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youbloom artist spotlight: The National Parks

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It has already been six months since youbloom rocked Los Angeles, and we were wondering what our artists have been up to. So we hooked up with The National Parks this week to see what they have been doing since youboom@LA. In doing this, we really got to know more about them and the history of The National Parks…

The National Parks is a band that originated in Utah in 2013 where Brady Parks and Sydney Macfarlane first met and began making music. Over the next couple years, they recruited additional members: Megan Taylor, Doug Patterson, Anna Meacham, Garrick Meacham, and John Hancock.

Their first album, Young, released September 3, 2013 and climbed to #13 on the iTunes singer/songwriter chart. Due to their success and the dedication of their fans, they were taken on the road with artists such as Andy Grammer, LeAnn Rimes and many others. They have played in major cities across the country including Seattle, Chicago, New York and, of course, Los Angeles.

the-national-parks-youbloom-artist

So, what are they doing now?

The National Parks have been busy since we saw them last November in Los Angeles. Their new album, Until I Live, is set to release on August 4th and we are told to expect the same fundamental elements from their previous album, but with a bigger and slightly “poppier” twist. We find this to be true when listening to the first single from the album entitled Ba Ra Ra, which was released through Baebel Music and can be heard here. We can expect to see the second single from the album released on June 2nd.

Also, we are excited to hear that to promote the new album, The National Parks will be touring the east coast in August and the west coast in September. Please check their website for dates posted already, and continue to check back as additional dates will be added.

We want to thank The National Parks for taking the time to update us on all of their excitement and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for them and the new album!

youbloom artist spotlight: The Vigils

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The Vigils Los Angeles band
Even for a Tuesday night, the bar is desolate, with the exception of a few patrons standing quietly around, drinks in hand. From the door, you can hear a medley of random notes echoing from a far room in the back of the bar, seemingly unnoticed by the bystanders. Upon entering the back room, the band can be seen warming up, a jumble of instruments, cords, bodies, and notes.

Stepping from the shadows is a tall figure with dark sunglasses. After a few short words to the nearly empty room, the randomized notes coordinate to become one incredible sound. As if being commanded to attention, people literally come out of the woodwork—tiny side tables tucked into the walls—and crowd the small space.

Sol Luongo steps off the stage on the first strum of her guitar, not to return until the set is over. As if a spirit takes over her body, she mesmerizingly moves to the music while not missing a note. Daniel Cieplinski’s shades can’t hide his charismatic personality and he enchants the crowd with his suave demeanor and cool vocals. Jessy Bender adds a sometimes optimistic, sometimes sultry moodiness to the music with her saxophone and Skeeter Joplin holds all of the instruments together with the drums.

You can see the music pulse through the musicians’ bodies as well as the crowd watching. The music is at times dark and mysterious and other times upbeat and vibrant. At all times, it is rocking—a combination of classic rock, blues, and punk with a foreign, but comforting smoothness—blending so well it is challenging to tell one genre from the other. The music lures you in, seduces you, rocks you.

You would assume by watching them play that their sole life focus is on creating and performing music; however this is a luxury that is not gifted to all musicians. Like many other musicians in the Los Angeles area, The Vigils must juggle outside activities and responsibilities to support their passion. In other words: it’s challenging. But, if the love of the art of music is great enough, it will outweigh any sacrifices and obstacles in the way, as we can see with The Vigils.

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The Vigils’ guitarist, Sol, is originally from Uruguay, Sol began playing bass when she was 13 years old and joined her first band at around 14. Her journey with music bounced her between a handful of different bands and locations over the years. In 2005, she finally landed in Los Angeles where she continued playing music with a variety of different bands.

In addition to practicing and performing with the Vigils, Sol manages a bar in Highland Park called “La Cuevita.” She is physically there six days a week, but mentally there seven. She plans the events, the cocktail menus, scheduling, etc. Some nights she goes into work at 3pm and doesn’t get home until 5am. She also does some freelance animation and illustration in her “spare time.”

