When you hear the name DoubleVision, you may think it’s a byproduct of too much drinking. Instead, DoubleVision is a singing duo of identical twins from South Australia. Recording in a country-pop style, Candice and Nadinne are making waves down under and having a blast doing so.

G: What’s the first music you remember hearing?

Nadinne: That would be Roy Orbison, Bobby Vinton, Elvis, Gene Pitney, Barbra Streisand. All the oldies!

G: You heard music at home, in the car. . . where?”

Candice: On the road. Our Mum used to do a lot of traveling. She had a transport company.

G: Was she a trucker?

Nadinne: No, she wasn’t a truckie! She had to go to meetings, etc. She would bundle us in the car and off we would go, usually on the interstate, with music all the way there and home.

Candice: We knew and sung along to Bobby Vinton songs, Roy Orbison and Elvis by the time we were about 10 years old.

Nadinne: Our Mum loved the early rock n roll stuff from the 60s.

Candice: We grew up on that.

G: Did that change over the years?

Nadinne: It was when Shania Twain came out that we took an interest in modern country. We used to sing all of her songs. Know them all! We started having guitar lessons at around 16 and that’s when we got our first guitars. We aren’t as good as some but we get by. Hmmm, should we admit that?

Candice: We can carry a tune with them and use them for songwriting.

Nadinne: Yeah, and we’ve used them on stage, so good enough to play when performing but we prefer the band play.

G: When did you start performing publicly?

Nadinne: We were in school choirs and started having professional vocal tuition at around the age of 12. Our very first public performance as a duet away from the school environment was at a Boys College!

Candice: Later we were asked to sing at the Pimpinio Country Music Festival.

G: How much later?

Candice: We were 14.

Nadinne: That was a tiny little town. If you blink you’d miss it, but people from miles around used to go to the festival. The response was overwhelmingly supportive and everything has taken off for us from there.

G: How about your instruments?

Candice: We didn’t pick up a guitar until we were about 16. Our passion was, and still is, singing.

Nadinne: We also used to sing quite a lot of duets for the schools we were in throughout the years at assemblies and any special occasions to do with school. We went to a campus where there were three separate schools and we were always asked to perform for the different schools for their special events. We’ve sung at various Country Music Festivals and Clubs.

G: When did you first try songwriting?

Nadinne: We first took an interest in songwriting when we were 16. Our Mum entered us in an International songwriting competition. At around the same time we met a musician named Richard Davidson, who has since become our record producer and very good friend.

Candice: Richard is now owner of RDMS recording studio, and recorded a demo of our very first completed song called ‘Never Look Back’ in June of 2000.

Nadinne: Richard suggested to us that we enter the song in SCALA’s (Songwriters, Composers And Lyricists Association) annual National and International songwriting competition.

Candice: We later forgot all about it, not thinking we would get anywhere. And studying for end-of-year exams made it easy to forget.

Nadinne: After a month or so we received an invite to go to the awards but it was getting close to exam time so declined. Then, a couple weeks later we got a phone call. It was one of the organizers asking if we were going to the awards, we told her no and she said that the numbers for audience were very low and could we please try to find some time and come for a couple of hours? Award night was that same night!! So we talked it over with our Mum and she took us to Adelaide where the awards were held. We didn’t know anyone there all we were thinking of was our study.

Candice: And tired!

Nadinne: But we stayed anyway.

Candice: There were a lot more people than we expected there and we wondered why she wanted us to come. We were just about to leave when they announced that they were going to present the award for the Demo section.

Nadinne: Which is what we entered, so we thought we’d hang around and see who won….. It was us! We won a professional recording of our song. Which we thought turned out disastrous! That was done at a different studio to where we normally record.

G: Can you talk a little about how you view the music industry?

Nadinne: Like most young artists starting out we had to do our time with the competitions and things. I think that’s part and parcel of being an entertainer isn’t it? You’ve got to do the hard yakka and climb over wall after wall and a lot of times falling flat on your face just to see if you’ve got what it takes. Every time a door opened, a door closed. But hey, it’s fun in between and it’s a learning experience. That’s still the case. We performed for the Olympic Games festivities in Adelaide in the year 2000. We went on and entered several other competitions. Our Mum was our biggest supporter and always sat in the front row of these comps. Who out there and just starting out doesn’t have that kind of doting Mum.

Candice: Yeah, so cute!

G: She was right about your success, wasn’t she?

Candice: We won the New Talent Award in Adelaide for 2001 and also won the Australian State Championship for an international vocal competition 2001. Then recorded our first CD at 16.

G: Did you have any formal training?

Nadinne: We’ve really had training for our voices since we started primary school. That continued well after we completed high school and in college. We stopped having training in about 2005 I think. But we are thinking of going back I don’t think you can ever have enough of that! The training keeps you true to yourself vocally. Training is a lot more than singing; it involves exercise and proper diet as well.

G: Would you say you are driven to make music?

Nadinne: Most definitely! Any musician would be able to answer this with a big fat yes. If you’re not driven, then why do it? Music has been a part of us since we can remember, always making up silly songs when we were younger. And when we reached our early teens, we discovered we could take our writing seriously and start to make some great music. We can’t see ourselves not making music in one way or another.

Candice: We have tried to take ‘breaks’ in the past and we’ve always been drawn back to music. It’s in our blood and I don’t think we could ever completely stop doing it. When I think of music, I think of fun and while its fun, we’ll continue to sing and write.

G: What are you searching for in songs that you listen to for pleasure as opposed to songs you want to sing?

Nadinne: Generally, if we hear a song we like, we want to sing it. I love songs that tell a story, whether it makes you laugh or cry.

Candice: I think Nadinne is on the money here… songs that tell a story are more entertaining for me. I like songs that are different and aren’t harping on the same old same old. Australia’s Adam Harvey, Beccy Cole and a favorite American country singer of mine, Brad Paisley, are great for their ’story songs’. As for songs I want to sing, great melody is the key. I like a song that can spark someone’s interest in the first few lines of the first verse.

G: Can you say what touches you most: melody or lyrics? Or does it depend on the song? Or your mood at the moment?

Nadinne: Oh, it’s a combination. There are songs that have beautiful lyrics but the melody and or music leave them feeling cold. Songs have to have an equal balance of both fantastic lyrics and melody, you can’t have one or the other, otherwise you won’t have a great song.

Candice: Nine times out of ten the lyrics touch me most. I love it when I can relate to a song personally. It makes it that much more powerful. Every now and then though, a song comes along that has amazing music and it just blows me away. I love fast picking on guitars and banjos… it almost makes me jealous as I’d love to be able to play like that myself! I think we both agree that sometimes it can depend on our mood at the moment as to what we listen to though.

G: Can you say how music is able to touch people’s souls?

Nadinne: Music has the great ability to be able to alter your mindset. If you’re sad, and listen to a great upbeat song, it instantly brings your mood up. Music can make you angry, can make you happy or sad. Music can bring so much comfort to someone who is hurting. There are many a time when we ourselves have turned to the great healing powers of music.

Candice: I’ve been in situations where I have been feeling a bit out of sorts, then listened to a great song which has altered my whole state of mind and I’ve instantly felt so much better. I believe that music can touch people’s souls, even if it’s just one amazing song that really hits home with one person. It doesn’t have to affect hundreds of people. If we do that for someone, it would be the best feeling in the world!

Contact:
www.soundclick.com/doublevision
doublevisionnc@hotmail.com

Technorati Tags: DoubleVision, country music, pop music, singer songwriter, Australia indie bands

Managing at least 5 interlocking careers, Los Angeles-based Sheena Metal maintains a wickedly funny view of her life on the radio, on stage, and behind-the-scenes in the swirling worlds of music, movies and TV.

The first time I saw Sheena Metal perform was in a real dive. Let’s call it Magee’s. It was popular (at least it was that night) but it was the kind of scummy place that openly defied health regulations. Thus, it was an ideal venue for the visual and aural onslaught of Ms. Metal’s band, Beer Bong.

Their set was moving along at a nice clip. Mixed with a KISS cover song or two were original rockers with lyrics that were alternately profane and more profane, but laced with acerbic social commentary that was as funny as it was shocking.

Between each song, one of the drunks at the crowded bar would yell out something in that booming piercing thunderous annoying voice that you often hear at sporting events. He was berating the band, the songs, the costumes, and Sheena herself.

Unlike the rest of the drunks in the place, he seemed able to stand up, move about, and even dance a bit. But his physical size and wild-eyed glare made many of us hope he maintained his place at the bar.

Trouble was, Sheena was answering him with put-downs that were too clever by half. Each comeback of hers zoomed right over his head but caused titters from those who got her jokes.

About halfway through the gig, he began to get threatening. Without skipping a beat, Sheena shushed the crowd and said she had an announcement to make about “our vociferous friend at the bar.”

I shuddered, imagining the brawl that was about to ensue, so you can imagine how surprised I was to hear Sheena proclaim him “King of Magee’s.” She bowed in his direction and asked for a round of applause, then went right back to the songs.

The idiot was quiet for the rest of the show and came up to congratulate the band afterwards. Now that’s crowd control. When I asked her about it later, she said “Most people like that just want some attention. I tried verbally battling him, but that made him madder. So I tried flattering him, and that worked.”

“What if that hadn’t worked?” I asked.

“See those extra guitars at the side of the amps? Those are the ones we don’t mind using on people if we have to.”

I knew right then I was going to like Sheena Metal. The following interview took place recently, several years after the Incident with the King of Magee’s.

Scott G: You host a late night radio show. Tell us about that.

