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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Licensing of the Monsters: How Pokémon Ignited An Anime Arms Race

"Hey, what do ya' got there? A rabbit?" Batman asks his mentor, staring at a video of Pikachu on a massive underground computer screen.

"It's a Pokémon," Bruce Wayne replies.

Five seconds later, Batman is shocked so hard by the tiny yellow creature that he ends up flying headfirst through another computer monitor (Using a clip from the "Blackout" episode of Batman Beyond, an episode that would've aired for the first time just days earlier.) It doesn't make much physical sense, but this bizarre 1999 crossover promo did establish two things: 1) Pokémon was coming to Kids' WB, and 2) Pokémon was important. So important that Batman actually took time away from obsessing over crime and vengeance to care about it.

Echoing a 1997 promo where the comedic Bugs Bunny let us in on the "secret" that the serious, dark Batman was coming to Kids' WB, it almost seems like a passing of the torch. Kids' WB, up until then, was a programming service chock full of classic Warner Bros. cartoon properties like Bugs, Daffy, Pinky, Brain, and various members of the Justice League — all animated Americana.

Pokémon wasn't a huge risk as the 4Kids Entertainment dub of the show had done well in broadcast syndication, they had plenty of episodes to work with (sometimes airing three in a row), and it was based on a game series that was already a worldwide smash hit.

But the show was ... different.

And it would end up changing cartoons as we knew them.

Part 1: Batman Jumps Ship

It's hard to think of a better scenario when it comes to appealing to kids than the one Fox Kids had with Batman: The Animated Series. Debuting in September 1992 and airing on weekdays just after school let out, it received immediate acclaim due to its moody, beautiful animation and storytelling that didn't talk down to anyone. Little kids could get into Batman throwing crooks around and adults could marvel at plots like the one where a former child actress with a medical condition that keeps her from aging takes her former co-stars hostage and ends up holding a gun, hallucinating, and sobbing into Batman's arms.

It did so well that Fox tried to air it on prime-time Sundays and though this was short-lived — turns out, Batman was no match for Ed Bradley on CBS's 60 Minutes — it solidified the show as "cool." This was a show that could hang with the big boys. You couldn't say the same of something like Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

And then, in 1997, it was gone. A five-year contract ran out and Batman leapt completely to Kids' WB, where a continuation of the show (the often even grimmer The New Batman Adventures) aired later that year. There, it joined Superman: The Animated Series in a one-two punch of programming called The New Batman/Superman Adventures. When it came to Kids' WB, competitors not only had to deal with the Merry Melodies crowd, they now had to face the World's Finest Heroes.

This, along with a departing Animaniacs, left Fox Kids with a gap in flagship programming. Sure it had various incarnations of the Power Rangers (which was still holding strong) and Spider-Man, but if you look back on 1998 programming, little of it would survive the year. Silver Surfer? Gone by May. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation? Out by December. Casper? Dead in October. By May of 1999, Warner Media would announce record ratings thanks to Pokémon, while its competitors, including the Disney-led ABC, Fox, and even Nickelodeon, would suffer losses in the Saturday morning area. Pokemon would have the best ever series premiere numbers for Kids' WB at the time.

A chunk of that has to do with 4Kids Entertainment's (or to be more specific, 4Kids Productions) handling of the show. Again, Pokémon was a proven concept. If you love monsters, adventure, and collecting things, you'll probably find something to enjoy in the franchise. But the dub was particularly strong. For years, dubbing was seen as an inherently laughable thing in America, full of exasperated voice actors trying desperately to convince you that they weren't portraying three different characters, and lips that didn't match the dialogue. Entire Japanese series were reduced to laughing stocks in the U.S. because why focus on the lovingly created miniatures and top-notch tokusatsu action in Godzilla if one of the actors sounds weird?

But while Pokémon wasn't the first great dub, it was a remarkably underrated one. Veronica Taylor's work as Ash Ketchum was relatable, funny, and consistent. And Racheal Lillis, Eric Stuart, and Maddie Blaustein's turns as Team Rocket's Jessie, James, and Meowth gave us villains that could've easily been the most repetitive parts of the show — you can only try to capture Pikachu so many times before you should logically find a second hobby — but instead were one of the most entertaining aspects.

Aside from some easily meme-able bits — Brock's drying pan and jelly donuts, for example — Pokemon became a seamless addition to the Kids' WB lineup and would end up giving many fans a lifelong love of anime. And it was great for 4Kids, too, as in 2000, they would be number one on Fortune's 100 Fastest-Growing Companies.

Fox Kids wanted an answer to this. And it would soon find one.

Well, two.

Part 2: Monsters Rule

Saban Entertainment was no stranger to Fox Kids. They'd been the one to adapt Toei's Super Sentai into The Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers for American and international audiences, creating an unexpected sensation that combined monsters and martial arts. And in 1999, they nabbed Digimon Adventure, a series about kids that gain "digital" monster partners when transported to a "digital world," which had begun airing earlier that year in Japan. Based on a fighting virtual pet that had already been around for a few years, Digimon was a natural fit for an anime series and also a natural fit for a climate that was desperately trying to find the next Pokémon.

Renamed Digimon: Digital Monsters, it premiered in August of 1999. Of course, accusations followed that it was a Pokémon rip-off, considering that they were both about befriending terrifying laser critters, but they offered fairly different things. While Pokémon was more episodic, Digimon gave viewers a more Dragon Ball Z-esque experience (they were both Toei productions, too) with the titular monsters evolving and gaining "power-ups" due to fighting increasingly powerful villains.

Almost two months later, Monster Rancher would join the Fox Kids lineup, airing on Saturdays at 8:30 AM after Sherlock Holmes in the 22nd Century (a Fox Kids lost relic if there ever was one). Together, Monster Rancher and Digimon would cover the programming block with monster action, sometimes airing twice each. Meanwhile, Pokémon would do the same for Kids' WB, and if you look at their Saturday morning schedules from 1999 and 2000, it appears they just shoved Pikachu in whenever possible.

Looking back on Monster Rancher is always odd, though, because it's so specifically trapped in the time period where it originated. The video games used metadata from readable discs to create new monsters for the player, meaning that as soon as people gained the ability to download or stream media online without having to travel to their local Circuit City, the game would look absolutely archaic in comparison to its peers.

Monster Rancher is a very fun show based on some very fun games, and the dynamic array of personalities and their particular squabbles in the core group actually reminds me a lot of One Piece. But even the show itself deals with reviving monsters on giant stone discs — a prehistoric-looking adaptation of a video game gimmick that would, a decade later, appear prehistoric itself.

The Monster War was waged across 2000 and 2001. And though it appears Pokémon was the clear winner — in 2020, it's the most popular franchise with the widest reach, even if Digimon does produce some stellar shows and movies — the ratings tell a different story. In the May sweeps of 2000, Pokémon (and Kids' WB) took the prize among kids 6-11, but in the end, Fox Kids would score a victory of a 3.1 rating to Kids' WB's 3.0 (the first sweeps win since 1997, the year that Batman left.)

Early the following year, Fox Kids would score again, narrowly beating Pokémon on Saturday morning in the same timeslot and even coming ahead of properties like X-Men. And what would propel this February 10th victory? The first appearance of BlackWarGreymon, the Shadow the Hedgehog to WarGreymon's Sonic.

However, Pokémon would still help create ratings records for Kids' WB, even though late 2000/early 2001 saw a slide that would often cede dominance to Nickelodeon. Jed Patrick, who was president of The WB at the time said: "I didn't think Pokémon would fall off as much as it did ... every fire cools down a little, but that doesn't mean it doesn't stay hot."

Even though, in retrospect, claims that "Pokemania" had died seem a little ridiculous — the latest games, Pokémon Sword and Shield, just became the highest-selling entries in seventeen years — big changes were ahead.

Part 3: It's Time To Duel ... Or Not

In early 2001, Joel Andryc, executive VP of kids' programming and development for Fox Kids, was looking for a "Digimon companion series to create an hour-long anime block." He felt they were too reliant on Digimon, as they were airing it three times in a single morning. Likely not coincidentally, that summer Fox Kids Fridays were dubbed "anime invasion," advertising Flint The Time Detective, Dinozaurs, Escaflowne, and Digimon. In one commercial, a single quote zips across the bottom of the screen: "Anime Rocks!" Nicole, TX

That it does, Nicole from Texas.

Meanwhile, 4Kids Entertainment would provide Kids' WB with another monster show: Yu-Gi-Oh! Known as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan, this anime adaptation absconded from retelling the stories found in the early chapters of the manga — which were mostly devoted to Yugi running into jerks, only to have his Egyptian spirit "alter ego" deal karmic retribution on them — and instead focused on the parts that involved the cool monster fights. So basically the parts that were the most like Pokémon.

But how would this be received? In 2000, Canadian studio Nelvana had licensed the anime Cardcaptor Sakura and turned it simply into Cardcaptors — an extremely edited version that removed many important relationships and plotlines and tried to streamline the show into a pseudo-Pokémon story. It's gone down in history as one of the most questionable dubs ever, and never really made a splash on Kids' WB. So they wouldn't want a repeat of that.

But would kids be into a card game? The cards did summon monsters, but in Pokémon and Digimon, the monsters are just there, moving around and not relegated to a glorified checkers board arena. It turned out, yes, kids would be REALLY into that. Yu-Gi-Oh! debuted at number one in multiple demographics in September 2001, and would remain a steady part of its lineup for years to come.

And how did Fox Kids respond? Did the "anime invasion" work out? Well, sort of, but not in the way they were hoping.

In 2001, due to diminishing ratings and audiences, Fox Kids Worldwide (along with Fox Family Worldwide) were sold to The Walt Disney Company. By November 7th, they'd canceled their weekly afternoon blocks, and the next year, they'd end up selling their entire Saturday morning block to a company that had provided their rivals with the very same TV shows that aided in sinking them: 4Kids Entertainment. The final show to premiere on the original Fox Kids was Galidor: Defenders of the Outer Dimension, a live action series that stood beside Alienators: Evolution Continues (a cartoon sequel to the mediocre 2001 comedy Evolution) and the underrated Medabots as the block's last gasp.

Renamed FoxBox in late 2002 (and later 4KidsTV in 2005), the 4Kids run schedule would, over the years, include anime like Kirby! Right Back At Ya!, Ultimate Muscle, Fighting Foodons, Sonic X, Shaman King, and eventually, in 2004, the infamous One Piece dub. The first Saturday of the new FoxBox lineup would also outdo the previous Saturday's Fox Kids lineup. Disney would acquire the rights to Digimon and it showed up on ABC Family in late 2001 (eighteen years later, a reboot of the original series would air, which can be watched on Crunchyroll).

Eventually, in 2007, the Monster War would come full circle. 4Kids Entertainment announced they would be taking over the Kids' WB Saturday morning block entirely, renaming it the "CW4KIDS," as The CW had been born after UPN and The WB had ceased to be. Pokémon was long gone by this point, having been dropped by Kids' WB in 2006, and was now overseen by The Pokémon Company International on Cartoon Network.

"We wish Pokémon USA much success going forward," the CEO of 4Kids Entertainment said. Later sued over "illegal agreements" regarding the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, the company would eventually file for bankruptcy in 2016. Pokémon Journeys, the latest installment in the franchise, launches on Netflix on June 12th.

