For the hard rock quartet Megaphone, the mission has been simple: Saving rock n’ roll from the machine, and bringing it back to where it should be – loud, catchy and in your face. It’s obvious they’re succeeding with that mission due to a huge draw in their native Orlando, Florida, extensive radio play, and gigs opening for arena headliners and festival appearances. With their new album, Exit Silent Mode, filled to the brim with unforgettable hooks, melodies and songs, Megaphone is poised to take everything about their band to the next level.

The following is an interview on Megaphone’s experience of getting their music onto the infamous Rock Band game.

Q) How did you get involved in the Rock Band project?

A) I read the video game blog Joystiq pretty much every day. One day I read a post mentioning the Rock Band Network and I was blown away. I had to re-read it just to make sure I understood what I was looking at. I couldn’t believe that just anyone could download these tools and get their songs into the game. I told the guys in the band about it and there wasn’t even a question of whether or not we should get involved.

Q) How did you get your songs onto the Network?

A) I got the software license and Creators Club membership and dove right in. Fortunately, I had a small amount of MIDI experience from college so I was somewhat familiar with how the software worked. Beyond that, it was just a matter of making the tracks good enough that the RBN community gave them a thumbs up. It was a long process because I was still learning but it got easier as it went along.

Q) How hard was it to program the different instruments?

A) The easiest instrument to do is the drum track. You start with the expert difficulty and basically chart out exactly what is played. There are some fills that you have to adapt to the controller, but otherwise it’s quite literal. The bass is a little more difficult because you have to adapt twenty-something frets with four (or five) strings to five buttons and still keep a sense of movement. Guitar gets harder because you start to incorporate chords and solos with string bends. Vocals are probably the hardest and most tedious, but you’ll have to trust me on that. The explanation would be too long and boring!

Q) How did you use social networking to get exposure to your songs?

A) The biggest problem we’ve found while trying to promote this whole thing is trying to get the word out beyond our usual fan base. The cross-section of people who follow us and people who have an Xbox 360, Rock Band 2, and an Xbox Live account is probably pretty slim. We did an interview recently with  RockBandAide.com which is a popular blog that covers all the aspects of the game so we’re looking to do more things like that to reach people who otherwise wouldn’t have heard of us.

Q) What are some of the ways you are involving Rock Band into your normal marketing outreach?

A) It’s a huge deal for us so we’re including it in just about everything we do. We just printed posters for our slot at the Florida Music Festival and a good portion of the poster lets people know that they can download our tracks in Rock Band 2. The game’s logo is an eye-catcher to anyone who’s familiar with it so we’re trying to put it everywhere we can.

Q) What sort of advice do you have for a band trying to get on the Network?

A) If you’re going to try and do it yourself, just be patient. Once you get your song up for testing, listen to  feedback and don’t take it personally. It’s easy to get defensive of your work when someone tells you something should be changed, but in most cases, the community knows best.

If you don’t want to do it yourself, there are a bunch of authoring companies that will do it for you (including my own, littlecowdog.com). There’s a list of them in the RockBand.com forums so check it out.

Q) What do you think is the biggest advantage of being on the Rock Band Network?

A) This is the widest reach we’ve ever had. People in Spain, Italy, Germany, France, and a bunch of other countries are downloading our tracks. These are people that would have had no idea who we were if it weren’t for this Network. The cool thing is, if people are afraid to purchase our tracks, they can download the first minute as a demo for free. Even though we don’t make any money from it, that’s even more people that have heard our music and seen our name and album covers.

Q) What has been your favorite part of this whole process?

A) The first time I tested one of our songs on my Xbox, I was floored. It was so awesome to see what I had  done come to life on my TV and to see the animated characters rocking out to our song. Then seeing the sales statistics and seeing all those countries that had people downloading our songs…the whole thing is just amazing.

Q) How do you feel about walking into a bar to find a random patron nailing your part of a song/ absolutely failing?

A) Last I checked, I was ranked 16th on the leaderboards for expert drums in our song “Gravitate.” That means that 15 other people around the world have scored higher on my own drum part than myself! I think I’d rather see people fail miserably for the sake of job security…

Seriously though, I think it’s awesome that people can master our individual parts in this game. This is a level of interactivity that has never been achieved before, especially for independent bands. People get to know your songs so much better than they ever could before.

Q) What has been the biggest effect the release of your songs has had?

A) I think, overall, interest in our band has grown. I wrote an email to the music writer at the Orlando Sentinel about it and he called me within an hour to let me know he was going to include it in his column. It’s just another feather in our cap…like opening for AC/DC, it’s something that people ask, “How did you do that?!”

