Sometimes the most infuriating opponents are the ones who don’t care.
Man Calls 4,000 Times. But Not For The Reason You Think.
Police tracked down a man who called 911 over 4,000 times in one week. Dispatchers were very upset over the false reports. They have to answer and track down every call. But, the man they caught wasn’t what they expected.
Emergency dispatcher Kari Bueno tells KSL-TV that, “We found out it was somebody with a disability who was just trying to listen to music. There was no intent to call 911.”
David VanBibber, 30, has a mental disability. His family says he functions on the level of an 8-year-old. He was given an old disconnected cell phone to listen to music. But, all cell phones can still call 911 without a service plan. He was accidentally calling while trying to listen to music.
The cell phone was taken away from VanBibber so he couldn’t accidentally make any more 911 calls. But, music is a big part of David’s life. The 911 operators felt bad about taking away the man’s access to music. So, they gave the man a special present at the Emergency Communications Center. They gave him an iPod Nano and a $100 iTunes gift certificate.
http://youtu.be/N7b7pNQ86S8
Red Fang’s Road Manager On What Exactly He Does
Red Fang engages, year after year, in a seemingly deranged tour frequency — an estimated 50 times, both in North America and Europe, since the band formed in 2005. Their road manager, Chris Coyle is featured on The Stranger:
For the uninitiated, describe your role as road manager.
Before the tour, I start out with a list of shows, and then I advance them all, meaning I call or e-mail all the clubs and basically say, “This is what we’re gonna need when we get there.” Then ask them things like “What time do you want us there? What time do you want us to go on?” Et cetera. Then I put together a tour book, so when we’re in the van we can just open it up for reference. Then I go through and book all the hotel rooms if we’re gonna stay in one. That’s also when I say, “Okay, everybody reach out,” because we’re still not afraid to sleep on floors. Then, when we’re on the road, I’m the first one out of the van and the last one in: Get out, meet the promoter, find their crew, introduce them to our guys. Then make sure the dressing room rider is met, which, most people don’t get that that’s something you pay for. It’s like “Well, you have $200 for catering taken out of our budget. Where is this $200, and where are the receipts?”
The tough part for me is that I still sell all the merch, so when that’s done, I have to go count in all the merch because we keep a daily inventory so I know exactly what we have. Then I take in all the money for that and put it into this or that spreadsheet. Then there’s the whole press-agent aspect where I say, “Okay we’ve got interviews at 5:30 and 6:30 and this is how long they’re gonna be.” So I handle all that. It’s a pretty nonstop thing. And then I handle all the money intake as well—with that, I sit down with the promoter and see how many people paid, and how much the tickets were, add that up, and then subtract the promoter’s fees, plus whatever else gets taken out, to make sure we’re not getting ripped off. Then I take the check—hopefully it’s a check and not a pocketful of cash [laughs]. Then head out to the next town and do it all over again.
I always think of the road manager in Spinal Tap, Ian, when he’s like, “There’s no sex and drugs for Ian.” [After which he follows up with “Do you know what I do? I find lost luggage.”] It’s a job. You’re crew. The band can sleep in the van all day and then wake up for sound check and then go back to sleep. If you’re doing anything that requires you to be on the road [as part of the crew], you’ve got a 12- or 13-hour day in front of you. Just don’t think, “Oh, I’m gonna be a rock star, too.” ‘Cause it doesn’t really work that way, but still it’s an amazing job. I remember getting my passport, just staring at the pages, hoping I could get a stamp. Then last year I had to get pages added to it because there was no room left for any more.
Cocteau Twins’ Robin Guthrie on How Technology Affects His Songwriting
Technology in music, particularly with guitars and drum machines, has advanced so much over the years. How does that affect how you write songs in general?
That’s a pertinent question; I’m actually in the middle of upgrading my studio right now. I’ve been using the same version of my recording software for four years and I just decided to go with the new version. I think it’s good to refresh and use new technology as it comes along. You know, a new person who started out writing music with this technology isn’t going to do things the same way that I would. They may not work things correctly or I might not work things correctly. It’s interesting, for example, when you get computer simulations of guitar pedals—which I use, even though I have all the pedals—I wonder about someone who never lived through the 1970s and 1980s and never heard those original sounds. I wonder how they would approach that, because it would be very different to my approach. I come to that software with a sound in my head, and I end up using, say, a delay effect the way I would use a delay pedal. But if you’ve got a kid who’s never even seen a delay pedal, they could use that effect in a more interesting way, just by chance.
Conversely, I work that way with a lot of new things because I have this experience of how a lot of old things sound. On a track, I can take the same sort of tools used to make hip-hop or electronic music and I’ll incorporate it into my own work by moving things away from the presets and slowing the tempo down. Over time, you start collect more and more sounds and styles that you can use. Ultimately, though, it’s a double-edged sword, because everything I do ends up sounding like me in the end. Not much I can do about that.
Via PopMatters
Noel Gallagher on the state of the music industry
The artist used to drive the industry, but the industry reacted to Britpop, or whatever it was. And now bands go to the industry and go, ‘What is it you want again? OK, I can do that.’ But when we all came along – and it wasn’t by design, it was completely accidental – the industry took a step back and was like, ‘What the fuck is this? These people are all drug addicts and maniacs, they’re gonna fuck the fucking share prices up! We need to get rid of these people!’ If Oasis were starting tomorrow we would have nowhere near the impact, because you’re judged instantly on your first gig, and then Radio 1 will judge you on how many fucking followers you’ve got on Facebook. Oasis never had an A&R at Creation – we were given the fucking keys to the kingdom and they went, ‘Off you go, see you in a bit’. Now, the manager is accountable to the A&R guy, who’s accountable to the guy above him, who’s gonna lose his fucking job.
