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Austin Music Behind The Scenes
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Young Musicians And the things they do pg. 5
New Musicians And the struggle they endure pg. 11
Music Through The ACL & SXSW Decades And where to find them And the decade’s greatest artist pg. 9 Backstage Pass 2
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Evolution of Portable Music And the effect it’s had pg. 17
Guitar Evolution And how each was amplified pg. 21
Making it Big And how to do so pg. 23
I’ve been told I’m pretty sharp!!
And the instruments you could master pg. 27 Backstage Pass 3
Rising Stars
Tips and advice for young artsist By: Yahir Flores It’s a typical Saturday night, most teenagers would be spending their evening with their friends. However, young Jesus is an exception. Jesus Duarte is a 16 year old student at Weiss High School. Over the weekends he spends his time at parties being a DJ. “Basically we play music, in a certain order and then we work with slides and basically try to entertain the crowd,” he explains. Dean Curran lives a very similar life: a full time teacher at KIPP Austin: Academy of Arts & Letters, and a local musician in his spare time. “I’ve been teaching for five years, so ever since I’ve been out of college.” Dean has been a musician since he was 13 years old. Even now, 14 years later, He is able to balance a demanding full-time job along with his music career. “I think that this generation of musicians, like my generation and your generation are like the freest generation of musicians of all time, in a sense. Because, we can record music right here with just your computer or your phone,” he says. This ability to be able to create music easily is something new that has been helpful for young artists, especially when not having much time on your hands. “They’re trying new things,” says Curran, “And so I think that’s a very positive thing.” A big drawback to this, according to Curran, “is because the barriers to entry are so low with recording, there’s just so much music out there. And so it’s really hard to break through the static and for people to find out your stuff.” Surprisingly, Dean isn’t the only musician at his Backstage Pass 4
Dean in his guitar classroom. (Photo by Yahir Flores)
Chris DeSilva outside KIPP Austin Academy of Arts & Letters (Photo by: Yahir Flores)
school. His colleague, Chris DeSilva, is also a part-time musician. He is a special education teacher at the same school. He was brought to the interest of music in middle school. “My middle school choir teacher, uh, we got to choose different electives and I was kind of bouncing back and forth and when I was an eighth grader she uh, she kinda talked me into trying to giving, choir a shot and I had a lot of fun with it and we did some musicals and things like that and uh, just like with how passionate she was about music, like was kind of contagious” He has been part of three bands, his current one here in Austin, Texas. DeSilva has gone through some of the struggles that come with being a musician. “There are parts about it that can be stressful, you know, like trying to manage emails and coordinate everybody’s schedule”, he says. Young Duarte has also experienced a few challenges in his time learning to be a DJ. “It was trying to match the songs back to back, the tempo with one song to another song, so the transition.” The city of Austin is considered by most as the “Live Music Capital of the world”. This provides a big opportunity for young people who live in Austin and its surrounding areas. “Um you know, I think I’m realizing especially in a city like Austin where there’s bands everywhere, uh, you know, like it’s a very gradual process and as long as you kind of take your time and like take a step back and like don’t take it too seriously and just realize like, hey, like this is cool, this is something I get to do, like outside, like a Saturday night I get to play music in front of people. Like, that’s fun.”, DeSilva said. In addition, DeSilva states,”I would certainly say finish high school and definitely get your diploma. I mean, you can certainly go back to school if you need to, but if that’s what you’re passionate about then, then absolutely.’’ According to a study conducted by Georgetown University, as of 2010 about 30% of jobs require at least a high school diploma. “I think there’s a lot to learn,” explains Curran, “My advice to a young musician is to go in with someone who can mentor them through, whether that’s a teacher or a manager, whether that’s even with someone else in the group and their band that’s been through it before. Just somebody that they can ask for point is helpful.” Having recorded 2 Extended Play albums with his band, Curran has experienced the complexity of recording and working in studios. DeSilva’s tip to any young musician out there is to practice everyday. Most importantly, he said,”Don’t get into the,’ I’m going to put it off and practice for five hours on Saturday’ and then like kind of blow it off the couple of days.It’s all about consistency.” “The second thing I think about,” Curran says,” is like finding your voice right? Find what it is you want to do. It doesn’t have to be one genre. It doesn’t even have to, although it can be, it doesn’t have to even be one instrument. The music comes from the musician, not the instrument.” Young musicians have a wide range of opportunities and genres to discover. They are the future of our music culture. With some help, they can become the musicians they seek to turn into. ♪
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“Practice 20 minutes a day” -Dean Curran
Photo by: B. E. Merrill
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The Beatles
Elton John Michael Jackson Photo by yabosid on Flickr
Music Through The
Photo by Drew H. Cohen
Decades By: Ashton Wong
The sound of music has changed and evolved throughout the years. From the british rock of the 1960’s, to the modern pop of the 2010’s, and everything in between. Every decade is defined by a unique sound and style, and contribute to our culuture. Music is an ever-changing medium, always influenced by the artists of their decade.