Sheena Metal: Actually, this is the first time that my show hasn’t been only late night. As a Los Angeles radio personality, I made a name doing both talk and music radio in the middle of the night. Music Highway is my first syndicated show and it’s so odd for me to be airing at six and seven a.m. in some markets. It sure makes me think twice before getting too raunchy…which is my natural inclination. But the show is on 2,400 affiliates in four countries at nearly every hour of the day and night, so each week we create a show that will be as suitable for a housewife in the American Bible Belt as it is for a porn star in Australia.

You’re also the lead singer of Beer Bong. That band is a visual and aural outrage. The music was well-done yet the experience for the audience was often right on the edge of comedy. That was primarily your influence, I think.

Absolutely. I wanted to create a band where people could rock out and laugh their butts off concurrently. The tunes are musically hooky and catchy and the lyrics so irreverent that if not for our Beer Bong Song Books (provided at each show) the average audience member might not believe they actually heard what they heard. And as for the visual outrage…I am as God made me. [laughs] Seriously, it’s the same as the songs. I want people to leave the show first thinking, “What the Hell was that?!?” and then, “I loved it!!!”

Another one of your careers is booking bands into clubs. What’s that job like?

Sometimes I feel like I’m running a daycare for psychotic divas…and those are the good days. [laughs] Truthfully, I love putting on shows, seeing the bands live, and enjoying the entire process. It’s the music business and nobody said it was easy. Weather, holidays, current events, world disasters, traffic…these are all factors that affect the ultimate success or failure of a show. It’s like walking into a Las Vegas casino and popping $10,000 on the roulette wheel. There is never a dull moment…that’s for sure and when you add in the delicate personality of the creative genius, it’s an E-Ticket ride for sure.

As a journalist, you have written seriously about many aspects of show business, but often with a humorous point of view. As a musician, your lyrics are almost always funny or satirical. Is that your view of life?

It’s funny because my mom is hysterical. She makes me seem dull and humorless, but she’s very shy. I spent a lot of my childhood alone with her and she would satirize everything…life, humanity, the earth. She’s very smart and very, very deep and I think it was how she stopped herself from going nuts. So, I grew up thinking of things in terms of humor. Don’t get me wrong, I can be very serious and I love intense dramatic music, films, literature, etc. but I can always see the sideshow…the twisted carnival that lies just under the surface of life. I’m also a tad macabre. Did I mention that? [laughs]

Oh, we get the macabre side all right! Often mixed in with the humor is a social-political undertone to your work. Which is your primary goal?

Well, the laugh is always a goal. Laughter is more healing and cathartic than even a high colonic, but I do have a socio-political side. I think that art should come in layers so that anyone of any level of intelligence, emotionality or depth can take from it what it speaks to them. So, if I scratch my behind, someone in more of a banal mood will giggle because my rear-end itches while a deep thinker will realize that I’m scratching my butt in protest of the inhumanity of dictatorships in third world countries. Not the best example, but it works.

On a daily basis, how difficult is it keeping on top of your various careers?

It’s unreal the schedule I keep. I get around 300 pieces of e-mail every day, I promote 10-12 shows monthly (including a new weekly residency at the Knitting Factory Hollywood), I write 3-4 freelance pieces a week (music reviews, film reviews, celebrity interviews, etc.), I have two syndicated music columns (the former has over 80 affiliates; the latter has just become syndicated), I host and produce a weekly syndicated radio show, I’m involved in a live theatre group that does charity productions of the “Vagina Monologues,” I have a film coming out next year, I front a band and am starting a second band in 2008, I run a musicians assistance program with over 10,000 members, I was just this week named president of Sea Hag Ent. that is developing a myriad of television and film projects, and next summer I’ll return to performing/promoting comedy. It amazes me that I even have time to brush my teeth and feed my cats. Luckily, the cats yell at me if I forget…which I do sometimes…and I’m embarrassed to say, my teeth are kind of scuzzy at the moment. But aside from that, I just sit around on my couch in my underpants eating cheese puffs and watching “Judge Judy.”

Who first dubbed you “the queen of observation”? What about the other phrase, “the queen of the nighttime world”?

In 1998, I co-hosted “The Nastyman Show” on KLSX (97.1 FM) in Los Angeles. That station was the Howard Stern affiliate at the time and our show was driven by sex, strippers and rock music. Nasty ran the show like an outrageous ringmaster and my job was to add insightfully sardonic commentary on the crazy guests and bizarre topics. It was Nasty that dubbed me the “Queen of Observation.” He was a great guy, my favorite co-host and the most fun I ever had in radio was on his show. “Queen of the Nighttime World” was a name I picked up on my first radio show on KIEV (870 AM) “Sheena Metal After Midnite.” It’s a pun on the KISS song “King of the Nighttime World.” A listener referred to me that way and I loved it and started repeating it. Nastyman didn’t like it and never used it. Maybe he was worried Gene Simmons would sue him.

Your media material says you’re developing a mockumentary reality TV series. What can you reveal about that?

It’s all very hush-hush or I’d spill it all. I hate secrets! I will say that I’m co-writing it and that my new entertainment corporation, Sea Hag Ent., will be producing it. Oooooh, I want to tell you all about it. I really do!

Tell me on “deep background.”

[Pause for feverish whispering]

Cool! Okay, we’ll have to reveal that when the time comes. Last question. Your Web site is www.sheena-metal.com but have you ever visited www.sheenametal.com?

Not lately. A fan bought it to give it to me as a present and then never gave it to me. Every once in awhile I send him an email, still looking in vain for my cyber-domain love gift, but it never arrives. Why? Is it a porn site? Fat chicks and dwarves in rubber masks depicting ex-presidents? That would be a hoot!

Technorati Tags: Sheena Metal, radio personalities, satire, social commentary, music, radio programs, singer songwriter, rock, live music

Lead singer of indie bands Pope Jane and Junkie Cousin, film actress, political clothing designer, and outrageous singer/songwriter, Danielle Egnew has a huge voice, legit stage training and a compulsion to rock. Scott G interviews the forceful yet friendly femme fatale.

G-Man: You have created more music than anyone else from Billings, Montana, I believe. Between the Pope Jane material and your own recordings, there are a dozen albums now, is that right?

Danielle Egnew: Oh yeah, there are. The thing is, I do so many different kinds of music that eventually I compile enough for several different albums. I’m almost done with “Red Lodge,” my solo CD that’s sort of taken it in the shorts schedule-wise with everything else I have had going on, and Paul Houston and I are starting to record our Junkie Cousin CD, so it’s going to be ‘album central’ for me for awhile. Plus, I just love album releases. Any good reason for a big event, and I’m in!

You have a Broadway theater voice, but you’re a singer-songwriter, an alternative rocker, a creator of meditation music, and even an experimental art rocker. Would you agree with that assessment?

Why yes I would. It’s weird to be considered a pop artist but have a voice that’s better suited for “Wicked” than it is for “American Idol.” Just look at Jennifer Hudson - that girl has singing pipes on her for days, and they bounced her right off of Idol and into an Oscar for “Dreamgirls!” So I guess there is hope for us big-voiced broads! I’d love to do more musical theater, actually. It was my college major. I’d like to see some edgy new musicals, but the singy-dancy nature of the musical doesn’t really lend itself to being edgy. Although, I have been working on writing a musical that’s got some edge to it, so we’ll see what comes of it.

How do you like to differentiate the music for your various projects?

Really, it boils down to which songs go together. Sort of like tonal Garanimals, those clothes we wore as kids where you matched the animals on the tag to see which pants and shirt went together? I’ll end up creating a song and if it doesn’t go with an album I’m working on, I just put it aside until I get enough songs that “match” for a body of work. Then that body gets evaluated and earns its own genre, whether it’s rock, ambient, or country. I had a problem with my album “Red Lodge,” as I really, really wanted it to be a stripped down acoustic album with all acoustic instruments, and sometimes a real huge production rocker would come out of me during a session, so I’d record the big rocker, and just put it aside for the next album. “Red Lodge” has been a challenge to keep it true to my idea for the album in the first place. But it’s sounding great, now that’ I’ve weeded out the stray huge production numbers!

Are you compelled to make music? What drives you?

Yeah, I am compelled, all the time. It’s sort of creepy and maybe irritating for people who live with me. Sometimes I’ll be sitting out at fancy dinner with my honey, and a song will just fly through, and I have to start writing it on a napkin until it’s finished. I sort of have musical Tourette’s. For me, music “comes through” in the ethers, and you grab onto whatever song is trying to make its way through your built-in radio antennae, scribbling like crazy until you can catch it all before you lose the signal. That’s if the song has lyrics. Sometimes I just go back into my studio and I start composing, and it’s the same process, only instrumental. I’m constantly outputting music. I think something may be wrong with my brain, like John Travolta in “Phenomenon.” Maybe I should get a CAT scan.

What are you searching for in a song?

I guess the more accurate way to put it for me would be, why is that song searching me out? The songs always seem to be finished when I pick up on them and try my best to get them out before I lose the clock on them. When I record, I always feel like I am doing it twice, because it’s all finished in my head. All my songs tell stories. I think that’s part of my western culture heritage, being from Montana, which is a yarn-spinning state, and I’m not talking about knitting! I also tend to write songs when I am trying to figure out something in myself or someone else. Or I use the song to process my feelings when I feel very, very hurt, and I’ll tell someone off in a song. That’s not very mature, but it’s true, and it makes for a great tune, because there are a lot of people out there who want to tell people off but can’t form the words to sum up their journey in three and a half minutes, and they can really relate. Some of my best albums have been after break-ups. I don’t write very happy happy joy joy lyrics, though I tend to write very uplifting instrumental music. That’s a weird dichotomy. I’ve got this song, “Cracker Jack Box Hero,” that’s being used in the film “Changing Spots,” and it’s got this bouncy, happy pop/Americana arrangement in G, but the lyrics are about someone who is hideously unhappy and drowning in their own life. Yeah, I’m a ball of fun.

