Groove Sandwich

A new show on May 20th!

Just thought I'd share....

A New Breed of Label: An Interview with Jay Durel

 

I recently had the pleasure of talking shop with Jay Durel, Vice President of FOL Records. He and his colleagues have some bold new ideas for the music business. They've developed a business model that sounds like a win/win situation for everybody involved.

Jay, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to answer some questions for us. First, what's different about FOL Records versus a traditional record label?

A traditional label finds artists, invests in them, then pays them a small percentage of profit (usually around 15%) after the money has been recouped. Also, once signed to a label, it is very rare for an artist to have creative control and freedom to do as they please. Contracts usually last 2-5 years with no option of opting out. Not only that, but the label owns the music they make.

On the other hand, FOLrecords is open to anybody, for free. The artists always have complete control over their music. When signing up for our service, the only rights we gain are non-exclusive. All this means is we gain the right to promote your music, which in turn helps promote the website. 

To understand the differences between a traditional label and FOLrecords we must first explain what FOLrecords actually is. FOL stands for First Online Label. We are the first Do-it-yourself platform for musicians and fans. Revenue Sharing and Pay-What-You-Want are our driving forces.

Artists can create a profile and upload their music, videos, pictures, etc, and get paid for people simply viewing their profile. Revenue Sharing is already creating many successful people through youtube. We will be paying the artists 80% of the money made from the advertisement on their pages. 

Currently, every song, is available for free download. In our next big update, this "free download" will change to "Pay-what-you-want". The fans will still be able to download music for free, but it will leave the path of least resistance for anyone who want to support their artists. While these ideas are revolutionary in themselves, the features we are bringing to fans are truly innovative. The tools we are offering inherently promote entrepreneurship and individuality, versus the current system of big business and mass consumption. Every song on FOLrecords will have a unique link and unique embed code available to registered fans. When fans use these links to promote the artists, we can track exactly how many views and/or purchases they bring to the artists. The fans will earn a percentage from the advertisement and any purchases they bring the artist. 

Artists also have direct contact with us through our "My personal A&R" feature.

These are the fundamental concepts that make up FOLrecords. We began creating this website 7 months ago with a very small budget. Things have moved a long way since then and we have a lot more in store.

Where did you get the idea for this?

Seven months ago, I was living in Houston going to school for audio engineering, working for a film company, working/interning at a studio, and working at an italian restaurant as a delivery driver. My neighbor and long time friend Joe Griffith was just returning to Houston after graduating from Full Sail university. One of his close friends from school, Kamil Gryzch, was visiting from chicago. Kamil started his first label at 16 and has been running websites for years. At the time, I was trying to create a website for a video game but it wasn't anything serious. Kamil and I met and pretty much immediately began talking about websites. That's when everything started. He told me about his idea of bringing revenue sharing to music, and I immediately saw its potential. We stayed up till 4 a.m. every night for those next two weeks figuring out every detail we could about how to make this work. Little did I know he already had a prototype in development. The only feature it had was the initial revenue sharing, but it was a start. Now, we are all living in Los Angeles and working out of our apartment.

What kind of changes do you want to see in the music industry?

We want to make the music industry about the music, not the money. Which seems counter-intuitive because our website is a monetary system, but the platform promotes quality. The artists that deserve to be supported will be supported by their fans. The fans only promote the artists people like. It is a win-win situation. 

What kind of genres would one find at FOL?

FOL is very hip-hop heavy at the moment because all of us have experience in the hip-hop industry, but you will find a little bit of everything. The website is not genre specific in any way. Our platform is available to everybody, everywhere. 

How much does it cost the artist? How much does it cost the fans?

Nothing. It is free to sign up and participate. Fans are essentially helping the artists by simply viewing their profile.

Where do you see FOL five years from now?

Being the #1 online music platform for musicians and the #1 source of music for fans. 

 

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich. He apologizes for the lack of content lately, but he's been in outer space battling aliens.

New Tracks for Your Listening Pleasure!

In anticipation of my upcoming show, I've posted the following tracks. They're all free to download for a limited time, so get 'em while they're hot!

 

 

 

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich. Anybody interested in attening his show on Sunday March 25th, can purchase tickets here.

Discussions on God, Music and Middle Fingers

The following is in reponse to a post at Catholic Forum that I read yesterday.

