SXSW 2010: Who to Watch Pt. 2
Pat Grossi is Active Child: One to Watch @ SXSW
As the mass music migration to Austin for SXSW begins next week, we know many folks are scrambling to get travel and accommodations in order (e.g. booking last minute flights, hotel rooms, couches and floors to sleep on, etc..). But in between sending party RSVP’s and stocking up on Airborne, make sure to check out the LP Questionnaire/Pick 3 series over on SXSW.com. Some of our favorite tid bits include fun facts and recommended artist-picks from notable industry friends and artists such as Nic Adler, Matthew Mayfield and the DeSavia/Knoepfle/Briggs trio. Now on to pt. 2…
Expect to see lots of festival goers and industry folks checking out The Young Veins. The new Crush-managed act is comprised of two former members of Panic! At the Disco. Their upcoming tour with Boston’s Bad Rabbits, who are garnering a good level of interest as well, will see both bands making stops at the festival… Indie-pop songstress Meiko will play Thursday night (3/18) at The Parish and it looks like her sophomore album will see a summer release, most likely on Interscope. Expect to see publishers in attendance… Labels are keeping an eye on California duo HoneyHoney who play the ASCAP showcase on Wednesday night (3/17), while Obi Best, who also sings backup with The Bird and The Bee, will be playing the ASCAP’s Friday (3/19) show… Surfer Blood have a full dance-card in Austin, with lots of performances scheduled. The Florida indie-rockers will mostly likely be seeing a lot of attention from both domestic and international on-lookers… Pat Grossi, who performs as Active Child, will also be busy with a number of shows next week, including the Thursday (3/18) Filter showcase at Cedar Street; the L.A. local has recently received numerous positive nods in tastemaker press… Those sticking it out through Saturday (3/20) should catch electro-dance act Pretty Lights at La Zona Rosa. The group’s first two albums have over 300,000 downloads and they head to Austin on the tail of five sold-out dates in their home state of Colorado. Classixx is another electronic duo to catch, they play the Green Label Sound showcase on Friday (3/19)… Finally a little trivia: How many 90’s-era rock acts playing secret shows during SXSW can you name? The winner gets a limited edition signed 7″ from Pedro the Singing Monkey…
03.8.10File Under: Stuff We Like
Volapike @ On the Rox - Tuesday, March 9th
Mon. Mar 8th – The Romany Rye @ Silverlake Lounge (view)
Tues. Mar 9th – Volapike @ On the Rox (view)
Wed. Mar 10th – Meiko @ Hotel Cafe (view)
Thurs. Mar 1th – Slow Club @ Spaceland (view)
Fri. Mar 12th – Yellow Red Sparks @ Bootleg Theater (view)
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RM64 Party in Austin @ The Dirty Dog 3/19
That’s right, we’ve combined our three favorite things; great music, FREE drinks and good friends… It all happens on Friday, March 19th from 1 – 6pm at The Dirty Dog Bar in the heart of Austin’s 6th street during SXSW… We were lucky enough to land some of our favorite new artists to play our party (ok, we told them there’d be free booze and a backline, but they still said yes)… The lineup includes, Twin Atlantic, Jaguar Love, Fitz & the Tantrums, Gordon Voidwell, Jonneine Zapata and One Pin Short. Join us and our friends from Double Stereo, XO Publicity, Propellerhead, SESAC and Brightman Music for a good ole fashion Austin bash. Hit up the RSVP and Event Page…
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Radio, Radio and Vampires…
L.A. locals Dead Country added to rotation on KROQ
If you haven’t heard of VAMPIRES EVERYWHERE! you might not be the only one, but that’s about to change very soon. Century Media Records was early on signing the L.A.-based undead rockers who have a new video for the song “Immortal Love” currently in heavy rotation on MTV2’s Headbangers Ball. The band was signed by new VP of A&R and Marketing Mike Gitter and is the first signing under the watch of new label prexy Don Robertson. Their EP, Lost In The Shadows, streets on April 13th exclusively at Hot Topic locations nationwide, the band’s debut full-length is expected this summer… In a move to spotlight local talent, KROQ began spinning a new song from unsigned L.A. locals Dead Country. The band’s song “Euro Thrash” has been getting 7 spins a day and getting phones, thus spurring a flurry of label calls to the band. We hear S.F. station Live 105 may start spinning the tune this week. Expect to see label and publisher folks making a trek to Orange County for the band’s residency at La Cave, which is famous for its steak & seafood…mmm yum! Meanwhile, we hear east coast A&R reps are planning flights to Tinseltown to meet the band. Nick Raskulinecz has been tapped to produce the album and the group will be supporting The Bronx on a North American tour later this month [Update: "Euro Thrash" received an official add on KROQ this morning]… Back on the right coast is the Chris Long-managed Villanova, whose new song “Hard To Be Around” recently got added to power rotation on South Carolina’s influential WARQ and reached #1 last week with 42 spins. The band’s new album is slated for an April release. Barrister Tim Mandelbaum is handling legal duties and Atlanta studio whiz Rick Beato produced the new album. Stay tuned…
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Fresh Ink: Me Talk Pretty, Christian TV & more…
Christian TV Signs to Universal/Motown
NYC rockers Me Talk Pretty have signed with newly minted Eight O Five Records/Universal. Jesse Beer Dietz with The MGMT Co. is handling management duties for the four piece ,who will see a release of their debut full-length We Are Strangers this spring; the album was produced by Noah Shain (Atreyu, As Tall As Lions, Nico Vega). The band has been hitting the road hard, with stints on last year’s Warped Tour and SXSW performances under their belt, we hear The Agency Group has nabbed the band for booking… Get more info and listen to a couple songs from the new album at www.metalkpretty.com… It looks like Universal/Motown has picked up Christian TV, beating out others who were vying for the electro-dance act whose new video for the barely-legal jam “When She Turns 18″ was pricking ears and turning heads… Jumping to another branch on the Uni tree, Universal/Republic has signed the San Diego-based Dynamite Walls… In slightly more dry ink, Jive is gearing up to take a big-rock swing with Miami’s Atom Smash, and local label Dangerbird Records has added Minus the Bear to their impressive indie roster.
