Trapdoor Social on Music and Activism

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Coming up from beneath our holiday food hangovers, we took some time to talk with self-described Alternative Energy Rock group Trapdoor Social, one of our SB7 Artists. Trapdoor Social is one part Merritt Graves (informed by symphonic British rock) and one part Skylar Funk (with singer-songwriter influences), so the resultant sound is an eclectic collaboration.

The guys have been pretty busy and just last week released a new video. Their unique video storytelling is an important part of their music identity and their constantly evolving visual style is compelling and entertaining. Check out the new video below!

Along with releasing the new video, Graves and Funk are also working on raising $15,000 to put solar on the roof of a local Los Angeles non-profit. In fact, eco-conscious activism has been a part of their music mission since they met in an Environmental Analysis program in college. Here is a little more about their activism and process.

What are some different types of venues where you would feel really good and excited about playing?

  • A non profit event (especially related to alternative energy). For example, we played at GRID LA’s event Solarthon, which was an awesome renewable energy construction event in South LA. We plan to stay involved with this kind of volunteer work and we think our music is our best way to contribute to this cause we care about.
  • Intimate house party setting. In this kind of relaxed performance situation we’ve found we can really unlock new energy, and it’s a blast.
  • At a festival. Coachella is the dream.

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

Knowledge and life experience are the raw materials your mind uses to make it’s own ideas with, and so if you don’t put anything cool in, you can’t expect anything cool to come out. So we just try to load up; learning, and living, and hopefully we’ll have something to say worth saying as a result.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

It is a risk to be vocal about alternative energy issues. Some listeners will disagree and not give our music a chance. Some may say we should just focus on the music. But we’re activists, so this is what we do. I think the biggest risk you can take is to not doing something you have your whole heart in, even if it’s considered risky by conventional standards.

For more on Trapdoor Social, check out their unique Songbird page here: http://www.songbird.me/artists/trapdoor-social

Alt-Rockers The Trophy Fire don’t mind a comparison to Olivia Newton-John

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For this week’s tasty musical discovery, we caught up with The Trophy Fire, one of our SB7 artists to talk about their sound and their process. For those who may not be familiar with their sound, Ben Flanagan (Vocals & Guitars) took a swing at describing it:

It’s always hard for me to describe our music so I like hearing it from other people. People often compare us to other bands which I suppose is a good way to do it; it’s funny and surprising to hear what they say sometimes. I’ve been incredibly flattered when I’ve heard we sound like a heavy Tears for Fears or Doves or The Killers but then on the other side I’ve also been told my voice sounds like the guy from The Goo Goo Dolls…not really what I want to hear. We just want people to like it and come out to our shows. They can say we sound like KMFDM or Olivia Newton John as long as they support us.

If that’s not enough to tempt you into giving them a listen, AllMusic.com describes their sound as “a perfectly seasoned balance of ’80s radio pop and emo-kissed post-grunge.” To find out some more about these compelling San Franciscan alt-rockers, we asked Flanagan a few questions.

What are three different types of venues or situations where you would feel really good about playing?

We’ve been pretty lucky in the venues we’ve gotten to play. I guess for me it’s more about going on the road with more bands that we love. The best thing about being on tour with one of your favorite bands is getting to see them every night. It’s so much fun to finish your set, go grab a beer and then watch one of your favorite bands from the side of the stage. I suppose there a couple hundred artists out there I would like to do that with.

How are you different from other artists in your genre?

I’m not really sure what our genre is exactly so it’s a little hard to to say how we are different. We have a pair of brothers in the band and we don’t have a bass player so I suppose that sets us a part some. We toured the country for a month and a half supporting Dredg in a Jeep Cherokee so I suppose that’s a little different. Maybe the most fun tour we’ve ever done and certainly not the most comfortable.

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

I go through phases were I feel like I have nothing beautiful or poignant or relevant to say and then I will go through spells in which I can’t stop writing. I still don’t know if there is a sole source of inspiration of would be consistently channeling it. I wish I knew. The music almost always comes before the lyrics for The Trophy Fire so sometimes I will read a book, or see something beautiful or strange, or overhear a stranger talking and go “ok, that’s what that song is about” and I start writing.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

The biggest risk is probably continuing to be in a rock band honestly. Making it our main priority and going for it. It’s an insane thing if you break it down. I don’t mean that in a bad way…but it’s a pretty strange job.