Daniel Dockery is a Senior Staff Writer for Crunchyroll. Follow him on Twitter!

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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doomedandstoned · 4 years

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Conan Bring Cold Blackened Violence to France

~By Clem Helvete~

For the penultimate show of a European tour that lasted over a month, CONAN played the Westill Festival in Vallet, France. For the occasion, I reached out to Jon and asked him if him and Dave (who was playing bass on this tour) would have a minute to answer a few questions. Although they were both quite tired from a month of hopping from one city to the other, they still managed to make time to talk about the tour, Blackskull Services, guitars, pedals, and amps. We nerded out about gear for a bit, right before Conan went on stage and literally blew up the PA. And I literally mean literally...

So, how did the tour go?

Jon: We’re two shows from the end now, and I could probably still go on a few more shows. I’m a bit tired but we’ve been out a whole month. We’ve been to fifteen countries or more all across Europe. So, it’s been good.

Dave: The tour was great. I haven't done anything like this for 25 years when Fudge Tunnel was touring. The whole thing was fine though, well organised and we had Un and Sixes from the USA along on all but the last two shows so we all made a lot of friends.

Dave, how did you end up playing bass in Conan to occasionally replace Chris?

Dave: I got to know Jon a little via Facebook, as he's a big fan of my old band Fudge Tunnel. Last year he asked me if I fancied filling in on bass for a couple of shows while Chris got married. That went OK, and he asked me to do a few more shows that Chris couldn't make due to his producing commitments. Then earlier this year he asked if I could do a whole four week european tour. Chris and his wife just had a baby, so I'm like "maternity cover" this time out.

Does it bring a different vibe to Conan to have Dave on bass?

Jon: It is a tiny bit different and it’s interesting. Dave and his band have alway been idols to me, so being on stage with him is really great. We’re very comfortable playing and working together, and we get along great. So, it’s brilliant.

You toured with Un and Sixes, which are two bands who have releases on Jon’s label, Black Bow Records. In addition, the whole thing was booked through Blackskull, right?

Jon: I released the first Un album on CD and digital and I think Translation Loss has picked them up for the subsequent release. I distributed Sixes’ more recent album in Europe.

Between Black Bow records, Blackskull Services and Conan, which is a very active band, how do you manage all of this?

Jon: With some difficulty, but it’s fun. I enjoy it, so I keep busy with it. I don’t do everything on my own. Blackskull is myself and my other half, Sarah. There are other people who work within Blackskull, who do the booking. On this particular tour Marie, who does some of the booking with Blackskull, handled all of that. So I can’t take any credit for that really. The tour is going really well and that’s because of Marie, really. She’s been really good at booking everything.

You basically started the booking agency and the name Conan has gotten some momentum, to say the least, over the last few years. It feels like you’re giving back by helping smaller bands.

Jon: I always get asked for advice, and I’m not an expert on everything by any means, but there are a lot of ways that you can help bands get over some of the hurdles, particularly in the early stages. That’s really why it was set up, just to help bands move forward. Obviously there are more serious aspects of what we do, such as negotiating with labels, booking tours, all the transactional things that we do. But on the other hand, we’re here for advice and guidance. I wish I had someone like this when Conan was starting out. There are certain things that we probably wouldn’t have done if we had the correct advice. So you can pass on your experience to other bands and we decided to make a business out of it.

Can you tell us about the bass and guitar you're using in Conan?

Dave: Up until this tour I had been borrowing Chris's Dunable Thunderclapper, which is a beautiful instrument. Conan plays in drop-F and his bass was custom made with that in mind, longer scale etc. As we were going away for a lot longer this time I put something off my own together. It's a P-bass body which I stripped down and re-finished. I put in a DiMarzio DP122 pickup and upgraded the wiring. it has a Gotoh bridge which I set back an extra inch to lengthen the scale. The neck is a fairly cheap jazz style thing which I got on eBay. To make a bass that plays in drop-F you need to use extra thick strings, Rotosound Dropzone+. The thickest string is a 175 and it still flops about and slaps on the fretboard.

I believe Jon started out playing Gibsons and then moved on to EGCs for a while, is that correct?

Jon: The first guitar I started using in Conan was by a British company called Gordon Smith. I had an SG and I recorded the first two albums on that. Over time I’ve used different guitars, I used to have an early ‘80s silverburst Les Paul custom. It’s a beautiful guitar but I didn’t really like the way the strap is bent at a sharp angle the way I wear it. There was once or twice where it actually popped-out of the strap pin. Not cool on a guitar that’s worth about £2,000. Around that time I had an Electrical Guitar Company all aluminium, which is a bit trendy I guess. They are great instruments, but I didn’t want to have two guitars that are worth so much money on the road. I sold that and I ended up noticing Dunable Guitars from Los Angeles, so I bought a couple from him. I have a Dunable R2, I have a Flying V, and I have another guitar that’s being made for me at the moment. It’s like a reverse body clone of a Guild S200. I’ve always loved the shape of this guitar, but not necessary all the switches that are on it. So I wanted that shape but with something more traditional in terms of options, just two pickups, tone and volume.

What about the scale?

Jon: These are not baritones, they are Fender scale [ed. 25.5”]. I’ve always had the Fender scale. The Gibson Les Paul obviously isn't a Fender scale, and the Gordon Smith was also a Gibson scale [ed. 24.75”].

Do you find the Dunables more comfortable to play due to the scale or is it more of an overall thing?

Jon: I find the overall comfortable enough and they hold the tune a little bit better.

Which is important since you guys are way down-tuned.

Jon: Yes, we’re dropped tuned to F. So it’s important that the strings are tight enough so they sound clear enough when you’re playing. So, that little bit of extra length on the neck definitely helps.

What string gauge do you use?

Jon: The bottom one is a .8 and then I go through to 14 I think. Right now I’m using Ernie Ball heavy gauge strings. They do an 8 strings set, which goes from 80 to 11. I use the first four wound strings and then I don’t remember what the 2 thinnest strings are. I don’t really worry about changing them because I don’t really use them when I’m playing. The other day, I replaced all my strings and just did the first four because they’re the only ones I use, like a poor man’s Max Cavalera.

Dave, I assume your rig is a bit different from what you were using in Fudge Tunnel. Are you trying to get close to Chris's sound or are you really just going for your own thing?

Dave: In Fudge Tunnel I used a very different sound. Much more top end, and standard tuning. So I mostly used Marshall solid states or Ampeg SVTs with Fender Jazz, Musician or Rickenbacker. When I play in Conan, I try to make it sound good to my ears. Chris is a producer and has much better ears than me, so it probably doesn't sound the same. He also has a much better beard.

I believe you are using an Orange OB1-300 and QSC RMX 850a (I could be wrong on this one) both rack mounted. Can you tell us a bit about this pairing and how it came to be ?

Dave: My Orange amp is an OB-500, which I really like. It's ridiculously loud and a bit more reliable than a full-on tube amp. The power amp is there just to run the Peavey cab, which is a 1x18. It's Conan's cab, and it's just there for the low end (there's a lot of low end). As far as I know all the speakers are stock. The 8x10 is one that we bought on the road, towards the start of the tour in Copenhagen. The one we brought over was a little worn out, and I managed to blow three of the speakers (oops!), so we upgraded. All three bands were using the 8x10 every night so it had to be done.

I saw that the guitar rig you’re using on this tour is different from the one that you’ve been using for a while now. Can you tell us about your current touring rig?

Jon: Very early on in this tour there was a signal problem with it. I haven’t tried it since so maybe it was my cables. But because of that I’ve switched it to two old Peaveys amps. I’ve had these Peaveys in the studio for years now and I’ve never really used them, but I had to bring them out of retirement for this tour. I actually had them fully overhauled and serviced just before we started the tour. I must have had some sort of premonition or something, like I knew this was going to happen. I started using them in Hamburg, which was only the 4th or 5th show on this tour and I’ve got two shows left and so far it’s been good.

I have the Hilbish rig at home and I’ve got the Peaveys now that all of a sudden have caught my attention, but I’ve just taken delivery of a valve rig made of a separate preamp and a power amp.

Are you going back to tube amps?

Jon: I’m just going to try it and see. I’ve got another band, Ungraven, in which I want to run two full stacks with two 8x10s. For that set up, I’m going to run two full stacks with this new rigs if it sound good. It’s a Mesa Boogie Studio preamp, the same one that Kurt Cobain used, and that is going to be run into a Mesa Boogie 295 power amplifier. This is a stereo power amplifier and each channel is 95 watts. That’s all tube. I’m interested to see how that sounds, I think it’ll sound cool. Then I’ll use the Hilbish or the Peaveys through 8x10s. I’d rather use the Hilbish if I figure out what’s wrong with it. That rig could run two 8x10s very easily so that’s what I’d rather use.

What made you decide that you would switch from tube to solid state? This is not a very popular move within the doom scene.

Jon: On our last album I used the Hilbish rig in which I ran a Boss HM-2 clone. I’m not using that pedal live right now, but I’ve been using it quite a lot. I don’t really know why people would have an issue with solid-state. Some of the coolest albums were recorded and played live with solid-state amps. In Crowbar Kirk uses the Orange solid-state 100 watts head, Jimmy Bower from Eyehategod uses a Randall solid-state. Buzz from the Melvins uses the exact same Hilbish rig I have, it was through him that I’ve heard of this amplifier. I like the versatility of it, I love solid-state.

Speaking of amplification, do you have any issues with volume restrictions? France and Belgium are known for having fairly low limitations.

Jon: It has been an issue in some places. Yesterday in France we were a bit louder than they would have liked. It was around 109 decibels and their limit was 102 or 103dB. Some of the shows it’s a little bit of a restriction but nothing too crazy. We played at this place called Fundbureau in Hamburg, which is actually a techno club, and the PA in there is for techno. It was the most powerful PA we’ve ever played through. Our sound guy is good at making us sound good while respecting the dB restrictions, but when he’s let loose on a loud PA it’s awesome. The sound in this venu was crazy. When we were playing the floor and the stage were vibrating all the time. After the set my feet were tingling. I’m not sure if I enjoyed how it felt but it sounded amazing.

Gear is an important component of your sound, so how do you make sure you have the gear you want when touring the US or Asia for example?

Jon: In America we’ve got our own cabs and I’ve got two Hilbish rigs out there. Friends of ours in a band called Serial Hawk in Seattle keep all of our gear in a storage room. We have a bass rig and two guitar rigs out there. We have three 4x12s and an 8x10. So when we go in America on tour it’s all there for us. It costs us less than we spent renting gear on the first two tours. So it makes sense. Rather than spending a fortune renting it I’d rather have some consistency. A lot of bands use Orange amps, and they’re great amplifiers. If I ever have to rent it, I’d rent Orange for sure. I like owning what I use. I can maintain it myself and I know that nobody abused it a week before. Touring through Asia, we played Japan one time and I just used two Marshall JCM 900 full stacks and on bass we used an Ampeg and an 8x10. Australia and New Zealand we just rent whatever’s there. Last time we went over it was Marshall. But if we can specify what we use, we just go for a cleanish sound and two full stacks. So Marshall can do, Orange would do.

Basically a loud pedal platform.

