If you havn’t heard me talking about my upcoming music festival, then I suppose I have not be talking loud enough!

Coming up this Saturday, July 17th, at Lenny’s in Atlanta, I am throwing my very first Music and Art FESTIVAL. That’s right…a FESTIVAL!

For a long time now, I have wanted to set up a music and art event that would bring together people from different scenes, outlooks, view points, etc. My personal music collection is broad, there is no one style of music that I listen to, I listen to all styles. I listen to GOOD music.

Good music is surely a personal taste thing, but being a musician, and understanding not only the fundamentals, but also theory, song writing, structure, and more, I know when music is unappealing on a musical level.

The thing is, I do not think I am alone in this.  I am pretty confident that many people who really enjoy music for what it is, really enjoy good music.  The problem is filtering through all the mediocre and terrible crap in order to find the really good stuff…and there is sooooo much music so I can see why people just give up and listen to whatever is on the radio, it’s easy.

The Hijacking Music Collective is some what of a filter for quality music here in Atlanta. The Hijacking Music Festival is taking that another step farther and bringing in other types of artists such as painters, photographers, dancers, and some other entertainers as well.

We want people that spend any amount of time at this event to be constantly bombarded with high quality visual and audible artwork that is stimulating, thoughtful, and creative. We want people to come out of their comfort zones and embrace something new that might change the way they view things in the future for the better.

Really, when it all boils down, we want to open some minds.

This is easily the largest event I have ever coordinated and put on and I am really looking forward to it and would LOVE to have your support.

Please come out and support an amazing local music and art scene here in Atlanta and party with us!

For more information about the Hijacking Music Festival, or to download a FREE Digital CD Sampler including all bands performing at the festival, visit: http://hijackingmusic.com/hijacking-music-festival-2010

There are two sides of recording music, the engineering and the performance. Typically the performer is coming into the engineers ’space’ or ‘world’ in order to capture as best as possible, their art.  That being said, and myself having played both roles, I am confident that if you take these suggestions into consideration the next time that you record, it will go much smoother for everyone involved.

Show Up Rested

If you were going to give a public speech, or maybe if your team had a game, you would surely make sure you were rested and prepared for your big day. The same goes for the studio.

Just because Jim Morrison made it through sessions in a drunken ‘rock and roll’ fashion, doesn’t mean you can. Many of you will be on your own budget, not the seemingly endless budget of a major record label, time is YOUR money. Instead of abusing substance to try and ‘get creative’, show up relaxed and focused.

Be Prompt

In my studio, every minute late that you are is on your dime. If we agree to begin recording at 10am until 6pm, and you show up an hour late, you will only have 7 hours to track.

Include your set up time, especially drums,  and you will run out of recording time fast.

I recommend showing up at least 30 minutes early, or even try and talk your engineer into letting you come in the night before to set up drums. Given the amount of time it takes for the drummer to set everything up, and the engineer to mic everything properly, and then get levels, you could spend an hour or two.

Bring Backups

Bring extra everything. If you are a guitarist, bring two guitars, bring extra strings for each, bring a pack of picks.

Drummers, bring several pairs of sticks, have a backup set of drum heads, etc.

The more prepared you are for any kind of mishap, the less time and money you will waste when they happen, and they DO happen.

Master You Material

That is to say, know your music. Practice until it is perfect and only then is it time for you to try and record it. You would be surprised how many bands show up to record and are still ‘arranging’ their songs or unable to cleanly play their music.

There is nothing worse as an engineer than having to sit through one guitar riff or vocal line for 30 minutes while the artists fumbles their way through.  It is a waste of time and money for everyone involved.

I recommend to any group that is coming to record with me, to spend the two days before coming into the studio rehearsing the material.

Practice With A Metronome

Regardless of using a click track while you are recording, practicing to a click or metronome will help your internal clock.  The more you do it, the better you will become at it, and you will be able to hold steady counts and beats more naturally as your progress.

Sometimes songs will change beats in the middle of the song, and with many software metronomes you can set them up to make those changes properly.

Tune Your Instruments

The two instruments that are out of tune the most in my sessions are the drums and the vocals.  Tuning drums is something every drummer, and in my opinion every engineer, needs to learn.

