University of Washington - Seattle, WA

University of Washington - Seattle, WA

University of Washington - Seattle, WA

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Brewhouse

Stop and Smell

Merge

Dog in Truck

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Album Cover for "These Hopeful Machines"

Musical artist BT is at the cutting edge of modern-day composition:  Creating breath-taking songs with the latest digital sounds and effects, many of which he pioneered and created.  A form of music that once might have been reserved for fans of Techno or Electronic has expanded to mainstream music.  It’s nearly impossible to find a song on the radio today that doesn’t have some sort of digital effects or instruments.  The music on BT’s new album “These Hopeful Machines” takes a step further than most pop music by using technology to stretch the limits of music and advance the art of composition, rather than just recreate what was previously done acoustically.  Furthermore, his music combines the best of all worlds: acoustic instruments, strong male and female vocals, as well as digital instruments and effects.

From movie scores to video game soundtracks and several full-length studio albums as well as countless remixes, you’ve probably heard music created by BT, even if you’ve never heard his name.  Four years in the making, his new album, “These Hopeful Machines” is an amazing work of musical genius.  The album is very smooth and all the components of each song work together.  It’s difficult to pick apart any specific sound or effect, let alone realize this all started out as bits and bytes.  Each sound has its place and when listening to the album it’s clear that BT has used the array of technology available to him for the better of the music; this is not Electronic for the sake of being Electronic.  “These Hopeful Machines” is an advancement of musical composition and represents significant achievement in exploring music that simply couldn’t exist without technology.

As a technologist, BT uses software and hardware to bring the sounds and effects he desires into fruition.  One example of technology created by BT is StutterEdit, an editing plugin that is often used in his songs as well as by many other artists.  As the name suggests, StutterEdit will manipulate audio to add a stutter effect, resulting in something like converting someone saying “brains” to “bra-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-ains”.  It’s really quite catchy and can be heard throughout “These Hopeful Machines” and other albums.  For every-day music creation, BT has created the iPhone and iPod Touch application Sonifi which allows anyone to use a number of effects and create their own remixes of BT’s music.  All of BT’s inventions are created under the business name Sonik Architects and he has plans for a lot more, including updates and enhancements to Sonifi.

Recently, I had the chance to speak with BT and discuss the new album.  I was delighted with his candid responses and openness to discuss a variety of topics.  One of the things that had BT most excited about this new album was his creative freedom to make a real album.  During our discussion, BT explained that in the past, like with the album “Emotional Technology”, he was “encouraged at the time to make that record a collection of songs as opposed to an album.”  Working with his new label, Nettwerk, he had the freedom to make a complete album, as he describes it: “a collection of songs that are meant to be ingested as a whole.”  Our conversation continued as follows:

Philthy: Did you have any specific intentions with the provocative album title “These Hopeful Machines” or do you want to leave it open to interpretation?

BT: It’s something I would like to remain ambiguous in a way.  Some songs that I’ve heard back from fans that are favorite songs of mine are songs that have been left open to a significant amount of interpretation.  They are fairly bleak and ambiguous, an array of things to any group of people.  I will say this: The title of this album definitely falls in line with my fascination with humans integrating technology effectively into their lives, our design, and how beautifully designed we are.  There’s definitely a kind of technological singularity to it.  I hope it is thought provocative.

Philthy: Putting four years into an album is a long time, was it really four years of work or was this album on the back-burner at times?

BT: The compositional process for me just takes this long.  I have very impatient fans by the end of it.  The amount of detail and the kind of molecular way that I compose, these take a long time.  I do take breaks; I need the time to be away from it to think clearly.

Philthy: Were any of the tracks more challenging than others?  What are you most proud of on this album?

BT: There was a song that was the most challenging and the one I’m most proud of.  It is “Every Other Way.”  That song, it beat me up.  We literally had like a two month sparring match and we finally came to an understanding.  It was the bar that I measured everything else on the album by.  There were some things in terms of methodology, this idea of incorporating a nano-rhythmic material with acoustic instruments and a vocal, that were very difficult to combine.

Philthy: Did the economic recession have an effect on this album’s content or creation?

BT: Not on the composition process, but I’m not in a sensory deprivation tank.  I’m an artist; the exterior world has a profound impact on my creative process.  I’ve read that the arts are one of the things that in times of crisis are a go-to cultural thing.  It reminds people of their connection and our humanity.  I like to think of music ultimately as something that’s very escapist in a way, both takes you out of yourself and reminds you how you’re connected to your fellow person.

Philthy: How would you suggest your fans who are also aspiring artists and composers start to explore the art and create their own music?

BT: I would encourage people to look at things outside of whatever the chosen idiom is that they want to express themselves in.  Let’s say you’re a fan of Radiohead, I would encourage you to read every interview you could find with Radiohead, find the music that inspired them and go study it.  When I say study, I actually mean copy.  One of the greatest exercises I can offer to anyone is to take a song that you love and make a note for note recreation of it.  It’s such a tedious process, but it’s an effective learning tool for finding your own voice.

Philthy: Who were your influences?

BT: Some of my influences are not actual composers.  From a compositional perspective my big heroes are: Bartok, Debussy, and Stravinsky.  I’m very inspired by the break dancing culture, with electronic music, […] Cabaret Voltaire, Depeche Mode, New Order, and The Human League.  My real influences are classical music and early 80s electronic music.

Philthy: How has your strong presence in social media changed your relationship with fans?

BT: [It provides] iterative feedback in real time, which I really enjoy.  I have amazing, amazing fans.  The people that follow what I do are really thoughtful,l bright people and that’s really exciting to see on a daily basis.  I typically don’t get people just “hey bro”-ing me.  [I get] conscious, altruistic, thought provoking things.  It’s so exciting to be composing music now.  I think of the long standing motto of first standing artist and benefactor.  It’s kind of like how the various religions sold the religion to their people.  There was never a direct connection to the divine.  It’s sort of like that; it’s really upended that in a way.  It’s a direct point of connection without a middle-man.

BT

A formal tour has not yet been announced, but BT was able to confirm that there is one in the works and Seattle will definitely be one of his stops.

The new album is a work of art that stands on its own to be appreciated and experienced.  Each song combines instruments and vocals that grip the listener and provoke deep feelings of love, hope, light, life and exploration.  Several of the songs also provide a solid beat that you can’t help but dance to.  While the music can certainly accompany you while performing other tasks, I find it so complex and engaging that often times, such as while writing this article, I can’t help but sit back and take it all in.

True art inspires art and that’s part of what happens when listening to “These Hopeful Machines.”  Each song ignites the imagination with creativity and I think many artists will be quick to incorporate BT’s masterpiece into works of their own (whether it’s remixes, videos, art, dance or other mediums of expression).  Even those who are not artists, after hearing this album, can’t help but feel compelled to share it with everyone they meet.  Many of BT’s fans on Twitter have been gifting the album to one another or giving away copies.  I felt so inspired that I have organized a listening party to share the album with my friends and the local community.

Great music deserves our attention and support; if you find this album as inspiring as I have, show your support to BT.  As he has said himself on Twitter, buying the album is more about showing the number of people who appreciate his music than putting money in anyone’s pockets.  So go to iTunes, Zune, Amazon or your local record store and take a listen to the new album.  If you like it, buy it and show your support.  Or, if you’re in the Seattle area come to my listening party where you can hear the new album and have the chance to win a free copy.  Once you’ve heard the new album, please post in the comments section of this article with your thoughts!  I look forward to reading your reactions.

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Expansion

By PHIL PALIOS

Blizzard Entertainment, makers of the epic StarCraft, WarCraft and Diablo game universes, hosts an annual convention for fans of their games to learn about what’s new and discuss these universes.  This year’s convention began today and continues through tomorrow with a series of panels and new announcements.

During the opening ceremony a new class was introduced for the upcoming Diablo II release: Monks.  The announcement included a cinematic and gameplay reel that were quite impressive and continue my excitement for the upcoming release (which won’t be any time soon).  The biggest announcement today was World of Warcraft: Cataclysm, a new expansion for the best-selling Massively Multiplayer title that was first introduced five years ago.

World of Warcraft : Cataclysm develops the storyline of Azeroth by introducing a massive cataclysm that results in a complete overhaul of the classic Azeroth continents of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms.  The focus is on new evils and more death and destruction, caused by the emergence of Deathwing, a vile dragon who seeks to dominate Azeroth.  New playable races were also announced for WoW: Horde has aligned with their new race the Goblins, and the Alliance has introduced the werewolf-resembling race: Worgen.

