New York, NY, April 17, 2008: To remind the public, members of the music industry and U.S. legislators of the central role and rights of those who conceive and create music, ASCAP (the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) today officially launched a ‘Bill of Rights for Songwriters and Composers.’

This awareness-building initiative centers around 10 core principles, including ” We have the right to be compensated for the use of our creative works, and share in the revenues that they generate” and “We have the right to license our works and control the ways in which they are used.”

For those of you who don’t know. ASCAP is one of the societies that collect performance royalties for us when our music is licensed and played on things like TV, video games, radio, or other public performances..

Make Your Voice Heard! Sign now.

Click here to read more.

Me and my longtime friend Xavier have been planning to put together a record label. It took me long enough to try to figure out a name, although, I did find one. The name is actually a term I used in the early ’90’s to describe the style of bass-lines in UBM’s music at the time. The style jumped octaves and musical fifths all over the place, therefore making “Octava” suitable and descriptively simple.

www.octavarecords.com is now online, it’s just basically a splash page at the moment. I wrote newsletter subscription code for the front page today so everyone can be updated when the site officially launches. I’ve been doing tons of work behind the scenes on the administration panels and database structure mostly, but because of the work I’ve been getting done in the administration panel, I’ll soon be into the front-end user interface stuff.

I basically created an editor in php that I can use as a common editor for all the various database functions, much like how scaffolding works in Ruby on Rails. If you’re not familiar, there is a screencast called Creating a weblog in 15 minutes to demonstrate how much it can speed up and simplify things by not repeating a million lines of code. I basically lay down definitions in my php pages containing information about the database structure, such as:

• Database row names
• Database row type (e.g. Integer, Boolean, Text, or even things like File. — As an example, the code will make things like Boolean appear as a checkbox when editing or adding new entries.
• Friendly names, displayed as labels, such as ‘Name:’
• If the database is storing integers to refer to another database table, such as artist id #1. This section also includes data referring to the table ‘artist’. Giving definition to the id number that’s stored as an integer.
• And a few other options.

The common included file will then generate pages to Display, Add, Edit and Delete database entries based on that array of information about the MySql database. It’s been a lot of work creating the code to do all this, but it will be nice and simplify things in the long run, because I’ll be able to re-use the code in other projects of mine.

So, basically, I’ve just been über-geek lately… Perhaps it’s time I buy one of those illuminated wi-fi signal status detector shirts from ThinkGeek? Oh well… What the hell am I talking about? Take a look at yourself! You, too, are on this damn infernal cobweb of a net… You know you want one!

Anyways, Octava will be the new home for my various music projects and collaborations, past and present. Including: The Underground Bass Masters, Polaroid Kiss, and Audesi. I will also be producing and mastering new music from Xavier.

Here is a bit of reading material I found on the net in the last few days, which I felt could be beneficial to emerging artists. Written by both David Byrne (from Talking Heads fame), with audio of a chat with Brian Eno. As well as a recent blog post by Trent Reznor (of Nine Inch Nails).

I used to own a record label. That label, Luaka Bop, still exists, though I’m no longer involved in running it. My last record came out through Nonesuch, a subsidiary of the Warner Music Group empire. I have also released music through indie labels like Thrill Jockey, and I have pressed up CDs and sold them on tour. I tour every few years, and I don’t see it as simply a loss leader for CD sales. So I have seen this business from both sides. I’ve made money, and I’ve been ripped off. I’ve had creative freedom, and I’ve been pressured to make hits. I have dealt with diva behavior from crazy musicians, and I have seen genius records by wonderful artists get completely ignored. I love music. I always will. It saved my life, and I bet I’m not the only one who can say that. -David Byrne

Read the full article: David Byrne’s Survival Strategies for Emerging Artists — and Megastars

There was recently a post from Trent Reznor of NIN, with stats of Saul Williams latest record. I couldn’t find a direct link to it on www.nin.com, only an RSS or Atom feed link. So I cut and paste it. I hope nobody minds.

It’s a strange time to be an artist in the recording business. It’s pretty easy to see what NOT to do these days, but less obvious to know what’s right. As I find myself free from the bloated bureaucracy of major labels, finally able to do whatever I want… well, what is that? What is the “right” way to release records, treat your music and your audience with respect and attempt to make a living as well? I have a number of musician friends who are either in a similar situation or feel they soon will be, and it’s a real source of anxiety and uncertainty.I’d like to share my experience releasing Saul Williams’ “The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust” and what I’ve learned from the process. Perhaps by revealing of all our data - our “dirty laundry” - we can contribute to a better solution.