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SB7 Artist Super Geek League dishes out some SciFiDelic Soul Metal!

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This week, we spent some time with one of our SB7 groups the wild Super Geek League to find out what was happening with this amazing “SciFidelic Cirque Du Punk experience.” For those who are new to this kind of full-throttle music artistry, SGL takes their unique hybrid sci-fi psychedelic funk-punk sound and incorporates cirque performers, projections, light shows and frenetic interactive theatrical antics including pillow fight mosh pits, industrial strength confetti canons and crowd-surfing superheroes.

On deck for this incomparable group is America’s Got Talent Season 8, USC Resolutions for New Year’s Eve and the Chaos party in Toronto. To find out more about their experiences as a group like no other, we asked them a few questions to get some perspective.

 

What are some venues where you would feel really good about playing?

Any venue that is ready for chaos, craziness and good times is the place we want to be. Usually places where people can cut loose and feel free to get lost and have funtastic adventures are the places we thoroughly enjoy performing. Large stadiums with ample performance space and lots of aerial rigging that allows us to do FIRE is always a very fun place to play. Anyplace where you need a MAP to find the stage from the greenroom…

How are you different from other artists in your genre?

Well we were recently named one of the Weirdest Bands in the World and one of the “Best Masked Bands of All time”, however we don’t wear masks only Goggles and Octa-Mind Headgear so I guess if we had to create a genre for ourselves and compare to other artists in our genre, I guess we would have to say we are different because there is no other band in the world that not only produces its own SciFiDelic touring Circus with our Live Band, but also develops, designs and directs Circus entertainment for large EDM promoters and events. Also, I seriously doubt anyone has a 104 year old Theremin player as well… That’s pretty unique!

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

A source of inspiration when we are stuck on something… Whenever you hit a wall, turn your head and go in a different direction. Always hit save and move on to something else…. You can always come back to wherever you left off. Don’t get caught standing still always try and move forward.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

Pursuing SGL at all and any costs. More importantly, keeping it going…

To check out some great videos, photos and other fun stuff from SGL, head on over to their Songbird.me page- we promise you’ll be entertained!

SB7 Artist Jevy Releases Cigars & Ciroc Mixtape this week!

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This week, we catch up with Jevy, one of our SB7 artists on the release of his new mixtape Cigars and Ciroc. Jevy is based out of Southern California, and has provided support for Tyga, Wale, Kendrick Lamar, Travis Porter, Yo Gotti, Slaughterhouse, and has toured the Northwest with MMG artist Meek Mill.

For anyone who doesn’t follow Jevy, you will immediately notice how prolific he is across social networks and how he is always talking to his fans. To share some more insight into this creative and talented artist whose business model is pure Success, we asked him a few questions about his experience in the music industry.

What are some different types of venues/situations where you would feel really good and excited about playing?

House of Blues is definitely one of my favorite concert venues. Mainly because it offers the best of both worlds performance wise. It has that intimate set up that allows you to really engage your fans, but it’s also big enough where you can draw a big crowd which means more energy.

College arena venues would also get me pretty hyped. I have always said that the best concerts are defined by the actual crowd. I think college crowds are fun and full of wild energy which usually can make for a dope concert!

Doing a surprise concert at a high school as a signed artist is one thing I have always said I would love to do. Mainly because I would include a little bit of motivational speaking within the show to highlight something that is a huge part of my brand. Which is that anything is possible, especially when you work hard. I think music artist have a lot of power to influence younger crowds and I think that it’s important to use that power to inspire. So I definitely would be excited to do something like this.

How are you different from other artists in your genre?

One way that I feel I am different than some of the other artists in my genre is that I approach what I am doing from a business perspective. I view myself and my music as a brand. I have also made it a point to try to create my own lane/sound rather than trying to blend in with what is already out there. I think that’s important in terms of attempting to have longevity in the music game.

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

For me a source of inspiration when I am stuck on something is to get in the car and drive while listening to previous music that I have made. That usually brings inspiration and gets my creativity back on track.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

I think really deciding to pursue music on a serious level is the biggest risk I have ever taken. Mainly because it has become such a big part of life with all of the success that we have had. I can call it a risk because considering everything that me and my team has invested into seeing the Jevy brand reach the level of success that we are looking to reach, there is a lot riding on it. I can’t really imagine how it would feel to not succeed. That’s why we all feel like losing is not an option!

