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MY FIRST TIME: youbloom | HEADROOM #7: with Featured Artists from the Los Angeles 2015 Music Festival

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Researchers have discovered that most of your earliest memories are lost to the eroding forces of time by the time you turn 7. Since most adults don’t retain recollections from before the age of 3, that means that you’ve got four good glory years in childhood where only the best times come out of the memory dump unscathed by this childhood amnesia.

Not surprisingly, the memories you do still hold on to from this period are associated with events and experiences that so profoundly shaped who you would grow up to become that they’re literally unforgettable.

For those who’ve gone on to identify themselves with the unpredictable medium of music, the impressions that music first made on their gonzo little kiddie brains feel like they happened just yesterday. Artists from five of the bands playing the upcoming youbloom LA 2015 Music Festival share theirs with us for this Lucky Number Seven edition of HEADROOM. Do enjoy the trip down memory lane. 🙂

 

Aigua UPDATED

Alper (guitar, backing vox, Aigua): “My first experience with music was setting up drums made out of pots and pans to play along with songs on TV.”

Danielle (lead vox, Aigua): “My first experience with music was definitely in the womb, where I was introduced to The Grateful Dead and various other jam bands and genres of music. My earliest (actual) memory of performing was bouncing around my grandfather’s music room with my cousins, dancing and singing to the first NOW CD.”

A Turkish-Brazilian duo with a new twist on latin sounds firmly in their crosshairs, Aigua deliver sweet, sparse melodies in their signature laid-back way. Expect a set that will refresh your ears after a long day of gig-hopping. Beautiful work. For fans of: Sufjan Stevens, Maia, Rodrigo y Gabriela

 

Victoria Scott PIcture YB Blog

Victoria Scott (lead vox, The Blue Dolphins): “When I was very little my Dad had an amazing collection of LPs called Rock Revival, an anthology of rock and roll with about 8 discs in the set. They included songs by Otis Redding, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, The Angels and The Rolling Stones…to name a few. It was heaven. My sister and I would dance around the living room to those songs. Of course, we wrecked my Dad’s LPs with our clumsy child hands picking up and putting down the needle of the record player with a bump. I really regret that now.”

The once acoustic-driven sound of The Blue Dolphins has evolved, blending clear, pretty vocals with south-of-the-border, surfy sentiments, and something altogether harder to pigeonhole. Unabashedly succinct, feel-good tunes from a duo who, from the sounds of it, are just getting started seeing what they can do. For fans of: The Sleepovers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, a sweeter, less fuzzy Mika Miko

 

Damessa

Damessa (power vox, Crvscxnt Moon): “My first singing lesson wasn’t until I was 10 years old. I was fresh meat at a performing arts school (Osceola County School for the Arts). I enjoyed every moment of it. (It’s where) I learned the basics of music.”

Whip smart and acerbic, yet feel-good and uplifting, this is a group with cunning musical abilities and a tangible desire to venture beyond the well-tread environs of intellectual hip-hop. Crvscxnt Moon blend soul and gospel into a refreshing helping of music with something to discuss. For fans of: J. Cole, Blackalicious, Mr. Lif

 

Carolina Carito Plaza

Carolina Plaza (composer/vox, Carito Plaza): “My romance with music start when I was 17 years old and my classmates from my new school forced me to sing in the Voice Festival; my first time in front of a crowd. I was a very shy girl; so nervous I was shivering…but I won and I never left the stage after that.”

Jazzy and sensual R&B is given the latin treatment in the hands of the very talented Carolina (“carito” means little Carolina) Plaza. A capable collaborator, but strong enough to stand alone,her music is danceable, infectious, and smooth. For fans of: Aaliyah, India.Arie, a one woman TLC

 

Jonas denmantau

Jonas Gerigk (guitar/vox, DENMANTAU): “My parents took me to a music festival when I was 12 years old. I saw bands like The Prodigy, Iggy Pop, Staind and my favorite childhood German punk band Die Ärzte. I had listened to rock music before but this festival made me feel the rock’n’roll lifestyle! The smell of weed and beer everywhere; happy, drunk and dirty people all over; everyone dancing and enjoying themselves in a peaceful way. I was fascinated by the positive group vibe and the idea that we all came together for the sake of one thing: music! It made me realize that music causes a harmonic connection within all of us and it’s been my dream to play in festivals ever since.”