Megaphone will be playing at the Florida Music Festival on April 23rd. Don’t miss out!

If you’re standing in a forest, tilting your head way back to glimpse the tops of all those majestic, thickly trunked trees, it’s just impossible not to be moved by their centuries-old resilience; the stoic strength that sees them through even the harshest storms that Mother Nature can unleash.

Yet locked deep within the core of each of those mighty oaks and towering sequoias is something even stronger than their outwardly impressive surface layers: the heartwood.

A tree’s densest, most durable—and often most beautiful—element, the heartwood is the robust, knotty marrow that keeps it standing proud and tall for all to marvel at. And not only is Heartwood also the name of Canadian singer-songwriter Sora’s astonishing third release, it’s as well the perfect metaphor for her music: gorgeous, rich, endlessly enduring.

“[The title track] is a love song, a heart gift for my husband,” said Sora, who’s known by her given name of Andrea Hunt when she’s not performing. “I wanted to capture the feeling of a love beyond time, that permanence you feel when you’re with someone and it seems like you’ve known them forever. The feeling that it’s truly timeless.”

Timeless is the word that best describes the 11 songs on Heartwood, which was produced by the Juno-nominated Douglas Romanow. With its uniquely ancient-to-modern sound, Sora’s music weaves together contemporary rock with the mystical moods of Celtic folk, medieval madrigals, and other modes of early music.

The result is a heady, colorfully evocative tapestry that conjures the imagery of long ago but feels just as current as anything from the present musical landscape—all the while sounding like little else on today’s airwaves.

Across the album’s moody and atmospheric tracks Sora’s heartrending soprano glides like a graceful dove through swirling mists of violin, piano, harp, synthesizer, cello, guitar, percussion, and other instruments to deliver sweeping such performances as “Children of Lir,” based on the so-named ancient Irish legend, and “The Birch’s Lament,” a poignant epic inspired by Sora’s husband Bryan P. Hunt’s successful children’s book, Liselle and the Birch Prince.

Check out more about the artist at her Web site.

Raised in the 60s by free-spirited artists living like gypsies in picturesque locations like Cheyene Walk, Chelsea or Cornwall, Klay D-C (AKA Klay Dumas-Copas) is a master of creating musical tapestries that are full of flavor and life. His latest solo release, Ritmo, is a magical musical journey that combines technical prowess with an ear for colorful melodies.

A natural story-teller, the first track, “Mungabunga,” introduces us to a soft acoustic piano before blossoming into a wiggy, upbeat number garnished with salsa rhythms. The totally unexpected arrangement dances between the acoustic piano and electric instruments (guitar and bass) in a melodic tease that excites and intoxicates.

The musical stories continue to unfold with the title track, “Ritmo,” a musical stew seasoned with piano jazz chords, Latin rhythms and electric pop sensibilities. Other numbers like “Azure” and “Something” else touch upon a romantic side that lingers.

A master composer that is comfortable with a large range of colors on his palette, “Wadyawant?” highlights the artist’s ability to shift flawlessly between dark and light. He uses the emotional context of the arrangement to create a piece that continually moves the listener forward. “Coast Road” is a bit more melancholy, while “Bounce” flirts with a jolly self-confidence.

“Some people say they don’t like jazz because they don’t understand it. Ritmo means ‘rhythm’ in Spanish and Italian. The album is simply a collection of tunes that express how I felt when I wrote each one. I want the fans to simply feel the music and the rhythms. Anyone that can feel something in our music understands it. That’s what music is about to me,” said Klay.

More about the artist:

Klay’s early childhood was spent in London. His father Ronnie, a struggling artist (hence the name Klay named after his father’s favourite painter Paul Klee – well it was the sixties) also played Jug in The Dedicated Men – an art school band who were doing rather well at the time, though sadly not financially. The band were signed to Pye records and toured with The Who amongst others. His mother, Bridgette, was an artist’s muse.

After moving about with his family across the UK landscape, he went to study for a short at the Leeds College of Music Jazz Degree Course at the age of 18, where he began writing jazz fusion and focusing on piano technique.

His first break came when his band was asked to produce an album by a small label co-owned by Shakatak’s Bill Sharpe and DJ Ralph Tee. This led to the Jazz Steppers album, Get Up!, which won the 1998 MOBO for best Jazz Act.

