Tag Archives: DIY

Submit Your Art to be Featured in Performer Magazine

violin

Attention artists! We are planning a special print issue celebrating the diverse and wonderful visual art found in the indie/DIY music community.

If you are a musician who is also a visual artist, we want to hear from you, and potentially feature your work. Do you paint, draw, sculpt or create art in another interesting way? Let us know about it! Ideally, your art would represent something musical in nature, but this is NOT a requirement.

SUBMISSION INFO

To have your work considered for inclusion in this issue, please follow these 3 simple steps:

1. Email ben@performermag.com with the subject line: Art Submission for Performer

2. In the body of your email, you must provide answers to the following. Keep answers brief (1-2 sentences, max).

Your full name:

Band you are in (write ‘solo’ if you’re a solo artist):

Name of the piece you’re submitting:

Year it was created:

Medium (example: oil on canvas):

What does this piece mean to you?

How does your art relate to or influence your music?

Twitter username:

Your URL:

3) Attach a hi-res JPEG or TIFF of the work you’re submitting, or provide a link at the bottom of the email where we can access a hi-res version (this method is preferred over attachments).

Submissions of low-res artwork or incomplete questions will be discarded. All submissions must be received no later than July 1, 2013. Show us what you’ve got!

**Special thanks to Tony Hollums for permission to use his piece “Violin,” featured above.**

LEGAL PAD: Tips for International Touring

No matter what side of the spectrum you are on, touring in a foreign land can be complicated.  If you’re considering your first tour or festival overseas, here are some things to keep in mind:

Foreign Artists Touring the United States:

Obtaining a work visa in the United States is not easy.  Couple that difficulty with a minimal (or non-existent) payday, and the prospects can seem even more daunting.  This has been a hot-button issue for bands trying to get to the States for popular festivals. British newspaper The Guardian discussed the red tape prohibiting some UK bands from performing at SXSW, stating:  Continue reading

THE HUSH SOUND: Making a Fresh Start, Independent and Label-Free

Label-free and recently off-hiatus, The Hush Sound have done a lot of growing up for their digital 7-inch, Forty Five. We spoke with singer and guitarist Bob Morris in advance of the release about what it was like work on the band’s first release in five years.

Where are you guys at in the recording process? Is there more left to finish?

We finished about a month ago. We did four songs. We still have to tweak one of them, but we’re mainly getting back our third set of mixes now. It sounds really cool. This might be my favorite Hush stuff that we’ve done so far, so I’m definitely excited about it. It’s interesting to kind of see how everybody has grown up and changed since the last time we recorded together. Continue reading

DIY Engineering in a Custom Mobile Rig: In The Studio (sort of) with ATTENTION SYSTEM

PRE-PRODUCTION

What was your pre-production like on this project?

This record was very different for us; we’re all technophiles, so we decided to pull out of the big studio zeitgeist and do some mobile DIY audio engineering in weird places.

So the pre- was probably the most difficult part to intellectualize. We did the entirety of the record in Pro Tools, so all the standard pre-pro stuff had to be done on the computer (the track planning, plug-ins, session building and all that), and we’d map out a method for recording each instrument in odd ways.  Continue reading

Recording Tips: Full Band Takes vs. Individual Tracking

Part 1 of 2

One fundamental question we get asked frequently in the studio is whether to record a band live or to record each instrument separately.  Tracking one instrument at a time allows for perfect isolation and the ability to focus everyone’s attention on getting that part recorded perfectly.  So why not build every song this way?  Why not have the drummer play to a click track, then lay each instrument over that separately until you’re done?  Well, hang on – we kinda do that in the studio, but not exactly.  We strongly recommend in a typical band situation (drums, bass, guitar, keys and vocals), that the rhythm section record live together – including a scratch vocal take from the singer. We do it this way because bands are used to performing together and we aim to capture great performances. Continue reading

Forget a Record Deal, Get a Rights Management Deal

A Look at the BMG Chrysalis Master Model

If you are a frequent reader of this column, you know that I have strong opinions on signing to major label. Specifically, I’m adamantly against it (for many reasons) in most circumstances. Yet, in survey after survey, we see results that as many as 75% of independent musicians still want a major label record deal. I’m here to tell you that you will not get a record deal, and what’s more, you do not want one. Further, many artists may not fully understand what a “record deal” actually is in today’s music business, outside of the fairytale, back-of-the-club signings you’ve heard of.

So let’s unpack what you really want and how to get there.  Continue reading

Make Money & Fans in Second Life

I spoke recently with musician Seth Regan, whose online avatar Mankind Tracer is one of the most popular virtual performers in Second Life.  Second Life is an online virtual world started in 2003, which currently has over 20 million registered accounts and averages about 50,000 concurrent online players (called “Residents”) who play the game through avatars that they individually design and name.  Once in the gigantic virtual world of SL, players can do pretty much anything you can do in real life, like socialize with other people and spend virtual money, with the additional benefits of being able to fly, transport anywhere instantly and the ability to build virtual real estate and have virtual sex.  Continue reading

The Swear – “Gold and Hymns and Hell”

The Swear
Gold and Hymns and Hell
Atlanta, GA
(Self-released)

“They may not be hymns, but this EP is aggressive punk gold”

The Swear has long since been a staple in the Atlanta area and with the release of Gold and Hymns and Hell, three self-produced maxi-singles, it’s easy to see why. The new sound is raw and aggressive – and recorded mostly live, tying the group even closer to its punk roots.

From the first crunch of the guitars on the opening track “Sex and the Drugs” to the catchy pop-punk Continue reading

Justin Levinson – “Take My Time”

Justin Levinson
Take My Time
Vergennes, VT
(Self-released)

“Genuine singer/songwriter heartbreak & soul-searching”

Soothing and otherworldly, Justin Levinson paints a superb portrait of love, loss and relationships in a grand singer/songwriter indie/folk EP, Take My Time.

Residing in Vermont, songs like “Time My Time” and “Give It One More Try” deliver solemn, melancholy sounds of heartbreak and breakups, of heavy hearts, and those grieving those who struggle to move on. “It takes everything, not to go back to where I’ve been, because I’ve been so lonesome, forget what’s right,” he sings. The lyricisms here in this little three-song epic are influential and prevailing, the work a talented songwriter, complete with dazzling acoustic guitars, and opulent cellos and plush mandolins.  Continue reading

Jarrod Dickenson – “Lonesome Traveler”

Jarrod Dickenson
Lonesome Traveler
Brooklyn, NY
(Self-released)

“Flawless collection of life experience, love letters and heartbreak”

Lonesome Traveler is the sophomore studio effort from bluesy, gritty, folky singer/songwriter Jarrod Dickenson. A Brooklyn-based musician with roots in Texas, Dickenson sounds like a collection of life experiences, love letters, and heartbreak. His voice is earthy, smooth and much more soulful than anything you would expect from someone so young.

Accompanying his vocals are a cacophony of instruments that aid, but never overpower, his lyrics and melody. With songs that express the excitement and heartbreak of young love, like his tracks “Rosalie” and “Little Black Dress,” stories of war on “Bravery (A Bottle of Gin)” and finding yourself in spite of the skeletons in your closet on the track “Ballad of a Lonesome Traveler.”  Continue reading