For more on Jevy, check out his new mixtape Cigars and Ciroc, his Songbird.me page, and his website, JevysWorld.com.

Songbird Classic: Version 2.1 Update

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With our Version 2.1 update for Songbird Classic, your desktop application can now:

  • Push music to wireless devices, like speakers and televisions
  • Act as a media server allowing wireless devices to pull from your Songbird library

Want to store playlists for different devices? You can and then stream to the kids’ room, the living room and the kitchen, all from your central desktop library. Our update even supports video playback, and in some devices, volume control and even scrubbing!

Development was done in partnership with Philips, ensuring compatibility with their DLNA compliant devices, while also working with any UPnP device.

SB7 Artist Wooster celebrates their new release!

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This week we are talking with Wooster, one of our SB7 artists who are local to the Bay Area. They colorfully describe their music as:

“a winning amalgam of blues, soul and reggae anchored by grooves played by crack players who know their way around some elastic funk.”

The big Wooster news this week is their new album release (available in the iTunes Store) and the events in the Bay Area to celebrate! This past weekend, they played a sold-out show in Santa Cruz which was a huge success.

Tonight they will be in San Francisco at The Boom Boom Room with local SF band The Neckbeard Boys and other local Santa Cruz band Vendredi.

On Saturday night they will be at the Frog & Peach in San Luis Obispo which will be turned into the “Frog & Easy” for a speakeasy themed night of  pre-halloween fun.

Described by various music critics as “smoldering,” “top-notch,” “one-of-a-kind,” “addictive” and “like a breath of fresh air,” the Wooster sound is a party-ready mix of California reggae and Aretha Franklin-esque soul, spiced up with hints of Motown, surf, Latin rock, funk and hip-hop. Listen closely, and you might detect a little Chili Peppers swagger, a little Dave Matthews bounce or a little Led Zep muscle. The end result? Think Sublime after anger management, or No Doubt on soul serum.

Just in time for their SF gig, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Brian Gallagher answered some questions about the band and their experiences.

What are some different types of venues/situations where you would feel really good and excited about playing?

Sold out show in Santa Cruz with all our friends and family raging and singing along. Huge festival stage with a bunch of hippies rolling in the mud. International show in the pacific islands with thousands of people treating us like famous rockstars. ( all these things happened in the last week )

How are you different from other artists in your genre?

Our music gets through to people of all ages from every different walk of life. I’m amazed that we can play sweaty rock clubs with a bunch of crazy twenty something year olds, and then we can play a town hall function for all their parents the next day. People identify with the music on so many different levels. As far as genre and sound, there’s a little piece of everything in there. Lastly I’d have to say we are very dynamic. We play loud and passionately and then we can bring it down and pull people in with softer more intimate moments as well.

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

all the other bands we’ve met on the road. They all do something amazing and a little different than the last band. The freshness of other bands makes me wanna work harder myself.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

Starting this band. Every time we go on the road or get on a plane and drive/fly thousands of miles to play our music it is a huge risk. But it’s exciting. It is the hardest most challenging and incredibly rewarding job I’ve ever had.

Songbird.me for iOS is here!

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With a focus on fans, Songbird.me provides personalized music content from the artists you love the most – and now for both iPhone and iPad!

Share your own photos with artists and other fans, discover new artists, and see the latest updates from your favorites. Check it out at the iTunes Store and install it for free!

  • Easily find and follow artists
  • Take photos within the app and upload to an artist’s feed for all fans to see
  • “Like” favorite posts to save them to your profile
  • Get notifications on new content from artists you follow

Free to install through the iTunes Store, Songbird.me for iOS is connecting fans everywhere!

Enjoy!
The Songbird Team

SB7 Artist Jason Haney on moving to Nashville, online concerts, and other happenings

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Jason Haney, one of our Fall SB7, is a singer/songwriter based in Nashville who focuses on country-pop music. He describes his sound as “heartfelt” and “not-quite-country,” and the kind of music that makes you think of growing up. Aside from being a talented musician, Jason is also a self-confessed “social media addict.” He told us:

“If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the two years I’ve been in Nashville, the quickest way to make this happen without major label support is to grow a digital fan base using cutting edge, game-changing social media tactics.”

