Vulfpeck

I have to talk about Vulfpeck today, a funk instrumental group made up of Jack Stratton, Joe Dart, Theo Katzman and Woody Goss founded 2011 in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  I wanted to find out as much as I could about these guys.

Vulfpeck is so inventive in their musical stylings, humor and in their publicity, i.e. their recent Spotify stunt, Sleepify.

Congratulations are in order for their successful kickstarter campaign in which they raised more than their goal of $5,000 for their upcoming free September "Sleepify" tour.

The title of their recent album is Fugue State.  Fugue has a couple of definitions, one being musical and the other psychiatric which just makes this album more clever and amusing.

These guys are brilliant and sound especially brilliant with the addition of Antwaun Stanley's smooth vocals heard here in their newest video 1612.

This group displays incredible musicianship from the University of Michigan.  As everyone knows Detroit has a history of great music, such a long and rich heritage of notable musicians I'm not even going to name a few.

Their video Synth Party will make you laugh your ass off.  Their sense of humor is ingenious and ridiculous. Theo Katzman is seen jamming out on a pillow with a stray sock? and Joe Dart makes himself comfortable laying on the bed while rocking out on the bass.

I'm pretty upset these guys aren't coming to Seattle during their September Tour.  Buy their album on bandcamp and if you're close by, go see these guys live!!

Ayron Jones and The Way & Lukas Nelson

     I had no idea what expect when I went to see Ayron Jones and The Way open for Lukas Nelson (son of Willie) and Promise of the Real last Friday night at the Wild Buffalo in Bellingham.  I wish I had gotten there earlier to see more of the opening set.  I was blown away.  The energy of Ayron Jones and the Way was so amazing, I got lost in it and just had so much fun.  The drummer alone was a spectacle to watch.  It was hip hop meets Jimi Hendrix and it was awesome.  Each of them were such skilled musicians with incredible stage presence and charisma I was worried for Lukas Nelson to have to follow that.
   
     In his own rite Lukas Nelson moved beyond the style of his father into a new realm of cool of his own invention.  If you are an americana hippy like me you'll totally get it. (Even if you are a regular hippy). A beautiful arrangement mixed with acrobatics.  Licks reminiscient of Phillip Sayce, wild yet so controlled and surprisingly touching lyrics that seemed to bare his soul.  It was a little bit country and little bit rock'n roll mixed with a touch of indie style. Powerful performances by both bands that complemented each other so well.
   
     If you have an opportunity, you have to go see these guys.  Both bands are top in their craft, I think you'll regret it if you don't see them perform live.  And I can't tell you how much fun it was to see them in such a small venue, up close.  I have a feeling you won't be able to see them like this for too much longer before people learn who they are and the crowds start pouring in.

Headroom

I want to share with you what my friend Ben Burnes (Abstraction) shared with me this morning, if you too are an indie musician recording your own music and wanting to produce it in the most professional way possible.  Come with me as I document what I learn.  

He said I had a lot of clipping in the recording, both in the vocal and guitar parts. If you have pretty decent music editing software red lines will indicate where the audio clips because it was recorded too loud.

What happens when audio clips is that it is being recorded beyond that capacity of the microphone or computer to properly process the audio signal. The wave generated is too large and the peaks/troughs get "clipped" off, creating audio crackles and other unfriendly artifacts.

Here's a quick example of how clipping looks:

The first line is a normal sine wave. The second line is the sine wave's volume being boosted beyond the limitation of the machine. When the volume is brought back down to normal levels, you can see that the peaks and troughs of the wave have been clipped off creating an entirely different sound.

While he wasn't saying that I needed to go out and re-record everything, it's something that I should keep in mind for the future. The rule of thumb is to turn your microphone sensitivity down to the point where you can sing your loudest and still have space to spare. The traditional space (called "headroom" in the industry) you should give between your loudest singing and the absolute max of the system is -6db. Boosting audio volume is easy, but cleaning up clipped audio is very difficult because in essence part of the wave form is destroyed.

Just so you know Ben is responsible for the piano part in this amazing piece, Drifting, a collaboration with The Reverb Junkie and Genettic.