One last bit of information was revealed from Blizzard CEO and co-founder Mike Morhaime: they expect to release both StarCraft II and the Cataclysm expansion in 2010.  Many new features were mentioned but not detailed, including the Archeology tradeskill and gameplay changes such as Guild Leveling.  These will be detailed in panels throughout the convention and online.  For the most information, media and updates you should go straight to the source: www.worldofwarcraft.com.

Expanded Coverage from WoW: Cataclysm Panel

Following the opening ceremonies of BlizzCon was a panel led by Chris Metzen, VP of Creative Development and creator of Blizzard’s epic fantasy worlds and lore.  This panel helped explain some of the new features mentioned during the announcement.  The most important thing that this expansion brings is a complete revamp of existing “Classic” content that hasn’t changed much since the game’s original release.  Historically it would take an entirely new release of the game to do something like this, but Blizzard has taken a unique and exciting approach to revitalize the game.

As part of the re-design all of the zones on Azeroth will be flyable, meaning that if you have a flying mount, you can explore these zones by flight, something that has previously been unavailable.  The plant-life, geography, buildings and towns have changed dramatically in many zones, some zones may resemble their former selves but most are entirely new.  During the panel screenshots were shown with before and after shots of zones like Desolace which were formerly dark and dry but now have been revitalized with grass, trees and a new coast line.  This is just one example, playing in World of Warcraft with this new release will be like an entirely new game.

In addition to the visual changes there have been changes to the levels for each zone, the flow a player takes while adventuring through zones was taken into consideration and many zones that may have previously been higher level could now be designed for a lower level and by the same token zones that were lower level could now be higher.  There was also an effort to make each zone’s level range smaller, so that players will explore more areas.  All of the zones have new quests and items, so starting a new character will not only allow you to explore new artwork and environments but entirely new storylines too.

The level cap has also been raised from 80 to 85, for this new high-level content five additional zones have been added to Azeroth that will level players to 85.  One of these zones is completely under water, another is influenced by Egyptian style.  Lots of great concept artwork was shown and these will be some of the most exciting zones in the game!

The two new races introduced with Cataclysm are Goblins (for the Horde) and Worgen (for the Alliance).  Both classes existed in the game previously but were not playable, the Goblins were known for operating neutral towns like Booty Bay.  When discussing the Goblins, Chris Metzen described their decision to be Horde by stating “There are dark days ahead and the Horde may need some comic relief, the Goblins just fit that bill perfectly.”  Concept art of the Goblin mounts was also shown, a very unique, mechanical mount that resembles a cross between a Corvette and an ATV.  The Worgen are a powerful beast and during their description a lot was kept secret but Chris hinted at the fact that it’s not where the Worgen are from that is so interesting so much as when they are from.  In addition to the new races they are also allowing some existing races to play classes that were previously off-limits.  Highlights included the ability to be a “holy cow” as a Tauren Paladin.

This expansion introduces a very dark time to the Warcraft universe in terms of lore.  While players were busy battling to fight Arthas in the most recent expansion (Wrath of the Ligh King) a new evil has emerged tearing their home world apart, so the home that they left has been destroyed.  This storyline was decided upon by the designers in the interest of ramping up the drama and heroism, “We saw this as the ultimate opportunity to put the War back in WarCraft.” says one panelist.

Guild advancement is a new concept for World of Warcraft that will be introduced with Cataclysm.  This will allow players in a guild to level up their guild, the system will have 20 levels.  Players advance their guild by doing what they already do: daily quests, raids and battlegrounds.  As their guild gains levels they will be able to put points into a guild talent tree.  This tree will give the guild new talents such as: cheaper repairs, less durability loss when wiping, and mass resurrection.  This is obviously targeted to guilds that are playing end-game content and raiding, which is what most guilds do.  These new features were met with a mighty cheer by BlizzCon attendees.

Upgrades to the game engine have allowed for new features such as phasing terrain, which was first seen in Wrath of the Lich King and will now be in many of the revamped Azeroth zones.  This technology is used to create effects such as tide; in zones with a coastline it’s now possible for the water line to change and have areas change from above water to underwater as time passes.  Another feature is seen in the new zone of Mount Hyjal where players will defend against an attack from Ragnaros; as they enter the zone it will be burning and as they progress through the quest chain fires will be extinguished.

The last feature I want to mention will be a new form of customization available to players in addition to the existing class-specific talent trees.  This system is called the Path of the Titans.  As players advance they will be able to invest points into different paths.  All classes will have access to the same paths, so the abilities gained through this system will be the same for all classes and depend on which path you choose.  Details on what exactly players can do in this system, what the paths lead to and what their themes will be are still to be announced.

This is an amazing set of features for an expansion, it’s really more like a completely new iteration of World of Warcraft.  Gameplay from beginning to end will change with new environments, towns, quest lines and items.  This type of expansion is the first of its kind for an MMO and I think it is a great way to bring dying content back to life and at the same time not require players to lose the characters they had already advanced in another time.

I’m also glad to see the emphasis on lore for this new expansion, the storyline was well thought out and is based on long-standing WarCraft ideas.  Each quest area seems to be trying to tell a story, so it will be fun to explore these new quests and discover the new stories.  As a casual gamer I’m much more interested in the artwork and lore presented in games like World of Warcraft and Blizzard is continuing to deliver some of the most amazing art I have ever seen as well as fascinating story lines.  I am sure gamers with a similar style to mine will really appreciate the epic design presented in Cataclysm and more hard-core gamers will be happy with the new leveling content not to mention several new dungeon and raid instances.

If you’ve never played World of Warcraft before this expansion is quite relevant because it’s going to change the majority of the game from levels 1-60 as you explore Azeroth and you may find the new design quite compelling.  Cataclysm’s only competition is the “old world” of Azeroth which was a great work of art and design but I believe from what I saw during the panels that Cataclysm is even better.

Alana Grace performs on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

By PHIL PALIOS

Alana Grace, while influenced by Alanis Morissette, has a style and voice all her own.  Where Alanis Morissette has crisp and raw vocals that sometimes border on whiny, Alana maintains a more full vocal range and warmer tone.  Their similarities are better found when exploring the lyrics, both artists have something to say and are not just producing good beats and melodies but deliver an emotional rollercoaster of music.  The songs on Alana’s latest album “With One Word” cover emotions from upbeat songs about moving on, paranoia and obsession to down-tempo ballads reflecting on loss, fear and doubt.  All of her songs fit into the wide pop-rock genre, which is unusual for an artist on Warped Tour where most bands play punk rock and carry a more aggressive tone with no interest in becoming mainstream.  Throughout this new album I find a common theme of independence, hope, and reflection on lessons learned.

My first listen through the new album revealed a collection of catchy melodies that will stick in your head.  After a few more times through I could start to appreciate Alana’s complex lyrics that reveal a diverse set of stories.  The title track of her album, “With One Word” has a hint of country style that may be attributed to her Nashville roots.   Other songs like “The Other Side” have a close resemblance to the epic style of Evanescence vocalist Amy Lee.

The lack of permanent band members has the unfortunate result of generic drum and guitar instrumentation that doesn’t add much to the songs.  I think there is potential for more musicality, but this approach brings focus to Alana’s well-crafted vocals that are far superior to most auto-tuned pop stars, not to mention the punk rock singers on Warped Tour that prefer yelling to singing.  The synthesized effects on each track help differentiate the musical style from one song to the next and make up for some of the generic drum and guitar patterns, but nothing beats the real thing.  However, remaining a singer/songwriter has the potential to help her avoid the drama that has led bands like Evanescence to a stand-still.  It would still be nice to hear her sing with a talented group of musicians, perhaps this is where collaboration is key.

Some songs on the new album may be slightly feminine or overly emotional (the two terms are often used as synonyms, I know), but I believe most of Alana’s songs discuss feelings and experiences we all go through and in challenging times they provide hope.  My favorite song on her new album is the last track, “Black Roses Red”, a piano ballad with a dark sense of emptiness and longing.  The song breaks into rock near the end with the repeated lyric  “I feel like I’ve never known love.” as the song fades out.  I think what attracts me most to this song is the theatrical feeling and development of a story line as the song progresses and changes styles.  The dramatic style comes as less of a surprise given the song’s original appearance in the film “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.”  While listening to “Black Roses Red” I can picture a dramatic video displaying the emotional journey of someone looking for love as she describes in the song.  Unfortunately, the actual music video is pretty simple and consists of close-up shots while she sings in a bedroom, at a piano and while walking outside. The video’s lack of creativity may have been due to a limited budget or poor artistic vision from the video’s director.  Hopefully advances in Alana’s career will provide opportunities for more elaborate music videos, the storytelling in her songs offer a lot of potential for good videos.