What’s first in your head: melody or lyrics?

Both, at the same time. I get the finished choruses first, and have to build in the verses. Or, if I’m writing songs with Paul, he’ll be strumming along, and I’ll get the melody first, and then the lyrics. But if it’s something I originate, then it’s both at the same time.

Describe how music touches people’s souls.

Wow, I think that the way it touches people is as unique as the person it’s touching! All things made of any sort of particle exist on a frequency. Atoms resonate at a certain frequency. Light waves get to earth from the sun on a certain frequency spectrum. Depending on what those light waves bounce off of, some of the light is absorbed and some is reflected, and a person may see blue, or green, or red. But the light “creating” the color is the same. Music, by its very nature, is a frequency based form of communication, and works affecting the soul of an individual in the same manner as a light wave does. Depending on who the music is bouncing off of, someone may be touched to feel happy, or sad, but the music is the same. I believe that the terrain of a person’s soul directly determines what music is absorbed, and what music is reflected back. So I think more people could use music to help figure out parts of their souls that they can’t find with their naked eye, much like sonar assists in finding parts of the bottom of the Mariana trench that are miles beneath the ocean’s surface. A ping is sent down, bounces back, and is returned with information about the bottom of the dark crevice that we would otherwise never see, because it’s out of our reach. But it’s not out of the reach of frequency. If a person pays attention to what bounces back in them when they listen to certain music, maybe they’ll find some deep places in themselves that they were never able to see before, just by paying attention to the emotional image in what is reflected back? Music as a tool for emotional self discovery and healing is unparalleled, in my opinion. Better than the freakin’ Discovery Channel.

There are 3 merchandise pages online, one for you as personality and singer, another for the band Pope Jane, and then there are the slightly shocking Vision Duds items on Café Press. There may soon be a merch page for the Junkie Cousin band. Tell us about how you see the gear in a career.

Whooo-hoooo, I am a gear junkie! Gear is the best! Swag rules! I myself buy tons of gear from bands and films and TV shows that I love. I completely dig wearing another band’s T-shirt. It’s like bumper stickers for bodies. I think gear is a way to connect with your fans and supporters by creating something that’s a little piece of you, and getting it to them. I especially think that because I do all of my design for my projects. It’s important to have retail items because not only does the sale of the items help offset other hard costs, like pressing CDs, advertising and such, but it really is a great way to get the feeling or tone of your project out. Not to mention, it is just so much fun to design! I just love graphic design and marketing. It’s a guilty pleasure, and it’s half the fun of releasing a project. It’s like styling your own hair once the hairdresser finishes the cut. Swag rules, rules, I tell you!

What are your ideas behind Vision Duds?

I just wanted to re-claim the actual character of Jesus for the masses, not as a boutique savior with only the Right wing in mind. I thought it was about time that He stopped getting passed around as the poster child for judgment, when in fact Jesus was the original peace-lovin’ anti-establishment hippie guy. My Vision Duds clothing line brings the focus back around to what the documented character of Jesus Christ truly is, in an attempt to remind so many people who claim to be Christians that taking a tone of judgment toward another person is in absolutely no way being “Christ-like” or Christian. A big part of my interest lies in activism. As a gay woman, I’m a big human rights activist, and one of the things that really chaps my hide is when any one person or group claims that another group does not deserve the same rights as the other. We find this in our society, especially in terms of religious groups utilizing iconic figures such as Jesus to push their own opinion as legally credible, based on a religious reference. This gets confusing in a country where the law is supposed to be separate from religious beliefs. I’m all for anyone believing anything they want to, but I think it’s a cop-out to blame a personal opinion on a religious icon, as in “the devil made me do it,” or “god told me to.” The Vision Duds clothing design line is a statement on how religious organizations use the identity of Jesus to back up actions that are very un-Christ like, such as hate and war. My designs all include a picture I created of Jesus Christ, with sayings beneath them addressing a lot of the dichotomous Religious Right propaganda. One of the sayings is “My name is Jesus. I don’t hate anyone.” This was of course inspired by how the Religious Right likes to push the notion that Christ was anti-gay, which is absolutely not true according to biblical texts, but the Religious Right’s anti-gay propaganda conveniently eliminates this important historical fact, teaching its congregations otherwise. According to record, Jesus was a very inclusive individual who only took outward offense to those who judged and condemned others. Though my personal spiritual belief system is pretty varied, I have a ministry license, and I’ve pastored Christian churches, and I have poured over the life of Christ. He himself was a tremendous activist who spoke out on unconditional love for all people. Another hideous piece of the Religious Right’s propaganda has to do with the war in Iraq, how we are waging a holy war, etc. One of the Vision Duds T-shirts says “My name is Jesus. I died for Peace.” My dad was a captain in the US Army, and I wholeheartedly support our troops, but I think that pretty much sums it up. Frankly, the best Christians I have ever met are Buddhists.

Would now be the right time for me to ask the standard skeptic question about your being a psychic?

Hey, right on, man, all’s fair in love and press! I think it’s good to be skeptical. I work in this field, and I’M skeptical! Everyone alive has intuitive abilities, as its part of our design as spiritual creatures, but not everyone is aware of them, or knows how to use them well. And there are a lot of people out there who claim to be psychic, but really, don’t have those abilities developed, but they have an interest and bought some Tarot cards and a black cape, and they love the ego of being the guru, so they start up a practice on Venice Beach. So using some discernment in the whole issue of psychics is a good idea. I don’t actually like the word “psychic”. I go by clairvoyant, or clairvoyant channel, as I look at what we consider the future, and chat with all sorts of entities who can help me do that more effectively because they’ve got a better view than I do. It’s no different than shouting up to the guy ahead of you on a hike, who gets to the mountain top first, because you want to know if he can see a river below because you’re thirsty. Basically, I’m an interpreter. I interpret a language of energy signatures that come in the form of visions, sounds, pictures, smells, analogies, you name it. I’m the chick who reads the tickertape that gets pushed through the ethers on behalf of a client or law enforcement case. I’m no different than the guy on a submarine who looks up the periscope and reports back what he sees. We all captain our own boat, but we often seek help in navigating. That’s my job, to help - not to make the navigational choices. I do all sorts of other stuff in terms of reading frequencies, or “energy fingerprints,” especially when dealing with law enforcement cases, or I utilize what’s called remote viewing to help find lost people and items. But in essence, this is all just glorified talk in describing the translation of energy signatures. It’s not nearly as mysterious as it seems. It has to do with reading frequencies - the same aptitude I use when I write songs! There’s a lot more science to it than mysticism, I’m afraid. I have my own private practice in Los Angeles and I really enjoy helping people. But word to the wise, real “psychics” don’t remove curses because curses aren’t real. We don’t cast spells, we don’t sell love potions, no one alive can ever tell you exactly who you are going to marry as love is a free will issue, and no human being is ever 100% accurate. Some of my best friends are still skeptical about all the psychic stuff, and I can’t say I blame them with all the wackos out there. I don’t even tell people I do clairvoyant work most of the time. It’s not worth the eye roll I get! But I understand where it comes from. Dionne Warwick and Miss Cleo really haven’t helped the plight of us clairvoyants much. Ah, well, I guess it’s up to Jennifer Love Hewitt and Patricia Arquette to represent to mainstream America. People like myself with clairvoyant or psychic abilities aren’t freaks or charlatans or occultists, for crying out loud. We’re interpreters. We’re here to help you navigate. You don’t see people accusing OnStar of heresy.

(Photo of DE by Paul Houston. Photo of DE with Minarik Samhain by Alexa Yassir.)

Technorati Tags: Danielle Egnew, Pope Jane, Paul Houston, Jesus, psychic, alternative rock, singer songwriter, indie music, religious right

Singing, songwriting, recording, and playing lots of gigs may be the traditional way for an independent music artist to get ahead. With the release of “The Kitchen Sink” by Sean Wiggins and her band Lone Goat, the singer shows that the quality of the work may be as important as the quantity.

G-Man: Your songs seem very personal and yet universal at the same time. Is that deliberate, or is that just the result of you writing what you feel and it turns out a lot of us might say “I’ve been there!” as well?

Sean Wiggins: Some are stories that may not be something I have completely experienced, and is more of a creation from my mind and what I have seen. But mostly they are stories from my life and then as a writer I add to it and make it a better or sadder or funnier story (laughs).

You guys describe the album as having many styles. What are your influences?

Hmmmm. I love all sorts of music, so I’ve been influenced by many people and styles. Stevie Ray Vaughan, Aerosmith, Joni Mitchel and Alan Jackson, just to name a few.

What is your process when creating a song?

I usually get a hook in my head, just words or maybe words and a melody. It usually comes to me when I’m driving down the street. I call my machine at home and sing the idea into my machine and then I go from there. I grab my guitar and I start to sing and play with words and chords: they sort of go together for me. After I get the basic idea, I sit and hash out the words.

Do you give any thought to the mystical nature of music touching people’s heart, mind and soul? Does that change for you when you’re writing as opposed to when you’re performing the songs?