While many studios have house instruments that you can rent or use that are probably already tuned up, they may not always be available. Also, being a musician, I know the feeling of wanting YOUR instrument to be on the track and not some studio gear, so tune up your own instrument.

As for tuning vocals, this is something that comes with being a good vocalist.  If you can not sing on key, learn how to or find someone else. Auto tune is not as cool as the mass media might lead you to believe, though that is not to say it does not have its purposes.

If singing on key does not come naturally for you, take some lessons from a professional.  It takes time and effort to learn how to use your voice as it does with any other instrument. Nobody wants to record or listen back to out of tune vocal tracks.

Having any instruments out of tune on your recordings is going to greatly bring down the quality of your sound,  so make sure you being your tuner.

Quiet On The Set

There is NOTHING more annoying or distracting while trying to work with an artist than having to talk over or listen over the other band mates talking behind you.

I am a big fan of having the band involved in the whole process, but I have definitely sent people out of the studio and asked them to stay out until we are finished because they were being too loud and distracting to both me and the artist being recorded.

In this light, you also need to LEAVE YOUR FRIENDS AT HOME. The studio is not a place for your whole posse to come hang out, bring the band only.

A mentor of mine once said the phrase “too many chefs ruin the brew”, which is exactly what happens when you get too many people in the studio.

Take Me To Your Leader

Who is the person in your band that has the best ear overall?  The one that can see the music as a whole of many pieces and not just want to crank the guitar tracks up as loud as possible.

This may be one or two people, but you need to decide on the ‘leader’ who will work closely with the engineer to make sure the bands concept is getting across.

After everything is recorded, this person will also sit in on the mixing sessions to work out levels and placement of instruments and such.

Leave Your Ego At The Door

If you have taken my advice and ‘mastered your music’, ‘practiced for the two days before recording’, when you step into the studio, you should be able to knock it out.

What you shouldn’t be doing is arguing between each other(like all bands do) in the studio.  Save that drama for your mamas basement.

The studio environment needs to be relaxed and creative, not stressed and tense.

Relax and Have Fun

After all these ‘rules’ it might seem like recording isn’t any fun at all. Quit the contrary, when all parties involved are aware and comfortable with these ‘rules’, the recording process becomes a very special time.

Without having to worry about being in tune, people chatting away or being distracting in the background, rushed for time, etc., you are allowing yourself to let loose. This gives you the opportunity to really let this music you have been working so hard on, really shine.

Over the past 3 years, many bands from all over the country have come through and recorded some fantastic music at the Ozone Lair, some of which you can hear by visiting the Portfolio page over at the Ozone website. Working with these bands has given me the hands on experience to use the knowledge that I have gained while being a student this world of audio.

Already in 2010 I have had the chance to record some old and new clients. As well I have been extremely fortunate to be introduced to a high level professional in the industry. This person is allowing me to sit in and learn from their years of experience which I am soaking up like a sponge.

Needless to say I am very excited about what this year has in store for the Lair, and I hope that you can be a part of it as well.

What can you do? Some very easy things, and while I certainly do not expect you to do all of these, I am definitely not apposed to the idea…

• Sign Up for the mailing list
• Follow the Ozone Lair on Twitter
• Become a Fan of the Ozone Lair on Facebook
• Add to Friends the Ozone Lair on Myspace
• Tell your friends and family!

Word of mouth and getting that ‘warm contact’ has definitely been the key to meeting and working with all of the artists that I’ve had the pleasure to record, so please keep my service in mind

To everyone that has supported me in this endeavour thus far, please know that I appreciate it more than you might know. Without the support of my own family and friends I would not be able to follow this path and do the things that I love to do.

Christmas and the new year came and went by fast. I had already been working on getting some things together in order to help jump start my progress in 2010, but it still feels like the time flew by and I have more to do still.

Now into the second work week of the year, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed, but by no means unmotivated. There are a few new years resolutions and some long term goals to get cracking on this year, so lets cover a few of them shall we?

