A week ago we featured singer and songwriter Jen Baron and her composition 'Til I've Got You.
Since then we have had the opportunity to ask her some questions, and of course being Beehive Candy use this, as a valid reason to share another song, in this instance 'Joy Machine' a much rockier piece and a really good one at that!
The major labels have been slow adopters of all things Internet, do you think they now 'get it'? - I definitely see their presence on platforms like Sound Cloud and Instagram. It's a great way for them to promote their artists. I think we'll only see more engagement in the future.
Live gigs or selling music, whats the lucrative one these days? - As a songwriter and producer, I'm rarely out there playing live music. The last time I played live was for a Girls Rock SB benefit concert. For me, I'm focused on licensing my music and working with artists directly to cover the songs I write. What I love about the landscape of the millennial music industry is there are so many options for artists to get their music out there.
Can music still influence people on mass, like the "protest songs" of the sixties, and if so, in a positive manner? - Wow - that's such a good and thought provoking question! I would like to say yes and believe that exists, but honestly I don't know if music is the catalyst for change anymore. It seems like the power of social media has taken it's place in a big way. I wish music was still a driving force of political activism - I know the punk scene still uses it in that way.....but that is usually more underground.
How does a song writer go about getting others to perform their material these days? - All I can do is speak from my own personal experience. I asked people I knew for a lot of advice starting out. I think industry folks are just inundated with artists wanting them to listen to their material and help give them a leg up, but asking for advice - I think it's less daunting. I keep every response I've ever received in an email folder and I frequently go back and look at peoples comments . I focus on forming meaningful relationships. I stay open to critique and always, always try and remember those pieces of critique when I'm writing. I work hard. However hard I expect a publisher or management team to work for me and run the material, I expect even more of myself. From the outside the music industry looks like a locked kingdom - but if you take the time to form the relationships, be open to advice, and really work on your craft, you'll start to see the doors open.
What's the future of music radio in the age of streaming Spotify, Itunes etc? - I rarely stream music. I have an 11-year-old who lives by streaming services like Spotify though. There is something I just love about radio: great DJ's and personalities, contests.. oh my god there was seriously nothing better than winning a pair of concert tickets as a teen! If I heard one of my songs on Pandora I'd be like, " that's cool!", but if my song was charting on the radio -- I would flip out! I think radio still has such a strong place in our future.
Whats the best thing you have got out of the music industry (and the worst)? - The best thing are the wonderful people I've met. I've had the opportunity to work with incredible song writers and industry professionals who have become like family to me over the years. The worst thing? hmm.. I think in the beginning hearing critique from music bloggers especially was hard. Now I look back - and I considered a bad review someone saying " such a great song, just needs some work on the production" - and it would just gut me. Now I'm like, "cool - i'm gonna focus on a killer production for this track". What motivates you to write songs? - Heartbreak. mine or others. I'm an overly empathetic person, which as a songwriter gives me a really unique ability to tell stories that are not my own, but still have the emotional underbelly of a first hand experience. My kid says I only know how to write sad songs, so then I wrote " She Looks Like Katy Perry " just to prove him wrong.
Tell us a little about the Girls Rock project? - Girls Rock SB is a non-profit I founded that empowers girls through music education, creative expression and performance. I started it in 2012 with 29 girls enrolled and today we serve over 500 girls between the ages of 7-17 years old a year. It's just the coolest curriculum: girls sign up to learn to play either drums, bass, guitar, vocals, or keys, they form a band, are mentored by our all-female staff, and spend 10 weeks in our after school program or a week in our summer camps writing an original song, recording it and performing it to a sold out crowd. Last year girls in our program wrote 81 original songs!! Two years ago we expanded our program to include a photography and film track, journalism track and sleep away camp for our teens. Girls are gaining important leadership skills and learning to work in a team, supporting each other instead of tearing each other down. We're changing the world and the coolest thing is we are part of a much larger network of like-minded non-profits who share the same mission. Want to talk about music influencing political change - it's rad!
