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Dead Air
1 |DEAD AIR
Greetings, and welcome to the very first issue of D e a d A i r! We’re glad you could join us. Here at D e a d A i r, we’ve spent the semester working hard to create a magazine for you, our music-lovers. We’ve researched tirelessly, written ferociously, and designed ‘til our eyes bled, all to bring this magazine to you. We hope you enjoy it. You may notice a prevalent theme in this magazine. With any luck, it’ll be music. At this point, we’d like to acknowledge that the opinions expressed in this magazine (especially the ones about music!) are just that - opinions. But we hope you agree with us at least sometimes - if not, we’re always open for a debate. So, without further ado, we are pleased to present the first ever issue of DEAD AIR
–the E D I T O R S
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CONTENTS: 5
Music Through The Ages A brief timeline of music history, from the roots of Rock 'n Roll to today's popular artists.
13
The Art of Beginning
De Stijl, The White Stripes' second album, is not their best known album; however, it epitomizes the classic 'Stripes sound, for which it should recieve more recognition.
15
The Biscuit Brothers
19
Top Ten Weirdest Songs Ever
In this day of meaningless television show, one children's show touches the lives of its viewers. With Jill Leberknight and Damon Brown.
Everyone has heard at least one really, really strange song - here are a couple of the ones we consider weirdest.
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The Canvas Awaits
What's more important to the vibrancy of Austin's culture than our musicians? With Josh Rodgers of The Canvas Waiting
Recording What's Left
23
Keepin' The Music Alive
25
Lil' Picasso
27
Interesting Instruments
31
About the Authors
33
Recording an album is something most bands aspire to do, but it can be a challenging process, with many ways for the whole album to go entirely wrong. With Bite Sized Yaks, "What, Bullet?", and Darden Smith
Take a closer look at the health insurance crisis that threatens to endanger our musicians, and what organisations such as HAAM are doing to help.
Education is a determining factor in the futures of most children - yet many schools are cutting funding for arts education.
Do you know what an Ondes Martenot is? If not, we can help!
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ROCK
through the ages By Theresa Steele
Rock music is one of the most widely popular genres available today. However, the sound we embrace as "rock" today took a long ammount of time to evolve from its origins in soul. In order to better understand why the rock we hear today sounds different from the music of past centuries, beginning with the gospel of the 40s. So, without further ado, welcome.... to the history of rock!
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Bo Diddely, one of the most influential rythm and blues musicians of all time.
1940
The 1940s Were the basis for the entire rock genre. During the late '40s and early '50s, black musical styles such as gospel and rhythm and blues (not contemporary R&B, which is the '80s genre popularized by Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, and their contemporaries) became a dominant force in American music. As time progress, these two genres, together with country and western, lay the foundation of rock and roll, which itself developed into the many rock genres we embrace today.
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1951 Rocket 88 is released by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats
1950
Cleveland disk jockey Alan Freed plays rhythm and blues to his multi-racial audience, and is credited for coining the term "rock and roll"
1954 Elvis Prestley's That's All Right (Mama) is one of the first rock and roll albums released.
February 3, 1959 Known as The Day The Music Died, a Feburary plane crash kills Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens, and J. P. "The Big Booper" Richardson.
1959- Early '60s Rock music enters a period of hiatus after Buddy Holly, The Big Bopper, and Richie Valens die, and Elvis joins the army, which ends with the arrival of surf music, and, later, the British Invasion.
An Elvis Presley album
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The Velvet Underground and Nico
1967
1963 The Surfari's Wipe Out, and The Chantay's Pipline are released. Both singles reach the top ten charts.
1960
The Velvet Underground release The Velvet Underground and Nico. The VU itself will later provide inspiration to 70-80s post-punk, while individual members such as Lou Reed and John Cale go on to individual sucess.
1967
A poster from the Woodstock Music and Art Fair
The album largely regarded as the most influential rock record ever, 1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, American band is released. Later, The Doors release this album will be Waiting for the Sun, consistently ranked their third album. one of the greatest of all time.
1964-1966 ...brings us one of the largest revolutions in rock history. Known as the British Invasion, this two-year Surf music, originating in southern California, period saw a dramatic rise in popularity (in America) sees a brief period of popularity until it is virtually of British bands such as The Beatles, The Kinks, The obliterated by the overwhelming popularity of Rolling Stones, and The Tornadoes. These acts, often British Invasion artists such as The Beatles. part of a genre refered to as 'Merseybeat', and their do-it-yourself attitudes would later give rise to the The sixties gave rise to most of the rock sub-genres that we use similarly d-i-y, but more rebellious, punk rock genre. today. To name a few: - Garage rock, named so for the idea that it was rehearsed in a suburban garage, was often crude or merely simple. Garage is 1969 considered to be proto (before)-punk rock. The Woodstock Music And Art Fair, widely -Blues rock, which focused on a jazz sound. Many psychedelic considered one of the defining moments of artists, such as Jimi Hendrix and Cream, began their careers as rock music, was held near Bethel, New York, blues rock groups. on August 15-18. 500,000 concert-goers -Psychedelic rock rose out of the LSD craze of the sixties, crowded into the dairy farm-turned-concert and was defined by artists like Hendrix, Pink Floyd, Jefferson grounds for this three-day, rain soaked, badly Airplane, and the Greatful Dead. This genre peaked at the planned festival that grew to be far, far larger Woodstock Festival, but faded after '69, with the death of than anyone had ever anticipated. Hendrix and the disbanding of Cream, as other artists moved to new styles - Progressive rock embraced stepping outside the lines of DEAD AIR | traditional instrumentation ....and so many more!