A Washington DC native, Danny grew musically by singing in underground punk/hardcore bands in the metro area. Even as a young kid, Danny was dressing up like Mick Jones of The Clash and strumming on a tennis racket or singing along to The Cramps in front of a flashing strobe light in his room—his dream already coming into focus.

Daniel is a manager/driver at a high-rent residential facility for schizophrenic and other mentally ill adults in Van Nuys. He works varied hours throughout the week, sometimes waking up for work, hair still wet from a shower he took a few hours earlier when he got home from a show.

Jessy grew up in Columbia, Missouri listening to Bowie, the Stones, The Clash and 80’s new wave. She moved to LA to be in the film industry, in which she successfully entered, but she always held onto her childhood dream of being in a band. She is currently part of a 2 to 3 person team that mics and records the dialogue and sound for TV, movies, and commercials. This profession has random hours and can take her from Malibu to West Covina and from 12pm to 2am on any given day. Often, she has to get up at 6am after playing a midnight show the night before.

Skeeter grew up with guns, drums, and rock and roll in the backwoods of Oregon. Skeeter’s heroes were musicians, two of which were, and still are, John Coltrane and Patti Smith. In 2005, he moved to Los Angeles and landed in the heart of Hollywood where he currently lives with his girlfriend. Skeeter goes everywhere by train, including to his jobs at Amoeba Records and La Cuevita.

With all of their other responsibilities, you have to question why these artists do it. “It’s pure meditation… letting go and becoming music and letting your earth weight and expectations go,” Sol explains, “It’s the closest thing to heaven. An electric pulse of life.” Danny adds, “Performing is as good as it gets, a physical and emotional exorcism of sorts.” “Performing takes me to another place… Each song has a unique message in it… After a show, I feel I’ve been through an awesome journey,” Jessy describes.

These feelings seem similar to those that fans experience at a show. The feeling at a show, when the music comes together and forms a living presence in the room that can be felt, so much so that it physically touches you; it moves you. It is this same presence that moves the artist, that seduces them enough to sacrifice their time, money, and at times sanity and keeps them coming back for more… thankfully for us.

So perhaps this is an ode to the artist, a thank you of sorts for the sacrifice, the dedication and the struggle it takes to channel that presence so others can share in the soul-healing experience of music. As Sol put it so well, “Being in the moment only happens when you can rock out with your truthful soul.” And we are constantly looking forward to our next spiritual experience. Rock on.

youbloom artist spotlight: Simone Snaith

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Simone-Snaith-musician-writerAt youbloomLA 2014, hundreds of artists and fans turned out to share in a common passion, music. Because of this, an amazing opportunity to meet people and to network was created. One of the attendees we met was Simone Snaith, musician and author. We had an opportunity to sit with Simone after the event and learn more about her music and writing careers.

Are you from LA or did you move here to be near the music scene?

I grew up in SoCal and have lived in several areas here, but I’m originally from Louisiana. I moved to CA with my family in 1988 because my mom wanted to be near the beach and mountains, and to have broader job opportunities. We moved to Norwalk first and then we moved to Culver City and later Redondo Beach. I moved into the Hollywood area from Redondo Beach around 2005 to work at a small indie label.

Can you tell us a little more about your music history?

In school, I was always in whatever choirs or choruses were available, but I never learned an instrument and I didn’t really try to write songs until college. Both of my parents are musicians who played in bands in Louisiana when I was a kid, so I was always around music. Now, I play guitar. I started learning after college – about 2002 – but I’ve only played seriously for about a year.

I joined my first band around 2001. In this band, we didn’t get along, so there was a lot of fighting and misery. In my later bands I struggled with keeping members that were committed to practicing or who weren’t too busy because they were in ten other bands. The first band was post-hardcore and I sang and wrote the vocals, and the later bands were actually the same folk/rock project with different line-ups because of the aforementioned losing of musicians. In those, I sang and wrote the songs. The first band went on two independent tours where we booked shows around the country and drove in a crappy van that broke down repeatedly. We mostly fought the whole time, but we did have some fun adventures.

What are some of the struggles you have had along the way?

