From today's yahoo news.
LONDON - Some of Britain's biggest music stars announced Saturday they are banding together to demand greater control over their music in the digital age.
Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Kaiser Chiefs are among more than 60 founding members of the Featured Artists' Coalition.
The group says it wants musicians rather than record labels to retain control over the rights to their music. It says new technology is rapidly changing the music industry, and artists are often left out when their songs are distributed over the Internet or mobile phone networks.
to read the rest of the article cut and paste and the link below:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081004/ap_en_mu/eu_britain_musicians__group
Okay sorry I know your saying enough with the political posts...this is a music blog! But I just couldn't resist this! It's John McCain, making a noise that is very similar to that of my great aunt who was practically deaf and refused to wear a hearing aid! She used to make the exact sound McCain makes in this clip anytime anyone spoke to her!!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Friday, October 3, 2008
My chat with Adam Merrin from The 88
It's up earlier then expected. Enjoy!
The 88 are an indie pop band based out of Los Angeles California. Their sound is 60’s pop mixed in with some good old basic garage rock. You may have heard their songs being played in such TV shows as “How I Met Your Mother” and films such as “You, Me and Dupree”.
The 88 have a new album coming out called “Not Only... But Also” on October 28th. “Not Only... But Also” was produced by R&B legend Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, who in the past has worked with everyone from Whitney Houston to Eric Clapton. I had the pleasure of speaking with The 88 keyboard player Adam Merrin via the telephone and here is what Adam had to say.
AG: Hi Adam, how are you?
AM: I’m fine.
AG: You guys have a new album coming out at the end of October called “Not Only... But Also” and what is interesting about this album is the producer of this album is Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. “Babyface” really isn’t known for working with indie rock bands, he’s more known for working with people such as Madonna and Boys 2 Men, how did “Babyface” come to produce this new album?
AM: Well basically the way the “Babyface” thing came about is that he is managed by the same management company that manages The 88. And he has been trying to do other rock projects in addition to the R&B producing that he has done in the past and he came to see us perform at a show in LA. And he liked what he heard and so we met with him in the studio the next day and we just really hit it off! He was talking about his love for the Beatles, which is one of our favorite bands and we just clicked right away. It was unanimous at the end of the meeting we were all like let’s do this! It does sound a little but funny for us to be working with him but we just really loved his ideas. He basically told us that he wanted us to sound like The 88 but a lot bigger and that really appealed to us. He didn’t talk about changing anything or doing anything terribly different, we all really liked that!
AG: Did you find that “Babyface” brought a soulful popish element to your sound?
AM: Well he played guitar on one of our songs and he is a great guitar player! As I said he really kept the sound of The 88...he just made it really big.
AG: In your own words how would you describe the sound of the new album “Not Only But Also”?
AM: It sounds a lot like the stuff that we’ve always done….it just sounds bigger. And I think the songs are a little bit more thought out as far as the arrangements go. And the songs are a little more layered with all the sounds we tried on this album like new keyboard sounds and it definitely sounds like The 88. It’s just a really good rock record!
AG: I was able to hear one of the new songs off the album “Go Go Go”! and it’s very cool! What is the inspiration behind that song?
AM: That song came about when we rented a house up in Lake Arrowhead which is in the mountains two hours away from LA. We did a bunch of writing there and brought up a bunch of recording equipment and recorded a bunch of demos and that one came about up there. We were setting up to record another song , while everything was being set up we were toying around with the idea and we listened back to it and all the parts were all there and we worked it out and recorded it pretty much immediately after.
AG: What inspires you musically Adam Merrin?
AM: Well the other guys in the band really inspire me! We just play off of each other really well and listen to each other. Keith Slettedahl (the lead vocalist and guitar player for The 88) have been playing together for years, we know each other so well! I know what cord changes Keith is going to be going to next and he knows what I’m going to be doing. It’s the years of playing together that makes it what it is. And Anthony Zimmitti our drummer, even though he’s been playing with us for four years now it feels like he’s been playing with us since the being of time! We just really click well together!
AG: Chemistry is important in any band!
AM: It really is! That’s where a lot of the inspiration comes from.