1961-1965
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The Clash's London Calling, clearly evoking the image of Elvis Prestly's eponymous album
September 18, 1970 Jimi Hendrix dies, age 27
1977 1972
1970
The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars, David Bowie's widely popular concept album, is released.
Never Mind The Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, the Sex Pistols' single, highly controvercial album marks the rise of the punk genre
1979 English punk rock band The Clash release London Calling, one of the most prominent punk albums available.
1974-1976 1970s Gave us glam rock, a mixture of psychadelic and art rock, notable for the accompanying fashion statement, such as the outrageous outfits of David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. The popularity of glam rock created 'glitter' rock which (in the US) was the term for acts such as Iggy Pop and Lou Reed, who adopted the 'glam style' for popularity's sake, as well as spurning glam metal and gothic rock. The popularity of glam ended in the mid '70s with the popularity of punk rock.
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Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars
Punk rock, originating in the garage movements of the sixties, arises in Britain and the US, with bands like The Ramones, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, and Patti Smith. This "stripped-down" music was rebellious, embracing anti-establishment viewpoints, and created a subculture with similar viewpoints and distinctive clothing styles. Punk continues to have an underground following to this day, but also created a few genres of its own, such as hardcore, a fast and aggressive version of punk, as well as new wave and alternative rock.
August 16, 1977 Elvis Prestley dies, age 42.
December 8, 1980 The Beatles' John Lennon is killed by an angry fan.
1987 Irish rock stars U2 release the Grammyaward winning The Joshua Tree
1981
1980
The American network MTV is launched on August 1st.
1982-1985 British new wave artists adopt synthesizers, creating synthpop. In conjunction with the recent launch of MTV, these European acts such as New Romantics, Ultravox, and Eurythmics create a second British Invasion as they dominate American pop culture in the same manner as their '60s predecessors.
After punk's initial popularity, a sub genre known as post-punk broke off. More complex than punk rock, and similar to new wave, the genre included artists such as The Talking Heads, Pere Ubu, Devo, The Residents, Joy Division, The Cure, and the Irish contribution of U2. New wave, another more "accessible" sub genre of punk, more artistic than postpunk, rose to public attention with bands such as The Pretenders, The Police, The Runaways, The Cars, Duran Duran and Blondie.
Early '80s Bands with odd or non-mainstream styles were dubbed "alternative", bringing about alternative rock. For the most part, these bands were based in punk rock, or one of its successors. Bands falling into this genre included R.E.M, The Pixies, Sonic Youth, Jane's Addiction, The Cure and The Smiths. For the most part, these artists appeared on independent labels, and relied on word of mouth and college radio circuits to gather popularity.
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Radiohead's lineup. From left to right: Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood, Colin Greenwood, Ed O'Brien, Phil Selway
1991
Oasis' Liam and Noel Gallagher
Nirvana releases Nevermind, one of the most sucessful grunge works, mostly famous for its lead single, Smells Like Teen Spirit
1990
Late '80s to mid '90s Frustrated by the commercialization of rock and the excessive intrest placed in style, Washington-based bands formed grunge, a style of rock that emphasizes the "dirty" sound of the music, and the unkempt appearance of the performers. Grunge bands include Nirvana, Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Alice in Chains. Unfortunately, the mid '90s saw the death of Nirvana's Kurt Cobain, and issues for Pearl Jam and Alice In Chains, and the genre began to decline.
Partially as a reaction to the grunge movement in America, Britain began producing` Britpop groups such as Blur, Oasis, Pulp, Supergrass, and Elastica. These bands adopted symbols of 'British identity' that had been used in the 60s by a subculture known as the mods, and a musical style focused on catchy tunes. Some of these groups, namely Oasis and Blur, became popular outside of the UK, but, regardless, the movement had fallen appart by 2000. 11 | D E A D A I R
1997
1995 (What's The Story) Morning Glory, Britpop pioneers Oasis' second album, is released.
Radiohead's OK Computer is released, to mixed reviews. However, it welcomes in the post-Britpop era.
April 5, 1994 Nirvana's Kurt Cobain commits suicide in his Seattle home.
Kurt Cobain, 1992
Coldplay's lineup. From left to right: Jonny Buckland, Will Champion, Chris Martin and Guy Berryman
2000 British band Coldplay debuts with their album Parachutes.
2001 June 25, 2009
The Strokes release Is This It, their debut album, to critical acclaim.
King of Pop Michael Jackson dies, age 50
2000
2010 The early twenty-first century brought us a resurgence of garage rock, with artists such as Electric Six, the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The White Stripes, the Strokes and The Hives. A second wave of these garage-revival bands included The Libertines, Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party, Jet, Interpol, and The Killers.