Being a practitioner of music that has been described as “atonal”, “ambient” and, at times, “avant-garde”, and being a person raised in the Catholic tradition, I was drawn to this comment. When the names of my most beloved composers came up, I was even more intrigued. While I do commend the author’s passion for sacred music, I must say that his knowledge of modern era art music is born out of ignorance and intolerance.

In regards to his statement that “much music theory after 1914-1920 is fundamentally designed to undermine hope and faith” is in itself flawed. Music theory is the science behind the art of sound. Plain and simple, it seeks to explain musical principles. I fully agree that certain pieces of music do evoke a sense of hopelessness and dread but the fault there lies with the composer and not with the analysis.

 

On the topic of your use of the terms “ambient” and “atonal” music, I find the author’s knowledge of the terminology sufficiently lacking. As he seems to use these terms interchangeably and refers to composers who don’t, by the generally accepted definition, fit within the realm of ambient music, I’m left to assume that he is essentially referring to post-World War I music that he finds to be unpleasing to the ears. His misuse of the term “Ambient Music” in reference to Pendercki’s Threnody is absolutely laughable since the term did not develop for at least another ten years. Any so-called “ambient music” that existed prior to that would have been the music of Dadaists like Erik Satie who’s music could not be further from that of Penderecki’s. For the sake of argument though, I’ll give this asshole the benefit of the doubt and just go with his general attack on 20^th century art music.

With regards to the composers that he’s chosen to attack, he’s again making many assumptions that these men wrote music with the intent of attacking faith. At no point in any writings I’ve read from or about the aforementioned composers has anything been said about any attempt to write music with the purpose of undermining anything. True, the music of these composers can be quite dissonant at times. You’ll have to excuse Schoenberg, Berg and Webern for whatever unhappy music that they wrote at the time as the bulk of it was after World War I and leading up to World War II. Being that Schoenberg was a Jew, would you expect him to write happy things about the world around him? After the war, would you expect him to be delighted by the fact that his dear friend and colleague, Anton Webern, was shot in the fucking head during the US occupation of Austria? Would you expect Iannis Xenakis to write a pretty little song after surviving a tank shell to the face during the fascist occupation of Greece? The point I’m trying to illustrate here is that these composers wrote primarily at a time and place of great violence and turmoil. Art is born out of intense feelings. These men wrote about their hardships in the hopes that one day things would be better.

Furthermore, complaining that Penderecki’s “Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima” ends with “death and cynicism” is absolutely asinine. Of course it does, you dipshit. If the author of this comment expects anyone to commemorate the instantaneous death of 70,000 with a waltz, he’s truly of the same mentality of Rick Santorum and his “rape is a gift from God” comment. It was an unspeakable act of violence and terror on thousands of people and the music reflects it.

The author states that the atonal aesthetic “almost universally attacks joy and good feelings” as compared to that of composers like Palestrina. Comparing the compositional elements of these two disparate eras of music with regards to emotions is dangerous. The reason being that in the time of Palestrina, the Catholic church closely regulated the way music was composed. Music that wasn’t approved by the clergy was not performed. To assume that Palestrina could have written music like Webern but chose not to because of his sole desire to proclaim God’s greatness is taking a pretty big leap. Composers during that time were strictly forbidden from using the types of intervals that the Second Viennese School used with reckless abandon. They didn’t write dissonant music because it violated the rules of the church and the rules of good taste of this young art form. To state that these early composers ended their pieces on “hopeful notes” is a moot point. Of course they did, they used the Picardy 3^rd, which is the practice of ending a piece in a minor key on a major chord. That too was law. To say that they were written that way because of a desire to provide hope is based purely on assumption and wishful thinking.

Atonal music doesn’t attack joy and good feelings. It doesn’t attack any feelings at all, to the best of my knowledge. Sure, one may interpret this type of music as depressing or mournful, but to assume that it was written with that intent is, again, taking a big leap in logic. I don’t know of a single composer that ever set out to inflict sorrow, despair and grief in every piece he ever wrote. Atonal music does not resolve to a tonic chord and therefore doesn’t end with the feeling of any kind of resolution. That’s the idea though. It’s not meant to function in the same way that tonal music does. It’s the next step in the evolution of the art form.