Alana is not someone who arrives to a chorus of screaming teenage girls at her live show, there was a mix of both men and women for her performance at The Gorge.  Her short shorts made many guys stop and take a second look while walking by the stage, her strong stage presence and live performance kept them around for the rest of her set.  Alana Grace is not just a studio artist, while on stage she is full of energy that instantly uplifts and engages the audience.  She does not differ much from the recorded versions of her songs, but has an authentic voice and connects well with the crowd.

During her stop at the Gorge in George, WA on Warped Tour I had the chance to sit down and discuss her new album and struggles in the quickly changing music industry.  Here’s what she had to say:

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Is this your first tour?

AG: This is my first nation-wide tour, I’ve gone out and done five or six states with different artists but never a full-length tour.

PJ: Where are you from?

AG: I’m based out of Los Angeles.

PJ: How do you like Seattle?   Have you ever been to Seattle?

AG: No, the Gorge is beautiful but I hear this is three hours away from the actual city.

PJ: I’ve seen your music related to Alanis Morissette, is she one of your influences?

AG: Yeah, she’s a big influence of mine.  Her, Joni Mitchell and more crazy theatrical bands like Styx and Queen are my main influences.

PJ: Do you write your own music?

AG: Yes, I’m a writer/co-writer, sometimes I don’t write by myself.

PJ: How many people are performing with you?

AG: Right now I have a three piece: drums, bass and guitar.  I play keys on one of the songs in this set, I generally play more than that, but it’s such a short set here.

PJ: Are these the same people you recorded with?

AG: No, generally my recording process is that I’ll hire a producer and use his studio cats for the actual record, then we try to re-create what we can live.

PJ: So you are more an independent artist than a band?

AG: Yes, exactly.  We don’t consider ourselves a band, this is my first tour with these musicians.  My lead guitarist that I had hired quit three days before the tour started, so I met my [current] guitarist three days before Warped Tour.

PJ: How long have you been making music?

AG: This is my second album.  My first album was released in 2007, but I’ve been writing since I was 13 and I’m 21 now, so eight years working on the craft of writing and music.

PJ: Have you collaborated with other artists, or are there artists you would like to collaborate with?

AG: Ryan Tedder of OneRepublic is an amazing writer, he’s had huge hits now.  I would love to collaborate with someone like him.  If I could do a collaboration where we were both on the song, probably someone like The Fray or Coldplay.  I know it’s reaching for the stars at the moment.

PJ: What do you think of the fans at Warped Tour?

AG: It’s different in every city, people in Boston and Detroit are very into music and shows whereas some other towns are not as into new music.  Here they seem to be okay with new music, we’ll see how they respond to the live show.

PJ: Your genre is different than most of the artists on Warped Tour, do you see a lot of existing fans or people coming and discovering you?

AG: Most people are coming here and discovering me.  I do have people that come to every show, but really not that many because I’m such a new artist.  But that’s part of why we did it; to get out there and meet new people every day, and this is such an amazing opportunity for that.  I feel people come to Warped Tour looking for new artists to like, so we tend to find people that like 3OH!3 and they like “this band” but they didn’t come with any one band that they have to see.  Those people are the ones that get drawn in.  It’s really cool to see the mixture of fans, we’ve got anywhere from Bad Religion fans to Aiden fans at our shows.

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Are you working with a label?

AG: No, I’m not on a label.  I used to be on a label and now I’m not.  I did it backwards.

PJ: How do you like being independent, do you think you need a record label?

AG: I think for making a record and going out and doing what I’m doing right now you don’t need one, but honestly for the type of music I want to go into, for pop-rock, you do need that distribution and you do need that big machine behind you.  So I’m looking for another label right now, it looks like we’re going with a newer label that has a lot of money behind it.  It’s really all about money, which is why I hate to go to a major label, they don’t have any.

PJ: That’s ironic!

AG: They have all the connections you need and no money to do anything with.  So if we can manage to do it with this new company it would work out amazingly well, because I wouldn’t be at risk of being dropped or anything like that again.  At the same time I think you do need some sort of machine behind you.  Whether it’s something you put together yourself or not, everybody on this tour, everybody that’s doing anything in music, you need a lot of money to keep it going.  That’s the biggest problem because nowadays people think that music is free.  I’ve been on the tour and say “Hey, want to buy an album?  I’m selling them for five dollars.”  A full length album!  And they’re like “Oh, no, I already downloaded it illegally.”  So I’m like: “It’s five dollars!”  Especially because I am doing this independently, to hear that is kind of heartbreaking.  I’m like “You just took away an opportunity for me to record another song.”  So you do need someone or some kind of company that can help you move things forward.  If you’re completely horribly rich then congratulations, you can do it on your own.  If you’re not, you need something.

PJ: Do you buy CDs from the bands you like to listen to?

AG: I do, and it’s weird because I don’t really have a CD collection, I guess I do have a CD collection, I just don’t display it or anything.  I listen to everything on iPods just like everyone else, but I think it’s important to keep that aspect of everything around.  Generally, if I like a band I’ll buy a t-shirt and a CD because that’s the most I can do to help them.

PJ: That’s interesting, I know some bands have given up on albums and rely on touring for income.

AG: That’s really the only way you can do it, but you have to have a certain level of success to do that if you’re a solo act like me.  If you’re a band then you can split everything, but I have to pay people.

PJ: What about other media, TV opportunities, movies, video games, are you interested in any of that?

AG: Yeah, I’m trying to get TV placements and stuff like that but I also act and I hosted one season of a show called “The New American Thunder” last year on the Speed channel.  That show just got cancelled, but they’re putting me on other shows like “Super Bikes.”  So I’m kind of getting into that world, they use my music on the shows all the time.  I think it’s really helpful if you can get your music out there in TV shows and stuff like that.  Especially if you can perform on the TV show because then they see a face, they hear a name, they hear the music , it’s all there at the same time so nobody is going: “Oh, I like that song, who is that by?”

PJ: What advice do you have for artists that are earlier in their music career than you?  What brought you to this point?

AG: Try to make sure you have a clear vision of what you want and realistic expectations.  That’s the biggest thing: Have realistic expectations!  You will not become a huge star over night.  It just doesn’t work that way.  You’re not going to put out your record and have it go number one the next day.  I’m sorry, but it’s not how the world works.  I know everybody says it is, but “over night successes” as they say, have probably been working on it for three to four years at the very, very least.  Like Katy Perry, everyone’s like “over night success”, but this is like her third album.  You will have people that don’t like your music, but at the same time there will be people that love your music.  You can’t expect to have an amazing response from every single person, especially on a tour like this.

PJ: Do you think being in LA helped you?

AG: It really did.  For me as a co-writer I love working with other people and I used to live in New York for a while and there it was you were either in a band or you were hip-hop.  Whereas in LA there’s a lot going on in the pop-rock world.  So I think your location does help, but you don’t have to be in LA, you can start something happening in your own community.  I grew up in Nashville and I have fans in Nashville.  If you can start something in your own community then you can start growing in other places too.

PJ: How do you interact with your fans?  After shows, online?

AG: I do all my own MySpace stuff and Facebook and Twitter.  I have a phone application, it’s made for iPhones but it works on smart phones and feature phones as well.  I try to update that at least three times a day, although it’s hard on days like this when I don’t have any internet.  So, today, I’m sorry fans, I don’t have anything because I can’t get online.  It kind of puts a damper on things.  But I try to keep things going, it gets really hard when you go on a tour like this because we have such a routine every day, for me it’s like “What can I film?  I do the same thing every day.”  It’s different people outside but it’s not like anything crazy happens every single day of your life.  Other than that it’s really just answering messages and trying to get music out there.  The problem is it takes so long to get a track produced and I feel like fans have to wait so long, but there’s a process to get everything together.

Alana Grace Live on Warped Tour at The Gorge / Photo By PHIL PALIOS

PJ: Are you playing any new songs in your live set that aren’t on your album?

AG: No, not today.  I actually just wrote one with my band two days ago that we’re thinking about adding.  We’ll probably add it after these two days off, because we’ll practice it.  Whoever goes to the tour in California will probably hear the new song,  I’ll post things acoustically online sometimes, just an acoustic guitar and me singing.

PJ: Have you found certain producers or people to work with that you want to keep working with?