Emerging out of the Britpop sensation of the '90s came post-Britpop, characterized by artists such as Coldplay, The Verve, Radiohead, and Stereophonics, the genre held onto the traditional Britpop sound while discarding the Britain-centric ideals of their predecessors, and embracing foreign (namely American) fans.
Also emerging early into the 2000s was electronic rock, a genre created as audio equipment and music software became widely available. This lead to a variety of new musical techniques, such as laptronica and live coding, both performance techniques used by electronic artists. While some artists choose to adopt entirely digital styles of music, others simply add electronics to traditional instruments. Because of this ability to mix and match, electronic rock covers a broad spectrum of sub-genres, from indie-elecronic bands such as The Postal Service to new rave (dance-oriented electronic rock), such as Hadouken!.
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The Art of Beginning The first song I ever heard from The White Stripes was, like many others, Seven Nation Army. I loved the song. It was loud, but clean, creative, and commercial. It seemed like their peak. The first song I listened to on the album De Stijl was Apple Blossom. It was fuzzy, simple, and much softer. It was everything Seven Nation Army wasn’t, and I loved it because of it. It felt more like The White Stripes. That was just my first track from the album that I now consider to be the best representation of who The White Stripes are. Now, I may think De Stijl is the best White Stripes album, but that doesn’t mean everyone else does. Most people you ask will probably list one of their later albums, such as Elephant, Icky Thump, or Get Behind Me Satan. There’s certainly validity behind those opinions, as they’re all very good albums, but most of these people haven’t even heard of De Stijl, due to it being released before White Blood Cells, which is when they became truly popular.
There are people who have listened to all of the albums, and still don’t particularly love De Stijl. Now, the albums has a few songs that some won’t enjoy so much, but that isn’t due to low quality in any of the songs. It’s due to a wide variety of songs. They all have a similar sound, and fit into the same genre, yet they all have different moods, different tempos, and a different feel to them. It’s all the White Stripes: hard hitting, bluesy, garage rock, but everything manages to be consistent, without being the same, and that’s what makes it special. And quite possible one of the most notable things that this album does better than any other album, are the lyrics. The lyrics in this album really mean something, as do other albums’ lyrics, but later, they’re more about the sound than meaning. More about how you say it than what you say. Because of that, later albums don’t have quite as meaningful lyrics. So, you may or may not consider De Stijl the best White Stripes album, but, as of yet, it’s the most definitive album of who the White Stripes are, and who they were. But who knows? Maybe they’ll come out with another album, and it’ll redefine them yet again. -Paddy Flynn
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D E A D A I R 14
The
Biscuit
Brothers
by Kate Newton
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A
A bead of sweat tingled minutely on a pale forehead stained pink by the day’s exertions and the sun’s weighty glower. As the heat rolled in waves off of one of Austin’s all too frequent three-digit days, the actors trapped in stuffy costumes maintained their cheery, child-like smiles. As the cameras soaked up their images, they paraded through Old McDonald’s magical musical farm, stopping at intervals only for a song. Such was the scene where the ideas comprising The Biscuit Brothers Television Project came to fruition. In this 30 minute experiment sat the beginnings of a wildly popular children’s TV show, stretching across thirteen states and reaching thousands, perhaps even millions of kids. “People talk about how it really has meant a lot to their kids, how the characters really are important to them. In terms of not just what they learn from the show, but the role modeling that they’ve seen... and the way that they look up to the characters.” said Damon Brown, the director and puppeteer behind the character Tiny Scarecrow. It is not surprising that the show has impressed so many people. Though it is silly and fun, it does more than merely entertain. “Our mission is that music is a gateway language to all types of learning.” says Jill Leberknight, the actress portraying Buttermilk Biscuit. “We believe that you can teach anything from character building skills to community values and personal values through music. So we not only teach the details and ideas of music... but we also teach how we work in harmony with our family, with our neighbors, with our community, with our classmates.” The Biscuit Brothers did not begin as a TV show. The characters of Dusty and Buford, played by Jerome Schoolar and Allan Robertson, were originally created for their live show, which started as part of a program called Playspace in the Zach Scott Theater in 1999. This
version was the show in its prenatal phases. The characters had similar qualities, but were not yet as evolved as their later television counterparts. The premise was as of yet unformed. Schoolar and Robertson were approached by the managing director of Zach Scott to do a musical review of farm songs which was to be called E.I.E.I.O. The Brothers took traditional farm songs, such as Old McDonald and This Old Man, and created new, fresh arrangements, which they recorded on a CD. This version of the show was produced for 2-3 weeks at a time, every year from 2000-2004. Hundreds, even thousands of kids poured in from all over Austin to experience their performance, including many school groups. Smiles were stretched to breaking point, and colorful laughter mixed with the simple harmonies to form one mass musical entity between the performers and the audience. Meanwhile, Schoolar and Robertson had been keeping their CD circulating throughout the music industry. Reactions were similar from everyone they spoke with- “It looks like you’re bringing me collateral material for a television program.” Damon Brown, the TV show director and puppeteer behind the character Tiny Scarecrow, describes a typical response. “This CD is fun, but it looks like it should part of something bigger.” In 2004, Damon Brown, the show’s future director and an old college friend of Robertson’s, got together with the two to actualize those recommendations. Fortunately for them, KLRU was simultaneously looking for new, local programs to put on air. The group approached the TV station and received positive reactions, with one reservation- they wanted to give it a test drive first. “I’d produced documentaries and other things, but we were unknown as a TV production company,” says Brown. “I imagine they wanted to see if we could actually pull off a kids’ show.”