“A quick history: Saul makes a great record that I produce. We can’t find the right home at a major label. We decide to release it ourselves, digitally. Saul does not have limitless financial resources so we shop around for a company that can fulfill our needs. We choose Musicane because they are competent and are willing to adapt to what we want. The results are here: niggytardust.comWe offer the entire record free (as in totally free to the visitor - we pay bandwidth costs) as 192 MP3s, or for $5 you can choose higher fidelity versions and feel good about supporting the artist directly. We offer all major CCs and PayPal as payment options.Here’s what I was thinking: Fans are interested in music as soon as it’s available (that’s a good thing, remember) and usually that’s a leak from the label’s manufacturing plants. Offering the record digitally as its first appearance in the marketplace eliminates that problem. I thought if you offered the whole record free at reasonable quality - no strings attached - and offered a hassle free way to show support that clearly goes straight to the artists who made it at an unquestionably low price people would “do the right thing”. I know, I know…Well, now I DO know and you will too.Saul’s previous record was released in 2004 and has sold 33,897 copies.As of 1/2/08,154,449 people chose to download Saul’s new record. 28,322 of those people chose to pay $5 for it, meaning: 18.3% chose to pay.Of those paying,3220 chose 192kbps MP3 19,764 chose 320kbps MP3 5338 chose FLACKeep in mind not one cent was spent on marketing this record. The only marketing was Saul and myself talking as loudly as we could to anybody that would listen.If 33,897 people went out and bought Saul’s last record 3 years ago (when more people bought CDs) and over 150K - five times as many - sought out this new record, that’s great - right?I have to assume the people knowing about this project must either be primarily Saul or NIN fans, as there was very little media coverage outside our direct influence. If that assumption is correct - that most of the people that chose to download Saul’s record came from his or my own fan-base - is it good news that less than one in five feel it was worth $5? I’m not sure what I was expecting but that percentage - primarily from fans - seems disheartening.Add to that: we spent too much (correction, I spent too much) making the record utilizing an A-list team and studio, Musicane fees, an old publishing deal, sample clearance fees, paying to give the record away (bandwidth costs), and nobody’s getting rich off this project.But…Saul’s music is in more peoples’ iPods than ever before and people are interested in him. He’ll be touring throughout the year and we will continue to get the word out however we can.So - if you’re an artist looking to utilize this method of distribution, make of these figures what you will and hopefully this info is enlightening.Best,TR”

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Let me know what you think. Thanks. :)

Celldweller - Frozen (Audesi Remix)

Appears courtesy of FIXT Music.

Frozen Remix CD [3CD Set]

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Three CD’s featuring the Audesi Remix of the Celldweller track ‘Frozen’ and 42 remixes by other artists is available to order now for $14.99. [Pre-Sale] Orders will ship the 1st week of December.

Click here to purchase.

Sorry for the low quality, these were taken with a cellphone by a friend. The sound is completely not even there… If anyone has any higher quality video, let me know! We’d love to see it! This first video is from Urban Lounge on Oct 27th. [See pictures here]. The second video was Nov 1st? If anyone has pictures from The Trapp Door, let me know as well.

Polaroid kiss’s first performance

The audio is hard for people to make out which song it is.
Click here to listen to a sample of Love in Transition.

Here’s another video of me and Tim setting up for a show at The Trapp Door.

Tim and Earl

I think I was putting a 9volt battery into a DI Box. lol.

Audesi’s remix of lvl’s track ‘Home’ is now available to purchase from FIXT Music! The release date was Tues, 13th Nov. The Home Remix EP also includes a revision by Klayton of Celldweller and remixes by Deprogrammed and Nonplus. Cost is $0.99 per digital download or $4.95 for the digital EP. Let me know what you think. Hope you all enjoy it! :)

lvl - Home (Audesi Remix) Streaming Sample

Appears courtesy of FIXT Music.

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lvl - Home (Remix EP)

This was Polaroid Kiss’ first gig. The crowd and the performance went great! :) We opened for ex-Sneaker Pimps Chris Corner’s band IAMX. The bass was so strong near the end that we blew the fuse to the sound system, it didn’t effect the sound during the performance at all though. :) These pics are taken by my girlfriend Mandy Kemp.

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Shake It: Polaroid Kiss win friends with synth-y bleeps and boops but, so far, no label-maker.

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By Jenny Poplar
Posted 10/25/2007

In less than one year, Salt Lake City’s Polaroid Kiss has accomplished things that might cause musicians in more metropolitan cities to shake their fists in the air. How, they must be asking, does a band with no formal public-relations or marketing team and who’ve scarcely played out or even recorded a full-length album accumulate 26,000-plus MySpace friends? How do they receive international airplay and acclaim for their one single and receive requests to perform live with established European-based artists including Chris Corner, aka IAMX, formerly of Sneaker Pimps?