Certain tunes of mine are very close to my heart and soul, and I think when I’m writing them I hope to touch other people with the words and to write them in a way that could be accepted by many as opposed to just venting my own situation. So, I try to make it open to interpretation by the listener. When I perform, it is very personal and I hope the fact that it is so close to me will let people get close to the song for themselves — if that makes any sense at all.

Absolutely. Growing up, what were you: nerd, class president, bad kid, dreamer, loner, or…?

I was all of the above. What does that say about me?! Student body president and loner, locked myself in with a piano for hours a day and I didn’t even really know how to play.

When did it click with you and you just knew it was music that would be your life?

I always sang. . . used to sing my tent-mates to sleep at night at camp. I would sing entire musicals for them. But seriously, I joined my high school jazz combo at about 15 years old and I started to perform professionally at 16 and was writing and singing my own tunes by the time I was 17. I was ready to run away from school and try to make it on my own in New York when I was about 16. Luckily my parents stepped in and got me to focus thru high school. I have been nuts ever since!

Why “Lone Goat”? Or, I guess I should say, “lOne gOat” as it’s spelled on the CD?

Paul Houston, my right hand man and guitar player, travel a great deal together doing shows all over California and the U.S. We bonded with a lOne gOat on our way up the 101 and that’s all she wrote. There was something in that lone goat that spoke to us (laughs).

Okay, we’ll live with that. Can you talk a bit about how you view the business side of the music business? Like it/hate it, why are contracts so long, etc.

Well, I wish I had more business, but I have piles of contracts. Unfortunately in this day and age, watch your back and cover your ass. I think you have to play by the rules of today’s world and a handshake does not do it anymore.

Talk about CD distribution: how are you marketing and moving your product? Any merch going on?

I sell through my Web site (www.seanwiggins.com), Amazon and CDbaby. But I would say most of my CD and T-shirt sales come through live shows.

How many gigs are you guys going to play this year?

Probably 150-200.

Are you doing the booking?

Yep!!! It’s all me!

In your sound, I hear alternative mixed with country and a sprinkling of troubadour folk-rock. Kind of like Bonnie Raitt singing with Beck’s band doing Woody Guthrie if Woody Guthrie just finished reading ee cummings.

Wow, can I use that quote? The best one I have heard EVER! Seriously!!! That is me!

Fine with me. I like it when I hear what an artist hears in their music. You guys have a great sound. Who are the players?

The amazing Paul Houston on electric, slide and acoustic guitars. Robert Dill on drums and Todd Connelly on bass. I had two other bass players on the album, Sylvia Owens and Jim Patterson. I just love all of the players. We don’t even rehearse: it is magical! It’s like they read my mind and Paul leads the way in hooking it all together with the perfect guitar lines! I warble and play acoustic.

Technorati Tags: Sean Wiggins interview, Sean Wiggins and Lone Goat, The Kitchen Sink CD, singer songwriter, country folk rock, Gman, Scott G, music industry news, indie music distribution

Delvian Records has been called aggressive, brash, quirky, fanatical and a secret weapon for indie artists. Company president Benjamin van der Wel talks with Scott G (Delvian recording artist The G-Man) about music, marketing, mojo, media, and the madness of running a record label.

Scott G: Some people say you have to be a little bit crazy to run a record company. So, how mad are you?

Benjamin van der Wel: Totally mad but we trust it’s in a good way! In the past, the business of music has always been one that’s attracted the opposites: sensitive artists bearing their souls to hardened, insensitive businessmen-accountants looking through them to a horizon fabricated entirely out of the bottom line. We’re quite pleased to be something quite different from that old scary vision.

You’re actually running two companies, Delvian Records and the Gate Media Group. Let’s start with Delvian. How is it different from other indie record companies?

Well, the biggest difference is that we don’t take away an artist’s intellectual property, especially their copyrights and performing royalties. Usually when you sign with any label, they take ownership of everything you do and are entitled to. We think that is fundamentally unfair, outmoded and frankly ridiculous. Delvian works with an artist, not against them, to get them into distribution, find them airplay and help them with their careers. Sure, it sometimes goes a little slower than the old way, but the artist gets to keep control of their lives, creative and otherwise.

How do you select your artists?

We’re fortunate that we get a lot of mail! Our past successes and unique business model are very attractive to those artists that want to advance without signing their lives over to accountants. Obviously being happy as a smaller company, we can’t work with everyone we’d like to. But we end up with a diverse group that is usually a joy to work with and see advance. In fact, one of the artists longest on the label, Gentle Thunder, was nominated this year for a Grammy Award — not bad for a “little indie label!”

What are your distribution arrangements?

We’re part of the digital revolutions and also part of the traditional CD sales methods. As excited as we are to be in on the start of digital music and downloads, we also know that about 95% of all music sold in the United States is still on CDs, so we’re going to keep selling them as long as people are still buying them. For our artists, we set them up on iTunes, Real’s Rhapsody and make sure their titles are available in almost all major retail stores nationwide. From that point, it depends on the artist’s plans: are they touring? Do they have a specific market they’d like to go for? Essentially, we put everything into place and then customize retail plans based on the artist’s ideas and goals.

You received a lot of press when you were one of the first two indie labels to sign a deal with iTunes. What was that like?

That was so cool it blew our minds entirely! We knew that meeting at Apple was something special when it started by Steve Jobs walking in and saying hello, then leading the meeting himself. It really felt like one of those incredible moments when you just know you’re witnessing history being made. It was a pleasure and privilege to be there. At the time Jobs said iTunes was to be “all about the music,” and so far Apple is doing pretty well by that. The promises they made that day have held and if this is the future of music we’re pretty happy with it.

The Gate Media Group is the parent company of your organization. Tell us about The Gate.

The Gate started decades ago when a bunch of long-time indie music folks got together one evening and came to the conclusion that things could be done much, much better in terms of CD manufacturing. At the time, there were few manufacturers out there that did much but ape the major label models, which meant low quality, bad designs and poor service. We figured that we could do a much better job starting fresh, without all the baggage of old-line ways, methods and equipment. We certainly had the talent and experience so we took a very, very deep breath, emptied our bank accounts and just went for it. Since then we’ve added a lot of other services, features and new stuff like DVDs, printed CDRs, poster printing — you name it, we can do it and do it with not a little style.

How do you compare the Gate with your competitors?

We usually don’t do much of that because over the years we’ve watched them copy our websites, attempt to duplicate our offerings and play catch-up with us. We’re flattered, actually. They can try, again, to ape the models of the big corporations. We’re not aiming to be a Microsoft and be big by “Volume! Volume! Volume!” while putting out questionable products, but rather to be more like Apple, happy to have a good market share, to be an innovator in new products and services and to be seen as a leader in the industry.

How did you guys meet? Was it really one evening?

Yes it was! One of those moments that sneaks up on you in its significance. There we all were, grumbling about the state of things and, most fortunately, someone said, can’t remember who, something like “Well, why don’t we do something about it?” That was in Los Angeles sometime in 1994.

Are you personally involved with any of the bands on Delvian Records?

Since we’re a smaller label, we’re involved personally, to some extent, with all our artists. But we like to be involved as much as we’re needed and wanted. Some artists come to us with a very clear path and everything in place, others need a lot of advice and counsel as to how to proceed. And as you know, in music, its hard not to take things personally! Music is such an intimate experience of the artists’ minds and being that anytime you’re involved in a real way, you can’t help but being involved personally. That is if you care at all about them. We do. Very much so.

What do you love about music?

How much time have we got? [laughs] Well, if I had to pick one thing, I’d say it is those moments when I get a new CD or someone sends us their demo and when I pop it in the player, that indescribable something comes alive in their sound. That deep eternal and eternal movement, that dance. That something that can raise the hairs on your neck or cause an entire room of people to pause and listen in a kind of awed wonder. Those moments are amazing.

What do you like/dislike about the music business?

Honestly? Well, the fact that it has to be so much about “business” and so little about “music” sometimes. At its best, music is a gift to the world, but in our current culture, it’s a commodity to be bought and sold. And as such, the rules of commodities apply whether we like it or not. That’s the philosophical side! The practical side is adjunct to that: the old major music labels. They’re not adapting to the 21st century very well and in not doing so, they’re causing everyone else a lot of problems. Those big ships leave a mighty big wake wherever they go, even if they’re obviously way off course!

What do you see for the future of music?

The transparency the internet has brought to all information in general is helping people to rediscover what they really like in music in particular, not just what is in power rotation on a radio station. They can search whenever they want for new and different kinds of music. I think we’re also hearing a general rise in the overall quality in what is available, thanks to recording and production becoming possible on laptops and such. The whole digital revolution is making, in our cash economy world, the creation of music much more affordable for many people. So when talent and inspiration combine with a much lower cost to make it, the sheer amount of musicians and artists that can create is going up, practically immeasurably.

Are dance clubs and what they play still influential in the whole music scene?

To a certain extent, yes, especially in the dance and electronic genres, where you’d expect that. But we’re also seeing clubs having more specialty nights and playing a wider range of music. We think it’s still a great way for new music to get out there. And while more people are deciding what to listen to by scanning samples on their iPods or iTunes, there will always be a pretty big group of people that likes to go out and listen to new music at clubs. iPods are wonderful but clubs are somewhat more social! Besides, it’s a lot easier to find some company for the night if you’re able to see them gyrating next to you. Cool new music is especially helpful in that aspect.

What should we look for from Delvian Records and/or The Gate Media Group?