“People talk about how it really has meant a lot to their kids, how the characters really are important to them. ”
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The station was planning to try it on a group of kids in December of 2004, but the Biscuit Brothers decided that wasn’t soon enough. Undeterred by the station’s reluctance, they loaded their equipment up for that sweltering day out shooting at Pioneer Farms. “And we gave it to them.” Brown recalls, a touch of defiance in his voice. “We said, ‘here, check this out. This is what the show’s gonna look like. No need to test it out.’” KLRU was pleased and appreciative of their work, but still insisted on the test. Satisfied that events were at least progressing somewhat, the Biscuit Brothers agreed to wait. Meanwhile, the event that every year nearly brings Austin to a halt was close on the horizon- Austin City Limits Music Festival. KLRU, which was in charge of much of the children’s area of the festival, suggested that they come out and play. Being the seasoned performers that they were, they conceded without blinking an eye. But as they waited in animated expectation, what they didn’t anticipate was their introduction. “We’d like you to welcome the Biscuit Brothers.” Brown recalls the announcer’s words. “It’s a new act and it’s also our newest television program premiering in the spring of ‘05 on KLRU!” Upon hearing the news, Brown reveals laughingly, “And so we all looked at each other and said ‘well, I guess we got the job!’” They have not been off the air since. The Biscuit Brothers look forward to another landmark soon. After two more seasons, they will be the longest producing children’s television show in Austin’s history. This year marks season six. They have received two Lone Star Emmy Awards for their work, and have been in approximately 32 markets across the country. But despite their popularity, they have remained resolutely local. All exterior scenes are shot at Pioneer Farms. The symphony barn is actually the Scottish Rite Children’s Theatre, after employing the use turn-of-the-century historic theater drops. Most other interior scenes are shot right in their homes using green screens. They film in their neighborhood, their living room, their playroom. Despite their small-scale production, the Biscuit Brothers have no shortage of guest stars, hailing from Austin and beyond. Frequent visitors are members of
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the Austin Symphony, who play and describe their instrument for the audience, even giving an overview of its making. This serves a larger purpose in their attempts to expose kids to music. “We try in our episodes to introduce instruments to the kids, so they can become as familiar with the instruments of the orchestra as they are with the ABCs and 123s,” says Leberknight. The Biscuit Brothers have certainly presented them to be just as essential. Famous country star Ray Benson has also been on an episode, and Willie Nelson’s voice narrates the opening and closing of every show. Rapper Zeelie Rapz, prodigal mandolin, banjo, and guitar player as well as vocalist and songwriter Sarah Jarosz, and internationally-known deaf percussionist Evelyn Glennie have also starred in their own episodes; Jarosz at just thirteen years of age. On their own, each Biscuit Brother multitasks furiously. Brown mans the camera and the Tiny Scarecrow puppet and is in charge of all editing. Allen Robertson, besides acting his role as Buford Biscuit, composes, arranges, and records all of the music, as well as the sound engineering and editing. The character of Dusty Biscuit, portrayed by Jerome Schooler, is in charge of all props and scenery. Leberknight is often involved in fund raising and event planning and lends a hand wherever needed, outside of her role as Buttermilk Biscuit. The Biscuit Brothers garner virtually no profit from this enterprise. All money made, mainly from live shows, goes directly back into production. They sometimes get grant money from the State of Texas, as well as from small business donors such as Scott & White, and individuals. Any other money comes from fundraisers. All of the members of project are surprised that it has continued so long, despite their lack of specialization in children’s television. Their dreams for the future consist mainly of growing to encompass more and more children and families, spreading their message and mission for more to benefit. “We went into this wanting to make a show that we thought would be fun. Says Brown, “Going into this, we thought, ‘We’re going to make something that we want to make... If we’re pleased with it, then hopefully other people will be too.’”
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Top Ten
Weirdest #9
Songs, Ever by Kate Newton
Brainiac’s Daughter by The Dukes of Stratosphear
#10
Homegrown Tomatoes by Guy Clark
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#8
Rock n’ Roll McDonald’s
by Wesley Willis
#7
#6
I’m in Love Flash With My Delierium Car by by MGMT Queen
#4
Trapped in the Drive-Thru by
Weird Al Yankovic
#1
Rock Lobster by the B52s
#5
The Wasp (Texas Radio and the Big Beat) by The Doors
#3
#2
Kill a Kitten by
Stephen Lynch
I Am the Walrus by The Beatles
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The
Canvas
Awaits by Theresa Steele
Austin is a city defined by its independent musicians. To get a better perspective on the work involved in such bands, D E A D A I R spoke to Josh Rodgers, drummer for the Austinbased band, The Canvas Waiting.