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SXSW 2010: Who to Watch Pt. 1
Danger Mouse & James Mercer are Broken Bells @ SXSW Kick Off Show
Recently SXSW announced that their kick-off show on March 17th will be presented by NPR Music and will feature indie icons Spoon, Broken Bells (the uber-duo featuring Brian Burton aka Danger Mouse and The Shins’ James Mercer), as well as Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings, The Walkmen and Visqueen… Every year the festival features a wide array of artists; from up-and-comers, to established artists, to “unknown” potential breakout acts -it’s a mixed bag. We thought it was timely to pick out some of the artists who should be on your Austin calendars this year in part 1 of SXSW Who To Watch…
Brooklyn’s Cymbals Eat Guitars are making SXSW stops as they cross the country on their headlining tour with support from Bear in Heaven and Freelance Whales. With recent features and nods in Pitchfork, NY Times and NME to name a few, be sure to find ‘em at the Alternative Press, Dickies/Filter and WOXY parties among others… Lots of curiosity around fellow Brooklynites Das Racist who exploded online last year and have become infamous for their antics – at one of their recent shows instead of performing they simply popped on the Beastie Boys Paul’s Boutique, leaving fans confused and us impressed… L.A. local Lex Land has had a #1 iTunes folk album, has played live on KCRW and can belt out a version of the Habanera from Bizet’s “Carmen” better than any opera singer you can name… You may know the young Swedish pop-singer Miss Li whose ridiculously infectious song “Oh Boy” is in the new Volvo car commercial, she’s at the Victorian Room at the Driskill on Saturday… Other internationals to keep an eye on include Manchester’s Ten Bears and kiwi pop-rockers Kingston. Stay tuned for part 2…
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Q&A w/ The Viper Room’s Nathan Levinson & The Other Berko
The Viper Room is one of the most recognizable and famous nightclubs in Tinseltown. Actor Johnny Depp was among one of the owners of the club when it opened, and the venue quickly became a celebrity hangout. It received worldwide attention when actor River Phoenix died outside the club on Halloween night in 1993. Throughout the years, the venue has seen many transitions in L.A.’s live music scene, while a host of the biggest names in music got their start on the Viper Room stage. And for many years it has been an industry hotspot to check out new talent.
While the music business has changed dramatically in recent years, the club has transitioned as well with new faces and a changing atmosphere, particularly when restaurateur Harry Morton purchased the venue in 2008. An effort to return the venue to its prominence and influence during the club’s heyday seems underway. Current Viper Room players Nathan Levinson and Sarah Berkowitz, who handle marketing and promotion, stopped by RM 64 headquarters to share what’s in the works.
RM64: Tell us what it is you do at The Viper Room and how you came to be there?
NL: I came to The Viper Room last February. Before that I was a senior ad executive at the alternative news weekly in Salt Lake for 3 years…Salt Lake City Weekly is just like the L.A. Weekly here.
I needed to get out of Salt Lake and came here in pursuit of a screenwriting dream but needed a job. I saw an opportunity for a marketing position at the Viper Room and started doing a bunch of research, for instance how Harry Morton had purchased the company the year prior.
I had a lot of experience in nightlife marketing because I ran all the club stuff in Salt Lake for the news weekly and did a lot of club relations on the advertising side as well. I’m pretty savvy in the digital world in my own efforts and they were looking for someone to launch a heavy digital campaign. In terms of online or digital at the time, there wasn’t much going on here. Sarah was completely overworked and that was part of what she was trying to launch, but the manpower just wasn’t there. Around the same time, they were changing out a lot of the staff, particularly to try and have a friendlier atmosphere. There was a presence starting to be built there, but it wasn’t what it could be and that’s when I came in and started working closely with Sarah.