Naturally, we at Songbird were excited to work with him, and you can follow him on Songbird here: www.songbird.me/artists/jason-haney. Take pictures at Jason’s shows and share them with all of his fans using our new [Add+] feature located at the top right of his page.

This Saturday, Jason is playing at a breast cancer awareness music festival called Breast Fest, in his hometown of Erie, PA. He was originally contacted by the founder of the event because of his song, “Kyle’s Song” which is about a childhood friend he lost to cancer, and he has since worked with the program to further their cause.

Catching up with Jason before his much-anticipated hometown gig, we asked him a few questions about his experience in the music industry.

What are some ways you are different from other country artists?

“There are a SELECT few artists who do this in country music, but I take pride in writing all of my own music from start to finish. I know this is likely to change through the years, but I’d like my first charting single to be one that I’ve penned. Also, I take pride in being able to blur the lines that exist to create genres of music. I see genres as fences, I think it blocks writers abilities to grow & I’m not afraid to blend genres. Third, I pride myself on being extremely present on social networks. I know what it’s like to be a fan, I’m still a fan to many artists. I want to be as present for my fans as possible because I know what it’s like to reach out to an artist or wait around an hour for an autograph & leave with nothing.”

2) What are a few different types of venues where you would feel really good and excited about playing?

 I’m always excited to play singer/songwriter rounds in Nashville listening rooms. It’s amazing to me that I’m getting to play these rounds with the massive amount of talent in that town. The crowds come out to hear pure, new, most likely unheard original music, and that’s just magical to me.

Second, the music business is completely different that it was 10, even 5, years ago. I’ve done a couple online shows through Stage It, an online “Skype-like” video chat program that allows an artist to broadcast a show from their living room to people around the world. My last show, I had a fan watching from Australia, and I thought that was the coolest thing.

I’ve asked myself a million times what is the venue that I can play (& sell out of course), and I will leave thinking “wow I finally made it?” There’s a venue in my hometown called the Erie Civic Center. It’s a smaller auditorium, maybe 6k or 7k. But right now, that’s my dream gig, to play to a sold out crowd in my hometown.

At the Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, TN

What is a source of inspiration when you are feeling stuck on something?

I try to do two things when I have severe writers block. I sit down with my friends and have them tell me all their problems. It washes my own [slate] clean of whatever is causing the block in the first place, and often times I find inspiration in whatever it is they are going through. Second, I like to travel home. I live in Nashville, but anytime I fly home to Erie, PA, I look at my life from a completely different perspective. I often get very sentimental at home as I’ve seen all that I’ve left behind to make this dream a reality. Trips home have resulted in some of my best songs.

What is the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?

I think the biggest risk I’ve ever taken was moving to Nashville right out of college. I didn’t know a soul in Tennessee and everyone in PA, literally everyone, thought I was crazy. But things are working out so far. I can’t wait to prove myself as a singer and a songwriter. Got a long way to go to get to where I want to be, but I’m in it for the long haul!

For more on Jason Haney, including his videos, photos and other fun things, check out his page here www.songbird.me/artists/jason-haney. Thanks, Jason!

5 Takeaways from
SF MusicTech

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Earlier this week, I attended the Fall 2012 SF MusicTech Summit. Once again, thanks to Brian Zisk and the entire SF MusicTech team for putting on such a great event!

Here are some of my most important takeaways from the conference:

“Artists get lost in recommendation engines.”

 Taynah Reis, Global Digital Impact

What holds true today is that discovery happens primarily through two ways: radio or friends. With radio and broadcast playback services like Pandora or Spotify, there are literally hundreds of options that exist for fans today which are great for lean-back discovery of music. For discovery through friends however, because of all the noise on Facebook and Twitter, the need for a music focused alternative for fans has become more important than ever.

“I look at tools into how they can take an artist’s vision and make money.”

Steve Rennie, REN Management

The challenge here for many artists is that they are spending so much time managing too many channels to reach fans, that it’s become harder for them allocate time to focus on creating content to support their vision and find creative ways to make money. There needs to be a simplified experience that leverages what the artists are already doing in existing channels today without increasing complexity for them.