If there’s one thing that separates Austin from the area fearfully referred to as The Rest Of Texas, it’s not the voting trends, the relative smallness, or the young university population - it’s the music. From the smoke drenched personality of Emo’s and Stubb’s to the gargantuan bustle of Austin City Limits, to the hundreds of coffee shops, stores and street corners open and willing to accept a busking musician, Austin has created the perfect indie-embracing environment for bands of all levels, from international superstars to justestablishing local bands - such as The Canvas Waiting.
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TCW has truly experienced what it means to be an indie band in Austin. Maintaining a day job while practicing twice or more during a week, playing the role of the ‘weekend warrior’ in order to play enough shows to promote themselves, they epitomise the part time band. For most, keeping up with the stress and work of a day job requires most of a person’s attention and energy, (hence, ‘full time job’). Remaining loyal to the music regardless of the many restrictions placed on time, energy, and availability earns The Canvas Waiting special merit, for having achieved so
much at a severe disadvantage. Without dedicated multitaskers like TCW, Austin’s cultural scene would not possess the vibrancy, the diversity that it does today.
Ranch, the largest group of recording studios in the world, located in El Paso. Working with producers Stephen Short and CJ Eiriksson, the album was polished for production.
Austin’s music truly is a dividing factor between the city and its surrounding state. Mentioning his experiences in Houston, Rodgers says "the difference in the music scenes is drastic [...] there’s just this kind of living, breathing force that is Austin, and is the music". If anyone were in a position to know this, Rodgers is the man. Though an Austin-based band, The Canvas Waiting began in Houston, with band members Nathan Medina (vocals/guitar) and Chris Applegate (bass). Rodgers (the drummer) and Colin Campbell (guitarist) were later recruits, and the final two members. Complete, the quartet relocated to Austin for a change in musical pacing. In spite of having met well into adulthood, Rodgers says, "It feels like we’ve known each other our whole lives".
"There’s just so many different ideas that have been thrown around [during the album production]". However, ‘the band is all about doing what’s right for the song’ - the result of which is an album that makes for wholly satisfying listening. The CD nearing its final stages of production, the band turned their attention to promotion of the album. ‘We’ve spent a lot of time on the street, passing out fliers and sampler CDs. However, Rodgers maintains that the internet is The Canvas Waiting’s, and even the entire music industry’s best promotion and distribution tool. While mostly an Austin-central band, TCW does have national fans, which social networking cites, personal websites and, of course, email, have allowed them to have contact with. These fans seem to motivate Rodgers deeply, and he willingly delves into describing the situation.
"there’s just this kind of
Although TCW has only been around since 2003, the bandmates have been independently musically active for much longer.
living,
breathing
"It’s always very moving when there’s someone you’ve never met and they live a hundred or a thousand miles away, and they contact you and say ‘your music has really touched me in this way'’’. "They’ve used our songs for a first dance at a wedding, or one of our lyrics has moved them, and they’ve just had a family member die, and they used it as an inscription..."
force that is Austin, and is the music."
"I personally have been playing music all of my life, and I think that goes for all of us," Rodgers states. "We all had the rock band in high school, we all had the crazy phases."
The Canvas Waiting’s recent success is reassuring to the aspiring high school musician. While, in the day of numerous indie bands and mainstream musicians worth millions, producing one CD may not be considered successful, the pursuit and attainment of musical quality should always be considered success - and The Canvas Waiting has achieved quality, especially in their most recent album, Chasing Color. They would be the first to attest that the recording and editing of Chasing Color has been the most intense and nuanced production process they’ve done yet. Speaking with a sense of pride in a job well done, Rodgers explains the tremendous work and attention to detail the band and producers put into perfecting the seven-track album, released in mid November. In order to record Chasing Color, TCW spent a week at Sonic
Making personal connections is nothing new, but the idea that a song written in Austin, Texas could reach all the way across a country to change the life of someone states and states and states away is a truly miraculous concept - especially if you happen to be the band that recorded that song. In the end, that’s really what Austin indie music is about - being true to music, and influencing people’s lives. With their hard work, The Canvas Waiting and other bands in the Austin indie arsenal give us not only the pleasure of their music, but touch our lives, give us hope, and maintain the culture of the city that we love. Through our musical ties, we form connections with others, get drawn into heated (and often very silly) arguments, and learn a whole new kind of human interaction. Through musical influence, we create an entirely new perspectives on humanity.