Can musicians, songwriters, survive professionally long term these days? - I sure hope so. Ha! I think the best thing to do is surround yourself with a creative team you believe in and who believe in you.
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Background bio - Bitter's Kiss is primarily a vehicle for singer/songwriter Chloe Baker to showcase her talents. Chloe grew up in a home filled with music, with a father who maintained a studio, a guitar collection and a band, and has been active in musical theatre for years. Chloe currently attends High Tech, an arts academy in North Bergen, NJ. Chloe has been serious about writing music for around a year, and has worked with her father to record and produce her music over the past several months.
The reception has been incredibly positive, with a lot of encouragement to take her efforts to the next level. Chloe uses songwriting as a diary and a means of exploring her world. The track The Rope, for example, examines her feelings about the suicide of a distant cousin from a very religious background and the importance of staying true to one's identity and finding something personally significant to make life meaningful. Another song, Too Far Too Fast, is a reaction to watching her older sister go off to college and noting how quickly time passes. The magic of Bakers work though is that despite this sad and often strange world she still manages to find hope. Website here.
The song 'My God' has been around for a few months however the video is new. The film brings the lyrics to life, and asks a reasonable question regarding what religion is about. Well we are about music and this is one fine song, as regards religion, all I will add is, the truth is out there...
Background promo - Hailing from the remote one street tourist town of Coral Bay in Western Australia, barefooted folk songstress Miss Max recently crowned “Best of the North West” has captured the beauty of the nomadic travellers lifestyle with her new track ‘Gypsy Heart’.
Miss Max recently opened the 2016 North West Festival Weekender for the likes of Xavier Rudd, Sarah Blasko and The Rubens. Her debut EP has been capturing hearts since its release at the beginning of the year, her story telling shines in the single 'Gypsy Heart' capturing the beauty of the nomadic travellers’ lifestyle. “‘Gypsy Heart’ is a song to inspire those who haven't quiet found themselves, to travel and to live there lives for themselves and not others, its based on the spirit of the travellers I've met working in tourism and the nomadic lifestyle in which they and myself follow,” says Miss Max about the track.
In July, Miss Max started an Australia wide tour in her big blue van to promote her EP "Gypsea Heart". The tour began back down in Margaret River, and she is currently heading north following the WA coastline towards Darwin, down the middle through Alice Springs to the Eyre Peninsula and Adelaide, then across to Melbourne and up the coast through Sydney and Brisbane.
At the beginning of the tour, Miss Max was announced the winner of the local artist competition 'Best of the North West', seeing her open the 2016 North West Festival weekend in Port Hedland late August and with the re-release of her inspiring track 'Gypsy Heart' she is set to catapult onto festival line ups around the country. The track ‘Gypsy Heart’ was recorded and produced by the talented Dave Mann, in his custom built shipping container studio on his self sufficient farm in the heart of Margaret River. Dave is a seasoned gypsy and songwriter himself and features in the track with his soulful harmonies. Website here. Upcoming Show: 14th Oct - Port Lincoln Hotel.
Miss Max has a really pleasing and melodic voice, that is just right for modern folk music. 'Gypsy Heart' is a wispy and engaging song, that feels quite personal, whilst also having something of a mood lift within it.
Background - “John the Unready” is one of two tracks that the duo, James Howard and Ursula Russell, released on September 9th via Canvasclub, Canvasback’s imprint for singles by up and coming musicians. The side B, "Albert Plays The Euphonium."
The band, comprised of James Howard and Ursula Russell, makes music that is subtle, elliptical, and ambiguous - rarely an obvious beast. They present us with a world of haunted pop — songs about people just departed, places just left, and events just witnessed.
Leaving no stone unturned, Blue House willfully explore the intricacies of pop, with an emphasis on poetics and quality songwriting. The fragile balance of atmospherics and presence in their music lends an understated and entrancing numerousness throughout it.