SB: I started working at the Viper Room as an intern and was hired on when I graduated. I started as an all around assistant to special events, talent buyers, operations managers and basically did a little bit of everything. When Nate came onboard, the duties were able to shift and he focused more heavily on the marketing and I was able to move more into event coordination.
NL: About a month after I had been at the Viper setting up the digital landscape, Casey our national talent buyer came on. He is extremely digitally savvy as well so it was a great match. He brought in Chelsea our local buyer a month later, which completed our team.
Looking to the future: Viper Room's Sarah & Nathan
RM64: Where does the Viper Room see itself going as a venue? World-class club and smaller destination for larger bands wanting an intimate show, or is it a neighborhood bar that happens to have a history?
NL: I would say it’s both. It’s clearly a destination club because of the brand and the name, so there’s always the tourist element – those who want to go there to say they’ve been there. Internally we care about the quality and experience of the music, and also the building of the community vibe. We want not only music regulars to love it, but also the locals who want to come hangout at a great scene, and it helps that we’re blessed with an amazing staff. A lot of them are in bands or television shows, and it’s really a talented and dynamic group of people all with wonderful personalities.
SB: At the same time, the music quality is absolutely our focus.
RM64: Tell us about Viper Room’s Friends and Family list that you guys recently started.
SB: We have live bands every night of the week. There is a lot of industry that come out to see bands every night. Instead of constant guest list requests, we wanted to open it up. Provided that it’s not a benefit show, an outside promoted night or it’s sold out, you can come in free plus one. It’s free entry and drink specials.
NL: The Friends and Family list was a big turning point for us in order to get the industry back in the room and saying good things.
RM64: Is that list now closed?
SB: For the moment it is.
NL: We did a good job with saturating the industry really quickly.
RM64: What are some of the things you’re doing in terms of being more artists friendly? It seems like a place more people want to play now.
SB: For starters our production staff is amazing. Our production manager wants every band to have the best time and gives them everything they need. He has instilled that in the rest of the production staff too. So everyone works really hard and we constantly get emails back saying, ‘we had a great time. Your entire staff is amazing.’ That’s the first part, because bands talk to other bands and if they have a great experience at a venue, they’ll tell other bands and the other bands are going to want to play. The other part is the marketing.
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File Under: Stuff We Like
Pearl Harbor @ The Echo Tonight (2/16)
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It’s Been Said…
DIY Currency: Solid Gold
SXSW is 6 weeks away and if you’re starting your ‘must-see’ list, be sure to add Minneapolis’ Solid Gold. The indie-electro trio has been building one of the more impressive DIY stories of late. They’ve sold close to 10,000 albums, received press nods in Billboard, NME, Pitchfork and Filter among others and their new video is premiering on MTV2 and mtvU this month. We hear labels are circling in on this one with some offers already in. The band has two upcoming hometown shows if you want to beat the SXSW rush.
Labels and pubcos are taking notice of Oren Lavie, as the buzz continues to build around the Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter. Lavie, who has now garnered over 10.5 million views of his “Her Morning Elegance” video on YouTube, played a string of recent dates at the Hotel Cafe that brought out majors and indie A&R folks (with no record or pub deal in place, and an a new album’s worth of material, it’s no surprise). Attorney Ben Laski is handling legal duties…
The story keeps building on Matthew Mayfield. His new EP Breathe Out in Black was sitting at #1 on the iTunes singer-songwriter chart this morning, just two days after being independently released. In fact the entire EP was recorded, mixed, mastered and up for sale digitally in the span of a week. Check out www.matthewmayfield.com for more… Keep an eye on L.A. locals The Sequel. The band has been popping up on label radars of late and has more than a few showcases already on the horizon. EMI Music Pub players Dan MacCarroll and Declan Morrell snapped up the band early for publishing. Get on it…
Young gun Ben Adelson settles in at a new A&R gig at Epic Records. Adelson was previously at Universal Republic and brought in Flobots and Owl City. He also co-manages recent Roadrunner signing Young the Giant (formerly The Jakes)… Meanwhile, we hear there is an established big-rock act who is currently a free-agent and is being courted by multiple labels on both coasts. Inquiring minds want to know? Here’s a hint, they didn’t play the Super Bowl Halftime Show…
IN THE MIX: K Sera, Moonlight Bride and Tyrone Wells…
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Take Notice: Bardot Sessions
Not that Bardot
Something has been bubbling at Hollywood’s Bardot club on Thursday nights, and we’re not talking about the bottles of Cristal. The late night event, merely referred to as the “Bardot Sessions,” features diverse guest artists from the world of rock, pop and R&B belting out covers of everything from Neil Diamond to Guns N’ Roses to Aretha Franklin. But amid the swanky bottle service, surprise appearances and an occasional drunken celebrity stage-crash, what’s more intriguing to those in the know is the intermixed performances from unknown, emerging or once-overlooked artists. In recent weeks this impressive new set of performers has been turning the night’s established artists into giddy fans, and even collaborators. Something’s happening here. Just don’t show up in shorts…
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