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D E A D A I R 22
Recording What’s Left
by Paddy Flynn
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T
he recording process is often long and complicated, although it is very rewarding. It starts when someone decides they want to record something, and it ends when the music has been distributed. Things can run smoothly, but you can also hit quite a few snags in the rode. Bite Sized Yaks, an on hiatus local band, has run into quiet a few of them. They didn’t really have a producer, had coordination issues, and had no funds. Contrast on the other hand, What, Bullet?, another local band who didn’t run into nearly as many issues when they began recording. They did however, have trouble finding a studio, and when they did they were short on time. Because of that, they couldn’t write their music in the studio, try many ideas out, or edit their material, which many musicians might see as an issue, and would insist on doing before distributing. However, before you can do any of that, the first order of business is to either have music, or get a hold of a recording studio. If you have limited studio time, you will probably write the music before ever going into the studio. If you own the studio you can take your time with writing your music and playing with sounds by adding effects, which can add flare to what might have otherwise been a boring song, or part of a song. A notable amount of artists, indie artists in particular, don’t use any effects in their recording, including both Bite Sized Yaks and What, Bullet? Because if you want to add anything after recording you need someone who can use the equipment properly, and knows what he’s doing. This is where the producer comes in. The producer is a person who does a lot of things, and one of them is to either oversee the mixing and mastering or sometimes even do it themselves, depending on the amount of money going into the album. In addition to mixing and mastering the producer is often there to help the musicians along, sometimes musically, sometimes personally, so how good your producer is is not simply based on skill, it is also based on personality, and every producer is different. Some musicians hire
their producers on a strictly professional basis, or don’t know them on a personal level because they come with the studio. “I always try to work with people I know,” replied Darden Smith when questioned on the subject, “It makes working together easier, and the product better.” Every studio is different too, and it’s not just about how nice the recording equipment is or the producer that comes with it. Just like every house has a different feel to it, so does every studio, and different feelings lead to different music. Sitting in a large, white, plain room might be extremely conductive to your focus, but some people work better in a small room, with comfortable furniture and carpets. Put the same person in both rooms, and they most likely won’t record the same thing in both. Regardless of what kind of studio you have, you do roughly the same thing. You get to the studio, you record, you leave. What that consists of, can vary from day to day. You might record one day, edit the next, before realizing you don’t like an element of your song very much so you have to go and rerecord it. Which is why recording can take so long. Darden Smith, a local Austin artist, spent an entire decade working on his album “Marathon”, because he kept deciding he wanted to change things, so it could be the best he could make it. And not just him, but everyone that helped him too, from the his co-writers, musicians, and sound engineers as well. They want their work to be the best it can be as well. The final step in recording an album is the publicity and distribution, things that can either save or kill an album “and we [Bite Sized Yaks] just couldn’t find enough people interested in our music, so it just sorta fell apart,” recalls Michael Gist, a member of Bite Sized Yaks . Publicity is a tough job, it’s the last job, and in the modern music industry it can be the biggest determinant of whether an artist will fail or succeed. It’s the final stretch, where a band has to take what energy they still have left, and make themselves known.
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D E A D A I R 24
Keepin’
the
Music
Alive
by Theresa Steele
Health care is a major issue in the United States, with approximately 14% of the population being uninsured. However, an online survey from the Future Of Music Coalition found that 44% of musicians are uninsured more than three times the national average. 63% of these uninsured musicians spend more than half of their time as a musician (and thus rely on it for some portion of their income); coupled with the information that 76% of the uninsured were so because the cost was too high, you can see that many musicians are in a perilous state. They cannot afford insurance, but if they need medical care, they certainly can’t afford to pay for their own medical treatment.While some may argue that musicians should not receive unfair benefits from the government that require spending taxpayers’ money (e.g., an insurance program specifically for musicians), musicians’ need for health-care outweighs the expense to the government, and thus something should be done. Whether that comes in the form of grants for already existing donation-driven insurance providers like the Healthcare Association For Austin Musicians (HAAM), or in a government health care program is more a matter of what can be accomplished in the US government- what is important is that it must be done soon.
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A further distressing fact is that there is a direct correlation between the amount of time a person spends playing music, and their likelihood to be insured. The FMC’s 2010 survey showed that, of the musicians who spent about half of their time playing music, 38% did not have health insurance. Full-time musicians, who spend all of their time and make all of their money from music are doing slightly better, at 36%. In short, the more time you spend as a musician, the less likely you are to have insurance. This is a potentially catastrophic situation, as those who spend more time on music will rely on it as more of their income, and performing while injured or sick is extremely difficult, or often impossible . This is also distressing news for those who split their time evenly between playing music and a part-time job. A 2009 Kaiser Foundation study showed that more than half of Americans rely on their employer for health insurance. As these half-time musicians most likely have half-time jobs, for the most part they won’t be eligible for employer-provided health care, and are more likely to be unable to pay for a private plan on a musician’s salary. This is could be extremely discouraging for anyone looking to pursue a musical career, as most musicians, like any college graduate, have to go through a period