We’re continuing to do what we do well, which is making and distributing music. We’re also watching closely how music is being put in physical formats such as the new DVDs coming out. A lot of artists are now interested in releasing double sets, one CD of music and one CD or DVD of music videos or other visual accompaniments to music. We’re happy to help this trend come alive, the combining of pure sound and vision for what many see as a more total experience. And of course, we’d be happy to have another artist or several nominated for more Grammy Awards!

What do you think about all the talk of change from albums to single song downloads?

This is a very sad, weepy cry made public only by the old major labels. We’re happy that, finally, people can buy what they want and now artists can structure their works as they want, too. If an artist feels an album is a complete unit, it can be made available only that way. Or they can make a few songs or all available for single downloads. We think it’s all good. I should note that it is having the effect on artists to really push for an entire album of good listening instead of having a few “filler” tracks in there to flesh out a contract, the real reason it was done that way for so long. The lawyers required it.

Any thoughts on DRM (or the end of DRM)?

This was brought up at that first iTunes meeting and what was said then I still think is essentially valid. Basically, Apple decided most folks would be happy to download music with some DRM on it and there would always be a smaller number who would find any DRM not so good and attempt to evade it. They decided to go for the larger “legal download” audience and let the others do what they’ve always done. They were proven right for a long while. Their recent decision to now give artists the possibility to offer DRM-free music at a slight premium seems like a good idea. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. In any outcome, though, we think that the easier it is to get music to people the better. Sure, artists would like to be able to make a living doing what they love to do (who wouldn’t?) and I don’t know if a totally DRM-free world would make that possible. But it is still very early in the world of downloadable music and we look forward to seeing what happens.

Technorati Tags: Benjamin van der Wel interview, Delvian Records, Gate Media Group, indie music, independent record label, music distribution, digital downloads, gman, Scott G, DRM, music industry news

Born to sing, Astrella Celeste is attempting to fuse pop music to an inner spirituality. In an interview with Scott G, she talks about how songs are a part of life, love, memory and peace.

Pop music is a strange business. No one knows that more than Astrella Celeste, a tiny creature whose talent makes her appear to be quite large when she’s on stage. It’s not that her lovely voice is one of those huge tidal wave type of things, but that she seems to be glowing.

This magical effect can be felt during many passages of the songs on her forthcoming album, most of which reside in that delicious netherworld where jazz meets folk on the way to the symphony as urban beats snuggle up to Latin rhythms.

We spoke in Los Angeles and by e-mail as she and her husband were in between recording sessions at their home in Mallorca.

G-Man: Can you describe the way music was in your life as you grew up?

Astrella Celeste: It would be easier to answer how it wasn’t in my life as I can’t recall a moment or aspect in my childhood that did not involve music in some way. The making of music, the enjoyment of music, and my favorite, the celebration of music.

Is making music a magical experience or is it work, or is it both?

Definitely a bit of both.

Who or what are you trying to connect with in your singing?

Hmmm…. Music was always a strength-giving element in my life and I want to share that with everybody else.

Do your songs have certain moods for you, or do they change over time?

For me, a song generally maintains the mood I was in when I wrote it.

How do you work when creating a song?

Depends. If I’m on my own, I shut myself in a room. When I’m working with someone else, I’m feeding off them.

How do you work in the studio?

Very hard! And try not to waste any time.

Can you describe that feeling when everything just “clicks” and you know the performance is really cooking?

Oh, that’s just complete satisfaction.

What do you like or hate about the music business today?

I like the changing of the formats and the excitement of what’s to come.

What do you call your music? Are there genres or style names you prefer?

This is a hard question. I guess I would have to say my music is HEALING. It’s meant to soothe and calm the listener, allowing one to breathe and reflect. I tend to stay away from titles or labels, preferring to have no preconceived notions of what one should expect. I get enough of that being my father’s daughter.

(Note: She is the daughter of Donovan, legendary performer of such songs as “Catch the Wind,” “Sunshine Superman,” “Season of the Witch” and dozens of other hits.)

Do you think some music is mystical or magical?

Yes of course I do. Just as my music is meant to give strength to listeners by providing comfort and solace, so does a lot of other music but with a different approach. Whether you’re singing out loud to your favorite song, tapping your toes with a smile on your face or feeling blue with a tear rolling down your cheek, it’s helping you to feel and in many cases bringing you back to a specific time or place. That is what I call magic.

Do you think music can affect people in a spiritual way?

It really depends on what you think spiritually is. Music is as the beat of one heart, which makes it spiritual to me, but I try to keep my religious feeling to myself, hoping the music will take you on your own trip no matter who you are or what you believe.

How would you describe an ideal evening of music?

A small group of close friends and family, sitting around a bonfire playing and singing our favorite songs!

Can you describe the perfect song?

Each song is perfect in its own way.

Who are some of your musical influences?

My dad, of course. He will always be my biggest influence. But there are so many great artists I love, like Nina Simone and Sade. I get a lot from Chet Baker, Tori Amos, The Cardigans. . . This could be a very long list.

Maybe we should just let people hear all of them in your music.

That would be great!

Technorati Tags: Astrella Celeste interview, healing power of music, daughter of Donovan, music industry news, Scott G, gman, songwriting

A performer needs a good name, so when Marcel Oosterom started appearing in clubs to play mixes of what was called raggamuffin’ and hiphop beats, he did so as DJ Insane. Did that help draw a crowd? Undoubtedly. But it was the quality and intensity of his music that kept the crowds coming back.

The artist now known as DJ Insane began with a delightful mix of hard club thump (the classic boom-boom-boom-boom dance or rave approach) and hiphop’s more sophisticated beats.

Working constantly, DJ Insane quickly built a following in the Netherlands during the early 1990s. His style underwent a change when Holland began rocking to house music, a fusion of electronic synth with some funk-oriented basslines (do a search on “house music” if you want to see some longer definitions). Insane created his own version of house for the Dutch lowlands, where it became known as hardcore gabber.

He was also quick to incorporate tones and sounds from his native India, offering audiences new flavors and textures in an increasingly boombasstic dance club scene. Playing before larger and larger crowds, DJ Insane became too big for one name or one persona, as you’ll see in the interview.

(Note: The album “Crazed + Dazed,” by DJ Insane and The G-Man, was released 05/15/07 by Delvian Records.)

G-Man: Do you call some of your music “trance” or “electro-beat” or “hard club thump” or. . . ?

DJ Insane: I have various styles of mixing. That’s why I’m producing under three
names to keep my styles separated.

Tell us about them.

For example, when I’m DJ Insane, I work in hard/jumpstyle, hardcore, and techno. These are the harder styles of house music. When I work under the name M-V-O, the music is club, trance, electro, latin grooves, and dance. The smooth styles of house.

And there’s a third side to your musical personality?

Yes, called INDIAN ARTAFFECT, where I compose and perform Desi, Drum ‘n’ Bass, Asian Underground, and Asian Fusion. These are the experimental styles of house.

Multiple personalities, but in a good way. Is that why you make a distinction in the musical styles?

The reason why I keep these styles separated under 3 various names is I don’t want fans or anyone to be confused in what I’m going to play that night. For example, if I was playing all these styles under one name, people don’t know what sound to expect.

Do you think some trance music is mystical or magical? Can it take listeners to another place spiritually?

Yes it does. I find any music made with emotion and devotion is spiritual and a medium. Especially trance, if you hit the right chords and melodies and make the entire track from the heart. That is usually what I do, and then you can easily spread your emotion in it.

When you began the songs on “Crazed + Dazed,” did you try them out in clubs or just do them in the studio?

Most of the time when I make records that are meant for the club, I try them out. I love to see how the crowd is reacting on the new sounds I bring. And what I did with “Crazed + Dazed” was really involved. I was playing demos of the album in clubs every night and remixing the songs on the spot with new beats and loops. Then, after the party, I added those ideas again to the tracks.

It was a layering of sounds?

Yes, starting with beats, then adding more beats and tones and loops. The whole thing kept getting bigger and more exciting every night.

Name some of the clubs and festivals where you have performed as a DJ.

I have a huge list of parties I play throughout Europe. A few names of the biggest clubs are:
Club Butan - Germany
Club Pacha - Spain
Club Aria - Greece
Club NRG - Greece
Club The Hideout - India
Club Baja Impariale - Italy
Club Carnaby - Italy
Club Fuse - Belgium
Club Now & Wow - Holland
Club Las Palmas - Holland

Some of the events where I perform are:
Lowlands festival
Fast Forward Dance Parade
Radioactive Zone
Megarave
Citysounds
Kriti vibes
Hardbass
MOH

If someone wants to start making songs, what do they need in their heart?

You have to be into the music 24 hours a day. You think, eat and drink with melodies and beats. When you hear music and you don’t just hear but also are experiencing the music from the inside, that’s a sign that you really are feeling it with your heart. It’s the same way if you compose a remix or a track.

And what do they need for equipment?

Equipment for starting to mix, well, for just the basic stuff you can easily get a music software pack and start experimenting with music. Nowadays there are so many musical toys in software and hardware for music. Find out which program lies within your range and capabilities and let your heart flow with the sounds.

How would you describe the perfect dance club?

A huge club filled with lights and strobes, decoration, full of stars and a moon, girls with angel wings and magic wands, huge projector screens, a high-tech deejay booth with state-of-the-art equipment, and a dance floor with various platforms, so everybody dances on different levels, and a huge chillout lounge above the dance floor. And the most important thing is a very loud and clear sound system.

How would you describe the perfect dance song?

For me, the perfect dance song of all time is Donna Summer’s “I Feel love.”

Right, with music by Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte.