Via NME
Hit The Road – Ray Charles Souvenir Program
I’ve never thrown out any of the concert programs I bought, and even though I haven’t purchased one in a long time, I love going through them, looking at the artist’s sense of musical purpose, style and brand.
Ray Charles – The Genius – performed in the UK on his 1963 tour, which took in venues such as the Hammersmith Odeon and Manchester’s Free Trade Hall. A mix of early sixties and modern design, it’s a cool look into an evocation and passionate performer.
The Game to release “The Documentary 2” in Summer 2015; new single out now
Ten years after releasing his groundbreaking multi-platinum debut album The Documentary, hip hop legend The Game announces the Summer 2015 release of The Documentary 2, his highly anticipated forthcoming album on eOne Music/ Blood Money Ent./Fifth Amendment Ent.
The first single from the album is “The Soundtrack,” featuring Meek Mill. Listen to it here. Purchase the single here.
Earlier this year, on January 18th, The Game celebrated the 10th anniversary of the release of The Documentary with a concert in his hometown of LA at the Belasco Theater. Game brought out surprise guests Dr. Dre (who produced the debut album), Kendrick Lamar, Tyga, Ab-Soul, ScHoolboy Q, O.T. Genasis and Marsha Ambrosius.
Game released Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf through eOne Music/ Blood Money Ent./Fifth Amendment Ent. in 2014, and the album debuted at #1 on the R&B / Hip Hop Chart, #2 on the Independent Chart, and #7 on the Billboard 200 chart upon its release.
Arguably, The Game has single-handedly revived the West Coast hip hop scene with his 2005 debut album. He continues to be one of hip hop’s true superstars, selling over 20 million albums worldwide. With his continued rivalries and infamous lyrics, Game is one of the most controversial figures in music.
Canadian Music Week Presents the 2015 SiriusXM Indie Awards Performers Billy Talent, Alvvays,
Canadian Music Week is proud to announce this year’s performers for the SiriusXM Indies – 15th Annual Independent Music Awards – taking place on Saturday May 9th, 2015 at The Sheraton Centre in downtown Toronto. This year’s show will feature a concert set from headliner and multiple JUNO Award winning band Billy Talent.
Canadian Music Week is Canada’s leading annual entertainment event dedicated to the expression and growth of the country’s music, media and entertainment industries. Combining three information-intensive conferences; a trade exposition; a film festival; a comedy festival; four awards shows and the nation’s largest new music festival, CMW spans a 10-day period from May 1 to May 10, 2015 at the Sheraton Centre Toronto Hotel and over 60 downtown Toronto venues, attracting participants from across the globe. For more information, visit www.cmw.net.
Since the release of their self-titled debut in 2003, Billy Talent have cemented themselves as a generation-defining rock band. Boasting nearly one million albums sold in Canada alone and nearly 3 million albums sold internationally, the band have seen multi-platinum certifications for their albums Billy Talent I and II and III, and platinum status for the latest studio album Dead Silence. The band has enjoyed tremendous success at Canadian rock radio where they have had three #1 hits that combined for 19 weeks at the top spot, five Top 5 hits, and five Top 10 hits.
Celebrating the best of independent music – both Canadian and International – the event will also feature performances by 2014’s breakout band Alvvays, who graced the cover of this winter’s issue of Exclaim!. 2015 JUNO-nominated ‘Best Rock Album of the Year’ act The Glorious Sons are also set to take the stage, followed by Oklahoma’s fuzz-rock BRONCHO and Montreal’s Miracles.
Hosted by SiriusXM Canada’s Jeff Leake, the 2015 SiriusXM Indies will be broadcast live for SiriusXM subscribers in Canada and the U.S. on “Iceberg” (Sirius 161) and “The Verge” (XM 173). Those satellite radio subscribers who add SiriusXM Internet Radio access to their subscription can also listen on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App and online.
Tickets for the show are available to purchase now online at www.indies.ca
Venue: Grand Ballroom | Sheraton Centre Hotel | Toronto
Doors: 7:00pm | Show: 8:00pm
Ticket price: $39.50
John Legend joins Sam Smith with Lay Me Down for Red Nose Day 2015
Sam Smith and John Legend teamed up to raise money for Red Nose Day, a biennial event where British residents and celebrities wear clown noses to attract funds and awareness for underprivileged parts of the U.K. and Africa. Smith and Legend team up for a rendition of the former’s debut single, Lay Me Down, serving as the official song of this year’s Red Nose Day.
Listen To Richie Furay “Don’t Tread On Me”
On March 31st founding member of Buffalo Springfield (Neil Young, Steven Stills) and Poco, Richie Furay is back with his first new album in over 8 years. Today UltimateClassicRock.com premieres a new song off of the upcoming Hand In Hand entitled “Don’t Tread On Me”
Click Here To Listen To “Don’t Tread on Me”
Click Here To Preview Hand In Hand
“Where did this song come from?” Furay says. “I take many long walks on my road pondering life and where this great nation of ours has gone. I love America, but the polarization of left and right is tearing us apart. The very fabric of our society is unraveling as a result of this. But I have hope. We are a great nation; we should be proud of it. We have a heart of gold, which we have shown to the world. Yet some think it’s wrong. I’m not ashamed to say, Born in the U.S.A. Don’t tread on me!”
Legendary singer-songwriter and author Richie Furay is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee for his work with Buffalo Springfield, a group he formed with Stephen Stills, Neil Young, Bruce Palmer, and Dewey Martin. In addition, he was recently inducted into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame for his work with Poco, alongside bandmates Jim Messina, Rusty Young, George Grantham, and Randy Meisner and Timothy B. Schmit.