“I’m not seeing artists truly connect with their fans.”

Rachel Masters, Red Magnet Media

With the volume of content out there being distributed to fans on Facebook, Twitter, SoundCloud, BitTorrent, Tumblr, Pinterest and Instagram, how can the average artist spend time to truly “connect” with their fans? Again, simplify the means for how artists can truly connect with fans.

“Data is the new hustle.”

Matt Mason, BitTorrent

Indeed artists, managers and labels want more insight into the demographics of their fan base to help them better plan what activities artists should undertake to make their vision and brand more successful.

“Sake at a 5pm session packs a room.”

Eddie Meehan, ground(ctrl)

Indeed Eddie, we nailed it by getting those large bottles of sake for a thirsty crowd over our discussion about how artists and fans can best connect with each other. Next time, we need more bottles!

Looking forward to the next SF MusicTech!

Eric Wittman
CEO, Songbird

Evolution of a Bird

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The story begins with a soundtrack, Changes by David Bowie. For those who aren’t familiar with this rock n’ roll classic, click here to listen.

David Bowie is an amazing artist who over the course of five decades has reinvented himself and his music as the demands and tastes of audiences have changed. From his name (originally David Robert Jones), to his style, to his music, Bowie has done an amazing job at continuously evolving to be a preeminent artist connecting to multiple generations of fans.

Like the music business, the music technology space has seen dramatic changes since the days of analog music. Now well into the digital music era, the exciting music technology landscape continues to evolve at a rapid pace. It is driven by the desire for personalized, content-rich, cloud-connected experiences that are increasingly more mobile-centric.

As we’ve seen historically during periods of extreme change, survivors are those that evolve; and those that do not evolve face becoming irrelevant artifacts from a time gone by. Similar to Bowie’s own trajectory, today our company known as Songbird is at a crossroads with paths toward either successful evolution or a fading memory.

For historical context, Songbird was founded in 2006 as a for-profit company with a vision to “play the web” through open source media playback and management software made available for desktop operating systems. Back then there was a real problem helping consumers manage and enjoy music from disparate sources while also getting that content to a broad set of devices (back then, the iPhone/iPod Touch wasn’t even out).

The Songbird desktop product was unique in that it also provided a platform for developers who could enhance the product through the development of extensions called “add-ons”. Since 2006, over 10 million consumers have downloaded the software and hundreds of developers have created thousands of add-ons to further enhance the consumer experience. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank those consumers and developers for your support and dedication to the product over the years.

However, today this aspect of the business does not attract users like it used to. Consumers are quickly moving to a world where most of their media is on a mobile device or in the Cloud and not in a central library on a desktop computer. Hundreds of streaming services like Rdio, Spotify, iHeartRadio, TuneIn and Pandora are exponentially growing in usage for streaming radio or on-demand music playback. For many consumers, however, music discovery happens when friends share artist videos through social networks such as Facebook or Twitter.

We’ve spent the past year looking at the market and chatting with hundreds of folks- from consumers to artists to labels to technology providers- so that we could better understand their problems relating to digital music. It is abundantly clear that for everyone, the market fragmentation of music services and information services about artists is causing significant confusion and churn in the marketplace. Artists are spending their time trying to manage a multitude of social channels where their content is getting lost in the noise instead of doing what they love most: creating music and entertaining fans. Fans who want to find out more about the artists they love and connect with others who have similar music interests, are bouncing across multiple applications and sites just to get at the most desired information and people. With all the technology out there, fans and artists are more disconnected from each other than ever before.

With these clear industry problems in mind, Songbird’s primary mission is to help connect fans and artists everywhere around their music interests.

The evolution of this new mission begins with our new experience for users called Songbird.me. Songbird.me is available as a web application, as a feature of our Songbird Classic desktop application and Android applications, and will soon be available for iOS. We know we are on to something as in these few short months since we released Songbird.me, we have established over 1 million connections between artists and fans! Over the next few months, you’ll see even more exciting features rolling out to help fans and artists connect unlike ever before.

To our supporters both new and old, thank you! We appreciate your ongoing support and rest assured, our team will continue to build products that you will love so that you can have the best music experiences possible!

All the best,
Eric Wittman
CEO, Songbird