It’s difficult to find a group of people that are reliable, that you get along with, and that play the right kind of music. That is more or less why I’m playing solo now. I was previously always the singer and songwriter, so I had to teach myself guitar to play alone, which is difficult for me because I have a work injury that caused me tendinitis. Playing solo also revived some stage fright that I shook off way back in my first band! But I get by and I’m proud of myself for carrying on solo.

What are your thoughts on breaking into the music scene in LA?

Obviously, the LA music scene is very crowded so it’s hard to get anyone to pay attention to your music. Also, it’s gotten better lately, but there are still a lot of venues that demand that you bring a ton of people. I think that making friends with other bands and booking shows is a big help, both in getting a bigger crowd at shows and also in making connections for finding things like band managers and photographers, etc.

What are some of the musical projects you are working on currently?

Turning Violet is my solo project and I play at venues such as La Cuevita, La Cita, Timewarp Records, and The Viper Room downstairs. This project is the result of no longer wanting to try to keep a band together, but just playing my songs by myself! I really enjoy the freedom of booking shows without worrying about schedule conflicts, and being the sole decision-maker. Right now, I’m focusing on playing gigs, but I will probably try to record down the road. I’d like to record a Turning Violet EP, but I’ll need help with that on the technical end and probably on guitar too!

I’m also a writer and am currently finishing up a new novel. I’ve been writing stories ever since I could use a pencil, and so I majored in Creative Writing in college, and mostly focused on writing short stories at first. Right after college, I wrote several screenplays but decided that screenwriting wasn’t my thing, so then I began to write novels.

Around 2007, I completed a young adult book and began submitting it to agents; I signed with Dystel & Goderich and have written 4 other novels since then, but none of them have been published, so I have started self-publishing and now have 3 of them available as ebooks: ‘From The Ashes’, ‘Through The Eyes’ (a young adult vampire series), and ‘The Indigo Stone’ (a fantasy novel). The first two are available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and iTunes, and the last is on Amazon. A physical paperback version of The Indigo Stone will be available in about a week on Amazon, and in a month or so in stores! I would love to be able to make my living as a writer and continue playing music as much as possible. That has been my lifelong dream.

What was your experience attending youbloomLA?

I went to two sessions at the conference, one about licensing music and one about marketing. I knew some of the information already but it was interesting to hear it from the perspective of people working with major artists, etc. The speakers seemed very knowledgeable and the other attendees had good questions. I think the host bands concept is a great idea to help the out-of-town acts make the most of their time while they attend the festival.

What advice do you have for aspiring artists that are trying to make it in the music industry?

As far as advice, I can reiterate that networking with other bands and booking shows together is helpful for getting decent size crowds and future show opportunities. I would also suggest making the most of social media, including buying the occasional Facebook ad, etc., to get your page more visibility, as well as just being active online. I think focusing on building a following is the best way to break through the hundreds of bands out there, to establish name recognition and have people hearing about you, looking you up, coming to shows.

We are looking forward to getting to know some other youbloom artists and music lovers at youbloomDublin Festival and Conference. Join us on June 12th/13th/14th so that you can create your own connections and we can get to know YOU! Read more about the Festival and Conference HERE (www.youbloom.com/dublin-2015/). Additional details and tickets available soon.

If you want to learn more about the youbloom community follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and check out our new youbloomTV channel on YouTube.

Please take a look at Simone’s work below:
www.simonesnaith.com
Facebook — Turning Violet (music)
Facebook — The Indigo Stone (books)

Self release your music like CommonUnion59

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self-release-your-music-commonunion59

What does it actually take to self release your music?

Well, lucky for us, one of our very own youbloom artists, CommonUnion59, released their second album, “Heartbeat Serenade” on February 11th of this year and were kind enough to share their experience with the youbloom community.

“The most important thing we learned is that the overall effort of putting an album out is probably half musical and half business. You have to come to terms with that fact when you plan your project,” Steve shared. And let’s face it; many musicians may be great at performing, but not so strong business-wise. That is why picking a solid team at the beginning of the project is vital to the quality of the finished album.