Jon: Yes, my pedalboard comes with me no matter where we play, so I know that’s always consistent. For distortion I’m using a Fuzzthrone, which is a really high gain Big Muff. It works really well for Metal, it works really well for slow, drony parts. I’ve got it dialed in quite well. Although, when I change my strings it sounds a little bit brighter than normal, so the last couple of shows was a struggle to get the feedback swell the way I like it. As long as it’s a clean sounding, loud amplifier I can probably sound quite consistent through them.

So let’s talk about your pedalboard. You’ve worked with Dunwich Amplification for the Fuzzthrone, how was that?

Jon: It’s a Fuzzface stacked up on a Big Muff tone, but I just told him what my favorite sound was and he made it, but louder and with more power to push the amplifier a little bit more.

You tried out prototypes?

Jon: Yes, he sent me a prototype, then I used that and he sent me the real thing. Since then I’ve had three or four different ones and they all sounded the same. He’s a great pedal builder. Right now I’ve got a Fuzzthrone and I’ve got a Nihilist, which is an HM-2 clone. It’s the same pedal I use on the album. The one I use right now has a clean blend, I think it would make for an amazing bass distortion pedal. I don’t use the clean blend for guitar, though.

I’m guessing your pedalboard hasn’t really changed since what you showed in the video you made a few years back.

Jon: Yes, it’s the same thing.

c/o The Doom Doc (2017)

What about bass effects?

Dave: My pedalboard is pretty simple. I use a T-Rex power supply, MXR bass compressor, Boss tuner and a SansAmp bass driver. There's also a Boss Bass Overdrive just in case the SansAmp dies.

I saw on social media that you picked up Ground FX pedals. Are you using them on this tour?

Jon: No, when we played in Hamburg we went to my friend’s music store and we stayed just above it. This music shop is like a treasure trove. He has amazing instruments in there. I got to play on a late 60s Fender Jaguar and he’s got loads of cool Hiwatt, Orange, and Roost amplifiers. My friend Christian, who runs a festival called Droneburg, told me a friend of his made a couple different pedals and wanted me to try them. So I got one which is a bass distortion and one that is like a Sunn Model T preamp. I tried them out there and it sounded cool, but I wasn’t using my gear. So I’m going to try them once I go back in the UK and see if I can maybe use them on a record.

What piece of gear would you say is at the heart of your sound?

Dave: The modified bass is essential, along with unusual amounts of volume and drive. I wouldn't want to go "unplugged" in Conan.

Jon: Without a doubt the Fuzzthrone. I’ve been using that since Blood Eagle. I love how it sounds and it makes me play a certain way. It’s taken a new lease of life with these Peaveys that I’m using now, which I didn’t really expect. I love how it sounds. It’s a simple pedal and I have my sound dialed in so it stays pretty consistent no matter what amp I use it with.

You don’t play around much with pedals in studio then? Aside from the HM-2 clone on your last album, would you say that you don’t really stray from your sound?

Jon: I used the HM-2 clone mixed with a fuzz pedal. I didn’t use the Fuzzthrone on the last album at all, I used a Meathead [ed. by D*A*M]. I like mixing things up, maybe on this new album I’ll use the Fuzzthrone because it sounds pretty cool at the moment.

Is the new album ready to go?

Jon: Yes, I got some songs written. We just need to rehearse them a little bit and get them ready for the studio.

It’s impressive how active you guys are. It is something a lot of musicians can look up to.

Jon: It’s something I’ve always been interested in since my mid teens. Writing music has always been a goal of mine. Performing kind of took over and became a thing all of its own. I’ve never had any idea of what it would be like to go on tour, I’d never thought for a minute that we’d do that. We tour quite a lot, we’re very lucky. I don’t have a day job holding me back, neither does Chris. He runs his own studio so he’s flexible. Johnny is also very flexible with his work, so the three of us are lucky. It’s like the stars have aligned most of the time. When Chris isn’t available we can call Dave, which is great.

Thanks again to Jon and Dave for their time and for being so friendly and accessible after driving around Europe for a month. It goes without saying, but Conan played loud and hard and I’m very much looking forward to their next show in our neck of the woods.

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#D&S Interviews #Conan #London #England #Doom #Metal #Clem Helvete #Westill Festival #Vallet #France #2019 #Doomed & Stoned

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moodboardinthecloud · 3 years

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A Tale Of Two Ecosystems: On Bandcamp, Spotify And The Wide-Open Future

Spotify and Bandcamp could not be more opposite. Where Spotify highlights playlists, most often of its own creation, Bandcamp sticks to the album (or any other format, as determined by the artist). Where Spotify pays royalties according to little-understood formulas that can only be analyzed by reverse calculation, Bandcamp lets artists and labels choose their own prices. Where Spotify requires working through a limited number of distributors to access their services, Bandcamp is open to anyone. Where Spotify has revenue streams dependent on ads and data, Bandcamp operates on a simple revenue share with artists and collects no information on its users.

Spotify is now worth an estimated $54 billion on the stock market, despite having never shown an annual profit. Bandcamp is privately owned, has been in the black since 2012, and continues to grow... slowly. You might be tempted to say that one is a 21st-century business, and the other belongs to an earlier age. But neither could exist at any other time.

Which poses the question: does our 21st-century business world really have to be so much like Spotify, and so little like Bandcamp? I spoke with Bandcamp CEO and co-founder Ethan Diamond to try and understand better how and why his company does business the way they do.

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Given how differently Bandcamp has behaved from a typical startup, I asked Diamond a fundamental question: Is Bandcamp a digital business?

There was a long pause. "Yeah, I'm not sure," said Diamond. "I think of Bandcamp as a music company first, because I think of who we serve as first and foremost the artist. And the way to best serve artists happens to be through technology, a particular model of technology that our business is based on. But we're definitely – no question – we're different than a lot of digital businesses. I mean, the mission of the company is, I think, fairly unique. ... There's this great story – there was a New Yorker article about it – about how Prince was working on his autobiography just before he died. And he had picked a co-writer and in one of their initial meetings together he said, 'Music is healing. Write that down first.' He said that he wanted it to be the guiding principle they used in the book. And if you start with this idea that music is healing, that is obviously a power that should be in the hands of everybody who has the talent to wield it. ... And so that's what Bandcamp is. That's what I feel like we're here to build – that system. And the way you do that is by ensuring that artists are compensated fairly and transparently for their work. And that is through the direct support of their fans."

NATIONAL

Comments From Spotify CEO Anger Some Musicians

Try going into an investor earnings call with that! Actually, what does a proper earnings call in the digital music business sound like? Daniel Ek, CEO and co-founder of Spotify, peppered his on April 29 with the phrase, "audio-first strategy." He uses "audio" rather than "music" because podcasting has become an important element of Spotify's strategy. But strategy toward what, exactly? Here are more of Ek's own words, from his Q1 2020 earnings call:

"When I look ahead both short- and long-term, I'm always thinking about what's Spotify's role within the larger ecosystem. And while most focus is on competition between streaming services, we continue to be focused on the billions of users that are listening to linear radio. The 20-year trend is that everything linear dies and on-demand wins. This is a trend that we suspect will be accelerated by the COVID pandemic. ... So in my mind, our competition is actually those learned and long-held user behaviors. For us, it will always be about capturing the share of time listeners spend elsewhere and prove out [sic] that their time is far better spent with us."

Spotify is focused on "capturing the share of time listeners spend elsewhere." This is why Ek talks about "audio" generically, because it doesn't matter specifically what those listeners are doing elsewhere, Ek just wants them doing it at Spotify instead. Spotify is not a "music company first," as Diamond describes Bandcamp, because music plays a role only insofar as people spend some of their time listening to it, and Spotify wants all their time. What truly comes first for Spotify is competition – the company is focused on eliminating other places for time spent listening to... whatever. If it's to conspiracist shock jock Joe Rogan – now signed to Spotify for exclusivity of his podcast, reportedly for upwards of $100 million – then it's Joe Rogan. And Joe Rogan is anything but healing. Indeed, health clearly has nothing to do with this. As Ek makes clear, even the COVID pandemic can be put to use by Spotify's strategy, as can the death of an existing medium for music, "linear radio" (more commonly known as "radio").

To be fair, Ek says he does have another mission in mind for Spotify. It's one he spelled out a couple of years ago, before podcasting entered the picture but right before the company went public on the stock exchange: he said he wanted Spotify to help "one million artists to be able to live off their art." This sounds good, especially if you're one of a million artists, rather than one in a million. But what can it mean, when Spotify's royalty rates are so low that to earn a living wage of $15 an hour, a musician needs 657,895 streams per month*? (And if you aren't a solo artist, multiply that by the number of people in your band.)

*Some streaming napkin math: A $15-an-hour minimum wage is $2,500 in revenue per month (pre-tax). Calculating Spotify streaming payout as $0.0038 per stream, then $2,500 equals out to 657,895 streams. It's important to note that this is necessarily an estimate, because each artist makes a slightly different amount per stream — but many use this average figure to estimate Spotify earnings.

It's this discrepancy, between stated goals and reality, that has led many musicians to become more vocal about their dissatisfaction with Spotify. So many that Ek himself recently complained, in an interview with MusicAlly, that: "In the entire existence [of Spotify] I don't think I've ever seen a single artist saying 'I'm happy with all the money I'm getting from streaming.' " Tellingly, Ek didn't follow this with an acknowledgement of why artists are unhappy with the money they get from streaming. Instead, he drew a rather Trump-like conclusion: they are happy, they just don't say it in public. "In private they have done that many times, but in public they have no incentive to do it. But unequivocally, from the data, there are more and more artists that are able to live off streaming income in itself."

Ek continued to swallow his foot in that same interview. "Obviously, some artists that used to do well in the past may not do well in this future landscape, where you can't record music once every three to four years and think that's going to be enough," he said. The reaction from musicians on social media to this particular statement was swift and loud. Musicians do not see themselves as audio machines, able to increase output to make up for the falling unit value of their product. To anyone who knows what goes into recording an album, and how few albums one is likely to make over a career in music, this may well have been the proverbial final straw.

EDITORS' PICKS

A Borrowed World: Streaming As The New Reality

Which brings us back to the anti-Spotify. It's becoming more common, especially among younger bands, to eschew Spotify altogether and post their digital music files on Bandcamp exclusively. [Ed. note: We've been noticing, anecdotally but with increasing frequency, that many new releases we'd like to include on our playlists don't make the jump from being posted on Bandcamp to appearing on platforms like Spotify.] But does it function as a replacement? When I talk about Bandcamp to music fans, especially younger ones, they often say, "but it doesn't stream." You can stream from it, I always point out – just album by album rather than playlist. But I can see their attention has already wandered.

So I put this other very basic question to Ethan Diamond: Is Bandcamp a streaming service?

His answer surprised me. "No," he said. "I don't think of this as a streaming service. I consider us a record store and a music community. The primary difference being that we're a way to directly support the artists that you enjoy listening to. You know, half of the sales on Bandcamp at this point are for physical goods. ... Digital has also seen really strong growth. And when you buy digital on Bandcamp, what you're buying is access. So you can grab a download – you know, there are people who want to grab the high-quality file – but you can also stream through our app, unlimited once you've purchased the music. But yeah, I don't think of us as a streaming service. Definitely."