In 1999, Klay joined Roy Ayers as part of his Ubiquity band. During this same year, Klay released his first solo album, On Reflection, through an independent UK label.

In 2001, he was asked by Sony Jazz UK to put together a Rhythm section for Guitarist Martin Taylor’s Sony UK tour to promote Martin’s new album, Nitelife, produced by Kirk Whalum. Later, he concentrated on studio projects and session work with artists such as Jocelyn Brown and Rippingtons sax player Jeff Kashiwa.

“When rhythm meets intelligence when melody meets improvisation, you find KC at the point of all intersections.” – Hans-Bernd Hülsmann (HBH), Smooth Jazz Daily

- Press Release

Phoenix will be returning to the states this winter and making a stop at The Joint on January 28.

2009 has been a career-defining year for the band with the release of their critically acclaimed album Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Selling more than 200,000 copies to date, WAP is being heralded as one of the best albums of the year. These incredible songs spring to life even more so on stage, with dynamic guitars, infectious choruses and addictive rhythms building to sheer exhilaration as the audience rides Phoenix’s sonic high.

With two sold out American tours under their belts, these are must-see shows by one of the year’s most talked-about artists. Be sure to catch them this time around and see why they’ve been captivating audiences around the globe all year long.

“a transformation into…[a] very welcome arena rock act.” – LA Times

“…a glorious return to the svelte retro-ism of the acclaimed 2000 debut ‘United’ …it’s a lean, mean, groove-tastic machine…Play it again. And again. And again.” – Filter

“…the spirit is always, essentially, of being inside some ever-groovy moment…the underlying vibe is both retro and somehow outside of time – like a memory made sweeter than the real thing it recalls.” (A-) – Entertainment Weekly

Tickets on-sale Sat, January 9 at noon!

For further information visit www.wearephoenix.com.

Contemporary Pianist/Composer, Ann Sweeten, (www.Annsweeten.com) has crafted a signature sound over the course of 8 chart-topping albums and 2 Italian compilation albums over the past 13 years. Often placed in the New Age genre, her style is decidedly unique, embracing not only the classical realm, but aspects of jazz, film scoring, and popular music. Sweeten’s music has aired and been reviewed across the world to wide critical acclaim. Her music is also played on Internet radio, DMX/Spafax Music, Muzak, Clear Channel, AOL Music/XM Audio Visions channel, XM Satellite, and Music Choice (Soundscapes).

Musical Achievements:

Steinway Artist

Voting Member of The Recording Academy.

Nominations and Awards include:

NAR Lifestyle Music Awards 2008 – Best Holiday Album

NAR Lifestyle Music Awards 2007 – Best Instrumental Piano Album

NAR Lifestyle Music Awards 2006 – Best Instrumental Piano Album, Best Cover Art

NAR Lifestyle Music Awards 2004 – Best Neo-Classical Album, Best Cover Art

JPF Music Awards 2004 – Best World Song

ASCAP Popular Awards Recipient : 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009

Her last album, Grey Sky and Bittersweet was produced by Grammy award-winning artist /producer and founder of Windham Hill Records, Will Ackerman. On her newest release, Just this Side of Spring, Ann Sweeten resumes her role as producer in a collaborative effort with Will Ackerman. He had this to say: “Ann Sweeten has always been a brilliant pianist and her performances on JUST THIS SIDE OF SPRING continue to solidify her place as one of the finest players on the scene today. Her compositions seem particularly cohesive in this collection; her musical voice consistent and very much her own. Following in the footsteps of GREY SKY AND BITTERSWEET, Ann Sweeten’s career continues to impress.” Sweeten’s four previous discs, Grey Sky and Bittersweet, A Place in the Sun, Sapphire Days and Reflections, all charted in the Top 5 in NAR Radio, making these some of the most played albums of modern instrumental music in North America. Sweeten blends stylish, sophisticated, technical composition in well-rooted classical themes with originality and passion, resulting in performances that pack an emotional wallop.

A truly well-rounded individual and artist, Ms. Sweeten is a staunch environmentalist, animal activist and vegetarian. In addition to her Concert and Recording career, she is also a professional actress and singer with Actor’s Equity Association. A trained Ballet Dancer, and former Female Front to the Rock Band FALLOUT, she earned a degree in foreign languages from Smith College, (B.A. Cum Laude), studied in Paris and later at the Boston Conservatory. Ms. Sweeten is herself a Breast Cancer survivor and is involved with the Arts in Healthcare Initiative.