AG: Yeah, this last album was kind of a mix, I worked with Dwight Baker and Mike Greene.  Dwight Baker is out of Austin, TX and he’s awesome, he did half the album with me and Mike Greene’s out of LA, I wrote a few songs with him.

PJ: What do you have to say to college-age people thinking about listening to your music, why should they check you out?

AG: If you’re my age, I’m college-age, I remember growing up and hearing all of these amazing songs on the radio and you don’t really hear that anymore these days.  Yeah, there’s great party music but it’s kind of hard to find people that you want to listen to the lyrics.  People like the Alanis Morissettes or Smashing Pumpkins that used to be on the radio and aren’t there quite as much now.  If you liked that, come back and listen to my music!  I’m not a dance party music type person, but I think there’s going to be a resurgence of good classic pop rock.

PJ: Do you think about your lyrics more than other pop artists out there right now?

AG: I don’t know how much people think about their lyrics when they’re writing them, but I know that I think about it more than saying “Just dance, everything’s gonna be ok.”  Not that I don’t love Lady Gaga, I absolutely love that song.  But, is it stimulating my brain?  No.  Or “I’ve got a feeling tonight’s gonna be a good night.”  Great song, but not well-crafted lyrics.

PJ: How would you feel if a club producer remixed one of your songs?

AG: I would love that!  That would be awesome, I have nothing against that.  But a lot of music that’s out today is definitely not great song writing, it’s not song writing at its best.  Not that I am, but I know I think about it, it’s important to me to be a good song writer.

PJ: When you write your lyrics do you have a particular message, or life experience you are relating to?

AG: It’s really from life experience for me.  My song “Mess of You”, I actually dreamt of that song before I wrote it, I woke up and recorded it.  I was like “That’s amazing!” and that’s just about how I am in a relationship, I play it for every guy I’m gonna date.  I’m like “This is what will happen, I’m just telling you that’s how I am.”  I have a song called “Cold Day for August” about a friend of mine that died.  It is life experience and my view of things.

PJ: Do you see yourself as a role model for fans?

AG: I try, I don’t really consider it when I’m writing but as I’m living my life I do try.  I’m not like this perfect angel that never does anything wrong, but am I going out and doing stupid things?  Basically, I always say “if I can’t tell my parents about it, I shouldn’t be doing it.” because I have a really close relationship with my parents.  So that’s my gauge if I’m doing things right or not.

I hope that this glimpse into emerging artist Alana Grace inspires you to listen to her music, and if you’re not ready to drop $5 you can download a free single from her website and also listen to her music videos on YouTube.  If you like what you hear be sure to buy her album and show your support, otherwise this may be the last you hear of her.  I believe Alana’s description of how pirating music impacts an independent musician’s career is a great example of why it’s important to support artists you like.  Especially those that are independent and have the majority of album sales coming back to them to be reinvested in their work.  There’s no money machine delivering cash into her bank account (yet) so it takes support from fans to bring an artist like this into the mainstream,  you have control.

Warped Tour 2009 at The Gorge - Photo By PHIL PALIOS

By PHIL PALIOS

On a sunny Saturday afternoon at the beautiful central-Washington concert venue sometimes referred to as Heaven’s Amphitheater but most commonly known as The Gorge thousands of music fans migrate from their homes, skate parks and local rock club hangouts to the punk rock Mecca known as Vans Warped Tour.  Sponsored by the famous footwear maker, Warped Tour is the masterpiece of tour organizer Kevin Lyman and has given hundreds of bands the otherwise impossible opportunity to spend the summer traveling around the country and playing amphitheatre-size venues for tens of thousands of music lovers.

This year’s tour included a diverse range of ages and exposure among the bands, from bands on their first tour to Warped Tour veterans quickly approaching AARP eligibility.  The big names draw the most fans, but it’s the smaller acts that you’ve never heard of that make Warped Tour much more than just another rock show.  Every year, without fail, I find a band at Warped Tour that I had never heard of and truly appreciate.  These bands are usually outliers from the groups that tend to all sound the same, and instead bring a new style to the scene.  Punk rock doesn’t always have to be about throwing a fit with a microphone in your hand.  At my relatively old age I hardly fit the profile of someone who is attracted to Warped Tour, even when I was a teenager, this was not my scene.  Yet , I return every year for the unique opportunity to discuss music with a diverse range of artists and the faith that out of the dozens of bands performing, I’m bound to find something new that I like.

Less Than Jake was the main attraction for me this year, I was a huge fan of their hit album “Borders & Boundaries” released in 2000.  I still listen to that album every once in a while and I had never had the chance to see them live, let alone sit down and talk with one of the founding members.   The tables turned after I began my interview with the band’s lead guitarist and vocalist Chris Demakes who painted an extremely bleak picture of the band’s lost ambitions and passive grind to keep paying their bills.   There was no creative spirit or artistic excitement, he felt as if he had been defeated and could only hope to ride out the profits of the band’s past success.  Demakes has no interest in even trying for another hit, but has rather resigned to touring and playing the same old songs over and over again.  With over fourteen years since the band’s debut album life has changed a lot for the group members and Chris sees it more as a job than a form of art.

The fantasy of one of my favorite bands I had built up in my head was shattered by this harsh reality, but it didn’t take long for me to gain inspiration after talking with new singer/songwriter Alana Grace.  Alana had developed a relationship with the tour’s press manager and frequently hung out in the press trailer.  Whether she was there consciously seeking publicity or just enjoyed a change of pace from other parts of the tour, I’ll never know, but I’m glad I met her as I quickly discovered she was the outlier of Warped I was looking for.  With her second album hot off the press and Warped being her first country-wide tour, she was excited to grow her fan base and share her music.  Passionate about her songwriting and interested in improving the pop rock music scene, full of hopes and dreams, Alana Grace was a polar opposite of Chris Demakes.  The only things these two artists had in common was their presence on the tour and excellent music.  During my conversation with Alana I heard everything I was hoping to hear from Demakes: hope, happiness, excitement and inspiration.  Of course it wasn’t until hearing her live performance that I was convinced she was certainly not just talk, she was the only person I had heard at Warped who could sing, with notes and everything!  Not to mention her emotional and complex lyrics.  Alana Grace has the fire that makes everyone around her excited and powers her talented stage performance, the same fire that had been extinguished in Chris Demakes long ago.

Streetlight Manifesto - Photo By PHIL PALIOS

Kevin Lyman’s ears are what I think make Warped Tour such a great success.  Selecting a mix of “big name” artists and “no name” artists with a variety of styles surrounding punk rock that will appeal to a broad group of music lovers is not an easy task.  Warped Tour has the power to transform artists and develop a huge fan base for a group that may have never left their home state before being invited on the tour.  Thousands of bands submit their demos to Kevin every year and only a hundred or so get to play on one of the tour’s seven stages.  The advantage of playing alongside legends like Bad Religion and pop sensations like 3OH!3 on the same tour is unique.  With over ten hours of music to experience at Warped Tour you’re always going to have the chance to hear a group you never intended to.  It’s quite different than going to a traditional show and either showing up late to skip the opener, or forgetting about them as soon as the band you came to see takes the stage.  Warped reverses the roles and has a few big names but shines the spotlight on smaller artists.  They also prevent you from showing up for one band by shuffling the schedule each day.

I had the chance to sit down with Kevin Lyman during this year’s show at the Gorge and try to gain some insight into what’s on his mind after such success over the last fifteen years.  Here’s what he had to say:

PJ: What are some of the initiatives you’ve been pushing this year on the tour?

KL: Well, there’s the eco stuff that we continue to try and grow on.  It’s nice that we were able to get involved with Green Peace and have that solar truck and bands on our solar stage. There’s also the recycling program, they’re up over what they collected last year.  We did an initiative that will be online, all the bands made skate decks, and all the bands made drums one day. We’ll be auctioning those off through the United Charity website pretty soon.  Music Saves Lives, the blood drive that will probably attract about 45,000 pints of blood this year.  We just keep building on what we do.

PJ: Does the tour use bio-diesel?

KL: We do!

PJ: Do you keep a tanker with you or how do you get the fuel?

KL: No, we have a great network now.  We developed our own network of suppliers and this is our fifth year on bio-diesel.  We run all 18 production busses, all 19 semi-trucks and our generators on bio-diesel.  Yesterday we were filling up and took on about 4,000 gallons, so we’re somewhere between four and five thousand gallons a day.  Last year we were paying over six dollars per gallon delivered on bio-diesel, it was more than diesel and they were kind of extorting you if you wanted it.  But now the supply chain is really good, $2.71/gallon or $2.80/gallon.