AG: One of the things that fascinates me about The 88, is that you guys have gained most of your popularity through placing your songs in films and TV shows.
AM: It has defiantly helped. Just recently, we had a song in a show called “Gossip Girl” that’s very popular and the night that the song aired on the show the myspace page went through the roof! So many people looked us up afterward which is awesome! At the end of the show they plugged our new album “Not Only... But Also” . I just can’t tell you what a great affect that has on this band. We just played in Chicago a few weeks ago and there were all these people coming up to us afterward saying “We heard you in a Sears commercial” or “We know you from “The OC”, it just really helps when we are touring in markets that we’ve never played before! People are coming up to us afterwards saying they knew us or I see them singing along in the crowd…it’s been awesome! Not to mention licensing our music has helped us do music as a living, we don’t have to work day jobs!
AG: It’s interesting to me that licensing is the way that you guys have gotten known amongst the public.
AM: What’s even more interesting is that we never had licensing in the plan at the start. We always had the goal and the big dreams of where we wanted to be and how to get there. But licensing our music at the start was never part of it...it just happened!
It’s a good sign for people to know, if you work really hard at something and really believe in it then things will come to you if your planning it or not! You just gotta put yourself out there.
AG: Are there any plans to tour in support of this new album? And are you coming to New York real soon?
AM: Well we’re starting off with a little West Coast run after the record release. We don’t have an exact date but we’ll be coming to New York for sure very soon!
To hear The 88’s music and get news and tour dates check out their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/the88
The 88 are an indie pop band based out of Los Angeles California. Their sound is 60’s pop mixed in with some good old basic garage rock. You may have heard their songs being played in such TV shows as “How I Met Your Mother” and films such as “You, Me and Dupree”.
The 88 have a new album coming out called “Not Only... But Also” on October 28th. “Not Only... But Also” was produced by R&B legend Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds, who in the past has worked with everyone from Whitney Houston to Eric Clapton. I had the pleasure of speaking with The 88 keyboard player Adam Merrin via the telephone and here is what Adam had to say.
AG: Hi Adam, how are you?
AM: I’m fine.
AG: You guys have a new album coming out at the end of October called “Not Only... But Also” and what is interesting about this album is the producer of this album is Kenneth “Babyface” Edmonds. “Babyface” really isn’t known for working with indie rock bands, he’s more known for working with people such as Madonna and Boys 2 Men, how did “Babyface” come to produce this new album?
AM: Well basically the way the “Babyface” thing came about is that he is managed by the same management company that manages The 88. And he has been trying to do other rock projects in addition to the R&B producing that he has done in the past and he came to see us perform at a show in LA. And he liked what he heard and so we met with him in the studio the next day and we just really hit it off! He was talking about his love for the Beatles, which is one of our favorite bands and we just clicked right away. It was unanimous at the end of the meeting we were all like let’s do this! It does sound a little but funny for us to be working with him but we just really loved his ideas. He basically told us that he wanted us to sound like The 88 but a lot bigger and that really appealed to us. He didn’t talk about changing anything or doing anything terribly different, we all really liked that!
AG: Did you find that “Babyface” brought a soulful popish element to your sound?
AM: Well he played guitar on one of our songs and he is a great guitar player! As I said he really kept the sound of The 88...he just made it really big.
AG: In your own words how would you describe the sound of the new album “Not Only But Also”?
AM: It sounds a lot like the stuff that we’ve always done….it just sounds bigger. And I think the songs are a little bit more thought out as far as the arrangements go. And the songs are a little more layered with all the sounds we tried on this album like new keyboard sounds and it definitely sounds like The 88. It’s just a really good rock record!
AG: I was able to hear one of the new songs off the album “Go Go Go”! and it’s very cool! What is the inspiration behind that song?
AM: That song came about when we rented a house up in Lake Arrowhead which is in the mountains two hours away from LA. We did a bunch of writing there and brought up a bunch of recording equipment and recorded a bunch of demos and that one came about up there. We were setting up to record another song , while everything was being set up we were toying around with the idea and we listened back to it and all the parts were all there and we worked it out and recorded it pretty much immediately after.
AG: What inspires you musically Adam Merrin?