Every time I hear the track, I always get some new ideas. That track is so magical, I always get new inspiration by listening to it. The same thing I have with Kraftwerk’s “Computer Love” and New Order’s “Blue Monday.” I hope someday that someone will feel the same way about a track from “Crazed + Dazed.”

Technorati Tags: DJ Insane interview, Crazed and Dazed CD, trance music, house music, dance clubs, CD releases, music composition, audio production, Scott G, gman

Bringing indie artists together with fans is just the start for SoundOrbit. Their goals include creating a synergistic relationship between artists, agents, managers, record companies, distributors, producers, radio, film, advertising, and venues for live performances. The ideas come tumbling at you in this interview with SoundOrbit founder Alisa Mikeal.

Scott G: How did SoundOrbit (www.soundorbit.com) start?

Alisa Mikeal: SoundOrbit originated out of a need to reinvent the wheel of internet platforms in band communities. I was no longer interested in the business models that were present online, feeling that from the time of inception, SoundOrbit was a requirement to redirect sales and marketing to a platform that was based on facts and professionalism with the unique asset of allowing self control to the artist himself via his/her profile.

Scott G: Explain a bit about the way SoundOrbit works.

Alisa Mikeal: The mp3 download was the incentive, to have a profile whereby the artists can track their sales directly while reporting to hit trackers like SoundScan. The other incentive was to provide radio and multi media via our TV for the public user which is absolutely free whereby they could have a taste of the music to then want to go directly into the site to buy it. These are uninterrupted and stream 24/7.

Scott G: Why is SoundOrbit of interest to music fans?

Alisa Mikeal: SoundOrbit is focused primarily on introducing the public to great new music. I am not interested in being a social site or network. You will see there is no forum or e-mail exchange on SoundOrbit. I did that deliberately. I prefer the time spent there for the public to be allocated to listen to music, research the talent, read reviews, etc. This puts the onus back on the retail aspect of promoting bands. That one is a very basic element. Imagine being a band that can sell 100 downloads a day and get 50%
profit on that directly simply by having a profile on SoundOrbit. And the fan can do this directly, choose their music, make it known that they have direct access to them and that the middleman is eliminated.

Scott G: What are SoundOrbit’s advantages to the artist?

Alisa Mikeal: The artist gets 50% of sales. Plus, they have their own profile that tracks their sales directly. They choose what they want to sell and they get paid within minutes via PayPal. It is all very simple. We provide a radio interview and a review in print by one of our writers that they can use for press kits. We are a recognized company that is really based on loyalty and truth, not bullshit. We won’t promote you because you shaved your hair or wore no undies, or have some other thing that is unrelated to your music on the site. We won’t create a fake tag line to have a search pop up near your name to get hits. We are very real.

Scott G: Is there a credo for SoundOrbit?

Alisa Mikeal: We are about the artist, the music and the business concept that you can self sustain. We offer a lot of promotions for our artists via these mediums including the internet in searches, in mailers, in online and off line press write ups and mentions. And if they are in the area we even offer venue promotions opening for headliners like Mobile, Rik Emmett, or Alexis On Fire. We are a recognized brand that has merely started to do its thing.

Scott G: You foresee exciting growth for SoundOrbit?

Alisa Mikeal: Eventually we will be everywhere and not because we paid 1.5 million or 2 million dollars to advertisers either. Eventually the bands will realize we are the real deal through word of mouth. And we can save the artist money in mastering and recording time as all our artists get 50% off recording time at Zolis Audio in Toronto. Sometimes Jim has been known to throw in a freebie! We also keep up with the trends and speak to veterans via our radio shows like Christopher Ward, Moses Avalon, Rik Emmett etc. There are many advantages to SoundOrbit.

Scott G: How would you compare SoundOrbit to other sites?

Alisa Mikeal: We offer a grassroots marketing approach. So far we have not spent anything on marketing, unlike YouTube that spent over 1.5 million dollars to market themselves in order to get that big. I am not that way. Eventually, I would like to break through via corporate funding, but I wanted to first show myself that SoundOrbit is viable and real and could support itself through the beginning stages. So far, I have proven my vision correct. Mainly, to breathe life into the music scene worldwide, and make the unpredictable happen. When corporate sponsorship arrives it will be for all the right reasons. The artists will never get less than their initial cut as I have placed for their downloads. I tell you, so you have 3 million people looking at your video and listening to your songs…but how much money have you made from this free service? Nothing! You were famous for a day! Great - now what! You spent a year trying to get there on YouTube or MySpace - but now what! How many of those people actually came to your gigs, three? Wow!

Scott G: The odds aren’t in your favor?

Alisa Mikeal: And of course your chances of being that one famous person is one in million on these sites as we already know there are marketing deals behind the YouTube videos, there is always another corporate company paying YouTube for that spot to be #1 so the service that is free is really never free! I say wise up people, fame is hard work and yes, a service that charges for their time and money is legit if they deliver. Don’t get sucked into the internet phenomenon that is really a con - free sites are great to social and entertain yourself but if you are an artist hoping for a break - please focus on a site that is going to have a backbone to work on your behalf. YouTube and MySpace work on behalf of advertisers. E.G., if a sponsor pays me 1.5 million dollars, I need to show them I have X amount of hits to charge X amount of dollars to others to advertise on my site. Once traffic gets so big - it is a bankroll towards selling ads. Yes, the artist gets free promo - but that is all, it is dead beat. You’ve accomplished little as an artist - but the advertisers get a lot more in return. So your free content has just perpetuated the cycle you as an artist wants to break free from. You want to self sustain but you can’t in this way.

Scott G: So, your recommendation is. . . ?

Alisa Mikeal: I say spend a little to get more for your money. If you have every band member putting in 65US for a one year membership and you get what SoundOrbit offers, and it took you all of 10 minutes to upload your profile, you are doing pretty good. The review written for artists costs me personally more than that! Regulate yourself- send people to your profile where you know you will get 50% of sales. Don’t send them to iTunes or the likes where you don’t even know what percentage gets tracked because they received through a third party aggregator! Good luck.

Scott G: How do artists make money off this?

Alisa Mikeal: Via download sales and all the promotions we offer them, press and the streamline effect of this exposure via cable spots, radio spots, reviews, write-ups, live shows.

Scott G: How did you get the idea for SoundOrbit?

Alisa Mikeal: It was actually empowered by the death of my father. A catalyst towards courage and the unknown. I started to embark on this about 3 months after his death.

Scott G: That’s nice! What are your plans for the future?

Alisa Mikeal: To have a baby - donors are welcome! Oh okay - you mean for SoundOrbit. We will be offering podcasts very soon and are negotiating distribution deals for a band from Europe here in Canada via a Universal distribution label that I am hoping will extend into the U.S. We’ve branched out into other FM commercial radio stations air slots like college radio and community radio already. I would like more mainstream co-branding as well. And of course working on a possible development deal contest via radio for our talent to participate in. We are extending across the border which I am really excited about. Our first live Venue for 2007 will be in Buffalo with Rik Emmett! And looking to book Alexis On Fire, Hedley, Stabilo and Mobile.

Scott G: Sounds like a lot.

Alisa Mikeal: I have also taken a directors role and am producing my second video for a SoundOrbit artist. This is exciting because I am going solo. The artist is Bahamian and relocated from Miami to do this! I am excited at the focus we all have. The door
is also opening for the right corporate sponsor that can uphold our core values. Big dream for 2007 - to become my own label!

Scott G: And whatever happens. . .

Alisa Mikeal: It will be fun.

Technorati Tags: Alisa Mikeal, SoundOrbit, GMan, Scott G, Music Critics Must Die, music rants

Plug-ins, dynamics, compression, the use of maximizers, and so-called home mastering are all part of the aural landscape dealt with by mastering engineer Art Sayecki. In the conclusion of this interview with Scott G, everything gets fixed in the mix, including the controversial concept called artmastering. Part 4 of 4.

BONUS SECTION ONE: Plug-ins, Compression, Reverb, Maximizers

G-Man: What happens when well-mastered material is up against poorly crafted sounds?

Art Sayecki: I was recently invited to a visit a songwriting seminar in Los Angeles which was attended by publishers as well as songwriters. During the seminar I noticed that mastered demos were heavily preferred by the publishers during the listening sessions even though in most cases this preference was entirely unconscious.

G-Man: Did anybody mention mastering as the reason?

Art Sayecki: No, they just liked certain songs because they sounded better. I thought that songwriting quality would be more important but it didn’t seem that way.

G-Man: Were good songs overlooked?

Art Sayecki: A few excellent songs that were presented as a voice accompanied by piano were almost entirely ignored over those that had luscious instrumental arrangements and were professionally recorded and mastered even if not that strong from the songwriting point of view.

G-Man: Did you confront any of them?

Art Sayecki: When I asked a couple of publishers about the sonic quality of the presented material, they replied that the marketability of the track is very important to them and that it is much easier to promote a good quality professional sounding demo over a voice and piano scratch track.

G-Man: So even at a place where songwriting should have played the key role…

Art Sayecki: It was actually the recording, production and mastering that were leading the way.

G-Man: You know that some people are still going to try mastering at home.

Art Sayecki: If for whatever reasons you decide to master yourself then here are a few tips for you. First of all use your ears.

G-Man: Well, duh.

Art Sayecki: Yeah I know it sounds a little trivial but it really isn’t. Time after time I see artists who are swayed by advertising, packaging or user interface more then the actual sound of the plug-in. There are countless great looking plug-ins out there that have an awesome user interface and pretty packaging but they sound mostly dreadful.