- Press Release

The independent albums that I chose have shown a new musical direction. The albums contain originality in arragements and sound, helping to redefine the current music landscape. The list includes unsigned and indie band’s albums/EP’s that are signed to labels.

The indie movement and community needs to keep regenerating. The music is out there, but we just need to keep building an indie music community to help expose these artists to the masses.

The list of indie artists’ albums are not in any particular order.

Matthew Ryan – Dear Lover

Label: Dear Future Collective

The New Collisions – Invisible Embraces

Label: Only Young Records

I Am Empire - I Am Empire

Label: Evergreen Publishing

The Rad -  Fake it Til’ You Make It

Label: Unsigned

Slaughterhouse - Slaughterhouse

Label: E1 Music

The Damnwells - One Last Century

Label: Unsigned

Tech N9NE - K.O.D.

Label: Strange Music

Jay Nash – All the Stars in Copenhagen

Label: Unsigned

Darling Waste - I Am Born

Label: Unsigned

Grammy nominated and 8X Nammy Award winner Jana Mashonee will be performing “O Holy Night” LIVE on My Fox DC Monday, Dec. 21st at 9:40 am. Add to your holiday spirit by tuning in and watching this amazing singer perform a holiday classic! You can watch her perform at www.myfoxdc.com.

Jana Mashonee’s upcoming album, New Moon Born on Miss Molly Records/SONY RED, is set for release in America on February 16, 2010. New Moon Born has already picked up an award for Best Pop Album at the most recent Indian Summer Music Awards and has recently won for Song/Single of the year for “A Change Is Gonna Come” at the Eleventh Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMY) as well as a nod for a 2009 Independent Music Award.

Mashonee’s featured track is an emotional cover of Sam Cooke’s soul classic, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” with Juno Award-winning guitarist Derek Miller. Jana debuted the song and the powerful music video at her live performance for the 2009 American Indian Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC. The song just won the 2009 NAMMY for Song of the Year. The video won the Indie Award of Merit at the IndieFest Film Festival in La Jolla, California and was selected to premiere at both the Independent Features Film Festival in New York and the Monument Valley Film Festival in Arizona.

New Moon Born represents a significant departure from Jana’s previous endeavors, taking on a decidedly more upbeat rhythm and blues flavour. “The album is about rebirth and new beginnings; it reflects a phase in my life that has taken on a different shape and direction from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “This music conveys my personal truths and beliefs.” In addition to providing all the vocals and piano, Jana wrote and co-produced the album.

‘Best Vocalist of the Month’ in March 2009 at a Singer of the Universe competition, the Lumbee Indian singer/songwriter has won nine NAMMY Awards and received a GRAMMY nomination in 2007 for Best Native American Music Album for her album, American Indian Story. Mashonee has performed to sold-out audiences in the U.S. and abroad, including the Aboriginal Achievement Awards show in Toronto, and the Luxembourg Military Tattoo, a charity event that raised over 2.5 million dollars for children’s cancer research.

Despite her fast-paced career, Jana has still found time to give back by establishing her non-profit organization, Jana’s Kids, in 2002. Jana’s Kids Foundation awards Native Youth with educational scholarships to help them to achieve their dreams. All proceeds from the sales of “A Change is Gonna Come” go to the foundation. In 2009, Jana’s Kids awarded two scholarships in the Academic and Athletic categories to two Native Youth and for the first time from North Carolina.

Currently, Mashonee is in the starring role of Fossil Ridge Films’ “Raptor Ranch”, slated for release in 2010.

Find out more information about the indie artist at www.janamashonee.com.

Jana Mashonee’s upcoming album, New Moon Born on Miss Molly Records/SONY RED, is set for release in America on February 16, 2010.

New Moon Born has already picked up an award for Best Pop Album at the most recent Indian Summer Music Awards and has recently won for Song/Single of the year for “A Change Is Gonna Come” at the Eleventh Annual Native American Music Awards (NAMMY) as well as a nod for a 2009 Independent Music Award.

Mashonee’s featured track is an emotional cover of Sam Cooke’s soul classic, “A Change Is Gonna Come,” with Juno Award-winning guitarist Derek Miller. Jana debuted the song and the powerful music video at her live performance for the 2009 American Indian Presidential Inaugural Ball in Washington, DC.

The song just won the 2009 NAMMY for Song of the Year. The video won the Indie Award of Merit at the IndieFest Film Festival in La Jolla, California and was selected to premiere at both the Independent Features Film Festival in New York and the Monument Valley Film Festival in Arizona.

