Interesting article about Neon Trees, their relationship with The Killers, and their Mormon beliefs. Very interesting. They’ve tried to make their way without flaunting their relationship with The Killers, stating that they believe they’re good enough to make it on their own.
Month: July 2010
The Archivist, vol. ii; First Band
Wherein The Archivist tells us of his longings to play in bands as a child. He playeth in the high school band. He auditioneth for rock bands. He joineth a band and there are conflicts therein. The Archivist is lifted up in his pride, then humbled, then inspired. They experience the ups and downs of being in a band.
Echoed Illusions
Echoed Illusions is a band from Sandy, Utah with a fusion of several styles including punk and hardcore with a slight progressive edge. They have recently recorded a full-length album called Beyond the Line with producer Gregg Hale at Lincoln Street Sound Studios, and many listeners might compare them favorably to Coheed and Cambria, Rush, or Saosin. Three of the four members of Echoed Illusions are LDS: Joel Clark, Michael Howell, and Takami Kowalski, and they currently have one member on a full-time mission for the Church, Matt Petrucci. Joel, Michael, and Takami recently got together to answer a few questions I sent to them, and they talk about their influences, their lineup changes, and the themes you can expect to hear in their songs.
Canoe in the studio
Portland band Canoe gives us a quick overview of their studios and recording process. Fun!
Canoe is currently making their new album, The Ship, available streaming on their website HERE.
American Hollow – Whisper Campaign review
Recommended if you like: Tool, Dream Theater, Dredg
Recommended tracks: “Blow Wind! Bring Forth Storm!”, “State of Decay”
American Hollow, with their debut album Whisper Campaign, represents a genre and attitude that is underrepresented on Linescratchers as well as in modern music. With a somewhat aggressive and complex musical approach, coupled with soaring vocal passages and dense lyrical topics, American Hollow delivers atmospheric metal for the thinking rocker. Continue reading “American Hollow – Whisper Campaign review”
Good Morning Passenger – Good Morning Passenger review
Recommended if you like: Deathcab for Cutie, Pinback
Recommended tracks: “Empty Beds”, “Wake the Thieves”
Good Morning Passenger, released on the Slow Owl label, is the first full album by Ian Friley, who releases music under the name Good Morning Passenger. Ian has a knack for creating dreamy washes and soundscapes, underscored by humble yet driving rhythms, and wrapped up in catchy, accessible packages. He comes from a similarly talented family: his brother is Idiot Glee and Bedtime keyboardist, songwriter, and singer James Friley.
Good Morning Passenger is a surprisingly full, textured, and clear artistic statement, despite being composed of just eight tracks. It is a brutally honest, hypnotic album, a must-have for deep thinkers, and hopefully it is the beginning of a long life of writing and recording from Ian Friley. I simply love this album. Continue reading “Good Morning Passenger – Good Morning Passenger review”
The Archivist, vol. i
Linescratchers heartily welcomes Charles Stanford, also known as The Archivist, a professional archivist with a typewriter, a scanner, and a skill with memory, history, and detail. He spent his days in the ’90s playing drums in the BYU music scene, with bands such as Pilot, and has his own blog entitled Desert Loon, where he wrote his first post about Linescratchers in May of 2010. He responded to my invitation to blog here and we’re happy to welcome him as one of us. – Syphax
News flash: Musicians are poor.
If you’re a musician, then it probably didn’t take a journalistic investigation to come to the conclusion that musicians are poor. Not only are most musicians poor, but the ones who aren’t poor are actually poorer than you think they are. That’s the gist of this article I just read at The Root, but like most LDS musicians, this is information that I definitely already knew.
Attaching yourself or your band to the corporate structure of a record label has historically had its advantages: promotions, studios, tour management, image, marketing, etc., but all those things come at a price. When it all boils down to it, the average musician in the band makes about $23.40 for every $1000 of music sold. Of course, money isn’t the only problem with this sort of arrangement. Record labels are notoriously wary of music that ventures out of the box at all, or goes against an already money-making formula. Many artists who are signed to labels soon disconnect from the lives that inspired their music, often resulting in the dreaded Sophomore Syndrome. Continue reading “News flash: Musicians are poor.”
The Space
As a musician that has played at all in the last 10 or so years, I have had to create an interesting Myspace page. (http://www.myspace.com/thesweaterfriends). Well, at least I have felt the need to. Myspace has been the go to site for years when you like a band. Aside from creepsters, artists seem to use the site more than anyone else. Though my html knowledge is quite limited (as you can probably see, ha), I still go thru our source code every now and then and try to spruce it up, or at least speed up the loading time.
My question to you all, as music lovers and creators, is if Myspace is still the go to music site when you are interested in a new band? Continue reading “The Space”
Podcast – July 5th, 2010
Interview with multi-talented composer, singer, performer, pianist, American Idol finalist, philanthropist, and Live for Music creator, Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes! Shaun talks about his dance competition, his passion for music in schools, songwriting, his faith, and his sweet ride.
For more information about Shaun’s high school band tour, and his international dance competition with So You Think You Can Dance choreographer Mandy Moore, check out the websites at www.liveformusictour.com and www.liveformusicdance.com. The dance competition will be accepting submissions until August 1st, 2010.
If This Is To Be Goodbye – Jeff Zentner
Empty Beds – Good Morning Passenger
Live or Die – Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
Interview with Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
You Came Along – Shaun “Hammer Hands” Barrowes
This Time – The Sweater Friends
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