G-Man: Forget the facade and focus on the sound.

Art Sayecki: Exactly. Record a few different versions with different plug-ins, play them to people, get their opinions, and then make your final decision. All you really need is a handful of good plug-ins, but learn how to use them before you actually apply them to your mixes.

G-Man: With processing of any kind, it’s easy to go overboard.

Art Sayecki: Usually, the less processing, the better. The more plug-ins you use in your signal chain, the more chances are that your mix will end up muddy, harsh and unpleasant. Keep in mind that distortion introduced by one plug-in can be magnified by the subsequent plug-in that you use. The order in which you apply the plug-ins can make a big difference. For example, applying EQ before compression will most likely produce a different sound than applying EQ after compression. Pick the one that pleases your ears.

G-Man: What about compression?

Art Sayecki: Be judicious with compression. Most mixes produced on digital workstations are over-compressed. Excessive compression masks sonic details and makes the material sound unnatural. Narrowing dynamic range may be beneficial if you are trying to achieve a quick sonic impact but it may be very tiring for a longer listening. Try to find the right balance. Listen to your favorite records and try to mimic their sound.

G-Man: The more bands of compression, the better?

Art Sayecki: Feel free to experiment with multi-band compressors, very often they prove more beneficial then single band compressors. If you only need to tighten the basses then there is no need to apply the squeeze on the electric guitars or vocals, so select the appropriate frequency range and ratio and compress only selected frequency range that is troublesome and let the rest of your mix breathe.

G-Man: How about reverb?

Art Sayecki: Reverb is very rarely applied during mastering. I almost never add reverb during mastering unless the client specifically requests it.

G-Man: But sometimes it is necessary and there’s no time to go back to mixing.

Art Sayecki: If you have to add reverb during mastering then select the most transparent algorithm you can find and be very modest. Usually thick reverbs add mud.

G-Man: Can you EQ first?

Art Sayecki: You may also consider equalizing the signal that you are sending to the reverb plug-in, in order to emphasize, de-emphasize, or even remove certain frequency ranges. That way you will have more control over the character of reverb and you can apply it more selectively only to the frequency range that really needs it.

G-Man: What about maximizers? I use one on commercials if there’s no time or budget to hire you. But what about on songs?

Art Sayecki: During home mastering, maximizers can be used to boost an overall loudness of the track, however they may also add mud and cause your low frequencies to sound sloppy. Again trust your ears. Try several settings and select the one that gives you maximum loudness and the most pleasing sound.

G-Man: Some people say it’s really just all a matter of compression.

Art Sayecki: Some maximizer algorithms are derived from compressor or limiter algorithms and sometimes they can be substituted by using compressor or limiter. So compare your mix with a maximizer plug-in applied and with limiter or compressor applied and select the one that sounds best. I personally like to boost the low frequencies with the EQ before I ever reach for compressor or maximizer. Additionally, the maximizer plug-in will also reduce your dynamic range so if you go too far your mix will sound ugly, squeezed and small.

G-Man: There are also plug-ins to do all kinds of other things.

Art Sayecki: Depending on your individual needs, other plug-ins may be applied as well, for example to remove noise or to enhance or widen the stereo field.

G-Man: But the fewer plug-ins you use…

Art Sayecki: …the better your chances of getting a clean master. Each plug-in alters the sound. On some workstations even plug-ins in a bypass mode may alter your sound, this shouldn’t happen but it does, and some companies are more interested in turning a quick buck than in making good quality product.

BONUS SECTION TWO: “Artmastering” and More

G-Man: I need to ask you about the term “artmastering,” You coined this term to describe a mastering approach which in my opinion is one of the more interesting developments in the recording arts. Not only because it opens new artistic possibilities but also because it is very liberating in terms of making recordings. How did it all come about?

Art Sayecki: Back In February of 1999, my company began experimenting with stem-mix mastering and various other rather unorthodox approaches to mastering in order to improve the sound of mixes done on digital workstations which were becoming more popular. We noticed increasing numbers of harsh and unpleasant sounding mixes that were rather difficult to master. This was partly due to the use of digital plug-ins which at that time were rather technologically primitive, and also to equally unevolved digital hardware. The rather grim state of digital affairs coupled with other known problems associated with traditional recording sparked in us a few original thoughts

G-Man: So what steps did you take in developing a new approach to CD mastering?

Art Sayecki: At first we began by testing every plug-in that we could put our hands on, and comparing it to the analog gear in our possession. We were aiming to find out their shortcomings, and then we tried to counteract them by enhancing and softening the sound and minimizing the digital harshness using our custom designed gear. We also tried doing it on stem-mixes with sounds processed separately. We called that stem-mastering (or stem-mix-mastering). The stem-mixing wasn’t anything new, I first heard about it when I got into sound production in the seventies but we were arguably the first to use it in a mastering suite as a technique. This was all very cool but we still felt that there was something missing and that artistic expression was being enslaved and subjugated by the technical thinking.

G-Man: And this led you to artmastering?

Art Sayecki: Yes. One day in February of 2000, I basically turned off all my equipment, and pretended I forgot everything I knew about mastering, and asked myself a fundamental question: “What is that every artist really wants to accomplish with his/her music?” And the answer to this key question was quite revealing. It hit me that it isn’t a great frequency response or a killer signal-to-noise ratio; it isn’t even a great sound, though that is certainly welcome. Artists really want to make an emotional impact on listeners. They want to express their thoughts, hopes, and emotions and find a way to communicate with the audience on an artistic level. So I called this new approach “artmastering” to emphasize that it focuses on the artistic content of the music rather than the technical aspect of the process.

G-Man: This makes sense. When I pick up my guitar and start writing a new song I don’t think about technology, other than what is absolutely necessary to capture the sound.

Art Sayecki: Exactly, what is really important is how to create and deliver the new artistic expression. The quality of your sound is important but it is secondary. During the process of artmastering, an artist and engineer together explore the artistic aspects of audio material, and devise a method, process or technique to accomplish the artistic goals by all means necessary.

G-Man: So how does artmastering compare to traditional mastering?

Art Sayecki: Just like in traditional mastering, artmastering tries to achieve the best sonic results but as defined by the artistic sense of human beings rather then by some dry and emotionless technical specifications. Who really cares what is the frequency-response or signal-to-noise-ratio if the music sounds great. This doesn’t mean that engineers performing artmastering don’t pay attention to sound quality. Just the opposite, we love an excellent sound as much as anybody else but we are not bound or restricted by the traditional dogma of sonic quality.

G-Man: Can you give us an example?

Art Sayecki: During artmastering, an acoustic jazz recording may come to shine by applying only the most subtle and sonically transparent signal processing, while a grange-rock recording may in some cases benefit from a brutally harsh and even distorted sound which may magnify those aspects of the performance that will have the greatest impact on the listener.

G-Man: So really there are no limits as to how far you can take it.

Art Sayecki: With the permission and assistance of the artist, I may use any equipment or technique necessary. I can delicately or radically alter sound of a recording and in some extreme cases even change tempo, the key or even the nature or content of the composition to get the maximum emotional impact on the listener.

G-Man: Why would someone want to do that in a mastering studio rather than in the recording studio?

Art Sayecki: There are many reasons. For example, you as an artist, after finishing a recording, may gain a new insight into your work. You may find new dimensions of your work that you didn’t even realize existed. At that point, going back to the recording studio would mean starting all over again from scratch. This is just too much, and is often counterproductive, because the same or even more interesting result may be achieved in a mastering studio with artmastering. Let’s say you want to give your song a heavier or more transparent sonic texture and on top of that you want to alter the tempo and the key of a chorus passage in your song. There is no need to go back to the recording studio and re-record, re-mix and then re-master the entire material. It will cost you thousands of dollars and a lot of time while I can have it done in just a few hours with the same or maybe even more interesting result using artmastering.

G-Man: Looks like this is a subject for an entire book.

Art Sayecki: It really is. Now since you mentioned it I guess I will have to write one, (laughing).

G-Man: Any last words?

Art Sayecki: Your ears are the most important aspect of the process, so train them by comparing and listening to various software options and various pieces of gear equipment. And take good care of them. Most artists like loud music, especially if it is their own. Loud mixes may damage your hearing, particularly in the high frequency range in a way that you will not even notice. So when you start bleeding, it may be just the sign that you were looking for to let you know that your playing is a bit too loud.

G-Man: You know me, I wear earplugs at clubs, but it is tempting to blast a track every now and then.

Art Sayecki: I love to crank the amp pretty loud myself at times, but for a musician, hearing is perhaps the most valuable asset that one can’t afford to lose. In the studio, I turn down the volume a bit and during concerts and rehearsals I use a special kind of ear-plugs that allow me to hear the entire frequency range of the sound but at a lower level. And even though those plugs are not cheap, they are definitely cheaper than the value I place on my ears. It’s very much like the protective gear you wear when riding a motorcycle, you can still kick some butt while minimizing your own risk. So plug up, crank up and have fun.

G-Man: Thank you for this interview and for your advice.

Art Sayecki: Thank you, G-Man, for taking the time. I always enjoy reading your articles. You have made a great effort to help the music community and I respect that. I just try to do my part. I love working with artists and listening to new music. This is the greatest part of my job and I’m really glad that I can share a bit of my experience so we can all make better music together.

Conclusion of a 4-part article. Visit www.artmastering.com for more information.

