underground music

Tag Archive for: underground music

Song We Like: I Can’t Love Anyone by Secret Nudist Friends

This starts with a wonderful easy groove, a sunny afternoon lamentation on not being able to love anyone – which is just an amazing statement to sing from the stage – and then the song progresses into this weirder psychedelic, full-on, freak out – I can’t love anyone! I can’t love anyone! So interesting and so fresh and so provocative. Featured on our #69 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: Bad Girls by Hayley and the Crushers

Songs We Like

Beautiful indie surf pop gem – about the staying power of bad girls and how the good girls go away. We love a band that loves making their tracks as catchy as possible. Try not to dance and groove to this song. Featured on our #69 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Band Management: Blog 39: The Publicist

The Music Economy

I am managing “Band A” for one year, as an exploration of the music industry. And I promise to tell you the complete truth….
“Band A” has a pretty good recording schedule. Every six months or so they go into El Rancho Morbido Studios with producer/engineer Edward Madill and record a 5-song EP. They usually have around 20 songs they’ve played live, so they can be picky. But this also means they have to keep writing…
I went to their practice space yesterday and there were only three of them messing around with a couple of new tracks. They were good – that new wave garage rock sound. Good melody line. Sing-a-long choruses. But it doesn’t really sound like “Band A” unless all five members are involved. The drummer makes sure nothing gets too poppy or singer-songwriter – and smashes everything back into garage rock. The rhythm guitarist probably has the best ideas on hooks and making catchy stuff – but he wasn’t there either…
The rhythm guitarist hurt his hand making a KRAKEN. He and his wife make the best Halloween decorations and this year they’re making massive tentacles of a KRAKEN to rise up from a hole they’re digging in their front yard. For real. Two of the other bands members are planning to make a three mast ship as a costume, and then will walk down Cherry Street in Black Mountain and fire cannonballs on the KRAKEN. Sometimes I think I’m managing a gang of very smart and devious 8-year-olds.
The very same day a publicist reached out to “Band A” – “Hi Johnny, wanted to quickly introduce myself; I work as a freelance publicist, was recently turned on to “Band A” and just wanted to offer my services if you’re ever in need of PR. Cheers!”
My first reaction was – aren’t I doing publicity? I’ve got “Band A” on three radio stations and one write-up by an underground music magazine??? But I also read the article by Alli Marshall in Mountain Xpress about Secret Shame and how a publicist really helped them out. Secret Shame is a great band with great songs, and it was helpful to have people in the industry hear them…
So yeah, sure, I’m going to respond to this publicist. Best thing about this blog, this story about managing “Band A,” it gives me an excuse to explore everything about the music industry… so yeah – hello publicist…

Ep 70 – Molly Burch, Minorcan, Blackfoot Gypsies, Secret Shame, The Black Swells

Podcasts

Best of the underground, week of Sept 10, 2019! Lots of great music, plus: Several bands get famous!! And: our first ever band from Bulgaria. Excited!! (All podcasts are on itunes and spotify, and reviews plus podcasts are on our website, and you can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and, reluctantly and occasionally, Twitter.) We love you artists 💚

Band Management: Blog 38: Online Radio

The Music Economy

I am managing “Band A” for one year, because I want to understand the current music eco-system, post implosion of the larger music industry, where we now have this mass produced corporate kick-in-the-balls awfulness (oh but I do like Taylor Swift’s Shake-It-Off) and then a post-apocalyptic landscape with all the cockroaches creating basic communities to survive. Well, us cockroaches are making the greatest music ever, greatest art explosion ever, greatest music scenes ever.
I’ve been kinda successful at getting Band A played on college and indie radio stations: if I send out 20 emails to stations then Band A will get played or put on rotation somewhere. And then I had the idea that there are tons of great online radio stations – also flopping around in the wilderness and dust and ashes. I started digging around and found Karen’s Indies and Belter Radio over in Scotland. Sure enough “Band A” got played…
In other “Band A” news – they headed back to El Rancho Morbido Studios for another morning with engineer/producer Edward Madill to finish their cover of Suicide’s “Johnny” for the Kafadan Kontak Records compilation release. Somehow “Band A” has turned the original 2-minute electronic blues drone about “Johnny” into a 4-minute blues drone about “Johnny.” Well, it doesn’t sound like musical soup and the vocals are catchy as all hell. Still working out with Ed how much we want the vocals in the foreground. But I love early REM and Nirvana when the vocal’s aren’t so clear… But maybe that is dumb because Band A is like early Blondie, that punk/new wave/garage rock, and those vocals are way in the front of the mix…
Also, “Band A” just played The Grey Eagle and the singer is real excited about being on their TV sets…