PJ: That’s great, I know some bands have stayed away because of the costs to have a tanker follow them on tour, it sounds like you don’t need to do that anymore?

KL: No, they’ll come and deliver it.

PJ: What do you see in the future, is there anything you want to do that you haven’t done yet for Warped?

KL: Build a connection to the history of the music, try to keep the history alive.  We can’t forget the legacy of where this all came from.

PJ: What advice do you have for bands that want to get on Warped Tour?

KL: Present yourself well.  Don’t walk up and hand me a demo and say “it doesn’t sound that good.”  Let me know how you’re doing through the year.  Let me know when you’re coming through LA, if I’m in town I might come see it.

PJ:   What are you working on outside of Warped Tour?

KL: I have the Mayhem festival that finishes tomorrow in Oklahoma City.  Slayer, Manson, Killswitch Engage, it’s a big metal tour.  I just opened an office in Nashville and we’re going to be starting a country-style Warped Tour next year.

Music Lovers - Photo By PHIL PALIOS

Kevin’s efforts to bring bands together and tour through the country for a growing variety of genres are not only impressive, I believe that his work is fundamental in keeping the music industry growing.  Renewing people’s interests by allowing them to see bands they love and discover new bands at the same time is the only way that new bands have a good shot at stardom.  With all of the bureaucracy in the music industry that has radio stations and music labels in a panic, it’s refreshing to see someone that does away with that nonsense and focuses on the music and the fans.

The tour also provides an opportunity for bands to network and meet other groups that they get along with and may one day tour with or collaborate on a song with.  For fans, it lets you connect with people who share your passion for music but may have come to see a different band than you.  All of the bands have merch tents on the tour and can often be found signing autographs for fans after their performance, giving fans an opportunity to meet their favorite band.  It’s a wonderful thing and I hope to see it continue for many years to come.

During my time at Warped Tour I was able to sit down with several artists including: Alexisonfire, Underoath, All Time Low, Less Than Jake, Alana Grace and Scary Kids Scaring Kids.  All of these interviews will be published in the coming weeks so check back soon for more Warped Tour coverage!

What is Twitter for?  Why should I care what you’re doing with your boring life?  While many people use Twitter to make their otherwise dull lives seem more interesting, I recently discovered that Twitter has created a new form of communication that allows open conversation with people you never imagined to be possible.  The process is simple: you see a celebrity or someone you find interesting, you find their Twitter account, you can talk to them.  I’m kidding, right?  No.  I have experienced this phenomenon first-hand and think it’s something worth sharing.

Twitter is only the medium for this type of communication, it’s people like James Clark (@JamesProps, on-set propmaster), Greg Grunberg (@GregGrunberg, Matt Parkman), Wendi Lynn Allison (@WendiLynnMakeup, key makeup artist) and Brea Grant (@BreaGrant, Daphne Millbrook) from the cast and crew of Heroes that make Twitter worth using.  Don’t be turned off by the “reading a book.” and “having dinner.” updates that your friends throw up into the twitterverse, there are a plethora of celebrities and people on the “inside” of your favorite movies, TV shows, books, software companies and more that have opened up a window into their world for everyone to take a peek.  Not only can you get a real, unedited look at what goes on in the making of a show like Heroes, you can actively join in conversations with these people.  Why is this valuable?  If used correctly, it can lead you places and create real opportunities that were never before possible.

An example of such an opportunity is behind the creation of Greg Grunberg’s iPhone application “Yowza!!” which he created by finding a developer and a designer among his followers on Twitter.  The application, offering discount coupons to retailers near wherever you happen to be, has launched with great success.  A personal example for me was when Charlie Lieberman (@cldp), one of the Directors of Photography on Heroes joined Twitter and I sent him a message indicating my admiration of his work and interest in the industry.  In the Pre-Twitter days, being able to contact someone like Charlie for someone like me would have been nearly impossible.  If I was lucky enough to find his e-mail address on the web, or his agency contact info and send him a message, the conversation would die there, as my message would have gone into a black hole.  But thanks to how easy Twitter makes communication and its limit of messages to 140 characters, I got a response back from Charlie!

Wendi Lynn Allison, key makeup artist on Heroes (@WendiLynnMakeup)

My conversation with the Heroes DP started on Twitter and moved to e-mail where I received advice that I treasure and have used in progressing my career.  I would have paid lots and lots of money for this opportunity, but I didn’t have to, the combination of Twitter’s free service and Charlie donating his time to take advantage of it made this happen for $0.  This brings me to my second point about Twitter: creating an experience like what I have described is valuable.  At the time of writing this article, Twitter is a money sink funded by “angel” investors who pour their money into the service without requiring a business plan or anything like that.  At some point the joy ride will end, Twitter needs to find a way to sustain and not depend on donations from investors for its continued operation.

The founders of Twitter have repeatedly said they are investigating options for revenue and would like to stay away from advertising.  If they aren’t going the ad route, I think that the way Twitter enables users to communicate with people they might never have had the chance to otherwise is where they could make money.  The idea being that users would have to pay a small fee to send a message to people with a celebrity status.  I won’t dig into how someone being a celebrity is determined, but I recognize that is one of the challenges faced when taking this approach.  Let’s say the fee is 49 cents per message, comparable to a postage stamp.  This is a fee I would not have a problem paying for the ability to ask a celebrity a question.

James Clark, on-set propmaster for Heroes (@JamesProps)

However, this model brings up some issues that only the celebrities can answer: Would celebrities still use the service if it were monetized like this?  Is part of their reason for using it now the fact that there is no middle-man, there is no one making a profit off of their contribution to the community?  Or, if the fee were shared (perhaps split) between Twitter and the celebrity, would this encourage them to continue using the service?  Perhaps it could even attract celebrities that didn’t use the service before to start using it?

There is one more problem: When you send one of these celebrities a message, there is no guarantee you will receive a response.  In fact, given the thousands of questions sent into all of these celebrities, I may be among the lucky few to have received a response to my question.  Despite the fact that you may not receive a response, it could still be worth sending a message because of how low the cost is.  Celebrity users could also be rated with their response rate, so you know what to expect before you try sending a message.

This model would still allow you to read all of the updates, and even the questions and responses for all of the celebrities using Twitter.   This free ability isn’t to be discounted, there has been some real juicy content posted by celebrities.  For example, James Clark has posted photos with some “behind the scenes” looks at the Heroes set and Wendi Lynn Allison has posted dozens of photos with various stars of the show while they are having their makeup done.  Following these cast and crew members allows you to have a real-time sense of what’s going on as they film the show, way better than most Behind the Scenes footage on a DVD, and you don’t even have to buy the DVD!

Just for suggesting that Twitter “sell out” and “join the man” I know I will receive a lot of negative feedback.  But, the plain and simple truth is that if Twitter doesn’t find a way to pay for its bandwidth, memory and processing costs as well as taking care of the developers and support staff that create it, Twitter will cease to exist.  If Twitter goes away a new Twitter may emerge and ride the angel investments for a while, but, it too will fade without becoming profitable and eventually angel investors will stop investing in the idea.  Even angel investors want to make money at some point.

If Twitter took advantage of this value I have described and began charging a small fee for certain interactions I think they would have a strong possibility of becoming profitable and stick around.  I also think that this celebrity phenomenon would grow and help a lot of people make connections that they never thought possible.  What do you think?

Zune HD

By PHIL PALIOS

You may have recently seen Zune in the news with their latest announcement, the Zune HD touch-screen music player.  It looks like a wonderful device, but I believe that Zune has a lot more to offer people who love music: the combination of a great music subscription service, desktop software and portable player.  To dig deeper into the digital music subscription revolution I had the chance to sit down with Jessica Zahn, Program Manager on the Zune Social team and Matt Akers, “Gangster of Test” on the Zune Client team at their beautiful new Zune HQ building on the Microsoft Studios West campus.

To begin with, I wanted to know how they felt the subscription model was doing when compared to the more traditional means of listening to music.  “I definitely think it’s growing.”  responds Matt, as he continues:  “I think we’re still in the phase of getting people to learn about what it really is and get people [who are] acquainted with ‘renting music’ in a way, whereas we look at it more as being able to enjoy lots of music whether it be through friends or the social and gain a robust collection without having to spend thousands of dollars and being able to enjoy that music…A lot of it is getting people to understand what it is and [making] it available to them.” 