“It might help to think of yourself as kind of a general contractor who, when building a house, may do the carpentry but finds the plumber, the electrician, etc. because he just doesn’t have expertise (or the time) to do it all himself,” Steve said. Not only is it important to pick a qualified team of engineers, press agents, promoters, and musical contributors, it is also really important that you work well with these people and they understand your vision. “Go for quality over quantity and find the best studio you can afford.”

“We asked ourselves this simple question, how do the major labels do what they do?” Steve said. “First, they get the music created.” Steve advised to have as much of the music completed as possible when you get into the studio. This will save you time and money overall. On the same note, he suggested that you be flexible as well. There are always unforeseen surprises along the way, some of which may be beneficial to the outcome of your album, as CommonUnion59 experienced.

For example, Laura explained to us that the song, “Heartbeat Serenade” was one song that was unfinished when they got into the studio. They only had a few words written down as well as the basic melody. “We knew we wanted to have fun with it and give it a psychedelic vibe so it was almost like a side project that we kept coming back to as we recorded everything else.” Turns out, they loved what the song turned into so much, that it became the title track for the album.

Steve and Laura also learned the importance of being open to straying from the plan when they were recording their song, “It’s Alright.” Laura shared, “We did two versions… The first was a straight ahead rocking take which we liked a lot, but when we tried a more rock-a-billy feeling version, we really loved it, so it’s the one we ended up using. We hadn’t thought about doing that way in advance so it’s like a bit of unexpected studio magic that we embraced.” Though there may be some unforeseen hang-ups in the studio, there can also be some beautiful surprises along the way that might entirely transform the album.

After the music is created, Steve stressed the importance of making the final product relevant amongst the competition. One step in doing that is to have the music mastered after it is recorded and mixed. “It really does make a difference since you are being heard alongside so many other artists that do it too.”

Another step to meeting the competition is to gather reviews way before the release date. You want to have publicity growing for your album even before it is released. Sometimes doing this means hiring a publicity firm that has experience pushing albums to the people who need to hear them. Remember that there are tons of other musicians that will also be releasing albums the same month (and even the same day) as you.

The final step in matching your competition is to get airplay. The more you can be heard and in the more places, the better. “This part is not easy for sure since the majors have such a lock on most of radio, but it is still possible,” Steve shared. It is important to pull all of your resources and, once again, look into hiring someone that does this for a living. Also keep in mind non-traditional avenues of “airplay” such as social media, streaming radio, or YouTube to expose your audience to the new album.

It is also worthwhile to stress the importance of staying current with what is happening in the industry as well as being open to learning on a continual basis. One way that Steve and Laura did this was by attending youbloom@LA in November of last year. They shared with us that a lot of their experience at youbloom@LA helped them in their process with their album.

“If you’re anything like us, you’re writing songs, rehearsing, doing the business stuff, but you’re pretty much working in your own everyday environment. youbloom helps create a good sense of the big industry picture. To us, it seemed more about focus, inspiration, and motivation, reminding us that everything we do is important, good or bad. We take something positive from the lessons learned and keep moving forward.”

We hope that you find the experience of CommonUnion59 beneficial in your own album recording/releasing. Remember, it is important to plan from the beginning and get all of your pieces in place. “But, be relaxed and have fun with it too so that you love what you did later on,” Steve said. Recording an album is serious business, but let’s not forget that in order for the album to be a success, you must love the finished project. Steve adds, “It’s also important to play live as much as possible, it helps you remember why you’re doing it in the first place, and good things always happen along the way.”

“So get out there! Work hard, but have fun! We’d love to hear about your experiences as well!

If you want to learn more about the youbloom community follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram and check out our new youbloomTV channel on YouTube.

CommonUnion59:
Steve McKenzie and Laura Malasig make up the singing/songwriting duo of CommonUnion59, blending blues, folk, and alternative country to create music that many say is reminiscent of the 60s. They weave introspective lyrics of love and life through powerful melodies, creating an emotional experience that gives the illusion that the music and the voice are one fluid sound. Listen to some of their music.

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