New Moon Born represents a significant departure from Jana’s previous endeavors, taking on a decidedly more upbeat rhythm and blues flavour. “The album is about rebirth and new beginnings; it reflects a phase in my life that has taken on a different shape and direction from anything I’ve done before,” she says. “This music conveys my personal truths and beliefs.” In addition to providing all the vocals and piano, Jana wrote and co-produced the album.

‘Best Vocalist of the Month’ in March 2009 at a Singer of the Universe competition, the Lumbee Indian singer/songwriter has won nine NAMMY Awards and received a GRAMMY nomination in 2007 for Best Native American Music Album for her album, American Indian Story. Mashonee has performed to sold-out audiences in the U.S. and abroad, including the Aboriginal Achievement Awards show in Toronto, and the Luxembourg Military Tattoo, a charity event that raised over 2.5 million dollars for children’s cancer research.

Despite her fast-paced career, Jana has still found time to give back by establishing her non-profit organization, Jana’s Kids, in 2002. Jana’s Kids Foundation awards Native Youth with educational scholarships to help them to achieve their dreams. All proceeds from the sales of “A Change is Gonna Come” go to the foundation. In 2009, Jana’s Kids awarded two scholarships in the Academic and Athletic categories to two Native Youth and for the first time from North Carolina.

Currently, Mashonee is in the starring role of Fossil Ridge Films’ “Raptor Ranch”, slated for release in 2010.

Attached is a bio and fact sheet on Jana Mashonee. Further information can be found at www.janamashonee.com

An awful tragedy, and a reason to make music every day.

On Tuesday, 19-year old indie folksinger Taylor Mitchell was hiking alone on a trail in Cape Breton when she was attacked by coyotes. Nearby hikers stopped the attack and Mitchell was rushed to hospital, but she died of her injuries on Wednesday morning.

Mitchell had just released her debut full-length album, For Your Consideration, and was in the process of touring in support of the release. She was taking a short break from her east coast schedule when the tragedy occurred.

Over the summer, I had the opportunity to see Mitchell perform at the annual Winnipeg Folk Festival in Manitoba, Canada. It’s a 5-day festival that brings together international artists, little-known independents, and young performers just cutting their teeth on the music scene.

For one day of the festival, a stage is devoted to young groups and signer-songwriters, who get the chance to perform in front of a large audience and workshop their music with industry vets prior to performing. It’s always an amazing day of music, particularly because of the great collaborations that happen between the musicians.

It was wonderful to watch Mitchell kick off the day. I remember listening to her clear, tough voice, and accomplished guitar, and thinking to myself, “this is one of those folkies that’s gonna go somewhere.”

Although not long out of school, Mitchell was already driven to push her career as a musician forward. She seemed to always be performing, recording, or collaborating with other artists on new songs. The depth of this tragedy, so sudden and senseless, seems truly impossible to grasp at this point.

But at least one clear thought does come to mind: carpe diem. While most of the news reports on the subject are focusing on reassurances that this type of animal attack is a rarity, I keep coming back to what a fleeting thing life is, and how rarely we live up to the potential of every day. Carpe diem is usually translated as “seize the day,” but a more literal translation is “pick, or pluck the day,” as you might to draw a note out of a guitar string.

Taylor Mitchell lost her life when it was just beginning. We’ll never know what lyrics she might have written, or songs she might have sung, but if the story of her life had continued with the intensity that it told of thusfar, it seems certain that she would have done great things.

Too often, the creatively talented among us are plagued by self-doubt, depression, trouble handling pressure, and inertia. Some of the most gifted musicians I know allow their abilities and potential to stagnate due to fear of risking it all by throwing themselves into the fray that is this industry.

For the indie artist, the challenge is particularly overwhelming because often, they have to deal with a complete lack of support systems. Every action must be self-motivated because there’s no label or investor expecting them to come into work every day and do their jobs.

Although there’s no positive side to a tragedy like the end of Mitchell’s short life, it wouldn’t be such a bad thing if it got us to wake up just a little. To realize that life and the gifts we’re given along the way, are tender, transitory things that can be taken from us in the blink of an eye.

So tell me, what are you up to these days? If you’ve been thinking of booking a tour, go ahead and get those wheels turning. Stuck in the recording process? Get it finished! Nervous about playing a show? Do it anyway. Haven’t picked up the old songwriting pen in a while? Don’t put it off for another minute.

We never realize how much time we’ve wasted until it’s too late, although deep down, every artist knows that each moment not spent in creation cannot be gotten back. Carpe diem, folks, even though there might not be anyone around to push you forward but yourself. Pluck the strings of today, because you can, and because there are others who, caught up by life’s sometimes terrible violence, cannot.