Finally, the comment that this “music rests the shadows of an empty, purposeless Cosmos, and in their harmonies is a pessimistic lack of hope in God” demonstrates a very pessimistic interpretation of the music, the composer’s efforts, and their faith in a higher power. The author even acknowledges that Penderecki is, in fact, a Roman Catholic yet he seems to think that the music of such composers is inherently godless. To suggest that this music can only be enjoyed by the hopeless, the godless, and the depressed is insulting. While I, myself, am not a man of faith by definition, I have been the student of numerous teachers who are. I can assure you that they all at the very least respect the music of the atonal composers while some of them find endless happiness in it.

To the author of this comment, you are an ignorant asshat of biblical proportions who preaches about music you don’t understand and composers whose catalogs you haven’t fully explored. You’ve heard a few pieces of dissonant music and, without giving it a fair chance, have made assumption after assumption about the motives of people that write it and the faith of people that enjoy it. Psalms tells us to make a joyful noise unto the Lord. At no point does it tell us that we may only use diatonic scales. At no point does it tell us that sound mass structures anger God. At no point to does it say that the lack of a tonal center is an abomination. All it tells us is to make a joyful noise. Have you ever stopped to consider that the music you shun is the noise that these composers find most joyful?

Fuck you and your arrogant, narrow-minded, hardheaded, pessimistic, archaic view of what beautiful music is, can be, and should be. All music is great. All music is joyous. Any sound made with the intent of expressing what’s within any person’s heart is music that is worthy of being heard and celebrated. If you can’t understand that, then you’re missing the point of all music.

Peace out. I’m going to go blast some Stockhausen with the windows down.

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich and getting too worked up over opinions about art music.

If you get creeped out while reading this, you're not alone.

Putting the Cart Before the Horse

Since starting up this blog, I've heard a lot of groups. I've heard acts that I know in my heart will one day achieve greatness. I've also heard music so dreadful that it makes me wonder if it's part of some over-the-top joke. One of the most common problems is an over-adherance to a genre. A band will become so hell-bent on becoming the next best (insert genre) group that they focus on the elements that they feel they have to include to be a part of that sound. What they're actually doing is putting the cart before the horse.

This may seem like basic stuff to some of you, but you'd be surprised how often I get sent lackluster albums. Far too often bands make music that is clearly geared toward a genre that they're all in love with, but the final product comes out dull. Why? Because for every genre, there's an archetypal artist. When one sticks too closely to the standard of a genre, it's very easy to sound way too much like its most prominent act. How many industrial bands have you heard that sound too much like Ministry? How many rappers have you heard that sound too much like Tupac?

If you think you or your group is in danger of going down that road, try this exercise:

1) Write down your top ten favorite songs. Comb through your library of music and put some thought into it. These should be songs that you can't live without. For the purpose of this example, we'll use one of my favorites, "Cramm" by Three Trapped Tigers.

2) Write down all the things you like about every song. For me and "Cramm", I like the instrumental nature of it, the heavy guitars, the syncopated rhythms, the dynamics and the wide tonal range.

3) Look at what you've written for all of your songs. Let's say that in most of my favorite songs I've written down "heavy guitars", "dynamics", "ambient passages" and "female vocals".

4) Examine your own music. What things from your list do you incorporate into your own tunes? I might take a look at my material and note that I don't have heavy guitars and I don't have female vocals (actually, no vocals at all). Is your material lacking any of the concepts that are important to you?

5) The next step is entirely up to you. If there are musical elements that truly make you happy but are being left out, you may want to consider going back to the drawing board. There's no shame in taking another stab at the material you've already written, especially if it means that you're happier with the final product. 

Be original. Don't focus on being a part of any genre. If you're out there forming bands and writing songs, you obviously love music. Take all of the things that you enjoy and combine them into the music that makes you the happiest. If it doesn't get you fired up, how can you expect it to do the same for your audience?

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich and he definitely sounds too much like Tupac. (Not really.)

Music from the Frontier Episode #4

Today’s music is an absolute treat. We’re having a look at Inverted Pendulum by Comfort Zone, an experimental duo from Los Angeles that exclusively plays improvised music. Featuring percussion and a Chapman stick, Comfort Zone draw on a number of genres including jazz, post-rock, and noise. Given my recent bashing of the Chapman, these dudes have a lot to prove. Let’s see what they can do.

One of the major pitfalls of playing improvised music is that a performer can eventually begin to recycle old tricks, despite his best efforts. Comfort Zone manages to avoid that beautifully. Each track is its own entity that differs enough from the others to be distinctive yet never enough to lose sight of the album’s overall feel. Additionally, there’s a lot of restraint shown by both performers. They periodically demonstrate an ability to tear it up on their respective instruments yet they always manage to keep things relevant to the song. If a particular passage doesn’t call for an all out barrage of sound, you won’t hear it.