Bandcamp does stream music – I'm still going to give the same argument to those who tell me it doesn't – but it's so far from the mission of the service, it doesn't even play into Diamond's view of it. Simply put: streaming doesn't support artists. So even though Bandcamp does stream (see, I'm making that argument again!), that's not how it supports artists. Which is what it really is about as a service.

Another striking aspect to Diamond's answer is Bandcamp's connection to physical goods. It is a digital-only business: it has no warehouses or delivery service, like Amazon. But Bandcamp allows artists to take orders for physical goods that they can fulfill however they choose – from their homes, from record labels or distributors, or from third-party merch services. Bandcamp simply takes a 10% revenue share of these sales. For bands, it's a bit like setting up a merch table at a virtual venue. (Venues, especially big ones, typically collect a percentage of merch sold on their premises.)

But if half of Bandcamp's revenue is from physical product, is it a digital platform?

"It definitely started as a digital platform," says Diamond. "In 2007, when we started the company, streaming didn't exist in the United States and our competition essentially was piracy. And the idea in 2007 primarily was that nobody was going to pay for music anymore. And it just seemed very obvious to me that if you like some music from one of your favorite artists, you should be able to support them directly. And so we built the platform to do that. My reference point for this was blogging services. In 2007, you had Blogger, Typepad, Movable Type, services that were essentially like white label services for writers – you could set up a site within minutes and tap this direct relationship with your readers. And it seemed crazy to me that if your artistic output happened to be music instead of words, you were just out of luck."

LIVE UPDATES: PROTESTS FOR RACIAL JUSTICE

Bandcamp, Much-Loved Indie Music Marketplace, Launches A Juneteenth Tradition

"And the most promising thing that happened in the early days," Diamond continues, "was we immediately saw people start to actually buy music, which was very exciting. I wasn't sure that was going to happen! And then, one of the fun things that happened was we started to look at the search terms people were using that brought them to a Bandcamp artist's site that led to a purchase. And several times per hour, we were seeing search terms like the name of an album or name of a track plus the word 'torrent,' or plus the word 'Limewire' or 'Kazaa.' You know, this was somebody whose intent initially was just to get the music – I don't know if they were thinking 'I'm pirating the music' – but they were trying to get it for free. But when they saw that they could make a direct purchase to the artist, they wanted to do that. And that just warmed my heart. So that's really what we were trying to do from the beginning, was just make it clear that this was a way to show your direct support for an artist."

Whether that direct support entails a digital exchange seems immaterial to Diamond. And the platform – unlike any others that come to mind – seems equally indifferent to whether you stay on it. Diamond says this, too, was deliberate from the start.

"That's a lot of the reason why, for a long time, there were not community features on the site. The MySpace community example that I had to go on was just all these people saying 'thanks for the add,' and posting their fliers for their own shows on sites, and basically, you know, polluting somebody else's space. So I said, 'Nah, let's just have no community at all.' And then what happened slowly evolved, because a lot of people started asking us 'Hey, you know, what are the other, like, math-rock artists on Bandcamp?' And my first reaction was, 'Why do you care?' Like, we're not – just go use Google or whatever. Type 'math rock' into Google. But then I started to understand that what was really going on here was a community of like-minded people forming around this idea of direct support of artists. And so then we introduced fan accounts, and collection pages, and discovery tools. And now that drives a significant percentage of the sales on the site. And again, that's just super encouraging."

Ethan Diamond's indifference to the time and money spent by users off his platform would be anathema to Daniel Ek. I am sure any Spotify employee who suggested that their users just type "math rock" into Google would have their desks cleaned out by the end of day. The differences are so extreme, Bandcamp may not just be the anti-Spotify; it may be operating in an entirely different world. I asked Diamond what digital businesses he feels a kinship with now, the way he did with blogging services when he started the company. He didn't name a music platform.

"I would say Etsy. You know, Etsy is similar in that it's a marketplace, right. They connect buyers and sellers, but they're not trying to create competing goods. And they're not fulfilling the goods or anything like that. So it's a community, and they're creating those tools to help connect those artists or sellers and buyers directly. And I think they offer everybody on that platform a fair deal. They've grown into a big company doing that, and I think like every company they have had their fair share of criticisms. But I feel like that's probably the closest."

Music as a craft, as a cottage industry? This may well be the future for many of us in the profession. In my own career, which started in the late 1980s, the type of music I play has gone from subculture to the "alternative" wing of the mainstream and now back, it seems, to subculture. Spotify is built for an economy of scale: it needs and wants to occupy all of everyone's listening time. My music and the milieu it is part of was never intended for that environment – I would worry about anyone who listened to nothing else! Are we, as Brian Wilson sang, just not made for these times?

Bandcamp's counterexample suggests that the problem I and many musicians in my situation face isn't about the digital age per se. It is possible to build a different kind of environment for music online, one that subcultures can recognize as their own and maybe even use to thrive. Or heal, at least, while we dream up new ways to connect with one another in the 21st century.

Damon Krukowski is a musician (Damon & Naomi, Galaxie 500) and writer (Ways of Hearing, The New Analog). He contributes frequently to journals including Art in America, Artforum, Pitchfork, and the New Yorker.

https://www.npr.org/2020/08/19/903547253/a-tale-of-two-ecosystems-on-bandcamp-spotify-and-the-wide-open-future?utm_source=Jocelyn+K.+Glei%27s+newsletter&utm_campaign=a6cdd34d99-Newsletter_12_07_17_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0d0c9bd4c2-a6cdd34d99-143326949&mc_cid=a6cdd34d99&mc_eid=1dbb9b3296

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seeyoulaterspacebean · 7 years

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A Simple review of Caraval

I have been meaning to do this for a while and I was hoping that by writing my thoughts down first, it might stop me from making a shitty youtube video about it. Now, I’ve read a tone of Teen-Fiction and I don’t regret it. At this point, I think I can spot a bad YA novel vs a good one. The book I want to review is called Caraval. I feel, slightly bad about this. My mom had gotten the book for me, because she thought I would enjoy it, I did, just for all of the wrong reasons.

Plot

This book is set in a fantasy world,where an event called Caravel is held on some island once every year by a man named Legend. Who is said to be mysterious and magical. Yes, this is that book. In this event, there is a game, kind of like a treasure hunt, I guess. You can participate or if your smart you can watch and enjoy the magical world of Disney- I mean Caraval. You can shop with your significant other who really doesn't want to be there as much as the rest of the staff.

Our main character is a girl named Scarlett who lives with her sister Donatella and her abusive father. Infatuated by Caraval, Scarlett writes letters every year to the head man, Legend, a complete stranger, who probably doesn't give a shit about her, while receiving love letters from her fiancé, another stranger who probably doesn’t give a shit. One day she fines her younger sister getting down with some other stranger who happens to be some kind of hot sailor. In this time, she also get’s her one way ticket to Caraval, as a special guest of course. That night both girls are whisked away with Sailor Fuck-Boy, aka Julien, we know his name now so its fine to travel with him. Scarlett is surprised to find that when they arrive at the island, her sister is gone, and it turns out, the game this year is to find Donatella.

Thoughts

So, the book does a great job at capturing it’s audience. I was very surprised and delighted to find out Scarlett’s ditzy sister had been the center of the game. What else is more, rumor has it that someone died the year before, so it did feel erie. However, there were many issues, that actually got me laughing, and cringing, that probably makes this book one of the greatest comedies of 2017. Which I’m sure was not the author’s intent.

The Characters

If you are looking for shallow characters, well my friend, you came to the right place. Our main character Scarlett, is not the sharpest tool in the shed. She is the type of character to dream of adventure and then regret’s it once she gets it. She also has been locked up most of her life with little knowledge of the outside world, making Caraval even more stressing. So the problem really isn’t the character herself, I don’t mind the lead having a weakness. She just didn't seem like the right character for this book. Caraval, presents it’s self as a mystery, not really an adventure. We needed a Sherlock Holmes or Nancy Drew, not Alice in Fan-Service-Land.

Julien of course, is basic. You know Plank from Ed, Edd, and Eddy? Well, if I had a Plank award, and I could give that to any character, it’d be this guy. He really is a piece of ply wood, and the only thing he’s good for is taking off his shirt. I had a prediction, that maybe, he was this famous Legend himself, even the main character was skeptical, but alas he wasn’t. That actually would have made things a bit more interesting, Scarlett would have escaped one prison with her father, then end up in another one with plank boy.

Her sister was not really a huge part of the story, but with the small bits of information we were given, I wonder even why Scarlett was trying so hard. You should have left her on the island!

Last character worth mentioning is the Father. Apparently he was not always abusive, he only became that way when his wife left him. And his form of abuse is to beat or punish one of the sisters so that the other sister feels guilty….? Little information is given to why the mom left or why this would even trigger a guy. I can see him locking both of the girls away, but definitely not going to this extreme. Why did I read this again?

The writing

If you thought the characters, were bad get a load of this.

“Death is the color purple. purple wall paper, purple temperatures…”

or how about this.

“He taste like the middle of the night.”

What are purple temperature supposed to be like? Of course you would assume it would be cold, but normally blue is the image you would understand more right? How about middle of the night? You know that kid in English class who would sprinkle in so many unnecessary details that you weren’t sure what you were reading any more? Or how about the one that wouldn’t write enough? Somehow, this book, does both. I know what the author is trying to do. My mom gave me the book so that I can enjoy that aspect as well. However, it wasn’t done correctly.The author tried to be too artistic without really thinking about what she was putting down. Most of these things are not tangible to the human mind, it’s one thing to be poetic, but it’s another to slop in pointless detail. I know I said I liked the plot, but things didn’t exactly pan out how I wanted. The author had the right idea at the beginning, but things, somehow manage to become sticky by the end. I’m not going to spoil anything, because not only do I encourage people to read this lovely book but because quite frankly, I don’t even know if I could explain it. So, let’s picture this instead. You wake in the morning thanks to that scorching ball in the sky, not the sun, you know, that other scorching ball. You sluggishly make your way down stairs, following the greasy smell of bacon you find your lovely family seated at the table. Your mom gestures to an open seat and you begin diving into the burnt pancakes that you thought was bacon. However, you stop and notice your family passing each other looks of unease.

“What?” You ask,shoveling food into your pudgy face.

“Well it’s just…” Your mother begins. She places a shaky hand on your father’s arm.

“I’m sorry, I’m not your mom, I’m your dad,” She says. Your dad nods his head in agreement. He picks up is drinking glass and knocks it in the air, almost as though he is cheering to another invisible glass.

“And I am not your dad I am your mom.” Sitting there confused you stare straight at the sister that you suddenly forgot you had.

“I am not, your sister…I’m actually a toaster oven.”

Your eyes move to your plate as your sister slowly melts back into her original form. You notice your plate is empty, the not-bacon-pancakes are gone. You look up, now your family is gone, besides your sister who is currently cooking pizza bites in her metallic mouth. It was then,You come to a sudden realization, one that you have been ignoring for 15 years.

“I think I drowned in the tub when I was four.”