They arrived in Los Angeles on a mission: to be the biggest band in the world. German born and bred, they’ve honed their chops and are stopping at nothing to share their tight, bohemian, insanely danceable music with every pair of ears from here to the moon. Set to be a highlight show at youbloom LA, you really need to see these guys. For fans of: the good Pearl Jam stuff, Jack Penate, Paolo Nutini

 

What about you? Is your first memory musical? Or did something stand out in later life that brought music into focus for you? Share with us in the comments below.

Top 5 Tips to Impress A&R Scouts at a Live Show

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Impress A&R Scouts at a Live-Show.jpg June 3, 2014 1000 × 606 Edit Image Delete Permanently
Thanks to Laurence Malpass from Music Gateway for this article.
Jon Skinner (Music Gateway’s CEO) will be speaking at the Conference in June.

Despite the digital age creeping into every area of our lives, A&R scouts still have a large presence at live gigs, and the art of appealing to them is a subtle but important one. It can mean the difference between a few shows one summer, or that summer you signed your dream deal. So we’ve pulled our heads together and come up with a few things you can do to make sure you’re turning heads.

Performance

This is more than just technical ability and having good music, but the ability to express these things by actually enjoying yourself on stage and playing the crowd. Hyping them up and drawing them in close when it’s appropriate, getting them to follow your energy, and giving them a dynamic and exciting show!
Beyond the music, being on stage is about having presence. Your body language speaks volumes, and if it’s in sync with your music and vibe the performance is that much stronger.

Styling

This is a big part of your image and branding and is a tool for sticking out from the crowd. You can get away with jeans and a hoodie sure, but that’s not memorable. Ultimately it’s the music that’s important, but if your style is in sync with your music and performance it just leaves that much more of a mental impression on someone who goes to gigs for a living.

Bring A Crowd

Obviously a large part of what an A&R scout is looking for is your ability to pack out a venue. If you’re a small band, try and go for smaller venues, it looks much better to have a small room jam-packed with twenty to thirty people, than a large venue with the same amount spread out. Know how many people you can get to your shows, and go for the venues that relate to that number. You will grow as you keep playing, and as you do, the more likely it is that you’ll play a gig where you’ve got a scout hanging about, and when it happens you’ll want to make sure the room is full of die-hard fans that are there to see you play.

After Show Engagement

The show isn’t over until you’ve left the venue, at least not in the eyes of an A&R Scout. They’ll be watching how you conduct yourselves and manage every aspect of your music, from before you get on stage to how you meet and greet the fans afterwards. If you’re selling stuff that’s great, scouts love a band that takes charge of their affairs, it shows that they’re serious about their music and are thinking of the future. I’ll always remember what my music business tutor told me about merch though, “Don’t ask them to buy your stuff at the end of a set, just say ‘We’ll be over by the bar if anyone wants to chat’, and when they come over, don’t ask them to buy it, if you’re holding it casually in your hand they’re much more likely to ask you about it and buy it as if it’s their own idea. You’re musicians, not salesmen.”
This is a tactic that is tried and tested. People don’t go to gigs to buy merch. But they do go to see their favourite bands, and if you invite them to have a chat, and they’re wondering what to talk to you about, and see your CD in your hands, they’re much more likely to offer to buy it, than if you’re shoving it down their throats.
If an A&R scout sees you selling loads of CD’s, bingo.

Memorable Part of the Set

I had a friend who was in a hard rock band, and he always ended his sets by jumping into the crowd, more often than not he got them hyped up enough to be able to surf them. But even on the nights when the crowd weren’t up to the challenge, finishing a song lyric lying in the middle of the floor with the wireless mic (very important part of this technique) was a hugely memorable moment of the night, and will stick in an A&R scouts head long after the gig, and he’s forgotten about all the music and clothes and flourishing touches. I’m not saying you need to literally break a leg every time you ‘jump’ on stage. But having something imaginative, or extreme or clever, or whatever little thing it is that suits your style to capture the attention and hook your scout it’s going to work in your favour. (As long as you don’t actually break your leg, I want to stress that, as that can go pretty wrong, and you probably won’t be hearing from the scout if you can’t stand up afterwards.)

Live gigs are a very important part of any musicians career and the shows should always leave fans desperate for more. Make sure every gig is better than the last, constantly up your game and who knows… you may even find yourself turning the head of your ideal A&R scout.

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