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Adele
Photo by Kristopher Harris
Eminem Mariah Carey Photo by Mika photography
1960
1970
1980
1990
2000
2010
1960’s in music was known as the “British Invasion” characterized by rock artists such as The Beatles.
In the 1990’s, you could see many different popular genres of music. One of these genres being adult contemporary, with singers like Mariah Carey.
The 70’s brought soft rock, a toned down version of 60’s music. One of the artists atributed to this decade was Elton John, a pianist.
The 2000’s saw a rise in rap and hip hop music, including artists such as Eminem.
Michael Jackson, dubbed the “King Of Pop” embodies the rise of dance-pop in the 80s.
The 2010’s brought the revival of pop music with a new sound, featuring artists such as Adele.
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Starving Feedin Explaining the meaning of a starving artist By: La Darius Williams
Music. It’s an art. Men and women all around put their blood, sweat, and tears into creating it making music the iconic thing it is today. It is a fact that music is made, produced, and performed by people worldwide who get no recognition for what they’ve done. The starving artist still lives today. Most people think of a starving artist as the stereotype of someone who has no money and can’t support themselves through their music, this happens to be dead wrong. Austinite neo-soul and jazz Musician, Daniel Leivis, has his own definition of the term ‘starving artist.’ “You are a self-contractor, you work for yourself. You’re an entrepreneur, you’re creating your business, you’re investing in yourself,” Leivis said. According to him, artist not actually starving, but they definitely are taking losses to make further gains in the future.
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As a lesser known artist, Mr. Leivis has a better understanding of the idea of ‘starving artist’ and describes it as having power over yourself rather than believing the stereotypes.
g Body, ng Soul Angela Miller is an R&B artist from Austin. She sings in the group The Soul Supporters, a soul group originated from Austin as well. “A starving artist is the person you don’t see on TV living it up. They usually live on someone’s couch and probably literally starving trying to support their artistry. Oh and it’s not the person you see [on] TMZ,” Miller says with a laugh. Ms. Miller seemingly believes the stereotypes. Her music is known well in the Austin area. She laughs at the thought of a starving artist, as she is no longer one. Raphina Austin is a up and coming singer from Austin Texas. She is the wife of Daniel and mother of three. “Well, I did band in middle school growing up and I wanted to play. The saxophone teacher gave me the percussion. Decided I didn’t have the lips for. So I think those strange obstacles in life kind of gave you that motivation to prove somebody else wrong,” Raphina says describing why she became a singer. Raphina says this is why she plays. The starving artist is
Raphina Austin in performance. Photo From Raphina Austin.
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not doing it for the fame and the glory but for their own satisfaction. They are doing what they love. “Well, when I was a little girl, I thought it meant someone who wanted more that the drive for it was life.” Raphina says, “Like you’ve made it your thing. Like people make basketball their thing, some make baseball their thing, they make it music. You’re thinking you’re a starving artist. You really, really want this. Reality is, you’re broke and you’re on food stamps, you got kids and it’s a struggle and sometimes you think it sucks and we really want to give up. Then you realize all your friends are doing what sucks in real life. They can’t do what they really want and really desire to do. So you have decided to Daniel Leivis playing his bass. Photo From Daniel Leivis
“You are a self-contractor, you work for yourself. You’re an entrepreneur, you’re creating your business, you’re investing in yourself.” -Daniel Leivis Backstage Pass 12
make a sacrifice and make a choice and say, you know what? I can either be really miserable with my friends and still being starving or I can just be solely a starving artist and enjoy the fact that I have taken the reins of my life and doing exactly what I want to do.” This definition of a starving artist from a starving artist shows the reality of things. It’s not about the love, it’s not about the millions. Austin said, “The goal at one point was to make millions off of it now is to just make it your career, make it your life, make it to where you can afford to live while pursuing in reality, your dreams, making it come to life.”
“A starving artist is the person you don’t see on TV living it up. They usually live on someone’s couch and probably literally starving trying to support their artistry.”