Confused? Indeed! That, was basically Caraval’s ending. There were so many plot twists, that just didn’t even need to be there. And it’s not like Scarlett discovered any of this her self. It was all just handed to you all at once. Plot twists are beautiful, and if done right, it could have saved this book, but no. It seems like author had so many ideas for the ending, instead of editing them out, she just kept them all in. All of them. Now, I don’t believe anyone has bad taste, in fact anyone who is considered to have good taste is only good to a select few people. People are going to like what they like. I can’t stop them. If you wanna read this book? go ahead! You might have the same amount of fun that I had. It’s pure YA. Lead is female, there is pointless romance, a taste of world building and an almost enticing plot. I Just think the author tried a bit too hard. I don’t blame the author though. I can’t even imagine what it’s like to try to write a novel you so believe in and then have an asshat like me tear it down and laugh at it. I blame the people, the publishers, the editors, etc, for being the ones who allowed this book to come into being. Basically, if you see a friend writing a shitty novel, either tell them to stop, give them better idea, or let the world burn.

#caraval #YA #books #why

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iamkaitlinj · 4 years

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Blog Post #17/18

Interview Questions

If you think of a few recent purchases what were the main factors that influenced your purchase?

-My desire for that certain purchase, advertisements for it, reviews of it.

What was your last music-related purchase?

-My last music-related purchase was this month, I paid for sheet music for my audition.

What were the main reasons/motivations behind the purchase?

-I liked the song, and there was no other place to get it for free. I needed the song for the audition.

What kind of music do you like?

-I like showtunes, alternative, and pop music.

How do you consume music—i.e., how do you buy it/ when do you watch/listen to it/where do you watch/ listen to it?

-I typically buy music online, usually spotify (it is five dollars a month for college students). I listen to this music nearly every day, basically anywhere. Usually it is in my kitchen while I’m cleaning dishes, or in my bedroom while I’m painting or doing my make-up.

What are your opinions on the current music industry as a whole?

-I enjoy the music industry, however I feel as if music is not as pure and meaningful as it used to be, and many things are about money and fame rather than inspiration.

How much of an influence would your favorite musicians have on you as a person?

-My favorite musicians make me feel more confident in myself and empowered as a woman. They motivate me to be stronger and be the best version of myself I can be. Other influencers make me feel like it is also okay to be vulnerable and feel sad from time to time. Music inspires me to be kinder to myself.

How about on your purchases?

-My favorite musicians influence me to purchase things such as spotify or merchandise, as people feel like the music they listen to should be represented as it is a part of their identity.

Do you consider social responsibility and/or ethical considerations when making purchases of products/ services in the area of music?

-I sometimes do, however not as much as I should.

Can you think of ways that musicians/bands currently engage in socially responsible behavior?

-Musicians/bands engage in socially responsible behavior when they spread positive and inspiring messages through their music, use their fame for something good, donate some of their earnings to those in need, or have sales on their music.

Do any recent examples of socially responsible behavior within the music industry come to mind?

-The Chainsmokers teamed with YellowHeart, a socially responsible live event ticketing platform, to give back to their fans and protect from fraud.

Have you considered aspects of socially responsible behavior when you have attended live music events?

-I have considered socially responsible behavior, yes.

Have you engaged in socially responsible behavior at live music events?

-I have engaged in socially responsible behavior at live music events such as being respectful and participating in an appropriate manner.

How would you define a socially responsible musician?

-Since musicians are typically influencers, they should make sure they are spreading positive messages and using their fame in a way it is put to good use and in a way that it is helpful to the society.

Do you think it is important for them to act in a socially responsible way?

-Yes, because many people look up to musicians as role models. With great power comes great responsibility.

Would you be more likely to buy an album/attend a concert of an artist that you perceive to be engaged in socially responsible behavior?

-Yes, I like to support those who are responsible and don’t abuse their power.

Have you attended a live event due to the socially responsible aspect of the event?

-Yes, once I attended an Andy Grammar concert that was put on for a friend of mine whose son passed away. The money for the concert was donated.

How would you compare the role that social responsibility plays in everyday consumption decisions to music consumption decisions?

-Both have to do with desire and advertising, along with making decisions on what to purchase.

Authenticity is important for artists because when consumers buy tickets for a charity event, it makes them feel good about their purchase and it gives more of a reason to buy.

The article stated that “several participants identified attending charity music gigs and events as a specific way of supporting the music industry,” and one participant stated that “it makes me feel good. It feels like I’m sort of making some kind of difference there through my purchases” (236). This shows that the desire to feel impactful has an effect on the desire to purchase tickets.

(video below) Ed Sheeran is very authentic and real in this video, and fans got an inspiring message.

A good protest song is one that unifies a group of people with a similar idea they are arguing. It should powerfully display a message with strong emotion and passion. It should bring people together, yet have the potential to break people apart. In the article, Brian Laidlaw states a protest song to be an “urgent topic with a specific audience in mind” (Laidlaw). Keeping an audience in mind is very important so that musicians know who they are singing for and why they are singing.

Lizzo is a very socially responsible and impactful artist because she is always reminding her fans through social media and lyrical messages to be confident in themselves no matter what size you are. Lizzo also sang Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” to help spread positivity and hope for everyone as we are staying at home during this tough time. She is constantly inspiring others and teaching us to love ourselves.

I think Lizzo is effective because every time I listen to her music or watch an uplifting video she posts on social media, I feel happy and confident in myself.

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celtfather · 5 years

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Celtic Soul #422

Take in a little Celtic soul with the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast.

The Fretless, Circled by Hounds, Ed Miller, Thomas "Doc" Grauzer, Runa, Poor Man's Fortune, Jenna Greene, Albannach, The Changing Room, Stout Pounders, Bill Grogan's Goat, Sliotar, Bad Haggis, Poitin

I hope you enjoyed this week's show. If you did, please share the show with ONE friend.

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast is dedicated to growing our community and helping the incredible artists who so generously share their music. If you find music you love, buy their albums, shirts, and songbooks, follow them on Spotify, see their shows, and drop them an email to let them know you heard them on the Irish and Celtic Music Podcast.

Remember also to Subscribe to the Celtic Music Magazine. Every week, I'll send you a few cool bits of Celtic music news. It's a quick and easy way to plug yourself into more great Celtic culture. Plus, you'll get 34 Celtic MP3s for Free, just for signing up today. Thank you again for being a Celt of Kindness.

VOTE IN THE CELTIC TOP 20 With the new year comes a new votes in the Celtic Top 20. This is our way of finding the best songs and artists each year. Just list the show number, and the name of as many bands in the episode as you like. Your vote helps me create next year's Best Celtic music of 2019 episode. Vote Now!

THIS WEEK IN CELTIC MUSIC

0:04 - "Holton Alan Moore’s (Live)" by The Fretless from Live from the Art Farm

03:40 - Welcome Vocal

04:12 - "A Farewell to Praddies" by Circled by Hounds from Chasing Our Tales

10:05 - "The Green & The Blue" by Ed Miller from Edinburgh Rambler

13:55 - "Carraig Ferghus" by Thomas "Doc" Grauzer from Infernal Harp Racket

19:07 - "Dance in the Graveyard" by Runa from Ten: The Errant Night

24:06 - CELTIC FEEDBACK

28:51 - "Quand J’étais Jeune À Dix-Huit Ans" by Poor Man's Fortune from In Good Time

34:05 - "Soul of Nature" by Jenna Greene from Crossroads

40:08 - "Ode to the Mountain Rest M's" by Albannach from Bareknuckle Pipes & Drums

44:47 - "Gwrello Glaw" by The Changing Room from Picking Up the Pieces

48:34 - CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

49:42 - "But Then Again" by Stout Pounders from Pour Decisions

52:44 - "Black Velvet Band" by Bill Grogan's Goat from Bill Grogan's Goat

56:39 - "The Sweet Little Girl from Barnagh" by Sliotar from Voyage

58:38 - "Reels Part Two (My Love Is In America)" by Bad Haggis from Trip

1:01:35 - Closing Vocal

1:02:45 - "Blue Bear Polkas: Richard's / Willy Wink's / Blue Bear / Bill Sullivan's" by Poitin from Wish

The Irish & Celtic Music Podcast was produced by Marc Gunn, The Celtfather. To subscribe, go to Apple Podcasts or to our website where you can become a Patron of the Podcast for as little as $1 per episode. Promote Celtic culture through music at http://celticmusicpodcast.com/.

CELTIC PODCAST NEWS

* Helping you celebrate Celtic culture through music. My name is Marc Gunn. I am a Celtic musician and podcaster. This show is dedicated to the indie Celtic musicians. I want to ask you to support these artists. Share the show with your friends. And find more episodes at celticmusicpodcast.com. You can also support this podcast on Patreon.

TRAVEL WITH CELTIC INVASION VACATIONS Every year, I take a small group of Celtic music fans on the relaxing adventure of a lifetime. We don't see everything. Instead, we stay in one area. We get to know the region through it's culture, history, and legends. You can join us with an auditory and visual adventure through podcasts and videos. Join the invasion at http://celticinvasion.com/

THANK YOU PATRONS OF THE PODCAST! We hit our 14th year anniversary at the end of July. Your kind and generous support of this show each and every week are the reason it still exists after 14 years.

There are many ways to support the Irish & Celtic Music Podcast, throughs donation, buying bumper sticker, pint glasses or t-shirts. But the best way of all is to become a Patron of the Podcast.

You can make a pledge of a dollar or more per episode and cap how much you want to spend each month. Your generosity funds the creation, promotion and production of the show. It allows us to attract new listeners and to help our community grow. And you also get episodes before regular listeners.

And when we hit a milestone, you get an extra-long episode. We are super close to getting a two-hour instrumental special.

You can become a generous Patron of the Podcast at http://patreon.com/celticpodcast.

I want to thank our Patrons of the Podcast: Chris C., Dwayne B., Cathy H., Kevin L, Trevor, Murray F

I WANT YOUR FEEDBACK

What are you doing today while listening to the podcast? You can send a written comment along with a picture of what you're doing while listening. Email a voicemail message to [email protected]

Sarah Marshall emailed: "Marc, thanks so much for the passionate defense of women's music. I am sorry that one troll, at least, evidently thinks that male artists only succeed if female artists are ignored! The world needs great Celtic music from all kinds of people."

Mark R emailed a negative comment regarding my Diversity of Celtic Music episode: "Marc, I was very saddened to hear the comments in episode #418. You title contains the magic word "diversity", yet you end up wishing a "fond farewell" to long time listeners who disagree. Because someone thinks you are deluded, does not mean that they must be a bigot. And to bring electoral politics into the podcast only reinforces the stereotype that a Celt can never avoid a good bar brawl. I would never ask you to apologize -you have done nothing wrong, nor so far as I am concerned did Susan- but I would hope to hear a hand of outreach extended to your listeners who may not be signed up for these politics. Politics which are, after all, as disgusting to us, as ours are to you."

Thank you Mark. I appreciate you writing me. While I’m gonna guess we disagree politically, this is not about partisan politics.

This about serving our community.

From the beginning, I have been “changing the way you hear celtic music” and providing the best service for my listeners, “celebrating celtic culture thru music”.

My goal is to open the minds of Celtic music fans to the diversity of Celtic music. It’s not all traditional Irish music. It’s not all African fusion, bluegrass, alternative rock or whatever. It runs the gamut.

