All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
Photo Gallery: Bryan Adams at St. Catharines Meridian Centre
Steve Albini’s Four-Page Proposal to Produce Nirvana’s ‘In Utero’
Steve Albini’s most well-known production work was for the 1993 album In Utero, which was Nirvana’s final studio album. Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain sought out Albini because he had produced two of Cobain’s favorite albums, Surfer Rosa (1988) by the Pixies and Pod (1990) by The Breeders. Albini was not a big fan of Nirvana’s music, later stating that he had considered them to be “R.E.M. with a fuzzbox”, but agreed to work with them since he felt that they had been exploited by their label and management. Here’s his letter to the band outlining his proposal to work with them, on his terms.
Maestro Fresh Wes’ Tedx Talk: It’s Good To Revise Goals
Wesley Williams, Canadian rapper and renaissance man – better known as Maestro Fresh Wes. Born and raised in Toronto to Guyanese immigrant parents, Maestro has transcended his humble roots to become the “godfather of Canadian hip-hop”. He has won Juno Awards, was named CBC Music’s top Canadian rapper in 2013 and is the first Black Canadian to have a record hit certified platinum. Following these achievements, Maestro has been relentless in his pursuit of prominence through writing, motivational speaking, and acting. Maestro is now hitting the platform as a keynote speaker and has co-authored the book, Stick to Your Vision and has come a long way since his original hit single, Let Your Backbone Slide. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community.
“As I evolve, I realize, you can have a vision, but sometimes you have to have a re-vision. A lot of people have ideas, and they stay in their little box. I decided to keep on moving.[…] Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t accomplish what you want to do. Revise yourself.”
Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody Performed in Sign Language
Andy Dexterity delivers an epic performance to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody at TEDxSydney 2017. Andy is a Green Room Award-nominated performance maker primarily recognised for his unique brand of movement, fusing dance, physical theatre and signed languages. He is fascinated by the way we communicate and interact as a species and creates work with the intention to connect and empower.
This Guy Can Really Loop Music
I love watching artists like Marc Rebillet create a solo track, packed with instruments and sounds, all based around loops.
Amazing Footage Of The Sex Pistols Performing on the ‘Queen Elizabeth’ Riverboat During Her Silver Jubilee, 1977
It was June 7th 1977, and the Queen was getting ready to celebrate the silver jubilee like most people tjere. Virgin Records had signed The Sex Pistols, who were busy causing chaos in the streets and in the media. Newly signed to Virgin Records, the label and group and manager Malcolm McLaren were prepared to gate-crash the royal celebrations with an instant punk classic – God Save The Queen.
The band would sail a boat along the Thames from Westminster to Tower Bridge, stopping under each bridge to“play a cassette of National Anthem and followed by the band performing live. The total budget was £1500 (£750 from Virgin), the boat cost £500 and 175 people would attend. They expected to have a fun ride down the river, create a few headlines and enjoy the music – but things escalated fast.
How the Clave Rhythm Pattern of Afro-Cuban Music Took Over Modern Music
It’s easy to forget how important rhythms can be, but they’re the foundation on top of which music is built, and it doesn’t get much more foundational than the Clave. Born in Africa, brought to the Americas by slaves, and eventually showing up in musical styles all over the world, the Clave is one of the defining rhythms of modern music across cultures. It’s complex but approachable, jagged but smooth, and odds are pretty good that even if you didn’t notice, you’ve heard it somewhere in the past week or so.
Photo Gallery: Don Felder in Niagara Falls’ Fallsview Casino
All photos by Mini’s Memories. You can contact her at minismemories@hotmail.com
When People Talk About Bruce Springsteen’s Majestic Shows, They’re Talking About This
When Bruce Springsteen took the stage at the Capitol Theatre in Passaic, New Jersey 40 years ago, he was just 28, and more than a few critics thought he was never destined for greatness. With 3,200 fans in attendance, this wasn’t just another show, but to fans of the man behind songs of hustlers and dysfunctional lost souls, the single-best performance of his career, one captured for posterity on a WNEW-FM simulcast broadcast throughout the East Coast and recorded with then state-of-the-art video technology at the venue itself.
https://youtu.be/hf61K6ZKu_4
Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna on working with Joan Jett
What was your experience like when you actually got to spend more time in the studio?
Kathleen Hanna: When we recorded [Singles] that was the last version of ‘Rebel Girl’ we recorded and it ended up being on the Singles album. That was an amazing experience. It made me want to go back and record all of our songs again. I feel like a lot of the things I was thinking [before] were kind of naïve. It’s like a guitar player being like, ‘I’m not going to experiment with pedals because that’s not my thing. I want my guitar to sound raw!’
There are so many different things that you can do with your voice, and just because a little bit of reverb can really make my voice shine a lot better and sound fuller, I don’t think it’s a cop-out. I think I was really young and I had these ideas, but the way that they actually translated to the record wasn’t as successful as I would have always liked.
I never listened to our records; we just kept moving and doing new things. But I have listened back now because we’ve re-mastered things and I love the energy of a lot of it and it’s really exciting and I’m really proud all of our records. But definitely taking the time with ‘Rebel Girl’ and other singles with Joan Jett — she had me go through songs and individual lines… It felt like I was in a luxury spa to be perfectly honest. As a singer, I was being taken so seriously and being given so much space and latitude to experiment. I loved it. I really loved having someone outside of me tell me what they heard and then give me notes.
I wasn’t mad about it or whatever. I was like, ‘This is the best experience of my life, because Joan Jett is teaching me essentially how to do vocals in the studio.’ No one had ever done that. That basically laid the framework for the rest of my career. Because I realized how much more I could do. I just had a lot more colors to paint with. I didn’t have to go in and sing and feel as much as possible. It’s about translating that feeling onto the vinyl.
Tell me a little bit more about working with Joan Jett. She’s such a legend and you guys are such a cool pairing.
People made a really big stink about it back then. They were like, ‘You’re not punk rock, you’re working with someone on a major label.’ I was just like, ‘Fuck you. If you get asked to go in the studio and work with Joan Jett, you’re going to say no?! It’s JOAN FUCKING JETT.’ She’s as important to my thing in my head as any punk band that I fucking care about is. It’s just ridiculous.
I immediately had a family feeling with her. I felt like we were family immediately. And to get to work with her and go to her studio sessions and see how she recorded… I learned so much about the board and non-linear editing. She lent a lot of validation to us at a time when we felt pretty aimless.
I thought we were going to get a way better reception than we got from the punk scene and it definitely wasn’t as generous or kind as what I would have expected —aside from Ian MacKaye, who was very generous and took us into the studio. That was our first time recording and we were so freaked out because the studio… we thought it was like a space ship. We thought we would touch something and break it. We were just totally nervous. But I’m really happy that we had that experience.
But when you feel like everyone is coming after you and telling you that you’re not the right kind of feminist or you’re feeling like you’re starting to be rejected in the scene because you’re getting too much attention… and also there’s all these male voices telling you that you’re a fake band, you’re a novelty and you can’t sing…Your songs are stupid. To have someone like Joan Jett say, ‘You matter. You fucking matter. I’m going to champion you.’ She championed so many women behind the scenes over the years, you don’t even know. At people’s worst moments, she’s there. It meant everything to me. She was totally willing to show me everything she knew about recording.