-Angela Miller
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Music Fests in ATX
By Christelle Chatelain
FESTIVAL DATES FOR 2018:
STAGES
8
ON
ARTISTS
ACL
The Austin City Limits Music Festival is an annual music festival held on two consecutive three-day weekends. The festival was founded in 2002 and has gained immense popularily ever since.
450,000 ATTENDEES
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$275
140+
ZILKER OCT. 5-7 & PARK OCT. 12-14
AVERAGE PRICE FOR 3-DAY GENERAL ADMISSION PASS:
LOCATION:
Comparison of the two biggest music festivals in Austin, Texas, the live music capital of the world.
MARCH 8 MARCH 19
$1375 WALK-UP ADMISSION PRICE
SXSW
The South by Southwest Music Festival is a local music festival that lasts about 10 days. It first kicked off in 1987 with 700 people attending the festival however it has grown almost exponentially ever since.
2000+ ARTISTS
ATTENDEES
FESTIVAL DATES FOR 2018:
AUSTIN CONVENTION CENTER
412,000
LOCATION:
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What’s New?
The Evolution Of Portable Music By Ashton Wong Music wasn’t always the portable luxury the general public enjoys today. Before there were smartphones, streaming services, and MP3 players, there were vinyl records spinning on record players. This heavy, space consuming hardware made for a very stationary music, but that hardware has been compacted to fit a pocket. Numerous technological advancements have been made in the music industry in order to make music more portable. These advancements include the CD and MP3. The creation and use of these new innovations in technology now allows anyone in the world to take music anywhere they go.
then if dust and dirt and grit and so forth gets down in the groove, you’re starting it up with all this chchchch, background noise or whatever. And with a compact disc, with it being a laser that’s bouncing off of a piece of aluminum basically that has all of the zeros and ones that are being read by the laser on there, you no longer have a problem with scratches” Kunz explained.
emulate soundwaves, and it does a really really good job, but it’s a digitized version of it” Kunz said. So even though streamed music is far more portable than some big record, one trades off sound quality for that portability. Portability is really convenient, but if you want a truly authentic listening experience, a record is your best bet.
The CD definitely made music more portable and less of a liability, but there is a cost to this advancement and the ones following it. A cost of sound quality.
Kunz makes a great analogy concerning these new forms of music. He explained that streaming music is like having a credit card, which is a promise of value. Buying the download to the music is like having a dollar bill, which is like a tangible promise of value, and having a physical copy of the music, whether it be a record or CD, is like having a gold
“When you digitize music, you are turning sound waves, which are analog, The world has seen a rise of CDs, MP3s into a bunch of zeros and ones that and streaming services such as Spotify and Pandora, but is this a beneficial thing for the music industry? John Kunz, Owner and President of Waterloo Records and Video, has seen this change develop firsthand. Waterloo Records opened in 1982, and the CD first became commercially available later that year. There were many upsides to this new technology. “because that diamond tip is on this piece of polyvinyl chloride plastic, it can scratch it, or if, you know, something rubs across the record. Anyway, you end up starting to get all of these, what are called ticks and pops, when you are playing that back. And Backstage Pass 16
The logo for Waterloo Records And Video. Photo by Gideon Tsang on Flickr.
Before there were MP3’s and CD players, there were records.
coin or nugget, which is something that intrinsically has value. The advancements in technology have done more than affect the portability of music, it has affected the production process as well. Aragorn Eissler is the Music Production Teacher at Kealing Middle School, and uses this technology every day.
“Technology makes it possible for anyone to be a producer, but not everyone is a GOOD producer. So you still gotta pay your dues, refine your craft, and critically get better with every project” said Eissler. Even though technology makes it easier to both listen and produce music, work and dedication still have to be put in to that music.
“An album, that’s like having a gold coin” -John Kunz
“the Beatles engineer was legendary for creative developments in the studio. Led Zeppelin had drums recorded in a very powerful way. Looping has made much contemporary music rely on just simple forms. Sampling audio vocals and chopping them is prevalent due to the MPC 40 now” Eissler explained. Eissler refers to a production technique called sampling. This is where an artist takes a small part of a song, maybe a sound, and uses it in their own production. When listening to music, listen for a line that says “La di da di”, as this is the most sampled line to date, written by Doug E. Fresh and MC Ricky D. The way music is made has changed due to numerous more advancements, and along with that, the genres of mainstream music. Caden Cooper, even in his short life, has seen a change in musical taste. “I think the popular genres of music have changed a lot. When I was Backstage Pass 17
John Kunz is the owner of Waterloo Records and Video (Bottom Right). He has been selling records and CD’s, the preferred medium for music, long before electronic apps such as Spotify and Apple iTunes (Below). The medium for music isn’t the only tecnological change over the past few years, Aragorn Eissler uses new hardware like the Ableton Push (Right, picture by GeschnittenBrot on Flikr).