Seattle Indie Musicians, Radio & Venues

     Here we go local indie musician Seattlites and north Puget Sounders let's keep it local.  Listen to KEXP for great indie music and from Everett, closer to where I'm from, there is KSER and their show Poptopia Parkway Wednesdays at 7pm.  Poptopia Parkway's foundation is power pop, but it's also a showcase for indie rock, oldies, Americana, and contemporary pop singer-songwriters from the 1960s through today.  Lon Palmer is the host. You can contact Lon by email (lon@kser.org) or on his Facebook page to have them play your music.

    I plan to seek out more local venues and include them on this blog.  In Seattle, I've visited the Showbox, the Tractor and the Crocodile.  This Friday I will be going to the Paramount to see Haim.  I'm pretty sure they are not independent, but excited to see them none-the-less. In Mount Vernon up north I've enjoyed going to the Muse, a relatively small venue with a bar and restaurant.  They have three stages on different levels, with shows going on simultaneously, pretty awesome!!

     
     I've discovered some local artists that I really like.  I may have already shared them in previous posts, but I'm going to share them again now.  Eric Miller, Kris Orlowski, Wishbeard, La Luz and my recent discovery through luvindiemusic.com, Mossback and their new song City Lights that you can hear on mixcloud. City Lights is a melodic blend of scintillating guitar riffs, aurally pleasing vocals and a rock solid bass and drums. I hope they will make a lyric video for the song soon. You can follow them on tumblr and twitter, and listen to them for free on jango. 

Visit Grumpy D's in Ballard every Wednesday for a great open mic at 5:30p.

Support local artists :) 

Acoustic Cafe Today

I want this blog to be a resource for other indie musicians so as I learn more I will post more also its great for myself, as well, to look back at information I've gleaned.  Ari Herstand and his blog Ari's Take is a gold mine of information.

Aside from listening to KEXP a local Seattle station, KGUP and NewUSB radio there are millions of internet indie radio stations and podcasts, I'm always discovering more. Wrecking Ball Radio is one of my favorites, the Baub Show which is on daily from Southern California.  I'm always looking for more local stations here in Western Washington, as well as, for good independent venues and artists.

Acoustic cafe is on today, every Tues. on Coastal FM radio which I believe starts around 10 or 11 pacific time, which I will be listening to.

A couple of cool things I have found lately specifically for guitarists this last week is RiffStation and Powertab 1.7.  I think you get a lot more paying for Riffstation. Its great if you can't find the tab you are looking for on UltimateGuitarTab.com. Powertab is a great way to share tab.  There is probably a newer version now, but this is what I've discovered recently.

Josh Doyle is my favorite indie artist today check him out!!

Music is a Great Motivator

Words are powerful and music is a great motivator.

There is something about good music that makes you feel, really, a certain way.  You may not even know what makes a song so good to you, but you hear it and it speaks to you. i.e. Kris Orlowski  It could be a very simple melody, but the way the words combine with the music, you empathize with the person who sang them.  

What’s more, is someone who has taken so much time and poured so much of their heart into this one thing, whatever it is, a song… maybe a blog.  It has come to mean the world to you even if it was meant for everyone.  You take it and like a poem and you make it yours, you wrap it around your own life and your own experiences.  You apply it to you.

I think everyone does this. Apparently, there are people out there that don't listen to music, but that blows my mind. 

Words shape our lives and they shape the world (the people) around us. We do this with music.
Check out Nicky Romero.

Music is universal.  It is felt and understood.  Much like a smile.  Someone from any nationality understands this.  We all have feelings no matter how much we push them aside and try not to feel them.  Sometimes the bravest thing we can do is just allow ourselves to feel.

The decisions we make on a daily basis come from our subconscious mind.  We are what we eat on a regular basis.   The things we immerse ourselves in on a daily affect simple decisions.  Hense, music and the words, especially, are powerful.  The Shears

This blog consists of my own opinions and my main intention is to promote indie artists.  I may post artists who are not independent as well.  I am in general, a music lover.  Thank you for reading!!