As you may or may not know, BandSoup.com is currently working on BandSoup v2.0 and plan to release it before the end of 2011! In the meantime, we would LOVE to get your feedback (musicians, fans, PR, Media, etc.) on your experience with the website.
The new feedback button can be found on the main page in the upper right hand corner. Any suggestions, comments, or kind words are greatly appreciated!
Described as Strawberry Shortcake meets Gwar and Valentine's Day meets Halloween with the visual impact of Japanese Anime, One-Eyed Doll is an award-winning Austin, Texas power rock duo with a loyal global fan base and extensive international press exposure.
In 2010 and 2009 the group swept the SXSW Music Awards in categories such as Best New Band, Best Punk Band, Best Metal Band, Best Goth Band, Best Acoustic Guitarist, Best Producer, Best Drummer and Best Female Vocalist. The group has independently released three full-length albums, appears in Guitar World and Guitar Player magazines, and has left several national tours in its wake including major anime conventions (DragonCon, AniMix, IKKiCON, Anime Overload, ShadoCon, etc.).
Blazing the band's wildfire buzz amongst their growing legions of religiously crazed fans is One-Eyed Doll's cult leader: the impossible-not-to-love Kimberly Freeman, whose punishment is so sweet you'll beg for more.
Freeman and Sewell have been working together in the studio since 2006. As Kimberly's career-long record producer, he became an integral part of the band's unique sound and even played instruments on the albums. With this experience in mind, Jason joined as drummer in late 2009.
One-Eyed doll claims three commercially released albums. From 2007 to 2008 with the release of the debut album, "Hole," Freeman's small cult following exploded into a global fan base, setting a new standard for the modern independent guerrilla DIY business structure.
One-Eyed Doll released "Monster" in November 2008, once again under the precise hand of veteran producer [and now drummer] Jason Rufuss Sewell. The new album debuted, to the triumph of their inherently eccentric and diverse following, the group's signature dark, heavy hits, "Fight" and "Monster", blending seamlessly with radio pop style ballads like "Brief Candle" and "Pretty Song".
The 2010 album, "Break" is the latest One-Eyed Doll release. Kimberly's intense songwriting is the feature of this collection, highlighted by Jason Rufuss Sewell's heavy beats. Laden with murder ballads, theatrical peaks, dynamic lows, this album has been, by far, the most popular to date amongst the growing global fan community.
Myspace, Facebook, and Twitter remain pillars of fan interaction and discovery for musicians, but are they necessities like most say they are? Check out this interesting interview with Musician/Director/Producer Robin Davey from Hypebot.
Recently I spoke with Robin Davey who is a musician, director, and producer. His bands include The Hoax and most recently the eclectic pop duo The Bastard Fairies.
Davey has directed music videos for Buckcherry, Jet and Drowning Pool and his documentary The Canary Effect won The Stanley Kubrick Award for Bold and Innovative film making at Michael Moore's Traverse City Film Festival. In this interview Davey talks about his bands exodus from MySpace and Facebook and why the music industry has changed less than we think. Most things are still the same.
At a time when artists are being encouraged to get even more involved with social media and networks, your group did something radical. You left.
You maintained an e-mail list and created discussion with fans. That's it.
Hypebot: What motivated you to leave Facebook and MySpace? How did you establish a more secure connection with your fans through e-mail as a result?
Songwriting.net's 16th Annual USA Songwriting Competition kicks off as entries are currently being accepted. Winning songs of the 16th Annual USA Songwriting Competition will receive airplay on a nationally syndicated radio program “Acoustic Café” as well as Sirius XM Satellite Radio. This is the first Songwriting Competition that gives airplay to the winning songs, giving deserving bands, songwriters the recognition and exposure they deserve. Entrants stand to win a grand prize of over US$50,000 in cash and music gear from sponsors, making this the largest prize package for any annual songwriting competition.
Songs may be entered in 15 different categories including Pop, Rock/Alternative, R&B and Country. Entries are accepted from now through May 31, 2011.
Sponsors Recording magazine and Premier Guitar magazine are offering double bonuses for the first time of free magazine subscriptions worth $34.99 each to the first 1,000 entrants that enter before March 31, 2011.
Here are 5 live performances from bands that have uploaded their music on BandSoup. If you have a video or a video of a recent live performance, please email the link to: ryan@bandsoup.com.