“People view music as a way to emotionally express yourself” -Caden Cooper Backstage Pass 18
younger, I think rock music was very popular. But now I think rap and hip hop have become the mainstream music in 2018” Cooper said. Even though the new technologies seem to butt heads with older music technology, they can actually make quite the harmony. “if you’re listening to some playlist than something you never have run across before it becomes part of the playlist and it’s something that really excites you, interest you, moves your feet,” Kunz said. “Then that’s one of millions of ways to discover new music and it’s a way that a bunch of people have right in their pockets. So that’s that’s incredibly convenient and portable. It works.” ♪
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THE HISTORY OF THE ELECTRIC GUITAR
By: Yahir Flores
The guitar has been a very important instrument throughout music history. Its versatility through genres makes it an instrument of choice for many artists. In recent years, the guitar has evolved to create a whole new instrument: the electric guitar
15th Century
The first guitar can be traced back no further than 15th century spain. Is is thought to be invented in the city of Malaga.
1931
The first experimental electric guitar was reffered to as the “Frying Pan� due to its round metal design. George Beauchamp and Adolph Rickenbacker, the makers of the guitar, experimented with many materials, until they settled with a basic electromagnetic pickup.
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1956
1954 marked a new age of guitars with the release of Fender’s Stratocaster. The guitar was composed of a solid wooden body along with three pickups; this allowed for a greater variety of sounds.
1961
After their success with their Les Paul model, Gibson released a new guitar model: the SG. This guitar featured a solid body, with a double cut-away. allowing the player tp reach higher notes with more ease. The SG contained two humbucker pickups which provide a cleaner sound without the hum produced by regular single coil pickups
2008
Once again, Gibson revolutionized the guitar community with its new limited edition Robot Guitars. Their first releases were with the Les Paul models. The main feature of the Robot Guitar was the ability to self-tune itself. In the later years throughout 2012, Gibson released Robot Guitars with other models.
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rtrait of Aaron Bruno, frontman of successful alternative ck band AWOLNATION, whose most notable hit “Sail” peakat #17 on the Billboard Hot 100. Photo credits: Gabriel Otnes
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t i g n i k a M
How Aspiring Artists are Using Their Talents and Opportunities to Become Successful Story by Christelle Chatelain “Austin! This is amazing!” exclaimed Aaron Bruno, the Klein are two examples of the many musical artists who seek founder and lead vocalist for the band AWOLNATION, when the same kind of success Bruno and his band have found. performing at the Stubbs BBQ venue in Austin, Texas. The sun Klein said she has been singing for as long as she can remember had just finished disappearing below the horizon perfectly set and loves playing the banjo with her self-titled band, while Pelaez, for an exuberant Friday night in said he became interested in playing “I’ve really been interested the electric guitar and keyboard when the live music capital of the world. “The first time I came here to in music for as long as I can he was 8, and continued to master his Stubbs, not so long ago, I rememskills throughout his life until 2010 remember” ber performing right in there in that when he got together with friends to - Melissa Klein small stage indoors and I remember form their band, La Inedita in Lima, thinking, dang, I hope no one leaves Peru, his hometown. Both artists find during our performance you know?” Bruno said as his mouth themselves searching for their niche in the local music scene. cracked into a smile. The brisk Texan air immediately filled it- “I’ve been playing since I was in high school in self with an echoing cry ringing from thousands of his fans. 2005, like 13 years. What we did with our muCurrently, many smaller, more local artists aspire to expe- sic was rescue the Peruvian Cumbia” Pelaez said. rience a night similar to Bruno’s. Pierro Pelaez and Melissa Peruvian Cumbia is a particular style of music which Backstage Pass 23
is a fusion of Huayno, Peruvian, and Rock Music. His band, over 800 monthly listeners on Spotify. La Inedita, is seeing a rise in local popularity and Pelaez says it “The public loved us, they are very receptive to hear new mumay be due to their unique sound. sic coming from South America, Africa, and from other distant “Since 2010 we have been playing here in Lima, and we have places,” Pelaez said. also had the possibility of going out to other cities in Peru,” he Since then, they have gotten the chance to tour throughout said. America three times and Pelaez says each one was an amazing Recently, La Inedita has had the chance to travel more extenexperience. sively, something that Pelaez says “All the music, all the bands that he had always wanted to do. go there to play, it was super im“I will keep doing music as long “We started this journey of bringpressive for us, we had never exas I love what I am doing” ing Peruvian music to the world, perienced anything like it,” he - Piero Pelaez our first step was to go to the said. South by Southwest Festival of Since their first performance, La Austin, that helped us to play in the United States, because they Inedita, has accumulated 2,839 monthly listeners and 1,772 gave us the visa with the subject of the procedure to travel and followers on Spotify, and Pelaez says that his band’s growing also take advantage of playing in different cities of the United success is partially due to their luck. States,” Pelaez said. “We’ve been blessed to have so many opportunities in our muTheir first performance was a great success. By the time Pelaez sic,” he said. had returned to Peru from his first visit to the United States, he Melissa Klein is another aspiring artist who says she is always had accumulated over 800 monthly listeners on Spotify. seeking opportunities to put her music into the world.