I have a lot of trad music fans who do NOT listen because it’s not more trad sounding. I do not recommend this podcast fans who only love trad music.

Sure. You may not like music from celtic women. But this too IS just one aspect.

So to belittle a host, or especially Susan, because she’s promoting equality on the podcast, something I’ve long considered essential to the diversity and goal of this podcast, is disrespectful, no matter what party you belong to.

Again my point is to serve my listeners. If you or others disagree with me. That’s fine. I can respect that.

But I also know in the long run, you will not appreciate this show. Especially going forward. Because obviously this is a topic that needs further exploration. So I will bring it up at length.

My goal is to promote the diversity of Celtic music, like I always have. But if someone refuses to open their hearts to that diversity, they will Not enjoy the show. And I don’t want to waste their time.

So yes, I stand by my statement.

My questions then for you are

Will you choose to support the diversity in the show, Whether the artists are black or white, straight or gay, Scottish or Welsh, Indian, Australian or Japanese, male or female or transgender?

Will you support Celtic women and other marginalized aspects of Celtic music and culture Because they are a part of that diversity?

Will you stand against people who belittle the show because they disagree with the mission of the podcast?

If you agree with all three of these statements, then I am very honored to have you a part of our Celtic community.

If not, that’s OK.

But again, in the long run, you will not enjoy the show.

I don’t want to waste your time listening to a show that will ultimately make you unhappy.

I truly hope your enlightened answers are yes. If not, I wish you a fond farewell.

Check out this episode!

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ramialkarmi · 6 years

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A decade-long investor in Spotify said there is a big hint about how it will cut out record labels

Spotify revealed its financials in its filings to go public on Wednesday.

The numbers show that Spotify bleeds a huge amount of cash by paying out to rightsholders — and most artists don't see a lot of that money.

Northzone partner and former Spotify board member Pär-Jörgen Pärson said Spotify's long-term goal is to cut out record labels to benefit artists more.

Pärson said labels will still manage mega-artists who need big marketing power.

But more niche artists could use Spotify's platform to reach paying consumers directly.

Artists will soon treat Spotify as a kind of DIY record label, uploading their music and having a direct financial relationship with customers.

That's according to Pär-Jörgen Pärson, a partner at Northzone Ventures with a 10-year track record as a Spotify investor. Pärson stepped off Spotify's board last year as the company prepared to go public, and spoke to Business Insider about its future direction.

Spotify is bleeding cash because it has to pay so much to labels

Spotify filed paperwork for a direct listing on Wednesday, giving prospective investors and journalists a detailed look at its finances and metrics for the first time.

One major worry from the filings: Spotify makes huge amounts of money from paid subscriptions — but almost all of that gets paid to record labels who own the rights to music.

Can Spotify just become a record label and cut out the middleman?

Sort of, Pärson told Business Insider, pointing to a particular section in Spotify's filings where the firm talks about building a marketplace.

"That better reflects the potential of Spotify, to be the place where creators can disintermediate all the middlemen who have taken 75% of their revenues historically," he said.

"They can go directly to the most powerful distribution channel. Spotify can provide analytics, insight, and support that helps creators in real time see how their work is being received by audiences."

That kind of live data isn't something labels can really offer, he added. "It's about making it possible for the artists to have direct relationships with customers financially, also. They don't today. In the long run, that's the biggest promise."

Here's what the filing said to back Pärson up (emphasis ours):

"We are building a two-sided music marketplace for Users and artists, which is powered by data, analytics, and software ... Given Spotify’s large audience, we are able to provide artists with unique insights into their fan base. These insights enable artists to promote music their audiences are likely to enjoy, to plan concerts and events according to where their fans are, and to actively communicate with fans who are interested in their music. Because artists can target the Users who are most likely to enjoy their content, they are able to increase their royalty-based revenue and bolster revenue from ancillary services, such as concerts and merchandise. Providing this information to artists helps them to support themselves and to be able to live off of their creative work."

It all sounds like pretty hard work for the artist, who now has to take on the burden of marketing as well as making music. But then it's already hard work for artists who aren't as big as Ed Sheeran, Adele, or Coldplay, or as established as older bands.

Tom Fleming, the guitarist of Wild Beasts, an indie band which recently split up, put it like this to Dazed last year: "I feel like there’s a lot of very young artists who are trying to make it and a lot of old guard who are sat on all the money.

"Like with festival headliners, it’s always the same old names, so it is a slightly hostile climate ...when it comes to getting your stuff off [indie music platform] Bandcamp and across to a wider audience it’s very difficult I think."

Spotify's marketplace would work for artists who are struggling to get out of that Bandcamp phase, Pärson said, especially if they're in genres where labels have little financial incentive.

"Going to my favourite music category, progressive metal, there's no business for a label in that," said Pärson.

"There isn't really a business either for prog metal bands, but they have small loyal followings who find their bands rather than being marketed to [by a label.]

"They're speaking directly to your customers — like a big band in that category, Dream Theater, they do their marketing themselves."

But Spotify won't kill off labels totally

There's still room for the machinery of big labels, Pärson said, especially when it comes to promoting genres that require a lot of marketing, like pop.

"I think the labels will have an artist discovery and talent development role going forward, maybe for pop and other genres that require marketing to become massively adopted in big markets," said Pärson. "They need the marketing engine of a label."

Both Pärson and another Spotify investor, GP Bullhound Partner Joakim Dal, downplayed suggestions Spotify would try and mimic Netflix with original content. Spotify rolled out original video in 2016, but its head of video content left in 2017, and its efforts in original programming have seemingly stalled.

"There could be some element to original content, but I think that content is more likely to be aspects of what the creator can do on the Spotify marketplace, rather than Spotify saying 'Ok, Rihanna, can you make a song that we will finance.' I think that’s a different model," said Pärson.

Dal said: "[Growth] is the battle I would focus on, rather than trying to maximise profitability by creating your own content. Many years ago, people were very focused on content and not just being a 'dumb pipe.'

"What Spotify has shown is that being a 'dumb pipe' is in fact extremely valuable. Having that spot inside someone's phone and engaging people for several hours a day, that's very valuable and it's hard to replicate that."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: What it's like to pretend to live on Mars for 8 months

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grandmamasscomm · 6 years

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Interview 1: Audio

For this project, I decided to interview my grandma, Ruth. When I first told her about this project, she seemed hesitant. She made it clear to me that she wasn’t sure how much she could remember or if she had any interesting information to share. I reassured her, however, that whatever details she had to offer would be interesting because they were uniquely hers, and I would be learning new aspects about my grandma’s life that I had previously never thought to ask. I was really thrilled to learn more about her tastes in different forms of media and experiences when she was younger. For support and help with memory, my grandma enlisted the help of her close friend, Donna. So, I will be relaying the memories and experiences of both of these women, and I hope you enjoy what I’ve learned and discovered.

RECORDINGS

The first form of media I approached Ruth and Donna with was audio, more specifically, recordings. To begin, my grandma and Donna talked about their favorite recording artists growing up and the music that was commonly around the house. My grandma said that rock and roll was her favorite genre growing up. Her father liked to play country records and her mother preferred classical because my grandma’s grandmother was a pianist. My grandma remembers going to public classical performances at the Topeka Municipal Auditorium with her grandmother and being inspired by them.

She said, “I thought I wanted to be an opera singer like Risë Stevens. She had bright red hair and she was pretty. It was fun, I loved it.”

Topeka Municipal Auditorium:

Source: http://www.kansasmemory.org/item/215548

Risë Stevens:

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/arts/music/rise-stevens-opera-singer-dies-at-99.html

Donna can recall her family record player. She said that her uncle had given her one from his days in the navy. She made it clear that it was not a fancy object. My grandma also recalls buying single 45s (record size) for 75 cents.

My grandma mentioned Eddie Fisher as a musician she liked to listen to when she was younger. She said he was cute but she couldn’t remember any specific song of his that was her favorite. Donna enjoyed listening to Frank Sinatra, and her friends liked Elvis Presley. Donna can remember when she first fell in love with Frank Sinatra’s music. Donna visited a young man’s apartment from her hometown and was surprised that he owned 33 1/3 records of Frank Sinatra. While telling this story Donna still sounded awestruck. She said he owned all of Frank’s early records and he had a really impressive sound system.

She said, “I can just remember sitting in there and just falling in love listening to his music.”

The mention of Elvis sparked a surprising story from my grandma.

“When I was in high school, Elvis actually came to Topeka,” she said.

She didn't get to watch him perform live but she offers, “I just stood outside and screamed with all the other girls!”

I was really surprised that my grandmother came very close to seeing Elvis Presley in the flesh. The things you learn. Donna gave some insight into her first concert. She told me that she went and saw the Four Freshmen, which she described as a contemporary jazz group. She thought their harmonies were particularly beautiful. For some context, I looked up the Four Freshman and Donna is right, they have some pretty nice harmonies. Give them a listen if you’re curious.

The Four Freshmen

Source: https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/467785/last-original-member-of-four-freshmen-dies

When discussing parental limits, both Ruth and Donna were in agreement that there weren’t any parental limits on the music they could listen to. I was surprised by this, especially because of the conservative nature of the 50’s and because many parents didn’t like the genre of rock and roll. My grandma did bring up a good point, however. She said that content restrictions were not an issue because “people didn’t talk the way people do nowadays.”

Donna also mentioned Elvis’s performance on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Donna said, “That was a big deal.”

“Risqué” my grandma offered.

“He shook his hips. Big deal! Isn’t that something? The world was ending,” Donna proclaimed sarcastically.

“Yeah, going to hell,” my grandma laughed.

My grandma also brought up the merging of black and white music in rock and roll and the appearance of black artists.

“There was some [black] groups that were becoming popular, you know. And I can’t tell you one right now, but it was different because it was just happening.The changing, you know, people were accepting that,” she explains.

After discussing the music and artists of the 50s, Donna did admit, “Some of that 50s music was not all that great, in my opinion. It got a little better in the 70s. Of course, the 70s — that was my kid’s stuff — that’s what I liked.”

My grandma chimed in, “And I liked to listen to a lot of it [70s music] because my kids liked it — they had the radio on.”

As for discovering artists, Donna and Ruth discovered their favorite artists through movies, as artists would frequently make appearances. My grandma explained that the music producers would often end up making the many musical movies that came about.

When asked about the music they listen to today, my grandma and Donna enjoy listening to old movie soundtracks on CDs and some popular music, like Bruno Mars. Donna, in particular, likes old standards from the 30s and 40s and some country music.

RADIO

Donna still remembers the story of receiving her first personal radio. She explains that she had always wanted a clock radio. She loosely estimated it probably would have cost around $20. Her dad knew that she wanted one really badly, so he gave her one as an early Christmas present.

“I used to turn that thing on and there was some kind of radio or talk show, and they closed off with a song called ‘That’s All’.” Donna said.

She started to actually sing the song that closed off the radio show. She was also excited to have her own radio so she could listen to the Academy Awards.

She explains, “You didn’t have the red carpet and all that. I had no idea who they had on it. But that was a big deal to see who got the Oscars.”