of working at a part-time job to support themselves while they establish their career. If they were to get sick or injured while developing their career, they might be unable to further pursue music while they work to pay off debts. This places a tragic drain on the artistic community, which a city with a music-heavy economy (like Austin) cannot tolerate. Musicians are also often incapable of making the higher monthly payments to a private insurance company - a fact which could be remedied by the availability of a government insurance option. In the FMC’s 2010 survey, 86% of the uninsured responders said that they couldn’t afford the insurance, or their only option was too expensive. 65.5% of those that were uninsured also said that they earned less than $55,000 a year. This goes hand in hand with the amount of time they spend as a musician - playing music is a famously low-earning job, which this data seems to support. If injured, these lower-income, more-musically-active and uninsured people are at serious risk to go into bankruptcy, or might worsen their condition by attempting to go without the treatment that they need but cannot afford. While using government money to pay medical costs for musicians might be a drain on taxpayers, injured musicians who go without treatment or musicians who go bankrupt and must rely on already existing government programs to just survive are even more so. While options for insuring musicians do exist - an example of this is the local HAAM, the Heathcare Association For Austin Musicians-, many musicians don’t know about these options, and the organizations themselves run on donations and charity, and are entirely non-profit. As the HAAM website says, “[...] your support is needed to continue and expand our successful program [...]”. Membership in a union or musician association increased the likelihood of having insurance, but an unfortunately large percentage of musicians - 76% on the FMC’s
survey, wether insured or not- are unaware of the availability of union health insurance options, and a mere 1% of musicians surveyed received their health coverage via a union. There are two viable solutions to this problem. Firstly, educating musicians about the availability of union insurance, which the FMC’s ‘Health Insurance Navigation Tool’ (HINT) has been attempting to do since its creation in 2005, has the potential to remedy the situation at least to some extent, and perhaps help some musicians get lower rates on their insurance, as well. Government aid to programs such as this (in order to help get the word out) would do a tremendous amount of good for musicians. However, there are those that would argue that our government needs to focus on health care in general, not specifically aimed at musicians. This would also be effective. Health care reform is targeted at getting coverage for those currently uninsured, who either cannot afford coverage or have a work situation that does not allow them to get coverage - a description that fits musicians almost perfectly. Health care reform has been passed, but the plan has not yet begun working for people, and in the meantime, to lower musicians’ rates of being uninsured to at least the national standard, subsidies should be provided to organizations specifically aimed at insuring musicians. Music is a significant part of Austin’s economy. HAAM estimates that nearly $1 billion of economic activity is generated by Austin’s musical culture, not to mention the millions more brought in by ACL- and SXSW-goers every year. Playing such a vital role in our economy, we cannot afford to let our musicians be denied access to the support they need to get medical care. Whether it takes the form of a stimulus to musician’s health-insurance providers or as a government-health-insurance option for musicians, action needs to be taken by the government, and soon. When it comes to health insurance, it really is a life-or-death matter.
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When she was in fourth grade in Amarillo, Texas, my mother joined her school’s orchestra. Her elementary school also offered visual art classes; and upon entering middle school, there were opportunities to join band, choir, and theater. Her mother and grandmothers also received extensive education in violin, piano, and visual arts. Now, in times of
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greater, and sometimes near exclusive focus on reading and math in grade schools, students may miss out on valuable and enriching opportunities to enhance their education. Arts learning stimulates cognitive development, which can have positive effects on other areas of learning. A study by Joyce Eastlund Gromko of Bowling Green State University re-
vealed that exposing a group of Kindergarteners to music instruction significantly heightened their ability to distinguish individual phonetic sounds, a good indicator of future reading skills. Students also showed greater self esteem, in a study by Eugenia Costa-Giomi at UT Austin, when given piano lessons than those who did not receive such instruction. A multitude of research has also associated the arts with advances in math, cognitive ability, critical thinking, and verbal skill. So why do educators so often choose to cut art out the curriculum, supposedly for the sake of math and reading? As schools spend increasing amounts of time focusing on reading and math and their subsequent standardized tests, not only arts, but just about everything else is pushed out of the equation. The result is a set of courses that is counterproductive, and uninteresting to students, especially those at risk of dropping out. The arts have been shown to be a powerful incentive for keeping students in school. In a study on New York City Public Schools by the Center for Arts Education, it was proven that out of the schools studied, the ones with the lowest graduation rates were also the ones where students had the least amount of access to the arts. Schools in the top third of graduation rates offered their students the most access to the arts, and resources that sup-
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Arts offer the chance to see beyond the rote mechanics of basic education to the beauty and complexity of life- to look, listen, and create.