Band Management: Blog 37: King Pizza Records

The Music Economy

I am managing “Band A” for one year as an exploration of the music industry – and if we can be successful promoting “Band A” then we’ll consider turning Holy Crap Records Podcast into an indie label.
To be successful as a label you have to be useful, you have to make money, you have to be able to increase sales for your bands. You have to get the band heard by a larger audience. You have to be able to get press for a band, get them played on radio, get them on tour and playing festivals…
I am also creating the weekly podcast about the 5 best underground songs of the week. So I get to follow bands and figure out which labels are putting out the best music. A bunch of the bands we’ve been playing (The Mad Doctors, LUMPS, Top Nachos… ) are all on one label – King Pizza Records, the tastiest underground label in all of NYC. So I knew I had to talk to Greg Hanson about the underground music world…

Band Management: Blog 36: The Tribute Album

The Music Economy

I am miss-managing “Band A” for 1-year. They have been asked by their label Kafadan Kontak Records to record a Suicide song for a tribute album.
So, taking a step back: 1) It’s fun as hell to be given a crazy creative assignment from KK Records, 2) Suicide are great – you probably know them because Springsteen covered their song “Dream Baby Dream,” and 3) this is totally like Project Runway and “Band A” has to make the best cover song on this compilation album, cause I am a competitive fucker and a Project Runway fanboy.
The song is “Johnny” by Suicide, their first ever single. A couple of members of “Band A” sat around last week and came to agreement on the chords (E, A, 😎, and the structure, which is very close to classic blues. The original has droning electronic drums, a simple bass riff, and the repetitive snarled story of Johnny looking for love and trouble.
“Band A” played it over and over and over on Sunday afternoon. Then on Monday morning “Band A” showed up to El Rancho Morbido Studios to work with producer/engineer Edward Madill.
The bass player couldn’t figure out the original bass part, so a new bass part had been added – a repetitive take on the Joy Division “Love Will Tear Us Apart” synth riff. A concluding narrative was added by the singer. So Johnny wasn’t just being a bad-ass – he was looking for her, and she was with someone else, and she was gonna make Johnny weep. The drums were stripped back to sound more Velvet Underground and less like an early electronica beat.
And this is how “Band A” recorded the track. First, they recorded a scratch track. They played the song over and over and over until the rhythm guitar player said “can we try it a little faster?” And the faster take was the scratch track. And that was about it, really. The singer tried vocals two more times – but decided the scratch vocals were the best. El Rancho Morbido studios have an organ and the singer played organ over the song – and that was pared-down to accent the chorus turn-around. A slide guitar was added and that was pared-down too. Some chanting was added to the end. And that was it.
Does it sound like a winner? You know I’m trying to be honest with this blog: it sounds interesting if you have headphones on and like musical soup if you don’t. The vocal melody is a lot more catchy. It’s definitely interesting. Don’t bore the judges. And “Band A” is heading back to the studio on Friday morning to clean it up.

Song We Like: Johanna by Shining Mirrors

Songs We Like

A love song about a girl who is against gentrification. In all the great stories of heartbreak you have a couple who just can’t make it. The forces against them are too strong. The classic Romeo and Juliet story. Here you have a Johanna from the Bronx, who is wary of all the cool kids moving into New York City, and then you have the indie musician who has moved to New York City and fallen for her. Super fun and super catchy. Featured on our #68 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Song We Like: In Love With A Boy by Tiger Darrow

Songs We Like

We love innocent sweet nerd rock. We really mean this. At times like this we need a love song about a boy going to Shakespeare camp and being in an indie band. Claps, snaps, acoustic guitar and a million references about this first crush on a boy in 5th grade and then the intertwining of lives all the way through their nerdy teenage years – and best of all – he feels the same way about this girl! Yes! Featured on our #68 podcast at www.hlycrp.com.

Tag Archive for: underground music

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