On the flip side you can view live performances from: Pilot Blue, Malbec, DoDriver, Ten Feet Deep and The Watermarks
The easiest way to acclimate yourself with the best band to come out of Kansas since the 1970's is to turn up your speakers and blast their versatile and addicting debut album, Morning. On their 6-track unveiling, Wichita's Sky Meets Earth runs the rock and roll sound gauntlet and collectively tackle a variety of sounds, styles, and techniques, while somehow keeping it crisp and cohesive. From spastic alternative rock (Actions vs. Words and Doom) to radio ready pop-rock (Turn it On, The Best Policy and Bluebird) to moody experimental rock (By the Phone), Sky Meets Earth covers everything a rock fan might be looking for and executes it with effortless dexterity and grace.
Morning was recorded within a work week and released in 2008, but to kick off 2010, the young quartet decided to release the record for free on their website in hopes their generosity would spark more interest in the band and get new fans to come to their lauded live shows and spend cash on flashy merchandise.
After listening to the entire EP on BandSoup, I saw an update on the band's Facebook page that they are currently recording new tunes and will soon release their sophomore album with a new drummer at the helm and under a new band name, Sea of Suns. Stay tuned for more news and info on Sky Meets Earth/Sea of Suns, but in the meantime, visit BandSoup to listen to their entire debut EP and click the 'artist link' for the free single and/or full album download!
This article gets a little technical, but covers a very important topic that I try to tell artists about CONSTANTLY-- stop giving control of your free music away and start driving traffic to YOUR website and YOUR brand. Jim Grobecker's article from Music Think Tank below does a great job of explaining why. -And this is exactly why BandSoup uses the artist link: to drive traffic to your site!
FACT: people download music for free.
Sean Parker of Napster fame recently stated in an interview, “you look at the data, somewhere between 4 trillion and 10 trillion songs are illegally downloaded every year. And we’re looking at maybe 4 billion or so legal downloadeds per year.”
Music will always surface on file sharing platforms and consumers will continue to download music for free, but recordings are even more important for artists than ever before. There is a new purpose for recorded content; artists will no longer generate revenue directly from recordings, instead this will be the entrance point for consumers into a the brand. Great music will generate revenue through merch or ticket purchases, or lead to sponsorships as major brands seek out artists to enhance the value of their own product. The solution to file sharing is for artists to better manage their recorded music by creating a dedicated landing page on their own website, housing a free album download.
Turning Torso is the instrumental rock project from an unknown 20 year old guitarist/producer from Mexico named David Sánchez. On his debut album, Walker, David mashes up waves of dreamy guitar notes with islands of digital drums and psychedelic noises, forming a serene instrumental experience comparable to the breakdowns of Minus the Bear, Explosions in the Sky, and Bibio.
Turning Torso's Walker album is available as a free download on his website, which can be accessed through his BandSoup upload where it says 'artist link'. I think what the young David Sánchez created in his bedroom studio with an electric guitar and modest recording tools is intriguing and full of potential. This album is a small moment in music where we can thank technology and embrace what it can do for emerging musicians on a budget.
Here are 5 live performances from bands that have uploaded their music on BandSoup. If you have a video or a video of a recent live performance, please email the link to: ryan@bandsoup.com.
On the flip side you can view live performances from: The Honey Pies, Laserfang, Three Legged Fox, Mongrel, and Todd Wright.
Dropping gems in a studio that's nestled in between Bellingham Bay and Lummi Island is a new trip hop duo made up of producer Chance Random and folk singer-songwriter Jenni Potts, better known as Cute Attack. Their new self titled release, which is now available on Bandcamp with a name your own price tag, is a short, simple, and sweet ride through a lost and forgotten world of what I call therapeutic hip hop, known to many as trip hop.
Haunted by Jenni Potts' vocals, Chance Random's beats creep cautiously around her lyrics, but find solace in her warm breath, embracing each note thoughtfully. The chemistry between the two is obvious, and while the length of the record might shock listeners the first go around, they will soon find the perfection in its editing and the beauty in its clarity.
How about some visuals to go along with some of the great bands that have shared their music with us on BandSoup? Every now and then I will spotlight five "official videos" from various bands that are in the BandSoup bowl and share them with you on here. The first five?
Miles, Kidneythieves, Amos Zimmerman, One-Eyed Doll, and Wicked Jones.
If you are a fan and follower of the current indie rock ethos, Jeremy Lee Given is going to make your head spin. Soaking up influences from some of indie rock's most lauded bands and solo artists, Given's debut album, Old Flames, listens like a greatest hits compilation from the genre's last five years. Spread throughout the album's 9-tracks are hints of Bon Iver, Department of Eagles, Band of Horses, and Vampire Weekend, giving Old Flames a smooth and sprightly taste, despite it being a brazen brew of moods that will numb your entire body once swallowed and digested.