AM: Well the other guys in the band really inspire me! We just play off of each other really well and listen to each other. Keith Slettedahl (the lead vocalist and guitar player for The 88) have been playing together for years, we know each other so well! I know what cord changes Keith is going to be going to next and he knows what I’m going to be doing. It’s the years of playing together that makes it what it is. And Anthony Zimmitti our drummer, even though he’s been playing with us for four years now it feels like he’s been playing with us since the being of time! We just really click well together!
AG: Chemistry is important in any band!
AM: It really is! That’s where a lot of the inspiration comes from.
AG: One of the things that fascinates me about The 88, is that you guys have gained most of your popularity through placing your songs in films and TV shows.
AM: It has defiantly helped. Just recently, we had a song in a show called “Gossip Girl” that’s very popular and the night that the song aired on the show the myspace page went through the roof! So many people looked us up afterward which is awesome! At the end of the show they plugged our new album “Not Only... But Also” . I just can’t tell you what a great affect that has on this band. We just played in Chicago a few weeks ago and there were all these people coming up to us afterward saying “We heard you in a Sears commercial” or “We know you from “The OC”, it just really helps when we are touring in markets that we’ve never played before! People are coming up to us afterwards saying they knew us or I see them singing along in the crowd…it’s been awesome! Not to mention licensing our music has helped us do music as a living, we don’t have to work day jobs!
AG: It’s interesting to me that licensing is the way that you guys have gotten known amongst the public.
AM: What’s even more interesting is that we never had licensing in the plan at the start. We always had the goal and the big dreams of where we wanted to be and how to get there. But licensing our music at the start was never part of it...it just happened!
It’s a good sign for people to know, if you work really hard at something and really believe in it then things will come to you if your planning it or not! You just gotta put yourself out there.
AG: Are there any plans to tour in support of this new album? And are you coming to New York real soon?
AM: Well we’re starting off with a little West Coast run after the record release. We don’t have an exact date but we’ll be coming to New York for sure very soon!
To hear The 88’s music and get news and tour dates check out their myspace page:
http://www.myspace.com/the88
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Some stuff......
My chat with Adam Merrin of the 88 will be up and posted on Tuesday of next week so be on the look out for that.
Tonight is the VP debate. I'll be out and about at the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline tonight, but I will be DVR'ing the debate. I'm really quite excited to watch the play back tomorrow. I've told you guys how much I dislike Sarah Palin and her views. I've let you all know about her political record, earmarks she made, illegally firing people from her staff, cutting sex education for teens and making victims of sexual assault pay for their own rape kits while she was mayor or Wasilla etc. And her views on abortion and the war. I'm sorry but as a woman, I don't know how you could you be pro life even in cases of rape and incest and how you could make victims of sexual assault pay for their own rape kits!
On the other side of not helping crime victims, Biden has done a lot for the victims of crime and domestic violence. I like Joe Biden but he has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. I honestly hope that the Obama camp has reined Biden in enough where he's not seen as the bully beating up on the sweet little hockey mom from Alaska but were he maintains some of his ballsiness. And I also hope that the swing voters and the rest of America see how unqualified Sarah Palin is to be Vice President let alone one heartbeat away from being president! Hopefully tonight will be the undoing of Sarah Palin, if the Katie Couric interview didn't do that already!
Moving along...as I've been mentioning for the last couple of days tonight is the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline Ballroom here in NYC. There are limited tickets left so if you wanna get yours, you better hurry and go to www.highlineballroom.com! One of the bands on the bill tonight is a band based out of Brooklyn called Nightmare of You. They have a really cool Brit pop/emo type of sound. Below is a clip of their song "I Wanna Be Buried in Your Backyard", check it out!!
http://www.myspace.com/nightmareofyou
Tonight is the VP debate. I'll be out and about at the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline tonight, but I will be DVR'ing the debate. I'm really quite excited to watch the play back tomorrow. I've told you guys how much I dislike Sarah Palin and her views. I've let you all know about her political record, earmarks she made, illegally firing people from her staff, cutting sex education for teens and making victims of sexual assault pay for their own rape kits while she was mayor or Wasilla etc. And her views on abortion and the war. I'm sorry but as a woman, I don't know how you could you be pro life even in cases of rape and incest and how you could make victims of sexual assault pay for their own rape kits!
