Bandcamp people to listen to...

So yeah, I've been blathering on about Bandcamp for a while now. I've even pointed you in the direction of a nice directory of Bandcamp musicians. But that assumed you had all the time in the world to read my post, go read Steve's post and listen to the rather large amount of peeps there. Let's see if we can make it a tad easier.

Some special highlights from the list and few that may not be on there:

First up is Gustaf Fjelstrom's Metamesmeric, which is described as Ambient Looping Bass Cello Excursions. It's all sorts of ambient loopy goodness...Listen and meditate...or something.




Next is Trip Wamsley. Solo Bassist, Extended Range Bassist...goofball. Aparently was once a zygote...but he got better. Listen now. He's good...like real good.



Here we have Atmos Trio, Rob Michael: guitars, Joe Shotwell: drums, Drew Waters: bass
Rob has been doing loads of Ustream performances, so if the tracks aren't enough you can check him out HERE. It's all excellent music.



I can't leave out Steve Lawson. Solo bassist, fellow looper, and all around social media wizard. It helps that his music is good too:




That's it for now... More to come as I discover more. Take a listen to everyone and if you like, it wouldn’t hurt to throw some of that spare change you got lying around at the chaps above. They could use some more Ramen.

Bandcamp and new things afoot...a foot....uhfute

Bandcamp seems to have become the next big thing for musicians. It's super easy to use and it has all the usual widget type things that make it very useful in getting your music noticed as well as providing an easy way for people to purchase your music. Speaking of... Matt Stevens a fellow looper and blogger discussed why now is the best time to be a musician on his blog a bit ago. I agree, it's an age of DYI. The only thing that seems to be holding anyone back is commitment. You can't procrastinate and expect things to happen. So get out there, make friends and don't annoy people with tweets that contain nothing but "HEY BUY MY MUSIC!" it's rude and generally people Will not listen. What's the point? Why interact with someone who yells at you to buy something. Billy Mays you are not.

This brings me to the idea of community. I would like to link to Steve Lawson's Bandcamp directory. It's an example of how to do this right. Build a community, interact with this community, make friends in it, and help promote each other. There be loads of great music in here. Please take your time, stroll through the widgets, and if you like it, support it. (was tempted to type put a ring on it...apologies)

I'm on bandcamp, the new CD will be on bandcamp. Hell just about everything I do will be on bandcamp. In fact Surrent(AKA Jake Hildreth) and I are using bandcamp to document our progress in creating a new project. Here is the first version of what we're doing. IT gets rough in places, but I think preserving the creative process is interesting, to me and Jake anyhow. Please take a listen, and provide feedback, I would love to hear comments, both negative and positive.




In other news:

My Skjold Bass is coming together nicely. It's looking fantastic!




That's all for now. No movie clip today. I've got word on a movie called "Highway to Hell" that looks promising. I'll let you know.

But I do have this hilarious look into a discussion of a solo bass gig thanks to Steve Lawson:

I'm Really Bad With Titles...

I'm also really bad at starting out my blogs...but hey look!! I seem to have gotten one started!

Before I go and get all talky and drive most of you away...I managed to find time to complete my bandcamp site. Bandcamp is very nice and simple. All digital downloads with links to buy a physical copy from CD baby if you're so inclined to do so.

Ok...on with the show....


I've been pretty busy the last few weeks, mostly with that whole being a father and having a job kind of thing. It's been four and half months since Octavius was born and it's true...this time goes by way too fast. He has changed so much in such a short time. But I won't bore you with my views on fatherhood.



But I will post some pics:



Octavius three days old on his last day at the hospital:




Octavius a few days ago:



So...how do I find time to practice? A chore for music types who also happen to be parents to be sure. Well, I've set aside one day a week for myself, with about an hour or two to work in. It's not much and the writing process has been slowed down somewhat but, I've gotten enough material for another project, so I'm ok with the current state of things...

I've also started to use that time to practice with drummer Dave Kontak. I've known Dave for a few years and used to play in a death/black metal band with him called Into Nothing. The first track on his myspace called Into Nothing is a track I produced and played on oh so many years ago. He's a great drummer with a lot of good things ahead of him.


SO yeah...I've decided the next CD will not only be solo bass. You must be asking, "but Steven, you've been pushing this solo bass thing for quite some time now...a drummer you say?" Yes. The truth is, I'll still do a majority of solo shows , but I also would like to have a drummer to bounce things off of...like rocks and other trajectory type objects. I also would like to groove. The loop can be restricting in some cases, and the more complex the device and the more intrusive the technology, the less I can actually enjoy what I'm doing without worrying about the loop crashing and burning. I'm a scatterbrained type of Joe...So the more buttons I have to click the easier it is for me to be confoosed.

Not to fear though...I already know the third will be a solo disk again, as I've already got the idea for that one. But I digress...

And in other news... for those who missed it and might find it as neat as I did, No Treble: The site for Bass Players featured my video of Concluding Remarks a few weeks back. They had some pretty nice things to say too. CLICK HERE to see the video. A Big Thanks to them!


So how about a few highlights from the basement?

Dave Kontak on drums and me soloing too much:



Dave Kontak on Drums again while I beat up on my bass and look at my loop station like WTF?:





That's about it for now...I think. I've been watching "Crimewave" while doing this so I'm sure I left something out. Check out the youtoobyness of a "Crimewave scene!