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Featured Interviews With Indie Bands Artists and Musicians

Lost and Found – An interview with indie hitmakers Lost In Los Angeles (LiLA), a Californian trio with bite and melody

Lost In Los Angeles – LiLA are an alt dream pop band from, you guessed it, Los Angeles, with influences as diverse as David Bowie’s spangly catsuit collection but a sound as succinct and insightful as a pocket collection of Oscar Wilde-isms, or Louise Brooks’ iconic bob (I couldn’t decide which simile was worse, so I opted to include both for any particularly fussy readers out there.)

Lost in Los Angeles

At once surreal and esoteric, and positively chart worthy, Lost In Los Angeles are likely to appeal to anyone with a pair of functioning ears. We (or rather, I – I am only one person) chatted to them about the benefits of staying independent, the success of their most recent video, their plans for the future, and the sentient being that is songwriting. Oh, and there are some damn fine tips for marketing your music so, if you’re not a marketing genius (unlikely), I’d strongly recommend you take five minutes to learn a little from three guys who know wtf they’re talking about.

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Getting Lost in Costa Rica with the Roses and the Waves – Melanie Edwards Returns with Her Sixth Studio Album

Nine months after the release of Back to Basics, NYC-based musical scientist Melanie Edwards returns with her sixth album, entitled Las Rosas. Recorded over February and March of this year in San Ramon, Costa Rica, Las Rosas uses ambient sounds of the Costa Rican jungle as a backdrop. Edwards has the habit of choosing new production locations with every album she makes (the previous one, Back to Basics, had her recording in the woods in Finland), but Las Rosas seems to take the immersion further—the animals, ocean waves, and thunder actually play on this record. Shortly after her return to New York City,  I spoke to Melanie about Costa Rica, her new album, and perfectionism in the studio.

Singer Songwriter Melanie Edwards

You recorded your newest album, Las Rosas, in Costa Rica and used a lot of nature’s ambient sounds. How did the location fit in with what you wanted to create and express here? How did the ambient sounds fit in?

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New Jersey Indie Pop Artist Sarah Miles’ Career on the Rise with Upcoming Full-Length Album

Sarah Miles Music

A common misconception some of us have when discovering so-called ‘new’ artists is assuming that they’ve suddenly appeared out of nowhere, like unseasoned rookies making their first attempt at musical. In general, this couldn’t be further from the truth. And when you think about, it’s somewhat condescending on our part to ignore all work an artist has done prior to the moment we first hear of them. About one month ago, Bon Iver won ‘Best New Artist’ at the Grammys. While many of us were very well aware of the music Justin Vernon was writing for several years now, he was however new to the Grammy world. By the same token, many artists live the independent grind daily, and when comes the first light of recognition; we callously define them as ‘new’. The fact that we’ve just discovered them doesn’t make them new.

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Silex – The Dutch Rapper MC Discusses His New Hip Hop Album EP and Growing Up in Rotterdam

Silex Music MCSurviving as an independent recording artist in this day and age isn’t an easy thing by any means. It’s often a never-ending grind to get your songs recorded, played, and heard; and at the end of the day, unless you’re doing it primarily out of love for what it is that you do, the odds are very much against you. Hailing out of the Netherlands, independent rapper emcee Silex has been living this grind for years and has established his mark on Rotterdam’s hip-hop scene. With a new single out and an EP on the way, Silex now turns to the rest of the world.

His new single “Just You and Me” offers a hard-hitting lyrical delivery that reminds us what it’s supposed to be like to strive towards a dream despite the hardships and surrounding negativity that can sometimes hold us back, with Silex rapping about ‘staying hungry’ through some of the more difficult moments. “I’ve literally been hungry just pouring what little money I had into this dream,” he says about these times. “I didn’t think about food. If I wasn’t getting new equipment, I was buying beats or paying for studio time, photo shoots, videos, you name it.“ Through it all, it’s that same hunger to succeed that still keeps him going today. “I just feel that this is all I’m good at. You know how many times I’ve been told to give it up? To just let it go, and that it will never happen? But for some reason I just cant.”

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INTERVIEW: Fresh Peaches of Such Cool Stuff Blog

Celebrating Independent Artists

1. What are your favorite blogs/audio blogs featuring new music do you like to visit?
You know, it’s funny. I don’t really read any music-related blogs on a regular basis. I’m a bit of a chronic Googler, and that’s how I find most new (and new to me) music, both for my blog and for my own enjoyment. I read other blogs regularly, particularly in the left-leaning political and feminist blogosphere, but I’m pretty fickle when it comes to subscribing to blogs about the arts.

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New Media Pioneer: Colin Rink of Dylan for Virgins Podcast

Dylan For Virgins is a regular DIY music podcast which reviews the works of independent artists. Each episode we feature one song of the independent artist reviewed and provide helpful tips and tricks of the music industry that work for all performers in all genres. Aside from the music business, we also tell stories that have helped us as musicians in performances all around North America, and fascinating musical stories from great musical legends; from Bob Dylan, to Jimi Hendrix.

1. Can you tell us a little bit about how you got into music, as well as the other creative hobbies you have?

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