on details for my debut as a fiction author. The Bowdancer, my novelette, will be published as an ebook by Breathless Press later this…
JIMMY RAE FLOWS ALONG WITH MIRANA COMSTOCK OF THEORY OF TIDES
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Mirana Comstock is ½ of the group known as Theory of Tides. Comstock handles vocals, percussion, keyboards and songwriting while her husband, Rick Comstock, takes care of guitar, bass, percussion and producing. Infectious dance beats are heard along with hip-hop, pop, techno-ish, trance-like, club-worthy and tribal-sounding vibes. Everything appears to be fresh…
LAURENA MARRONE CAMPOS OF GRIT PR TALKS PUBLICITY TODAY
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Here is an informative interview for bands who are thinking about what the current state of traditional Publicity means to them and what to do about it. Laurena of Grit PR is interviewed by Taylar Kuzniar and it is so well done we got clearance to run the piece on Skopemag.com.
RAIN: A TRIBUTE TO THE BEATLES ROCK OUT AT INDIANA UNIVERSITY
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A Homecoming concert for the ages graced the stages of IU Auditorium in Bloomington, Indiana. It was Oct. 15 and the event was RAIN, which offered up a taste of Beatlemania at its finest. RAIN is a Beatles tribute band that mimicked the fab four perfectly. Everything from the look to the…
SKOPE TEAMS WITH ADELITAS WAY & SICK PUPPIES TO OFFER XBOX 360 PRO PRIZES
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To celebrate all things rock ‘n gaming Adelitas Way and Sick Puppies are tag-teaming-up with Skope Magazine to give one lucky fan a chance to win the ultimate prize pack.
TEACHERS ROCK IN MALAYSIA
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Together since 2005, the Benchmarx are set to release their second studio album “Smell the Music”. Besides being talented musicians, all of the band members are teachers at the International School of Kuala Lumpur.
DIANA OLSON INTRODUCES SUSAN ELIZABETH
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Susan Elizabeth is a musician, singer, and songwriter who has made her way through the music industry for many years and has finally decided to take it all into her own hands.
SKOPE TV PHONER WITH FOCUS
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It was a nice Thursday night when the phone rang around 6:45 pm. On the other end was a mega producer by the name of Focus. Focus joined us from Atlanta and he wasted no time to get down to business.
SKOPE & ICP ARE GIVING AWAY MERCH & AN IPOD
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The long awaited return of the Dark Carnival has finally arrived! ICP have just released Bang! Pow! Boom! and to celebrate the release ICP and Skope Magazine are giving you the chance to win some FRESH ICP swag and a Classic iPod! So get your Faygo on, and GOOD LUCK!
THE BEATS OF SOUNDGOD
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In his biography it says, “Talented Super Producer in the making Soungod is more than ready to make his unique mark on the music industry. His music is best described as a unique rhythmic style melding rock, digital, and hip hop components, with R&B undertones mixed with an eclectic selection of effects held together by…
DIANA OLSON EXPERIENCES PRINCE AT BUNKERS IN MINNEAPOLIS, MN
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A couple weeks ago Prince did a couple impromptu concerts at Grand Palais in Paris after attending some fashion shows for Paris Fashion Week. Last Sunday Prince showed up at Bunkers, in the downtown Minneapolis warehouse district, where Mombos Combo was playing their regular Sunday night jam.
SKOPE TV PHONER WITH CORMEGA
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On Monday night the phone rang a few minutes after 7 pm EST and on the other line was hip hop powerhouse, Cormega. It has been a minute since last time Skope talked with Cormega. Cormega is riding high these days with the release of his new album, ‘Born And Raised’ as well as an…
SKOPE & AAR / TBS TICKET GIVEAWAY
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Enter now for your chance to win a pair of tickets to see The All-American Rejects and Taking Back Sunday on their co-headline tour.
THE WONDERFUL DISSONANCE OF BRETT GLEASON
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Brett Gleason’s first solo effort, ‘The Dissonance’ is a unique fusion of alternative rock and electronica, combining the industrial production of NIN with the melodic piano of Tori Amos. Brett got involved with music early after a childhood accident left him with a severe speech impediment, leading him to a life of solitary contemplation filled…
TRAEDONYA: MUSICALLY INCLINED
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It’s not everyday that you’re penned “The Bride of the New Funk Hipopera” by a British magazine, but hey, Traedonya! makes it look easy.
MUSIC UP CLOSE WITH JANIE – OCTOBER 2009
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This month’s Music Up Close takes a look back at artists of the 60s and 70s and see what some of them are doing today. There are, of course, too many to chose from, but some recent releases helped me narrow the focus for this column. Main Stage features Gordon Lightfoot recently…