Besides the obvious comparisons one could make about Jeremy Lee Given's voice, there is a lot to be said about the Knoxville born, Boston based singer-songwriter. His vocals, both tranquil and interesting, are pleasant to take in and intriguing enough to repeat; his song construction and sequencing impeccable and clean; and his songwriting skills polished and endearing. If you are a fan of moody indie rock, JLG is a must listen and his latest record holds its own with the most praised folk records of last year.
Old Flames is available via Given's bandcamp page for $0-whatever you want to give. Take a listen, soak it in, let the old flames burn and warm your soul.
Toronto, Canada's own Shortwave are currently putting the finishing touches on their debut full length album, The Skyline Verses, recorded at Canterbury Studios with producer, Byron Kent Wong. Fusing together elements of indie rock and new wave with nods to classic rock and brit pop, Shortwave have created an album that is contemporary yet classic.
DMV band Kid Architect gave us some exciting news today-- their first full length album, The Great Pretend, has been released and is now available to purchase digitally on iTunes! To support or stream click here. Physical copies of the album will be made available on CDBaby, Amazon, and by hand come February.
If you are in the DC Metro area, Kid Architect will be having their album release party at Jammin' Java in Vienna, Virginia on Friday, February 11th. For tickets, contact a KA member or click here.
When I was growing up, we had great pop-punk bands available to us on the radio-- Rancid, Green Day, Blink 182, Alkaline Trio, The Offspring, Sum41, and more. Bands with Jolt cola like energy that could bring down house parties and were highly accessible to various music tastes and backgrounds. It feels that a lot of those bands from the 90's have disappeared, but a five piece band from Worcester, Massachusetts is here to fill that void.
Challenges is a pop-punk band fronted by lead vocalist and founder Corey Maynard, lead guitarist/backup vocalist Brian Dempsey, guitarist Danny Massei, bassist James Tripaldi, and drummer RJ Sumblin. After forming in 2009, the band quickly hit the studio to record their first demo, Apollo, which was lauded by MySpace and other social media networks, opening up numerous live performance avenues for the band. Solidifying the band's line-up in June 2009 with the addition of Danny Massei on guitar, James Tripaldi on bass, and Ralph Sumblin on drums, the band set out to write and record their debut full length, We Ruined the Neighborhood. The record was written and recorded with steadfast determination from July 2009 to August 2010 and then officially released on November 26th.
We Ruined the Neighborhood is an 11-track debut record full of hyperactive energy and youthful swagger. Corey Maynard's lead vocals are a pop-punk band's dream and the supporting members' musicianship is surprisingly crisp and refined. I guess Challenges ruined the neighborhood in celebration after they found out they are radio ready.
The new album is now available to stream in full on their bandcamp site and the band was generous enough to put a "name your own price" tag on it, but after you hear their efforts I'm willing to bet you'll fork over your pocket change to help support an emerging band that have what it takes to make it big.
For anyone around the age of 30 and below, Challenges will instantly give you bouts of High School nostalgia where, for some, listening to a discman in class with the earphones hidden in your coat sleeve, shooting v-wads, writing lyrics on your Airwalks, and skating away from school security down the hallways reigned supreme.
Fronted by pianist Jeremy Freer and supported by a classical collective made up of violinist Sara Myers, cellist Kaylan Mitchell, bassist Ashton Hopkins, and drummer Jax Phillips, The Juliets are the new pride of Detroit and the emerging Michigan music scene.
After being formed in late 2008, The Juliets began to construct classically influenced pop songs over bottles of red wine. Within the fermented grapes they found truth in sound and began to lay down their debut self titled album. The debut, which was released in February of 2010, is one of the indie pop genre's most slept on albums of the year; a flawless unveiling full of infectious melodies, masterfully designed compositions, and sublime strings. A true masterpiece that is tragically unknown.
What makes The Juliets' self titled album an even more powerful piece of work is its ability to cover every human emotion cohesively. From sweet and hopeful to glum and forlorn; from confident and full of pride to fearful and disgraced; from a place of love to a house of hate-- The Juliets make schizophrenia sound both beautiful and persistent, making the mad houses contained in our brains erupt in joy as the record spins and spins.
What The Juliets have accomplished in their first outing as a band is triumphant. Their gallant and flourishing ornamentations go unmatched throughout the industry and soon enough their brave explorations in sound will be lauded and these baroques with backbone will be adored.
Los Angeles MC Open Mike Eagle lets loose his latest video from his critically acclaimed 2010 album, Unapologetic Art Rap. Can any of you guess what band was sampled?
OK Go’s Damian Kulash wrote a very interesting article for the Wall Street Journal about success in today’s record business. I’m sure you read at least three of these types of articles a day, but this is one of the best that I’ve read in awhile. It’s full of great insight, quotes, ideas, and examples from highly successful artists.