Technorati Tags: gman, G-Man, Scott G, Music Critics Must Die, music rants, mastering, Art Sayecki

Are you recording on the right frequency? Mastering engineer Art Sayecki talks with Scott G about EQ, mixing, samples, wavetable synthesis, dithering, encoding, and what you may hear on sessions using 192 kHz. Yes, it’s an earful.

SECTION SEVEN: Mixes With Too Many Instruments in the Same Frequency Range

G-Man: Let’s talk about how an arrangement can help or hurt the mastering process.

Art Sayecki: Good mastering starts with good production and arrangement. We’ve talked a bit about poor production choices, but a poor arrangement may also limit your mastering options. Let me explain. As you make arrangement decisions, you inadvertently decide about the use of certain frequencies in the sonic spectrum.

G-Man: For example?

Art Sayecki: If you select an electric guitar to carry your melody line, that will use different frequencies and harmonics than if you had selected a flute. Each instrument has a specific tonal and harmonic character that occupies a certain frequency range. The difficulty comes when too many sonically similar instruments are crammed into the same frequency range.

G-Man: What if you want to cram things together? Sonically speaking, of course.

Art Sayecki: If you pack female vocal, violin, flute, alto sax, synth and a clarinet into the same passage, you better have some killer recording and production technique or you will be limited in the mastering because all these instruments will compete with each other.

G-Man: And you can’t grab individual instruments out of that crowded sonic space?

Art Sayecki: That’s right. A mastering engineer will not be able to select a frequency that favors the vocal, for example, because other instruments will have similar harmonics and fundamentals in the same frequency range.

G-Man: Same trouble with the mix?

Art Sayecki: The same thing applies in the mix. It will be difficult to make a transparent mix unless you decide to drop the levels of some of the competing instruments and push them to the background.

G-Man: What happens with recordings where everything is piled into the same frequency range?

Art Sayecki: If you absolutely need a bunch of similar instruments in the same passage, then you may want to consider altering your playing techniques since some of them affect the psychoacoustic perception of music by the listener. Also a listener will probably find it easier to distinguish between sounds if some instruments play staccato or portamento and some other legato, rather than if all instruments played legato. Use some of the instruments to accentuate the melodic lines by sporadic chords or passages rather then continuously playing along with the lead voice.

G-Man: So your final advice is that a cleaner arrangement helps you when mastering?

Art Sayecki: In general, keep your arrangement transparent and it will be much easier to mix and master your song. Of course the creative decisions come first, so if you absolutely need a dense arrangement then we will work with what you have composed, but a smart arranger and producer can make a big difference by conscious selection of instruments, playing techniques, and their placement in the frequency range.

SECTION EIGHT: Using Pre-Mastered Samples

G-Man: What happens when using sounds from different sources?

Art Sayecki: In order to understand this point in depth, let’s examine the mixing and recording process. During most mixing sessions, the mixing engineer will try to combine sounds that most likely came from different sonic sources. They may include acoustic instruments such as guitars, brass section, drums etc.; electronic instruments such as hardware and software synthesizers, samplers, drum machines etc.; and others such as human voices, sounds of nature, sound loops, sound effects etc.

G-Man: They would EQ them.

Art Sayecki: Normally, each one of these sounds will be placed in the mix and equalized if needed to achieve the desired effect. However because many modern electronic instruments and sound libraries are already pre-mastered, they will have a significantly different sonic character than acoustic instruments in your mix.

G-Man: For example?

Art Sayecki: Some synthesizers and keyboards, particularly those using wavetable synthesis, sound excessively bright. This is an unfortunate byproduct of misguided marketing that is meant to deliver instruments that produce so called CD-quality sounds.

G-Man: We should cover that in my marketing column.

Art Sayecki: Okay, let’s do it!

G-Man: But what about wavetable synthesis?

Art Sayecki: On many wavetable synthesizers as well as samplers, the sounds are boosted by equalization and compression in the high and low frequency range which results in an increasingly aggressive sound of each new generation of synths. Even modern analog synths often have an EQ curve applied to the output stage. If you try to combine those instruments in the mix with acoustic instruments that were recorded in your studio, the discrepancy will be very apparent.

G-Man: So now the mixing engineer is working to bring everything in line with everything else.

Art Sayecki: Yes, in a way. To compensate for it, the mixing engineer will have to apply EQ-cutting on the pre-mastered instruments or EQ-boosting on the naturally sounding instruments. Whichever you do, make sure that your mix is well balanced, otherwise you will end up with a “mixture” of excessively bright or bassy synthesized sounds that overpower relatively duller acoustic instruments and vocals.

G-Man: Which makes mastering more difficult?

Art Sayecki: Such a combination is more difficult to master because the overlapping and competing frequencies are more difficult to control. If details of your instrumental solo or vocal performance are overpowered by a super bright synthesized string section, it may be very difficult to add or restore shine and presence to the leads and vocals and tame the synths.

G-Man: You should be able to hear this problem in the studio.

Art Sayecki: Yes. So keep your ears open when you select the sounds for recording and when you mix. Select the right instruments and compensate your mixes for excessive brightness and bass of pre-mastered sounds.

SECTION NINE: Re-sampling, Dithering and Encoding

G-Man: You are adamant about not having artists or mixers perform resampling?

Art Sayecki: Do not re-sample the material before sending it for mastering. There is no need to re-sample, up-sample or down-sample. Whatever sampling rate and bit depth is in your final mix, keep it there.

G-Man: People think they’re helping their mix.

Art Sayecki: Most re-sampling and dithering algorithms alter the sound in one way or another. A professional mastering studio can handle almost any standard sampling rate and bit depth. The common belief, that higher sampling rates mean better sound quality, may only be applicable to the original recording, but does not apply to up-sampling. If you recorded and mixed your tracks at 44.1kHz, then up-sampling to 96 or 192Khz will not add any details that are not already present in your recording.

G-Man: What about dithering?

Art Sayecki: Some dithering algorithms may also add artificial brightness or presence that occasionally may be perceived as beneficial, however in most cases you are better off leaving the material at the original sampling rate and bit resolution.

G-Man: I’ve worked on projects where the client has specified a different sampling rate.

Art Sayecki: If the final master needs to be at a different or higher sampling rate, perhaps because you’re preparing a soundtrack for a DVD, then let the mastering engineer resample or up-sample it for you.

G-Man: How do you feel about 44.1kHz vs. 96kHz or higher?

Art Sayecki: In theory, the higher the sampling rate the better the quality. However I have heard some rock and pop mixes that sounded more interesting when mixed at 44.1 kHz or 48 kHz rather than at 192 kHz. It’s a little surprising and even counter-intuitive, but when you realize that switching the sampling rate in a converter is technologically quite complex and involves not just the switching of clocking frequency but also combing filters, cut-off filters and other algorithms and circuits, then you can easily see that in some cases this may cause certain variations in how the material is reproduced.

G-Man: Don’t the plug-ins also change their sound when you alter the sampling rate?

Art Sayecki: Correct. Various aspects of software programs and plug-ins may exhibit various sonic properties at different sampling rates. For example, if you are applying a distortion plug-in, it may turn out that it actually sounds more distorted at 44.1 than at 96K. Or if you are mixing grunge-rock, then the sonic details and pristine sound quality may actually be entirely undesirable for your material and thus make it feel like it has less energy or guts. So listen to it first before you decide to switch to a different sampling rate or bit resolution. Trust your ears and consider the technology second.

G-Man: Do you get material submitted in MP3 or AAC formats?

Art Sayecki: I get material in every format. But I don’t recommend encoding your material using MPEG, MP3, AAC or any other algorithm until the mastering is completed. Even though a mastering lab can easily decode your previously encoded material, many encoding algorithms cause sonic losses and thus shall be applied only afterwards.

G-Man: So, your list of “dos and don’ts” continues with…?

Art Sayecki: Don’t re-sample, up-sample, dither or encode your mixes if you don’t have to. Wait until the masters are completed or even better tell your mastering engineer to upsample the material during mastering.

SECTION TEN: Not Consulting a Mastering Engineer Until the Mixes are Finished

G-Man: How important is it to contact a mastering engineer before completing a mix?

Art Sayecki: Making a hit record is a team sport. The more synergy and cooperation you develop between the creative talent on the project, the better are your chances of success. Sometimes you may hear those stories about how difficult it is to break into the music business…well…it is true, and not because people in the business are mean (at least not all of them) but because quality matters. Big bucks are at stake, entire careers fall because of making wrong choices, so music pros tend to work with people they know and trust. The same applies to mastering, if you don’t have a trusted mastering lab that you like to work with, then you need to go and find one.

G-Man: Part of the networking process?

Art Sayecki: Exactly. Building a strong professional network may take a few months, even longer, but in my opinion you will be much better off for a long run. And look for people that are smart but modest and are not afraid of constructive criticism.

G-Man: Hey, what are you saying?

Art Sayecki: Yeah, I know, sometimes it seems there are no such people in the music business. Be more positive, there are a few.

G-Man: Adding a mastering engineer to your team may seem odd.

Art Sayecki: Most artists understand that if you involve a great producer in your songwriting you may benefit from his/her input in terms of song structure, melody or lyrics. But they don’t understand that involving a mastering engineer in the mix may have a similar positive effect on the mix.

G-Man: This can lead to arguments.

Art Sayecki: Yes, I know. Egos are at stake here. Recording engineers don’t like to be corrected or told what to do, but you the artist are the one who has to pay the price and then live with the final product. So be open-minded and assert yourself. Break away from conformity and complacency. Reach for the ultimate sound and don’t be afraid of some sweat. If you become the statistic and do what everybody else does then you will end up with only one released CD which will be mediocre and it will be your l