The value that a music subscription offers to music listeners is essential in determining if it’s worth the $15 monthly fee.  For many, the rental mentality can quickly deter them from more closely examining their music desires and listening habits.  As Jessica describes it: “I think that at some point some people say ‘This is what I listen to, I’m in this decade, I’m in this genre, this is where I’m going to stay.’  I think for most true, real, music lovers, that’s not the case.  We’re not going to listen to the same album 50,000 times.  Maybe 50.”  To which Matt jests “Unless it’s Radiohead!  Which I listen to 86 million times.”  Jessica continues:  “But you know, I look at my collection and I have, on my work PC, I think I have about 50GB of music.  It’s my entire ripped CD collection from prior to Zune and everything I’ve downloaded since then.  I look through it and I’m like ‘I don’t want to listen to any of this, I want something else.  I want something new!’  I would say the vast majority of my listening that’s not at the gym is streaming from the Marketplace.” 

At this point I think Zahn identified the crux of the music lover’s dilemma:  Part of why we love music so much is the number of new songs with infinite combination of sounds, lyrics, rhythms and ideas coming out every week from artists around the world and either not being able to listen to any of it, or spending money to own some of this new music forever, even if we only want to hear it a few times.  “For me, the subscription model lets me have as much music as I want right now without costing me a fortune.” says Jessica, identifying what, to me, is the value of subscribing to a music service like Zune.  She continues: “The [Zune] Pass will change your listening habits.  Knowing you can have whatever you want changes what you want.”

Mixview in Zune Client

Shifting my view from the rental mentality, where I think I am downloading music that will all disappear if I end my subscription, to the idea that I have a license to listen to whatever I want, is how I realized the value of a music subscription.  The ability to explore new music and listen to all of the music I want, whenever I want, is a much better listening experience than selectively buying a few albums and listening to a much more limited, and dated, collection of music I own. 

All of this assumes that you are not stealing music.  The wonders of Napster back in the day (not the Napster of today) are what connected the internet revolution with music lovers.  Suddenly you could listen to all the music you wanted without paying for any of it.   The catch here is that sharing music this way is illegal.  Over the past few years the RIAA has been taking significant actions to cut down on music piracy.  If stealing isn’t bad enough, the peer-to-peer networks where music is shared have become a platform for quickly spreading viruses and malware, making it a threat to your computer and the information it stores.

 It’s been so long since I even thought about file swapping networks that Matt and Jessica’s mention of these networks still being used was a reality check for me.  It also identified what seems to be Zune’s primary target audience.  People who use illegal music swapping services are targeted, not so much because of the fact that they like to steal music, but that they love music and want to have unlimited access, is what makes Zune interested in them.  Matt elaborates: “You want to grab people that are in this mindset of ‘I could just go steal this off a torrent.’  We want to grab that audience and say ‘Well, hey, if you want to be Honest Joe, we’re going to give you a way to do that.  You can still enjoy all the music you like and you can get everything that you want.’  Because I think that’s the thing: Kids today, they want to have unlimited access to everything.  ‘I want this album, I want all this stuff and I’m just going to download everything and steal it all.’  That’s going to come to an end at some point.  They’re going to find a way to crack down on that.  We’re trying to give people that way so you can do it legally and you have a sense of integrity and still enjoy all the music you want.”

I believe that while Zune may be focusing on converting people from stealing music to the subscription model, they are also renewing the passion of people like me who enjoyed file sharing when it first emerged, but after the death of the original Napster, went back to their limited music collections.  Getting a Zune Pass restored that excitement I had back in the Napster days of being able to explore a catalog of all the music I wanted.

Providing unlimited access to music is great, but it took the software plus service experience provided by Zune and an overwhelming flow of playlists and exclusive content that led me to breaking up with my iPod.  “It’s almost like surprise gifts once you get it.  ‘Ok, I got it for my unlimited [music] and now *boom* I get all this other stuff!’” says Matt.  Zune soars above other subscription providers by having an amazing software client that will make you shiver at the sight of iTunes, creating a portable player that is easy to use and stylish, while providing a plethora of online content from in-house DJs and partnerships with musicians. 

Zune produces a ton of new playlists on a regular basis and they categorize them into three groups: Mixtapes, Guestlists and Breakdowns.  “The Breakdowns and Guestlists, these are really cool things!  The relationships we have with those artists that will do a Breakdown where they go song by song for an album and describe the process of making that album, or they put together their version of a Mixtape to talk about their influences or what they’re listening to.  I totally eat that stuff up, I think that’s awesome content.” says Jessica.  It is awesome content, indeed!  Mixtape playlists are created by in-house DJs at Zune and revolve around a variety of themes, some of my favorites include: “Grillin’ and Chillin’”, “2009 Hits”, “51st Grammys: Winners Collection”, “Coachella 2009 Collection”, “Road Trip Collection” and “Tarantino Soundtracks.”  The Mixtapes with “Collection” in their title are more extensive than typical 10-20 song playlists; they have 100-300 tracks.  Zahn continues: “I love the way our editorial programming team put together the Mixtapes for Sasquatch, Winter Music Conference and all the major festivals.  That’s really cool stuff!  ‘Oh, who’s going to be there?  I can’t go but I can get all this new content from these artists that are going to be there!’”

Zune Device Family

In addition to the playlists, Zune provides an extensive collection of Channels: “You can either have Channels based on your listening habits or Channels created by our in-house DJs.  Like the Hip-Hop one for me, for a guy who loves Hip-Hop, it’s great.”  Explains Akers: ” I’ll go on there and there are 20 songs and I’m like ‘Oooh, what about that?  Oooh, I like that!’ and I can just try them.  If I like them, great!  If I don’t, no harm no foul.  That’s the beauty of the [Zune] Pass.”  Once you find a Channel you like, it provides an ongoing source of new music to try out.  Zune will also create channels based on your listening habits, describes Zahn: “I really like the New Releases for You with the artists that I’ve listened to before.  I’m always like ‘Ha!  There’s a new thing!’  Some of the artists I listen to don’t have full artist albums, they just have singles.  So when they have a new single out, I’m not going to see it.  There’s not going to be a big splash, I’m just going to have to go find it.  So to have it show up like that, makes my job a lot easier.”

The ongoing theme of making it easy to discover new music you might like doesn’t stop with the playlists and Channels in the Marketplace.  The Zune Social provides an experience throughout the client, device and website for both seeing what your friends are listening to and finding people with similar music tastes to your own.  Zune devices have two unique features you won’t find on other music players: The ability to share music from device to device wirelessly and a built-in FM tuner.  With so much music available for download, why would you listen to the radio?  It’s all about discovery, and radio remains a great way to discover new music.  The device allows you to tag songs you hear on the radio so that you can listen later or add them to your collection.

Zune’s latest announcement, the Zune HD is a touch-screen portable music player with a similar size and design to the iPod Touch.  Demos of the device so far have shown a similar interface to past Zune devices, making it very easy to navigate through your music collection and play music as well as browse photos and videos.  The touch interface seems very slick and makes using the device easy while also providing more screen real estate by eliminating the physical buttons.  Zune HD earns its name by adding support for HD radio and providing HD video output so you can watch videos in HD from your Zune device when it’s connected to a HDTV.  Microsoft expects to release the Zune HD in Fall of this year; no official release date has been announced yet.  Speaking with Matt and Jessica confirmed that this is a major release for Zune and to expect much more fanfare and launch events than their recent device releases that were smaller-scale with more memory and new colors but no big changes.  From what has been announced so far, I think the device looks great! But there are two things yet to be announced that will be deciding factors for me: How much space is available?  And, Will it be available for customization through Zune Originals?  My current 16GB flash Zune with custom art from Zune Originals is fantastic, but I would like the larger screen and touch interface, especially if it offers more storage too. 

Despite a bad economy and record loss in profits for Microsoft, they continue to invest resources into Zune.  There have been cutbacks within Zune, but they are focused on trimming non-essential roles and preserving the product development teams.  Both Jessica and Matt work full-time in product development groups.  The work they do on the side: blogging on Zune Insider, creating a weekly podcast and doing interviews like this one with me, are done out of their love for Zune and in addition to all of their responsibilities to the team.  Having so much dedication to their product really shined through in the time I spent discussing Zune with them.  They believe that Zune is a superior product and they want to help share this way of listening to music with other music lovers.

“I think once they give it a shot, that’s all it takes.” Claims Akers, as he continues to make his case:  

“When I have friends that have iPods or family members or whomever and they say ‘What do you do?’ and I say ‘I work on Zune.’  And they say ‘What’s that?’  That’s when I show them [the device] and I show them the advantage.  I show them the Pass, I show them the software, I show them Mixview, I show them the player.  They go: ‘Wow!  That is cool.’  I show them the FM tuner; they say ‘Really, it has that too?’   I think there are people that are in the know and there are people that aren’t.  The people that aren’t will go ‘Oh, what’s that?  An iPod?’ because iPod has become the Kleenex of MP3 players.  They could have a Sansa and say ‘Look at my iPod!’