Ruth enjoyed listening to the top 40 countdown hosted by Casey Kasem. Donna also enjoyed listening to Your Hit Parade on the radio, and eventually TV, and it was sponsored and hosted by Lucky Strike cigarettes. Donna recalls buying the little thin magazines put out by Hit Parade that contained sheet music of the hit songs. Donna and her hometown best friend would get them, learn the lyrics, and sing the songs.

Lucky Strike Hit Parade - Cardboard fan shaped like a tobacco leaf

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Your_Hit_Parade

My grandma’s first memory of radio involves her mother having the radio while doing work around the house for the majority of a day when she was around ten years old. Donna also said that radio was a big part of her life growing up, but she can’t believe the sound quality compared to today’s music. She also explained the prevalent use of AM over FM and how the weather would affect the radio signal; they would experience static. They both agreed that radio was used much more than the record player in their homes.

My grandma said, “That’s where everyone got their news — everything. Most people had a radio on.”

They both also recalled their favorite radio shows that occurred on Saturday mornings and Sunday nights. My grandma said she remembers the kids sitting around the radio in the living room and listening to Amos ’n’ Andy.

In reference to the show, Donna’s immediate reply was, “How racist! They were white guys playing black guys.”

They both enjoyed listening to mystery radio shows and The Arthur Godfrey Show — which was a radio talent search show.

When asked about radio commercials, they both started listing off many brands. To name a few: Pepsodent, Lux Soap, Oxydol, various cigarette brands, Frigidaire, GE, and Alka-Seltzer. They didn’t recall any educational programming and said there wasn’t any public radio, like NPR today.

They also remembered first hearing about President Kennedy’s death on the radio and Ruth remembered listening to one of President Eisenhower’s speeches on the radio in grade school.

As for today, they don't really listen to radio anymore unless they are driving. Donna also sometimes uses the online radio service, Pandora.

After interviewing my grandma and Donna, I was so happy I got the chance to learn so much new information about people I know and see on a regular basis. I really enjoyed hearing their stories and imagining their childhood and teen years with the music and descriptions they supplied. It is important to acknowledge the differences between the technology and media forms in their early lives and today, but I also think it is equally important to recognize how much is the same: the love of music and entertainment in its many forms.

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chooliastudies · 7 years

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Hello! This is a follow up from the question before - I am in second year rn! And I wanna apply for med as a post grad hopefully :) I found socsciph200 quite good tbh, but not so sure about 201 due to inconsistent grades :'( and 204 is a course i feel good about too!! If u did hons as fourth yr were ur 2 yrs that were considered 3rd and 4th yr? Or what? What courses would u recommend as a gpa booster (like a course paper and a gened to boost gpa for second sem second yr hsci) ty !!

Yea, the two years were 3rd and 4th (Honours).Ahh right, I’ll give you a basic run down of the papers I did/ heard about.The only 200 lvl elective papers I took were:SOCSCIPH 200 Social Science for Health I found this a great course, too.POLITICS 222 Public Policy: Actors, Processes and Politics: amazing lecturer, and as long as you keep up with readings and focus, it’s not hard to do well in it, I’d definitely recommend this if you have any interest in health policyPOPLHLTH 207 Community and Cultural Development: there were a lot of little things you had to do for this paper- your own essays, a test, weekly reading summaries as a group, peer evaluations etc. and there was quite a bit of reading to do. The teaching style is a lot more interactive and different to other papers. I still found the content interesting and even inspiring, and it actually helped me out so much with med interviewsPOPLHLTH 212 Bio-behavioural Aspects of Drug Use learnt a lot and it was a nice break from all my other social science-y papers. A bit of pharmacology in this paper as well as population health stuff, to keep things interesting. Taught by a great lecturer too!My gen eds were EDUC122G (how schools teach sexuality- one of my favourite courses I’ve taken tbh, not difficult at all) and PHIL105G (the course structure keeps changing and I’m not sure if it’s considered a GPA booster anymore). I hear the ECON gen eds are also quite good GPA boosters.For 300 lvl elective papers, I did:POPLHLTH 313 Asian Health: I value what learnt in this course being Asian New Zealander myself, but I remember the lecturer and tutors being tough markersPOPLHLTH 304 Principles of Applied Epidemiology: I took this cause it was one of the only ones that fit my timetable. Didn’t enjoy it because I hate epidemiology lol but you might like it!POPLHLTH 307 Communities and Addictions: the structure for this is likely to have changed now, but when I did it, it required a lot of rote-memorisation of every bit of detail on the lecture slides. If you’re good at that, it could be a GPA booster for you! Content was relatively interesting as well, but I wasn’t the biggest fan of the way it was taught when I did it.POPLHLTH 302 Health Service Placement: this might now be a compulsory course for you. It’s hard to judge what it’s like, as it really depends on which organisation you have your internship with. Overall, it’s a valuable experience and you’re given a chance to apply what you’ve learnt in the last 3 years of BHSc to a real health organisationPOPLHLTH 301 Strengthening Health Systems: like a more intense version of POPLHLTH 101. You do a lot of great learning which is so relevant and applicable to real health systems. You are challenged to be creative and try come up with your own evidence-based solutions. There’s also a group work aspect to the paperGEOG 305 Population, Health and Society: very different to other POPLHLTH papers… (a bit similar to SOCSCIPH, actually). The lectures for geog were some of the best I’ve ever had! Great teachers, though some people don’t like it cause it seems a bit new and all over the place (since geography is the study of everything in place lol). I’d say it’s a more challenging paper, but I’d say it’s worth it for the fascinating content and you’ll def do well if you put the work in. I didn’t take it myself, but the EDUC 352 paper on adolescence was apparently super easy and interesting.Remember, these are all based on my own experiences, so others may not necessarily agree with what I have to say. Hope this helps, though! Let me know if there’s anything else you’d like to ask :)

#ans #premed #population health #public health #health sciences #The University of Auckland #auckland university #studyblr #medblr #uni advice #auckland uni #bhsc

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wait-what-no-way · 7 years

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Interview with LADY ECHO

“Born in South Miami during the mid-1980’s, Emerald (also known as Echo or Lady Echo) grew up as the youngest and only daughter in a family of three boys. As a young girl, her favorite activity was riding on the back pegs of her oldest brother’s bike while being taught how to read the signatures of Graffiti artists from around their neighborhood. By 1994, Emerald had a “tag” and was learning how to use spray paint. In 1999, she began pursuing Graffiti and Art as a passion. She attended a pre-college program at Pratt Institute in New York City (just before 9/11) during the summer of 2001, receiving only a month of formal training in painting, drawing and art history. She has continued painting ever since. Many of Emerald’s works can be found interacting in public spaces throughout the United States and Europe, or rolling along freight lines from the United States to Mexico and Canada.” (Emeraldartstudio.com)

So since your last interview in 2008, how has life been?

Life has been real! Lots of ups and downs in the past eight years. My best friend OiL died the year following that interview... I went into a bad depression. Poke BS, the only person in NYC who looked out for me at that time, died 8 months later. My older brother died a year and half after that.

In a span of 2 years, my protectors, the men who (although would give me so much shit in between us) wouldn’t let anyone fuck with me, were taken before I could realize how valuable they were. I spent the next several years in a bad place. It took a lot to figure out how to be happy again. I’m still kinda traumatized, I panic that the people I care about are going to die all the time. I panic that I’m going to die all the time – which is why I am constantly producing as much as I can. I don’t really party anymore, I don’t drink anymore, I don’t socialize very often, I stay in and I work on my legacy. I feel immense pressure to create while I still can. I feel immense pressure to leave things on good terms with people I care about as much as I can. I know how fragile life is, I’ve learned that even the strongest bonds are temporary, and I no longer take it for granted.

Also, since my last interview, Nekst - arguably one of the strongest American bombers in our current generation of Graffiti, passed away. Iz the Wiz passed away. Sace passed away. Countless other Graffiti writers have also died. Does this mean we, as Graffiti writers, are a culture of troubled people who will die young in higher percentages? I’m not sure but I’m well aware of the possibility.

Aside from that - technology has changed at a super rapid rate in the past 8 years. Smart phones became a thing, pay phones went extinct, social media emerged, instagram replaced Flickr (for me), information is being shared and spread at rates faster than ever before in our civilization, food (and nearly anything) can now be ordered through an app on your phone. It’s an interesting time to be alive!

When did you start writing?

I learned about Graffiti as an 8 year-old in the early 90’s - and even had a tag, E.C.K., but didn’t actually start seriously writing until 1999.

How many trains do you think you’ve painted since you started?

I honestly have no idea how many.. It’s gotta be in the hundreds, maybe even a thousand or more? It takes a lot of cars before you actually make a dent. I hope one day my panels get a catalogue raisonne like fancy artists do with their art works.

What was your first train painting experience like?

Clumsy and inexperienced! Growing up in Miami, I spent most of my life in sandals. My dumb ass walked into the freight yard with flip-flops and busted my big toe on a pile of rocks within 45 seconds of being in there.. My foot bled the entire time I painted, but I finished my piece - on a Chessie System coal car. I still have a scar from that day.

Some writers love painting trains more than walls. What about you?

I prefer trains. I love smooth metal on clean trains but also love working on the rough, rusted surfaces of freights. Trains come more naturally to me than a clean wall. A panel that will end up moving with a train is more forgiving and less intimidating for me than a flat wall that will blatantly showcase any mistakes I make.

As an artist, what’s your favorite medium to use other than spray paint?

Stainless steel. I love welding and if you weld it properly, stainless steel will produce a rainbow of colors from the oxidation of the metal.

I also like epoxy resin, it allows me to make sculptures out of objects like used spray cans.

What was the most thrilling experience you’ve ever had while you were out painting?

Hmmm. Graffiti is always kind of a thrill for me, regardless of how big, little or insignificant what I’m doing is.. There are different kinds of thrills for me with painting - some are fun, but some are hectic. Seeing my work running years later is a thrill for me. Discovering new mediums and new instruments is a thrill. Recently doing fire extinguisher tags thrilled the shit out of me - like, had me smiling all night and doing a little back-it-up dance kinda thrill.

Guess the most direct answer: I haven’t had a most thrilling experience yet, cuz I never know what to expect, the thrills just keep coming :)

What type of music do you enjoy listening to while you’re painting a canvas or any type of work outside of the streets?

I listen to music literally all day (if I’m not listening to the news), it helps me work and it just feels necessary. I’m probably more into music than I am into art - even though I’ve never made music or ever had an interest in trying.

I listen to all kinds of music: Rap, Hiphop, Soul, R&B, Folk, Metal, Alternative, Jazz, Pop, Electronic, etc, etc, etc. Obscure stuff as well as super mainstream. Just depends on my mood or the feeling I need or want at the time. Music gives me a physical reaction, so certain songs feel better than others and sometimes I overdo songs that make me feel really good - to the point they no longer feel good and I can’t stand to hear them ever again.

My favorite song, since 1992, is “Minds is Playing Tricks on Me” by Gheto Boys - The melody really spoke to me as a kid and it can still give me chills if the mood is right. Since then, my other favorite is “In a Sentimental Mood” by John Coltrane.

My favorite albums of all time are “Live and Dangerous” by Thin Lizzy, “Ready to Die” by Notorious BIG, “Table Scraps” by MHZ (Megahertz), “Give Up” by The Postal Service.