Polaroid Kiss guitarist Tim Burgess—the most recent addition to the quartet—shrugs and, with a slight smile, replies “I think people are getting sick of traditional guitar-driven bands. That’s been done so much in the past few years. They want something new.”

Or retro.

If the runaway success of Polaroid Kiss is any indication, synthesizer-driven bands are making a big comeback. Of course, that’s discounting those who never ever stopped loving electronic bands.

Producer, songwriter and jack-of-all-instruments Brandun Reed says that Polaroid Kiss has received a great deal of attention in Europe, especially in Manchester and Berlin.

“Germans love synth. The old joke is, when America had Lynyrd Skynyrd, Germany had Kraftwerk,” co-producer/multi-instrumentalist Earl Dixon says.

Reed and Georgia-born vocalist Tom Bennett founded Polaroid Kiss in December 2006 following a lively conversation about their divergent musical tastes at a local dance club. Reed and Bennett are both DJs who adore electronic music, but the bulk of Bennett’s vocal experience—true to his Southern roots—has been fronting folk, acoustic and indie acts including Salt Lake City trio O Discordia, a far cry from the abrasive post-punk music that Reed generally enjoys.

Reed and Bennett wanted to produce highly danceable music that begged for multiple rotations at the club. Intelligent, catchy lyrics were also a must. Reed eventually invited Dixon—who has been friends with Reed since the fifth grade—and Burgess to join Polaroid Kiss to ensure a fuller, more developed sound.

Reed and Bennett’s vision is finally starting to come together. Their first single, the moody-yet-infectious Faint, New Order and Nine Inch Nails-influenced “White Lines and White Lies,” has fared well online and in several local clubs where it’s often blasted on repeat. Reed notes that he has even witnessed several people singing along as they dance.

“We’ve really taken our time,” Reed says. “Although we had a lot of ideas from the beginning, we didn’t rush into the recording studio or start booking shows immediately. We made an effort to put a lot of thought into what we’re doing.”

Bennett says Polaroid Kiss is in the process of recording a full-length debut with (fingers crossed) Kelli Ali—another former member of Sneaker Pimps—as guest vocalist. “Her management contacted us because they liked our sound,” Reed says.

Word of mouth still hasn’t landed Polaroid Kiss a proper label, though, and they’re on the hunt for a home. “I’ve always been happy to work really hard and do things myself. I’ve always made my own merchandise, for instance,” says Bennett, who has fronted bands since age 15. “But it does get really exhausting, and it would be nice to eventually have someone to help us with that.”

Reed says Polaroid Kiss’ first major live performance will include a carefully choreographed light show and several other flourishes. “Even though our music is very danceable, I want to make sure we put on a really good performance. Sometimes electronic music isn’t the most exciting thing to see live. We want to make our shows very enjoyable for the audience.”

POLAROID KISS w/IAMX @ The Urban Lounge, 241 S. 500 East, Saturday Oct. 27, 10 p.m. 24Tix.com

Courtesy of  Salt Lake City Weekly. View the article here.

Yesterday, Polaroid Kiss did an interview for City Weekly. The photographer couldn’t show up, so we should have a date scheduled sometime before the IAMX show. I wrote Brandun a huge ass email about how I felt pissed off at how he acted towards me during the interview. I felt I had been receiving these very condescending glares, but I think it may have been related to his anxiety issues, although I tend to think I’m one of the most anxious people I know. Me and him have talked about it and I think we understand each other. He had apologised and is glad I expressed myself, so tension doesn’t build up down the road. Anyway, the interview fun to do, done in a relaxed atmosphere, and I’m interested in reading how it turns out. I think I handled myself decent during the interview. I think it’s a bit harder for me to do, with a group, than a one on one interview is. It was sort of like going to a job interview with three other friends, all of us trying to answer the questions. It was a good learning experience.

I was headed out to see Mandy this morning and I had been on the freeway for a short time and my rear tire had a blowout. Suddenly there was this huge rumble and my car slightly slipped as if riding on a small patch of ice. I thought either my tire blew out or my engine exploded. haha. Something was wrong. So I pulled over and attempted to put on my 50mph miniature spare tire, but it turned out the wrench I had was the wrong size and it was slipping as I was trying to turn the bolts. I had to call my dad, as he was getting ready to head off to work to come out and help me out. He had the right tool and we got everything fixed and I got home.. Sort of scary, I always worried about having a blowout. I’m lucky that my car was very controllable and I didn’t lose control. Anyways, it looks like I’ll need to hitch a ride to practice for a few days, until I get my tire fixed.