I think the biggest barrier is getting people to try it out.  Get people to try it, and once they do, nine times out of ten, they fall in love with it.  It’s just a matter of getting through that big barrier.  [Apple] came out five years before us.  You’re starting to see us round that corner though.  You go on Gizmodo, you go on Engadget, you go on some of those sites and the tone there has changed dramatically.  Now all of a sudden all the Apple fan boys are getting [their posts] downgraded and people that say ‘Zune’s great!’ are getting pushed to the top.  We’re only three and we’re already starting to get that shift.  Think about what Xbox did for instance.  Xbox came and said ‘Hey, we’re going to do this.’ and [critics] said ‘You guys are silly.  Sony’s got it wrapped up.  Nintendo’s got it wrapped up.  You guys are done, there’s no way you’re going to do this.’  Well, look whose number one now.  Look what they did in the span of five or six years.  They totally turned the tables.  I definitely can see us on that path.  The first thing is getting people to try it out.”

Zune Originals Customization

Zune has turned a corner and they have established their product as a clear competitor to iPod + iTunes.  I think that no matter which product you prefer, you have to be thankful that Microsoft came in as an underdog and continues to challenge Apple.  Without the competition, Apple would have no reason to innovate.  As the two compete, consumers benefit through the revolutionary technology being released.  I hope that this article has inspired you to try Zune and see how you feel about it, what’s the worst that can happen?  Unfortunately, the Zune displays at retailers aren’t that great of a way to learn about the product, with no content on the devices and no access to the software or Marketplace you’re only seeing 10% of the experience.  The good news is that the client is free to download and you can also get a free 14-day pass to see what the Zune Pass and Marketplace are all about. 

The joy I have received from being able to explore music the way I did back in the Napster days and know its legal is wonderful!  I’m so thankful that Microsoft has invested in showing people there’s a better solution out there.  As someone who loves music, I feel it’s my duty to share this product with fellow music lovers and hope that my conversation with Matt and Jessica has provided a more in-depth argument for trying out the subscription model and using a service that provides an all-around great experience.

By PHIL PALIOS

Pixar’s latest film, UP, is not just a kid’s movie about balloons.  With UP, Pixar has managed to create an entrancing, entertaining and emotional film about letting go and how all the small day-to-day events are what make up life’s big adventure.  I believe the crowning achievement of this film is its success at connecting with both children and adults to communicate the same message.  While I am not a fan of spoilers, I can’t help but reveal some details of the story to help provide an understanding of why UP is worth seeing, seeing again, and buying.  This animated feature stars two characters: Carl, a 78-year-old retired balloon salesman and Russell, an 8-year-old Junior Wilderness Explorer.  While Carl seeks to fulfill his life-long dream of grand adventure with his wife, Ellie, a promise he was not able to complete before she passed away, he is joined by Russell, who has yet to experience the actual outdoors, despite his plethora of merit badges.

For many, the image of a house floating through the sky while tied to thousands of balloons is reason enough to see UP.  However, that wasn’t enough for me.  It wasn’t until seeing the preview with Carl’s grumpy-old-man character selfishly denying the young Wilderness Explorer entry into his house as it floats through the sky that I knew this was a movie I had to see.  The wonderful thing about Pixar films is that the nature of their production forces them to only release magnificent work.  The cost of creating an animated feature causes all of Pixar’s films to be “big budget.”  For example, their 2003 hit Finding Nemo cost approx. $90 million to make.  This high production cost trickles down to a quality bar that is not seen among many of the movies that come out.  When a studio invests this much in a film, their box office needs are much higher than the average film, only because they need to recover the high production costs.  But the model works, Pixar made over $850 million on Finding Nemo, proving that expensive computer-animated films can be quite profitable.   But you can’t just dump $90+ million on a group of animators and engineers, making it all come together to achieve these big box office numbers requires some of the best story telling in the movie business.

The story of UP is far from unique and is one seen often among books and movies, yet nevertheless important: cherish every day, because it’s the everyday moments that make up life’s grand adventure.  The director, Pete Docter, a Pixar veteran, was able to build a strong emotional tie between the audience and the feature’s lead characters, communicating the film’s message with brilliant success.  Over the course of a fast-paced sequence at the beginning of UP covering the time Carl spent with his wife, was all it took for me to understand why Carl was such a grumpy old man.  After being lucky enough to spend his life in love with Ellie, he was never able to live up to his initial promise of an adventure like that of their idol, Charles Muntz.  When discussing the way in which he crafted the story for UP, Docter refers to the words of Walt Disney: “For every laugh there should be a tear.” and this rings true with UP.  After building a relationship with Carl and Russell, it is easy to understand their struggles and relate them to your own.  UP lives up to Disney’s mantra (no pun intended), for as many hilarious moments there are scenes that pull on the strings of your heart.  It’s not just me either; the audience reaction throughout the film demonstrated how well the filmmakers were able to connect to everyone in the audience.  While the main theme of UP is not rare, it is helpful to have a solid reminder of such an important message as we experience our own everyday lives.

When considering the technical aspects of UP, one has to wonder: “How many balloons are tied to that house?”  This question is addressed by Steve May, Supervising Technical Director, in the film’s production notes:  “One of our toughest assignments on this film was creating the balloon canopy that carries Carl’s house to South America.”  Rough calculations by the technical team estimated a need for 20 to 30 million balloons to actually lift a house from the ground, assuming you disregard all of the problems one might face when trying to take a house off of its foundation in one piece.  The team took the task seriously, wanting the balloons to appear as realistic as possible.  May continues: “We ended up using 10,297 for most of the floating scenes, and 20,622 when it actually lifts off.  The number varies from shot to shot depending on the angle, the distance, and fine-tuning the size so that it feels interesting, believable and visually simple.”

Seeing as Pixar’s films are created in 3D it’s not surprising that they are beginning to release the films in a 3D format, the conversion process can’t be that difficult, and they have much more control over the 3D rendering than a live-action film does!  However 3D is something that has taken the film industry a long time to get right, and while it is evolving, the jury is still out on if the current 3D trend catches on.  This was the first time I saw a movie in 3D that wasn’t at a theme park.  I think that Pixar did a great job at building a 3D experience, but I’m not sure how important it was, or how much it added to the story. 

When I reflect on my experience watching UP, the highlight wasn’t “Oooh, it’s in 3D!”  I was much more entranced by what a great story they put together than how good the 3D effect was.  So the best thing I can say about the 3D is that it did not detract from the film in any way, I don’t think I really was aware of the fact that it was in 3D after the first few minutes.  I am the type of person who gets immersed in the story and the number of speakers in the theatre or lines of resolution on the projector don’t really matter to me unless they detract from the story telling.

While I didn’t notice much of an impact by the use of 3D, reading the film’s production notes reveals that not only did Director Pete Docter pay special attention to the 3D aspect of the film, Pixar created an entirely new division dedicated to using 3D as a new way of adding to their story telling ability.  Docter says:

 ”For example, at the beginning of the film, Carl is stuck in his ways and he’s living in this little house.  We wanted it to feel claustrophobic so we flattened everything–we made it purposely less deep.  Contrast that later when he gets to South America.  We wanted this expansiveness–we wanted you to feel the wind in your face, so we really pushed depth there.  We look at 3D as another crayon in our crayon box.”

Perhaps Pixar did so well with their use of 3D that the effect was subliminal and I just never noticed.  But, there’s an equal possibility that despite their efforts this is an area they can still improve on.  Regardless, I’m just glad it wasn’t like riding on a roller coaster.

It’s really easy to make a bad 3D movie, if you doubt this, just make sure to arrive in time for the previews before UP.  Some of the previews made me and many others in the audience verbally complain of feeling sick and take off our 3D glasses.  I think that most filmmakers are so excited about their “new toy” in making 3D movies they think it can be a distraction and people will come see their movie because it’s in 3D, no matter how bad the story is.  The good news is, gauging from my experience and those in the theatre with me, these filmmakers won’t be in business for long.  I’m glad that Pixar did not take this gimmicky approach.  It will take more films, like UP, which approach 3D with caution and creativity to determine whether the effect can really help tell a story and be worth using.