On the other side of not helping crime victims, Biden has done a lot for the victims of crime and domestic violence. I like Joe Biden but he has a habit of putting his foot in his mouth. I honestly hope that the Obama camp has reined Biden in enough where he's not seen as the bully beating up on the sweet little hockey mom from Alaska but were he maintains some of his ballsiness. And I also hope that the swing voters and the rest of America see how unqualified Sarah Palin is to be Vice President let alone one heartbeat away from being president! Hopefully tonight will be the undoing of Sarah Palin, if the Katie Couric interview didn't do that already!
Moving along...as I've been mentioning for the last couple of days tonight is the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline Ballroom here in NYC. There are limited tickets left so if you wanna get yours, you better hurry and go to www.highlineballroom.com! One of the bands on the bill tonight is a band based out of Brooklyn called Nightmare of You. They have a really cool Brit pop/emo type of sound. Below is a clip of their song "I Wanna Be Buried in Your Backyard", check it out!!
http://www.myspace.com/nightmareofyou
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Small Mountain Path and MEANY Fest '08
A few saturday nights ago, I had the pleasure of stumbling on a really cool partially female fronted Japanese punk band called Small Mountain Path. Their sound is hard core old school punk from the 70's and they have a bass player who rocks
one red mitten while she plays! I'm trying to figure out how to post mp3's on my site and the gals and guy of Small Mountain Path were gracious enough to send me an mp3 called "Spearmint Tea", I think I posted the mp3. But if I didn't I will try my best to figure this whole blogger mp3 out! And in the meantime you can check them out on their myspace page and hear SMP's awesome and unique music for yourself!
Small Mountain Path plays National Underground in New York City on November 1st at 9pm. Small Mountain Path is not to be missed live!! National Underground is located at 159 East Houston Street in New York City. It's ten dollars to get in and 21 and older to hear Small Mountain Path!
http://www.myspace.com/smallmountainpath
As I keep mentioning this Thursday night 10/2 the show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC kicks off MEANY Fest '08. And as I keep saying the bill this Thursday is a real stellar one, besides the line up that night there is going to be a major raffle! The good folks at The John Lennon Songwriting contest have donated over $5,000.00 worth of musical gear to be raffled off!! All proceeds from the raffle go to various charities that fight children's cancer.
If you haven't gotten your tickets you can go to www.highlineballroom.com.
The rest of MEANY Fest '08 is shaping up to be a pretty major MEANY Fest! Straight off playing this past August's All Points West Music Festival, Maverick recording artist Ben Jelen plays MEANY '08 at Arlene's Grocery in Manhattan on 10/9.
New York's own by way of London, Davey La plays MEANY '08 on 10/18 at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan.
The very soulful and fab Miss Bethany Saint Smith and her band the Gunshow play the Delancy in Manhattan on 10/11.
To find out who else is playing MEANY Fest '08, times and venue locations you can cut and paste the link below.
http://www.meanyfest.com/index.php/07-SCHEDULE.html
one red mitten while she plays! I'm trying to figure out how to post mp3's on my site and the gals and guy of Small Mountain Path were gracious enough to send me an mp3 called "Spearmint Tea", I think I posted the mp3. But if I didn't I will try my best to figure this whole blogger mp3 out! And in the meantime you can check them out on their myspace page and hear SMP's awesome and unique music for yourself!
Small Mountain Path plays National Underground in New York City on November 1st at 9pm. Small Mountain Path is not to be missed live!! National Underground is located at 159 East Houston Street in New York City. It's ten dollars to get in and 21 and older to hear Small Mountain Path!
http://www.myspace.com/smallmountainpath
As I keep mentioning this Thursday night 10/2 the show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC kicks off MEANY Fest '08. And as I keep saying the bill this Thursday is a real stellar one, besides the line up that night there is going to be a major raffle! The good folks at The John Lennon Songwriting contest have donated over $5,000.00 worth of musical gear to be raffled off!! All proceeds from the raffle go to various charities that fight children's cancer.
If you haven't gotten your tickets you can go to www.highlineballroom.com.