What impressed me most about Inverted Pendulum is that I actually enjoyed the passages played on the Chapman. In the past, I've bashed the instrument because all of the music I'd heard on it was most douchly. Comfort Zone manage to elevate the instrument to a new level and prove that it truly is capable of wonderful things. I've never been so happy to be proven wrong.

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich. He doesn't often admit that hes wrong. Savor it.

Some things you may or may not have known about Jimmy Buffett

Tonight, Mr. Margarita himself will take the stage at Verizon Arena in my beautiful town of North Little Rock, Arkansas. Unbeknownst to my friends and neighbors in Dogtown, Jimmy Buffet possesses the darkest soul ever known to mankind. His restaurants are a hive of scum and villainy and his music, soothing and fun as it may be, is only designed for two things: selling more shitty food and giving you Ear Herpes. How did all of this happen? Sit down, boys and girls. I’ll tell you.

James William Buffett was not born of a Caribbean high priestess, as so many “Parrotheads” would have you believe. He was, in fact, hatched from the fiery depths of Pascagoula, Mississippi on Christmas day, 1946. His parents, both powerful practitioners of black magic, raised him in the dark arts. They foretold of his future. He would grow up to be the most evil wizard of all: a capitalist puppet master who made crappy pop music and acted like a beach bum even though he makes $100 million a year.

And yes, I’m serious about that last part. Over the course of ten years, that man makes a billion dollars. A BILLION DOLLARS. That like Dr. Evil kind of money.

Over the decades, he honed his skills as a dark warlock. Over the course of 1976, he developed his skills as an acoustic guitar player. (Let it be known that if you’re a skilled wizard, you only have to be mediocre at the guitar.) In 1977, he set stage one of his plan in motion and released “Margaritaville”. Shortly thereafter, the money started rolling in and the records flew off the shelf. The first victims of Ear Herpes started developing symptoms in early 1978 after repeated listening of the calypso abomination. Against the advice of their doctors, these victims chose to continue to subject themselves to the horrors of “Margaritaville”. They would come to embrace their affliction and call themselves “Parrotheads”.

This is a "Parrothead" in the advanced stages of disease. Apparently it has spread to his chest and the top of his head. 

In 1985, He Who Shall Not be Named (You can’t say his name three times in a short period of time. Your blood will turn into margarita salt and you’ll die.) formed Margaritaville Holdings LLC and he opened his first official restaurant in Key West. He later licensed his name for the Cheeseburger in Paradise franchise. Between the two, he would amass untold fortunes by serving his slain enemies as food to his fans. He would later sue Charlton Heston for copyright infringement as he claimed that the movie Soylent Green stole his idea. As He Who Shall Not be Named is such a powerful mage, he won  a $68 million judgment despite Soylent Green being made many years before either restaurant was established. This money would be spent on more Hawaiian shirts to help maintain the appearance of his “beach bum” persona.

Today, March 1st, this asshole visited my beloved city. Thousands of rich white douchebag minions came with him. Driving home through that mess and past Verizon arena, you'd swear it was some sort of lame-ass geriatric Mardi Gras. Those poor bastards were once human. Now they're all doomed to walk the earth listening to the Dark Lord's "Greatest Hits". The most tortuous part is that his Greatest Hits is just two songs on an endless loop.

Stop Dark Lord Buffett. Stop the Parrotheads. Stop the madness.

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich. He has never been drunk enough to enjoy any Jimmy Buffett song and trust me, that dude has been D-RUNK on more than one occasion.

Music from the Frontier Episode #3

Today I’m listening to Magicicada from the lost city of Atlanta. As you can tell from his live track “The Name of the Word”, his brand of pseudo-electronica, pseudo-lofi, pseudo-glitch music uses a lot of consonant sounds. It’s not something that you hear very often from those of us that choose to explore the outer reaches of creativity. While he does later get into some more aggressive tones and textures, it’s the development into some wild rhythms that keeps me locked into this track. With all of the voices at play, it’s really refreshing that it never gets too heavy at any point. It may not seem like a very bold piece of music at first, but as you listen you’ll find many layers to explore. Keep up the good work, Magicicada.

 

Jeff Higgins is the founder of Groove Sandwich. He's also the founder of Jeff Higgins.