 Getting back to the story of Carl and Russell, if you don’t see UP for the great comedy and touching moments or 3D effect, the artwork alone is a stunning masterpiece.  While starting out in the city, the film quickly moves to the wilderness as the story unfolds and there are gorgeous landscapes and wildlife in scene after scene.  I highly recommend checking out the UP website and browsing through the Gallery section to get an idea of what to expect.  The character animation is also astounding; Pixar continues to evolve the art of bringing animated characters to life. 

I can’t possibly think of a person who wouldn’t appreciate UP, and that is probably part of Pixar’s criteria for green lighting such a big production.  I hope you will enjoy the film as much as I did!

Divided by Night Cover Art

By PHIL PALIOS

The Crystal Method emerged on the electronic music scene twelve years ago with their release of “Vegas” that stormed the charts, most notably the single “Busy Child” is one most people will recognize, even if they don’t know about the artists behind it.  The group consists of two amazingly talented electronic artists: Scott Kirkland and Ken Jordan.  Earlier this month the group released their fourth album, “Divided by Night.”  This new album reflects the group’s ongoing musical evolution by continuing to build on classic The Crystal Method style and sound that can be traced through all of their albums while producing new ideas with different beats and sounds.  One of the things that make this album stand out is the guest vocalists who helped create and perform on many of the songs.

I had the chance to speak with Scott Kirkland while the group prepared to perform in San Diego, CA, approximately half-way through their US tour.   The Crystal Method doesn’t follow the tour and album release schedule you see from most bands, only touring a live show every few years, usually following the release of each new album.  The group stays busy with side projects, remixes and DJ shows but their main products are the studio albums and live performances.  Before recording their latest album “Divided by Night” the duo spent two years building a new studio near Los Angeles and made the move from their former recording studio “The Bomb Shelter” to their new creative environment: “Crystalwerks.”  The new studio was a big change, bringing in a lot more natural light, as opposed to being underground with no natural light in their previous space.  Crystalwerks also provided more space and a layout to help the group move toward their new interests in working with instrumentation and guest artists.

Having the opportunity to see The Crystal Method perform a live show is rare.  It’s not like some artists where you can count on seeing them in every major city each year.  For both die-hard fans and electronic music lovers in general the group going on tour with a live show is a treat.  However, the rarity of a live show is not due to a lack of interest from the group.  When asked about how they enjoy live performances vs. working in the studio, Scott told me: “There’s nothing like when everything is going right and the crowd is into it…that moment on stage and afterwards.  There’s nothing in the studio or DJ set that can match that moment when you’re connected with an audience and have a really good show.  Obviously, that wouldn’t be possible without the moments in the studio.”

The group seems to be very interested in connecting with fans, both on the scale of a live show as well as individually.  You can find both members actively using Twitter (twitter.com/crystalmethod) as well as a strong web presence (thecrystalmethod.com) and profiles on other social networking sites.  While browsing the group’s tweets I was impressed with their effort to take time after each show to meet fans and sign autographs.  They also have taken on a bit of a “green” vibe by encouraging fans to share a ride or use public transit when going to shows; this is accompanied with recycling containers at each concert and often-times an eco-table providing more resources for fans to reduce, reuse and recycle.  Taking an electronic production like The Crystal Method on the road is quite a resource hog, with tour busses, semi-trucks as well as all the lighting and sound equipment used on stage each night.   Having a group that uses so much energy tell people  to be environmentally conscious makes me think of Hummer telling their owners to use reusable grocery bags…are these guys for real?  It turns out they are, the group considers their environmental impact for each component of the tour.  Scott mentioned that when they looked at tour busses they considered using ones that ran on bio-fuel, the problem is finding places to refuel while on tour.  Scott continues: “Sometimes big bands go out and do bio-fuel tours and they’ll have the entire bus and semis outfitted with bio-fuels and have a tanker follow them around.”  The cost and pollution generated by bringing a bio-fuel tanker on tour made the band choose to go with diesel.  As bio-fuel stations become more widespread, Scott believes it will be possible to switch.

The Crystal Method live in Seattle on 5/30/09. Photo by Adam Tews / PHILTHY.NET

Some of the efforts the band takes to reduce their carbon footprint include eating fresh, locally-grown food while on tour.  They have also begun using lights from High End Systems that use LEDs rather than traditional bulbs, these provide the same bright lighting effects the band wants while consuming less energy.  Going forward the band hopes to continue finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint while helping educate their fans and encourage them to help too.

I love the new album and think it represents an important step in the evolution of electronic music, as Scott sees it: “Mainstream has come our direction.  The world of Rock and Hip-Hop has started using sounds very similar to sounds of electronic music.”  The Crystal Method takes advantage of this by working with many guest artists on tracks of “Divided by Night.”  These artists include Matisyahu, Peter Hook, Jason Lytle, Meiko and others.  Each track combines the styles of TCM with those of the guest artist to create songs that fit into the album’s theme, but also can stand independent as great singles.  While most reviewers share my positive reaction to the new album, I was able to find some negative reviews on iTunes.  Most of the negative reviews complain about the band’s departure from their original material and move into more mainstream music.  I had to question some negative reviews, as one mentioned only listening to the 30 second samples, for an album with tracks ranging from four to nearly seven minutes, you really can’t understand the musical creation with a 30 second sample.  I also think the album has grown on me, it contains a lot of subtleties that can only be appreciated after a few listens through.

When I asked Scott how he feels about the negative reviews his response reflected the band’s interest in evolving musically and their changing lives as artists:

“There really isn’t any going back.  We would get just as much or more criticism if we made the same record over and over again.  We try to create music we’re in to.  The last record which is a little more dark and focuses more on bass and grooves, I can see where there is some difference [when compared with “Divided by Night.”]  But there have always been vocals and melody and structure.  We’re not the same individuals we were when we put together The Bomb Shelter and Vegas.  We’ve taken in a lot of things over the last 12 years.  It’s still us, there are definitely tracks and sounds in there that relate the record to those early years, but if we continue to do the same thing over and over again it will become boring to us.”

I think it’s important for musical groups to grow, if all their songs sound the same, there’s no reason for me to have more than one of their albums.  I think the ability for The Crystal Method to change while keeping some musical traits that have defined them through their career is wonderful.  Scott also points out that often times, as people who appreciate music, we associate albums with the moment we first heard them and our life at that time.  He continues: “I have those same moments with the artists that I love.  But, there aren’t any secret Vegas tapes.  It’s alright for people to want that.”  For the live show, the group has reworked some of their older material, so you won’t just be hearing songs from “Divided by Night” when you go to see them live.

One of the things that impress me about The Crystal Method is their ability to create, record, promote and tour a new album on such a large scale without the backing of a major record label.  The band has historically recognized the fact that the music industry has issues, but doesn’t let that get in the way of their successful music career.  When asked about how the group feels about what the recording business has been doing lately, Scott responded:

“We’ve always tried to stay ahead of the curve and look at the trend.  We saw early on that things were going in a different direction and people were getting the music from different places.  We’ve always embraced the online sites.  When people want music they want to get it at that moment, if they have the opportunity to buy it legally they’ll do that.”

The group began working with Outpost Recordings which was a small boutique label housed within the Universal corporate monstrosity.  They enjoyed this relationship because it gave them the personal attention of a small label with the marketing, distribution and promotion power of a major label.  This changed when the record labels shuffled through business transactions and The Crystal Method was just one of many electronic artists on the Interscope record label, they had lost that personal attention they valued while working with Outpost Recordings.  Beginning with their third album “Legion of Boom” and continuing with “Divided by Night” the group is working independently under the “Tiny e Records” label.  Their experience in the industry has allowed them to build relationships with distribution and marketing groups without having to associate themselves with a major label.

The Crystal Method live in Seattle on 5/30/09. Photo by Adam Tews / PHILTHY.NET

As Scott sees it, “The music business is a monster that seems to be consuming itself on a daily basis; they need to come up with a new way of producing new artists.”  He also points out that new artists are finding ways to distribute their music without a label, the problems in the music industry obviously haven’t had an impact on new artists continuing to bring their music out to the public.

I became a fan of The Crystal Method when I first heard “Busy Child” shortly after the release of “Vegas.”  However I enjoy exploring new music and don’t dwell on any one album or song too long.  As each new album came out from the group I would listen to it for a while, but it eventually faded as new music came out.  This new album has once again caught my attention and I think it’s their best yet.  The slow release cycle will probably continue to bring The Crystal Method in and out of my listening selection, but maybe that’s not so bad.  It’s definitely not “yet another TCM album” and I think it branches out into styles and sounds that can be appreciated by those who may have never listened to an electronic album before as well as those that listen to electronic music exclusively.