Number one on my list of things to do in 2010 is work on my businesses. There are a few ventures that have started to get off the ground, but have not made the kind of progress I would like to see. Part of this, I am sure, is due to me working on all of these at once instead of focusing on them one at a time which is something I plan to remedy during the course of this year.

What ventures am I talking about?

-WEB DESIGN-

For starters, web design. For much of 2009 I have put together websites, focusing mostly on small businesses. Word really started to spread close to the end of the year, but budgets were also locked down around that time, but those relationships are moving forward at this time.

Now that the new year is upon us, new budgets are upon us, and I have been hard at work seeking out those looking for my services. Daily I am sending out quotes for projects of all scopes, managing a few working projects, and trying to connect with people and business owners.

-AFFILIATE MARKETING-

Affiliate marketing continues to tease me and I continue to stay just interested enough.  There are a few sites up and running that are actually bringing in some sales, but nothing super substantial at this time.

I plan to continue vamping these sites up as well as building new ones throughout the year.  Everyday I am learning more about marketing, SEO, sales copy, and everything that goes into driving traffic to websites and selling products once they are there.

Hopefully my continued efforts will continue to pay off more and more.

-AUDIO ENGINEERING-

Next in line of importance is finding a recording studio and people with the knowledge and willingness to teach me the ways of this audio world. Separating from my last company has given me time to think. During that time I tried to think of things that I love to do, regardless of monetary compensation, but potentially make a profession. At this point in my life there are not many things that make this list, but high up on it was recording music.

Being a part of that world is something I thrive in and after having spent the last few years honing my skills both in the recording, mixing, and mastering, and also as a musician, I feel like I am ready to make some big moves in this area. In order to do that, I myself need more schooling on the subject.

While attending school for this would be great, and something that is definitely in my foreseeable future, I am not sure it is in my cards at this time. Instead, I need to spend some time with the masters of that domain.

As of this posting, I have had the opportunity to meet and be invited to work with a high level player in the audio world. A close family friend and he go way back which is how I was introduced to begin with. Pending this becoming a regular thing, I will surely be posting up any new developments and hopefully new knowledge.

-OZONE LAIR STUDIO-

While we are on the subject of audio recording, another one of my projects is the infamous Ozone Lair, my recording studio. So far this year the Lair has been regularly active. We’ve been recording new music of many styles, mixing and mastering some fresh material from the end of 2009, writing music, rehearsing music, and having some intense, creative, jams.

I have high hopes for the Ozone Lair this year and look forward to working with many great musicians.

-INDEPENDENT CD-

Something just getting off the ground is a small project I started to match some of my resources with a specific market demand. Short run, low cost cds with custom print jobs. My target market is the independent musicians, though we can meet the needs of any data CD/DVD project as well.

Other than making sales there is not much that needs to be done with this. The production is fully functional, as well as the website is able to take orders. There are a few SEO items that I plan to take care of in the near future which will hopefully drive some traffic to the site, as it is all word of mouth at this time.

Those are my top projects for this year with my goal continually being supporting myself comfortably via my own business ventures.

Now on to the mother of all non profit ventures…

-HIJACKING MUSIC-

That’s right ladies and germs, if you haven’t heard it is time to pay attention. Hijacking Music is coming through and making a ton of noise in 2010.

For the past two years Hijacking Music has been developing as a music collective currently based out of Atlanta. We have a very strong core group of artists and groups, all of which are releasing their strongest efforts yet this year.

Also during those two years I’ve been pushed to the forefront to try and guide us through this tricky, sticky, and downright icky maze of all things required to survive the music industry. At first I fought it, but now am embracing it to help build something awesome. So if you know somebody that knows somebody that could potentially be a good contact to have…hit me up

Look out this year for the first Hijacking Music Festival, HJM CD Sampler Vol 2, HJM Christmas Album, and a hand full of HJM presents Art/Music shows scattered over the course of the year.

This past saturday was a much anticipated show featuring Jungol, Stokeswood, both from Atlanta, and The Zou from Ohio.

All I can say it is was very sweaty in there.

Here are some videos I managed to catch.

Stokeswood

Jungol

The Zou / Stokeswood Backstage after the show