The rest of MEANY Fest '08 is shaping up to be a pretty major MEANY Fest! Straight off playing this past August's All Points West Music Festival, Maverick recording artist Ben Jelen plays MEANY '08 at Arlene's Grocery in Manhattan on 10/9.
New York's own by way of London, Davey La plays MEANY '08 on 10/18 at the Knitting Factory in Manhattan.
The very soulful and fab Miss Bethany Saint Smith and her band the Gunshow play the Delancy in Manhattan on 10/11.
To find out who else is playing MEANY Fest '08, times and venue locations you can cut and paste the link below.
http://www.meanyfest.com/index.php/07-SCHEDULE.html
Monday, September 29, 2008
Some reminders and Tina Fey comes back to SNL as Sarah Palin
My chat with Adam Merrin from The 88 is in the editing phase. The interview will be posted either by the end of this week or early next week...stay tuned!
And just a reminder if you haven't got your tickets for the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC this Thursday 10/2...you need to get them now! It's going to be a really stellar night! On the bill that night are; Cass Dillion, The Postelles, Alexa Ray Joel, The Orion Experience, Saints and Lovers, Solomon Saint of the Illegals, Murder Mystery and Nightmare of You. Not only does this up and coming Thursday night's show kick off MEANY '08 but it's also a benefit to fight pediatric cancer. To get your tickets cut and paste on the link below, hurry cause they are going fast!
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=268892
MEANY Fest happens from 10/8 to 10/18 at various venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn. There are some amazing special guests, who will be taking part in MEANY '08 including Ben Jelen, who is slatted to play on 10/9 at Arlene's Grocery. To see the full MEANY Fest '08 schedule and find out who the other special guests are, cut and paste the link below.
http://www.meanyfest.com/index.php/07-SCHEDULE.html
This past Saturday night, Tina Fey returned to "Saturday Night Live" to play Sarah Palin in a take off of the recent interview Sarah Palin did with Katie Couric. What is really scary is that the dialogue in this skit is taken verbatim from the transcripts of the Couric/Palin interview! Not one word of this skit was written by the SNL writers!
Certain people in this country will over look the fact that Palin is a total clueless idiot, they'll vote for her cause she's just like them and has the same values as them! And to those people I say to you, would you honestly want you being one heartbeat away from running the country!? And don't you get the fact that America is a melting pot of all different types of people some with values and morals different then your own!? Anyway this SNL skit is really funny and totally brilliant. Enjoy!
And just a reminder if you haven't got your tickets for the MEANY Fest '08 kick off show at the Highline Ballroom in NYC this Thursday 10/2...you need to get them now! It's going to be a really stellar night! On the bill that night are; Cass Dillion, The Postelles, Alexa Ray Joel, The Orion Experience, Saints and Lovers, Solomon Saint of the Illegals, Murder Mystery and Nightmare of You. Not only does this up and coming Thursday night's show kick off MEANY '08 but it's also a benefit to fight pediatric cancer. To get your tickets cut and paste on the link below, hurry cause they are going fast!
http://www.ticketweb.com/t3/sale/SaleEventDetail?dispatch=loadSelectionData&eventId=268892
MEANY Fest happens from 10/8 to 10/18 at various venues across Manhattan and Brooklyn. There are some amazing special guests, who will be taking part in MEANY '08 including Ben Jelen, who is slatted to play on 10/9 at Arlene's Grocery. To see the full MEANY Fest '08 schedule and find out who the other special guests are, cut and paste the link below.
http://www.meanyfest.com/index.php/07-SCHEDULE.html
This past Saturday night, Tina Fey returned to "Saturday Night Live" to play Sarah Palin in a take off of the recent interview Sarah Palin did with Katie Couric. What is really scary is that the dialogue in this skit is taken verbatim from the transcripts of the Couric/Palin interview! Not one word of this skit was written by the SNL writers!
Certain people in this country will over look the fact that Palin is a total clueless idiot, they'll vote for her cause she's just like them and has the same values as them! And to those people I say to you, would you honestly want you being one heartbeat away from running the country!? And don't you get the fact that America is a melting pot of all different types of people some with values and morals different then your own!? Anyway this SNL skit is really funny and totally brilliant. Enjoy!
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