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ported them. Amounts of arts teachers, classrooms, resources, and external funds were more plentiful in schools residing in the top third, as were offerings and participation in the arts in schools and the local community. Many students cite their reason for dropping out of school as lack of interest or relevancy to real life in their course work. But by increasing arts opportunities in schools, we can give students more incentives to continue studying, as well as open their horizons to the more beautiful aspects of life. Social and emotional benefits have also been connected to arts participation. A study by the U.S. Department of Justice researched students in multiple cities, and found that participation in the arts decreased the chances of juvenile delinquency and drug use, increased self-esteem, and paved the way for more efficacious communication with peers and adults. Arts learning improves concentration, motivation, confidence, and teamwork. These benefits increase a student’s chances of being generally successful, as well as their satisfaction in life. Arts offer the chance to see beyond the rote mechanics of basic education to the beauty and complexity of life- to look, listen, and create. They install a sense of discipline, pride, and accomplishment identical to that of sports- practice often and practice hard, and you will become better at it. If we want our children to be successful, then we should give them the kind of stimulation that will increase their social and emotional well-being, not just inform them about basic educational subjects. Yet some argue that spending more time on the basics is a necessary measure. According to an article by the New York Times, school officials in Cuero, TX, have doubled the time that all sixth graders and some seventh and eighth graders spend on reading and math. And they say that it has been helping them meet the federal mandates. The superintendent, Henry Lind, says, “When you only have so many hours per day and you’re behind in some area that’s being hammered on, you have to work on that. It’s like basketball. If you can’t make layups, then you’ve got to work on layups.” But there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Repetition and rote memorization help students pass tests, but they do not make them learn. If the mountain of research supporting the arts is to be taken seriously, then we are ripping away the very subjects that help install the basic skills that school officials so desperately strive for. And what of student interest? Thomas Sobol is an
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education professor at Columbia Teacher’s College and formerly worked as a New York State education commissioner. “Only two subjects?” He says, “What a sadness. That’s like a violin student who’s only permitted to play scales, nothing else, day after day, scales, scales, scales. They’d lose their zest for music.” And so it is for all learning. Math and reading are important, but they are a means to an end, not the end itself. By focusing solely on the basics, we are robbing our students of the chance to experience broader subject material, and gain some perspective on the world. How will they discover the beauty of the Earth’s infinitely complex ecosystems and creatures? How will they find the excitement of making that first mark on a page, and then watching their creation take shape before their eyes? How will they know not to repeat the mistakes of their ancestors? They will not. They will know whether the answer is A, B, C, or D. Since the school days of my mother, and the generations before her, the arts and the idea of a well-rounded education have been downgraded in the public eye. If the educational system in America is to succeed as a whole, then this view of how best to cultivate the brain must come back into practice, and the arts must be afforded an essential position in the formula for success.
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g n i t s e r s t Inte n e m u r t s In nn
Fly ddy a P ith
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The Sheng
This instrument originated in China, possibly as far back as the 14th century BC. There are two different kinds of shengs, traditional and keyed. Traditional shengs have 17 pipes, 3 or 4 of which are silent, while modern keyed shengs usually have 36 pipes.
The Melodica
was invented in the 1950s by a company named Hohner, which makes musical instruments, Harmonicas in particular. The instrument operates somewhat like a combination between a recorder and a piano. It has since gained popularity, and been used by musicians such as Cake, REM, The Gorillaz, Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and others. 31 | D E A D A I R
The Ocarina
Ocarinas are extremely ancient instruments, and their origins aren’t very clearly defined, appearing in Europe, the Ancient Americas, and even varients in ancient China. An Ocarina vwas featured in the Nintendo game, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. This lead to a large increase in popularity of the instrument, both in sales and general knowledge.
The Ondes Martenot Prounounced
The Theremin
Pantented in 1928 by the Russian inventor LĂŠon Theremin, the instrument was only originally a result of government research of proximity sensors. The instrument operates by placing the players hands closer or farther from the antennas. On of the Antennas controls volume, and the other controls pitch. Theremins have seen a lot of use in psychedelic rock and movies requiring erie soundtracks.
The Shamisen
The Ondes Martenot
Prounounced OWNED mar-teh-NO, the instrument was invented in 1928 by The French inventor Maurice Martenot, the original design for the instrument was very similair to the Theremin, but was later added upon to increase functionality of the acoustics. The instrument is played by adjusting a control pad with the left hand, and either playing keys or sliding a dial from side to side. It has been used by Jaque Brel (a well known french musician), Radiohead, as well as the composer of Amelie.
An instument hailing from Japan, and invented around the 16th century, The Shamisen is used in a wide variety of genres of music, having seen use in Jazz, bluegrass, rock, and classical music. It has however seen some of its most extensive use in theatrical accompanyment alongside kabuki actors.
About the Authors
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Kate grew up suspended from the underside of the Congress Ave bridge, along with all of her bat buddies. Her hobbies include shrieking, scaring tourists, and flapping up and down. She has also made a part-time acting career with parts in cheesy horror movies. Her ultimate dream is to play a part in a movie that makes over $10. Despite her lack of the requisite organs, Kate loves to both sing and play the flute, and can often be found doing so in random places, such as the middle of the street. She is also currently attempting to teach herself to read using the original text of Beowulf. In the future, Kate hopes to spin until she gets dizzy and then fly off with an unsuspecting woman’s wig.
Paddy Flynn, raised in California, living in Austin, is a student at LASA with a somewhat bizarre love of commas, and misspelling words on purpose so he can spellcheck them. His affection for scarves also somewhat escapes his contemporaries, whom are much more inclined towards hats instead. Also of note, is that he is a sophomore in E-zine, due to an interesting, although somewhat exhausting, trip to France for the spring semester of his freshman year. He listens to a wide range of music, from rock, to pop, to techno, to ska, to funk, and just about everything in between. Also, he believes this paragraph has fewer commas than necessary, but he’ll have to live with it.
Theresa Steele is possibly a figment of your imagination. She’s not really sure. However, she does know that she is a hardcore music lover (“hardcore” being the only appropriate description for most of the things she does. Clearly.). From the Arctic Monkeys to XTC, she loves pretty much everything you could consider ‘rock’ (and some things you probably wouldn’t). She aspires to become a dragon, a ninja, or, failing that, something that allows her to remain working with music for the rest of her life. DEAD AIR
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