Visit Taylor’s website.

DIY Indie Artist Dave Hibbert Shows Us the Ropes

Sometimes, a career in music can feel like careening down a canyon in a haycart – you’re on a wild ride but you’ve got absolutely zero control over your fate. Who knows if you’ll ever get discovered? Who knows if a label will ever take an interest in your demo?

The desire not to be left with two broken legs at the bottom of a gorge where no one can hear you scream leads some musicians to conquer the industry on their own terms. This week, TheBuzz spoke with performing and recording artist Dave Hibbert, who, after fifteen years at the heart of the indie music scene on Canada’s west coast, has to decided to take the reins and record his own album.

The Decision

Hibbert handles guitar and vocals for funk outfit Tuber, as well as lapsteel for death country pioneers The Lonesome Valley Singers.  But recently, he found himself with a lot of original material that didn’t fit with his current projects. “I found myself writing pop tunes, rootsy blues and garage rock tunes that I needed to get out, and the only way seemed to be to record a solo album.”

Whether you’re motivated by a life change, a surprising opportunity, fierce creative energy, or all of the above, the first step towards creating your own professional recording is making the choice to press forward. But what else is involved in actually getting the job done?

The Tech Stuff

Like many indie artists, Dave started to learn about the technical side of music early on. “About ten years ago, I took an audio engineering course to try to turn my passion into a way to earn a living,” he explains. “What happened then was an unexpected turn of fate. I left school and immediately started mixing audio for film and television. I learned all the gear and trained my ears, but working long hours at loud volumes left me not inspired to play music.”

It’s a common enough story. You take a job to pay the bills, and the next thing you know, the job has become your life. A few years ago, Dave made the decision to break away and get back to music. This time, however, he was armed with the expertise and equipment he needed to record his own music when the time came.
“I’m working primarily with my own gear and doing my own recording and mixing,” Dave describes his creative process. “Protools is my main recording platform. At some point I will be using a studio to track some drums, but 90% of the recording will be done at home on my own gear.”

To the Studio?

Dave’s experience in sound engineering left him not only able to handle technical specs, it also gave him a strong personal philosophy regarding the creative process of recording. “I encourage everyone thinking of recording their own album to do as much as they can on their own, as it will keep the cost down and keep you, the artist, as the central creative force,” he says. “You don’t need expensive gear and big studios to create your project. Grab a 4 track, a hand held recorder or a Dictaphone and spend the time getting what you want on tape.”

The lure of the studio is intense, especially for a first time recording artist, but for Dave, the focus has to be on quality of performance, rather than quality of sound. “Too many bands spend ridiculous amounts of money on studio time, only to become intimidated and unhappy with the high pressure situation of studio recording. Having a great recording of a bad performance won’t make you happy. You need to get a great feel even if it’s a lower quality recording.”

The Talent Pool

Those who aren’t exactly technical wizards can still achieve that “great feel” Dave describes by surrounding themselves with the right people. “I’m inspired by working with the many talented musicians that I have come to know throughout the years,” says Dave. “The thought of being able to assemble musicians from different backgrounds to make my songs come to life excites me.”

The success of any musical project relies heavily on the community available to support it. “The incredible wealth of talent in Victoria and Vancouver is one of my greatest inspirations,” Dave reveals. “Other musicians and friends that have been creating their own projects have inspired me to do the same.”

Distribution and – Gack! – Promotion

Once finished recording, the next step is marketing and distributing CDs, right? Not necessarily, according to Dave. “I would like to keep the recording digital only,” he says. “CD replication is a large cost for a medium that’s on it’s way to being obsolete, so not making hardcopies will allow me to distribute my music online for free. Being more artist than capitalist, I would rather have people hear the music than make money. Keeping the recording process DIY allows the cost to be minimal and more about creativity than marketability.”

Being more artist than capitalist is the curse of many musicians. After all the creative work, technical finagling, and artistic collaboration, sometimes the hardest part is self-promotion. Unfortunately, self-promotion is a necessity, not simply to earn money from your music, but to grow a listening audience.

Thanks to the free exchange of music online, it’s possible for indie artists to distribute and promote their own music at virtually no cost, and the key to the final step in the recording process is to get out there and push, push, push. Contact websites, talk to the blogs, force them to listen to your tracks! It’s the furthest thing from creativity, but it’s the difference between developing listeners, and having your music languish in obscurity.