I was going to start listing artists that I like but it would take forever. Instead, if people are interested in my music taste, they can check out the playlists on my youtube channel: youtube.com/c/emeraldartstudio. So far I’ve made 3 lists: Dance party station, Rap station and Soul station. I listen to these playlists all the time and I add to them whenever I have a free moment.

What’s your favorite aspect of Graffiti? Is it piecing, hand-styles, throw-ups, or everything?

My favorite aspect of Graffiti is that one can never run out of surfaces on which to get up or instruments to do it with. I love tagging, I love throwups and I enjoy piecing too. It’s all fun to me, but some endeavors require more work than others. Tags and throwups are quick but require more strategy than a piece sometimes, even though a piece can be grueling effort-wise.

I prefer to paint super readable spots that will be seen in motion, whether the surface is moving (train, truck etc.) or the viewers are moving (trainline spot, highway spot, etc).

What’s you biggest motivator/ inspiration that drives you everyday to be creative? That skirt you made the line of drips on was rad as hell.

My biggest motivator is death. Like I mentioned before, since so many people close to me have died unexpectedly, I have a panic inside of me that I’m gonna die very soon. I’m extremely concerned with my legacy and I think the work I leave behind is what matters.

As for inspiration - I’m just a creative person. My mind searches for that “new new” all the time. I like to experiment and try stuff that I’ve never seen, I like to put new spins on traditional things. Monotony exasperates me, I can’t even walk down my own street the same way more than a few times. I’m constantly exploring. I like to go where I’ve never been. I like to have fun and be silly, even if I’m alone, there’s never a boring day.

Glad you like the skirt with ink drips! It was a spin on an idea I had for photoshoot with black drips on skin, combined with my obsession for edding ink + the recurring theme of edding ink in my artwork. I wanted something funky to wear out that night and nothing in my closet was cool enough so somehow I had the idea of dripping black ink on my white skirt and took the risk. The dried ink was smudging at first so I sprayed it with rusto clear coat to seal it. The ink stained the vegan leather of the skirt, but the sexy surface black ended up cracking off by the end of the night. It was a one-time item, but very fun to rock!

What’s the coolest place you’ve ever had the opportunity to paint in? (State, country, abandon spots wise.)

Hmmm… I think one of the coolest places to paint that I’ve come across is an abandoned factory in New Jersey - I have bad memory for some details so I can’t remember who took me to find it (maybe Tacoe). The factory had several floors, lots of walls, and old locker rooms for the workers, with a lot of stuff still in the lockers (including old porn magazines which I know I have photos of somewhere). For a while after we found it, I was the only person painting there along with whoever I selected from NYC to join me. I think I had like 5-6 pieces in there in the course of a few months. It was super cool to have an entire building painted with Graffiti that I basically got to curate.

Aside from that, I’ve had the opportunity to paint a freight spot that’s near the ocean. I’m a big fan of ocean, and a big fan of freights, so getting to combine the two is almost surreal. Imagine finishing an end to end, high as hell on paint fumes, looking up at the bright moon and stars, hearing ocean waves crashing as the moonlight melts onto your piece. It’s like a dream.

What’s the creepiest thing you’ve ever experienced in an abandoned spot?

Never really had too many creepy things happen while painting, but the creepiest thing that’s ever happened in my life was on a “work” road trip with detour to the Grand Canyon. I was travelling with a friend, we were staying close to the monument the night before and had planned to visit in the morning. We requested a room with two beds, but when we got to the room there was only one bed.. We soon discovered there was a door in the room which led to another room which had its own bed and bathroom. We assumed they either gave us the suite on purpose without saying so or that it was an accident, but we decided to use the second room either way.

I locked the manual door latch (which prevents the door from being opened even if someone has a key) and proceeded to wash my face and get ready for bed. B was in the room next to me and spoke to me thru the connecting door, told me he had to grab his shorts from the car so he could shower and would be right back. I was in the bathroom and heard a door slam closed.

When I finished I walked out, I heard B’s shower going next door but noticed the door latch on my door (in the second kinda sketch room) was open - which I thought was weird cuz B could have walked out of his own room - especially since we didn’t even know if we should be in the second room and he saw me make a point to latch the door when we first walked in.

I relatched the door and waited in B’s room watching tv. When B got out of the shower, I asked him if we could use his door only to go in and out of the room so that the door of the second room I was in would stay locked. I explained that when I got out of the bathroom my door latch was open and I was concerned someone could just walk in if they had the key.

“Emerald, but I didn’t go out of the door of that room. I went out of this door. Yours should have stayed locked, I didn’t unlock it.”

I looked at him in shock. “Are you fucking with me right now?”

“No, I swear.”

We both walked back into the second room and the door latch (which I had JUST reclosed) was open again. This time there was no possible way that B had opened it. We closed it again and watched to see if it was faulty and might open on its own. It didn’t. I got chills up my arms and tears started streaming down my face. B was in shock too, he didn’t know how to handle me crying but I could tell he believed I wasn’t fucking with the door latch either.

I ended up grabbing all my shit out of the second room and slept in the same bed as my homie that night. We both agreed it was probably a ghost and that the motel we were staying at had probably been built on some ancient Native American burial ground or something. I still get tears when I think of it. Creepiest shit ever.

This is probably a difficult question to ask, but what’s the most monumental piece you’ve ever done?

Hmmmm… I hope I haven’t done it yet! I hope I still outdo everything I’ve ever done. I don’t want to be stagnant. I don’t want my highest achievement to be in the past, I want it to happen as often as possible.

Most people probably wouldn’t know you have a dog unless they follow you on Instagram or actually know you. (Who, by the way is very cute.) What made you decide to get a dog and how has she changed your life

I’ve wanted a dog for a while and circumstances finally aligned for it to happen.

Also, after so many super disappointing experiences with disloyal people, I figured adopting a dog would be a safer bet than trying to connect with another person who betrays me. I rescued a pitbull mix and she’s changed my life in a lot of ways - it’s like having a kid, I take care of her before I take care of myself. She’s so smart and makes me laugh all the time with the things she does. She’s really strong and fast, but is the sweetest little thing ever + possibly a winner for the world’s best snuggler award.

I can’t imagine living without her but have already prepared myself for the fact that dogs have 13-15 yr lifespans. I get mixed emotions sometimes when I watch her sleep - relief and shock that they almost killed her at a shelter and then kinda sad knowing I’m probably gonna outlive her and that there will be no other creature just like her. Aside from that and all the work involved, having a dog is the coolest thing ever!

What do your parents know about your Graffiti lifestyle?

My dad died when I was a kid, so I was raised by my mom and brothers. Yes, they know about it - in general, not necessarily all the details of what the lifestyle involves but they know I’m a writer.

When I was a kid, in the early 90s, my oldest brother wrote Graffiti and my mom was cool with it. She was cool with all his Graffiti friends hanging at our house, she even had her own tag, “Mom1” and would ask them to put her up + she would get excited when she saw them up on the highways or tags on toll booths etc.

When was 15 and started writing, and my mom found flicks, I got in so much trouble! It was OK for her son, but not for her daughter. I had to change my tag so my mom didn’t know what I wrote and I didn’t take photos of my Graffiti for the rest of the time I lived at home. During that time she found out (through one of my oldest brother’s friends) that I changed my tag to Echo but since she never caught me with photos, she could never prove any of the stuff she saw was done by me.

I moved out of her house before I graduated high school and after that she couldn’t tell me what to do so eventually I decided to be super open with her about what I was doing. In her attempts to finally have a close relationship with me, she was all of a sudden cool with it.

I remember when I lived in New Jersey at one point, she said she wanted to visit and do what I do - so I asked her if she was down to do backjumps on some subway trains and she said yes! I refused to take her but she insisted she wanted to spray. She’s never actually painted with me or really even made efforts to follow my work, but I have sent her flicks before and she has told me that she looks for “Echo” or “OiL” whenever she sees a train passing. She met OiL a few times and tells me that she remembers him fondly.

My oldest brother, who put me onto Graffiti to begin with, has reprimanded me a few times for writing on shit. Even so, I think he digs that I’ve gone so far with it and I think he respects my choices. I know he’s proud of me even if he doesn’t really think Graffiti is smart for me to do.

My older brother who passed way (I have three older brothers btw), never really liked it. He didn’t like that I would be out late at night with guys, didn’t like that I was going into train yards (with guys) and didn’t trust any of my guys friends - he was convinced my friends were going to sexually assault me or had already been trying to rape me in my sleep when I was on Graffiti roadtrips, etc.. On the other hand, he was also so amazed that I could get away with so much - like, statistically, he couldn’t believe how many times I had painted illegally and not gotten in trouble. I remember one night after telling him about a super-close call while painting in NYC, he was super stoned, got some sort of epiphany from my story, and explained to me, “The key to getting away with anything... is a girl.... All you need is a girl and you can get away with anything.”

What spots have you hit that you may have risked your life painting?

Ugh - recently did some seriously sketchy shit about 23 feet high on a ladder. The person I was painting with, who had just caught a fire extinguisher tag on the rooftop of a building - with security guard not far from us on the ground level - insisted that he could not bring the extinguisher down with him and that I needed to climb up and get it.

The logic of why he wouldn’t be able to climb down with the extinguisher and why I was able to do it made no sense to me - but I needed him to shut up and get down, so I climbed up to get it.

The extension ladder was lifted to the max and still had a grip of space before the roof so he had to hand the extinguisher down to me from several feet above, and there was no chance of placing it into my hand - he was gonna have to drop it down (even tho there’s no logical or realistic way I could have grabbed it from the bottom). (As I’m typing this, I still don’t know how I agreed to do this). With one hand holding the ladder, I reached up above my head to have him drop a huge (way bigger than normal size) fire extinguisher into my small lady hand. I obviously couldn’t hold it and somehow (without falling off the ladder) repositioned the fire extinguisher mid-air, slid the bottom between my chest and the ladder and hugged it with my free arm and began to climb down. The entire time I was climbing down he kept going on: “Holy shit, you’re such a fucking gangster… You’re a fucking G.” I was shaking and my heart was racing from the adrenaline but I made it down safely and we didn’t get caught by the security guard. Definitely never doing that ever again.

New rule: You climb up with it, you climb down with it. Fuck that.

My final question… Are you a pizza or pasta gal?

Is both an option? I eat pizza and pasta more than once a week. If it’s a nice Italian restaurant I’m getting some form of pasta, but if it’s not boushie spot then I’ll go for the greasy pizza. Favorites: Joe’s Pizza on Carmine in Manhattan, Garage Pizza on Sunset in LA (yes, there’s decent pizza in LA!) and La Pizza on la Croisette in Cannes.

Thank you for all of your time Echo!

Thanks for the interview! Super cool to follow-up with the same website 8 years later. I don’t do many interviews so these will be valuable one day :)

For those interested:

ECHO’s website: Emeraldartstudio.com

Instagram: @Emeraldartstudio

Facebook.com/Emeraldartstudio

OiL’s instagram: @crudeoilforever - All original flicks, no tributes!

Echo’s interview with Bombing Science in November 2008: http://www.bombingscience.com/echo-interview/

#ECHO #ECHOiL #Graffiti #LAGraffiti #LosAngelesGraffiti #California #CaliforniaGraffiti #LadyLiberty #Interviews #WritersInk

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