Music is getting harder to define again. It’s becoming more of an experience and less of an object. Without records as clearly delineated receptacles of value, last century’s rules—both industrial and creative—are out the window. For those who can find an audience or a paycheck outside the traditional system, this can mean blessed freedom from the music industry’s gatekeepers.
Kyle Cox is an Orlando, Florida based singer/songwriter that recently released his critically acclaimed five track EP, To All My Old Friends, free of charge. The album focuses on various events and emotions in life that have a tendency to make us stumble and fall.
On the EP, Kyle morphs from sincere to catchy to melancholic while blanketing his infectious pop-folk vocals over streams of classic piano, folk guitar riffs, and moody compositions. Each track carries a different ambience-- ranging from folk and blues to pop-rock and country-- but is cohesive and tactfully put together, giving it a ton of replay value.
What surprised me the most was finding out Cox isn't signed. He is merely a young and humble twenty-something with a deep passion for music that exercises his natural born talents on his free time, not taking his very serious and mature sounding tunes too serious at all. "I never plan on or really want to make sustainable income from the music I write. I love my job here at the church so much that it would be really difficult for me to leave. But I still really enjoy writing, recording, playing my own music, and I don’t think I’ll ever quit doing that."
Perhaps it is his nonchalance that gives his music that free and organic feel. Void of desperation, visions of fame and fortune, and worries of where he fits in with everyone else, Kyle just has to worry about Kyle. It's these types of artists that make the most heartfelt music and heartfelt music best explains what the young Kyle Cox creates.
San Diego hip hop producer Insightful has just dropped a gem on BandSoup. His new album, The Flowers in My Mind, is a 28-track instrumental album full of pure electronic energy that slowly scales buildings built of binary code, blows through gardens of fiber optic flowers, and swirls through the back of your eyelids like blessings from Buddha when played.
BandSoup.com has just cooked up a hot pot of independent hip hop, hence the aptly titled (get it?) 17-track compilation available at your doorstep for a free download!
Our first hip hop compilation features some of the finest emerging independent hip hop artists from various spots around North America: Open Mike Eagle, Intuition, and Nocando from Los Angeles, California; Aleon Craft from Atlanta, Georgia; SkuFL from Miami, Florida; 7even:Thirty from Jackson, Mississippi; Black EL & Ryan Durkin from Boston, Massachusetts; MadKem from Queens, New York; Mally & The Sundance Kid from Minneapolis, Minnesota; RoQ'y TyRaiD from Phoenix, Arizona; Chuuwee from Sacramento, California; Poetic Republic from Cleveland, Ohio; WrittenHouse from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; The NewOld from Chicago, Illinois; and Cloudy October from Portland, Oregon.
In one compilation we have literally covered every crevice of the United States and showed you what they had to offer in the world of hip hop. In one compilation we touched on the weird, the emo, the grimy, the danceable, the raw, the jazzy, the spacey-- what more could you ask for?
Here are a few samples from the compilation below, as well as the link to the free download.
BandSoup is preparing a grassroots campaign starting January 3rd to help draw more artists and music fans to the site. Please read below on how you can help!
BandSoup is making big strides in 2011 to become a larger and smarter music community. On top of constructing a new interface, adding new interactive tools to engage users, updating our affiliated blog, and strengthening our online marketing presence, we are making it a point to interact with current BandSoup users to gain their insight and experiences in using the site. In a few months, we will have new features available on the main site and a survey form for users to fill out to help the BandSoup team smooth out any of the site's bugs and shortcomings, as well as making your experience more fun and engaging. Until then-- we need your help.
We need to continue to have artists upload music and encourage music fans to visit, listen, and bookmark. To get BandSoup out to the masses, we will rely heavily on grassroots, word of mouth marketing through social media networks, links, blogs, and daily conversations. Here is how you could help us continue our mission to spread independent music around the world:
Keep us up to date with your news, album releases, free music downloads, videos, and anything else you might want to share on our blog (email to:ryan@bandsoup.com).
Let us know any suggestions that you may have for the site or blog.
We really appreciate your time and music and look forward to hearing your new tunes!
New York's Ghost Ghost let loose two new holiday tracks while we were switching over our blog, and even though Christmas and 2010 has come and gone, we felt that they still needed to be heard.
Please Stay for Christmas Eve features a vulnerable sounding Ghost Ghost under a psychedelic snowstorm of ambient guitars and electronic pulses, while Christmas Comes Whenever You Come Homeshows a lighter side and sound.
You can also check out Ghost Ghost's video for Time is Gravity, which was released in November of 2010.
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