issa Klein playing her banjo. She has n playing the instrument for 6 years.
o credits: Melissa Klein
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Picture of Piero Pelaez (front) and his bandmate Together they form “La Inedita” from Lima, Pe Photo credits: Pierro Pelaez
“Ever since I was little I really loved singing and acting. And I’ve really been interested in music for as long as I can remember. It’s kind of inspired me to do things that I never really thought I could do,” Klein said. Sometimes, becoming popular requires luck, and Klein has experienced some of that. “One of our band member’s mom actually promotes other bands, so we get lots of opportunities from her,” she said. Klein, however, recognized the fact that most of the time, hard work and passion is more important to her, and hard work, she says, does not come easy. “Music is what moves me to do things to do projects, it’s what I like to do most, then my job is like a support, but music is what I like the most, it fills me with energy and fills me with happiness to be able to make music of my own and that people like it, and that for me is everything,” she said. Klein said she sees herself pursuing music in the distant future. “In the end, if my band stops growing, or I don’t gain more success, I will keep doing music as long as I love what I am doing,” Pelaez said. Klein and Pelaez have both experienced different musical journeys and they both say that they have both put a lot of hard work into their music, as well as a part of themselves. Both of them share a definite passion for their music, and a positive ambition and feeling towards what they do, leading them on their path to success with their music. ♪
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Want To Learn an Instrument?
Try a Few of These! Master even one of these instruments and amaze your friends!!! Backstage Pass 26
I’ve been told I’m pretty sharp!! # # # #
Ever had a craving to just learn a new instrument? When you just heard a song and the musician was jamming out and thought, “wish I could do that.” I mean everyone who’s ever listened to music has wanted to rock a guitar or jam a drum once in their life. Well here’s a few thoughts on what to learn to play to impress your friends, because honestly... Who doesn’t like being the center of attention sometimes?
By: La Darius Williams
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From the Editors Dear reader, Music is truly a universal language, it is something that can connect many people throughout the world. Music has the potential to change the world and its views. Music is also a means of entertainment, it can help you through your toughest times, and even hype you up when you’re in “The Zone”. This being said, music is something that is very important in today’s society, people should be kept up to date with developments in the music world. Today’s generation is more connected than other generations were in the past. This can all be credited to the new advances in technology. Today people have access to millions of sources on the internet. This magazine might just be one of those sources out there. “Backstage” was a collaboration made by four students at LASA High School. The magazine was made to inform the public about developments in the music industry, developing artists, as well as professional musicians. We thank you for taking the time to read our magazine, it was a semester long project that was made with a lot of effort from each of us. We hope that you enjoyed it, as much as we did creating it.
A big thank you from the editors. Sincerely,
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Contributors
La Darius Williams La Darius Williams enjoys reading, playing video games. and spending time with loved ones in his free time. He loves rap music, and recommends that you listen to J Cole, Two Chainz and Big Sean.
Yahir Flores
Yahir Flores learned to play the guitar in 7th grade, and started doing live performances at the start of his 8th grade year. He was the lead singer and rhythm guitarist in his middle school band “DMW�.Since then he has not played for large crowds and instead plays at his local church.
Ashton Wong
Ashton Wong has exercised a musical mind since learning to play guitar in kindergarten. He enjoys listening to alternative rock and electronic music. He has since began creating music in these genres on his own.
Christelle Chatelain
Christelle Chatelain has loved music for as long as she can remember. Recently, she has enjoyed broadening her music taste and discoveing new music in a variety of genres.
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