This Canvasclub release comes ahead of Suppose, the duo's debut full-length, out worldwide on September 30th via Whipped Cream Records (UK). Facebook here.
'Albert Played The Euphonium' is one of those song titles that gets you halfway to being featured on Beehive Candy even before a listen. In actual fact this is a delightful song, that gently delivers a fine melody alongside calming vocals. This one is a quite addictive, you have been warned!
Background - Faye Wellman, a Michigan native, is a vocalist and writer living in Los Angeles, CA. Faye merges musical and emotional intuition with her education in music, performance, and writing to compose lyrics and inspired melodies.
Matt Hogan (NY) is a multi-instrumentalist and producer living in Los Angeles, CA. With a background in classical upright bass, Matt combines his love of free flowing expressive musicianship with a mix of ethereal textures, electronic beats, and dream pop.
The two met during their studies at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Two years later, on the California Coast, TVRQUOISE officially emerged with a sound best defined by color.
TVRQUOISE’s debut EP reveals tender moments from half a decade. Faye’s lyrics derive from residencies, travels, and encounters in places such as Boston, Michigan, New York City, San Francisco, Mexico, and Belize. From Paralyzed Legs, a piece revealing the subconscious thoughts surrounding a captive relationship, to Calling Out, a track echoing the constant struggle between being a wanderlust and seeking lasting human connection, the trying pivot from youth to adulthood is present.
The project’s name was derived from a train of fateful events and the power of the turquoise stone. Turquoise paves way for strength, wholeness, and truth. Turquoise aids in self-forgiveness, self-acceptance, and the release of useless regrets. Turquoise provides protection and the recognition of beauty, enabling new beginnings. TVRQUOISE is the electro-dreampop project of Faye Wellman and Matt Hogan. Website here.
'Liar and the Fighter' slowly builds into a dreamy and quite calming song. The vocals are smooth and beautifully immersed in the musical flow. It's electro dream pop, with a subtle hint of shoegaze somewhere within the mix.
Background - “Accepting defeat from that little voice of persuasion in your head and becoming attached to the alter ego; it can feel like someone else is in control of you. You become a vessel of thoughts and feelings that aren't necessarily your own, and you get to escape for a while.” Gemini. The man with two personalities, the twin, the alter ego.
We all have that desire to give in to the little voice on our shoulder, not caring about what may happen. This is the sentiment behind new single ‘Gemini’ from Australian duo PLGRMS, released 23rd November via London-based singles club 0E0E.
‘Gemini’ stands up to its name in sound and lyrics, showing another side to the duo through a darker, more brooding sound compared to previous singles. 'Gemini' is a bit darker and slinkier’ explains Jonathan Bowden, one half of the Australian duo alongside singer-songwriter Jacob Pearson. “While 'Gemini' still harbours elements of the previous singles, we were keen to give it its own distinct flavour…'Gemini' was a real team effort between both Jake and I and our producer, Ross James.”
PLGRMS’ newest offering follows previous singles ‘Fools And Their Gold’, and debut ‘Pieces’, which have collectively garnered 3million streams so far on Spotify/Apple, 150k SoundCloud and 20k Shazam. PLGRMS is the Sydney-based duo of singer-songwriter Jacob Pearson and multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Jonathan Bowden. Facebook here.
The superb vocals on 'Gemini' immediately grabbed my attention. Musically it's a sophisticated electro soundtrack, and combined together it's one very good song.
Background - It can’t be denied that there is something sorrowful behind the Bergen-based, lo-fi dream/psych pop trio Chain Wallet, and they can’t hide that their music suits the environment wherein it was created. It may be a cliché that it always rains in the band’s hometown, but when you play Chain Wallet’s self-titled debut album, it’s not too difficult imagine the mist hanging heavily over their dystopian vision of Bergen.
The band's Frode Boris talks about the new video: "It is a video about liminality and the paradox of hedonism. It was directed by our talented chum Kristian Engelsen. We have worked with him in the past, on the video for “Stuck In The Fall”. The girl is Maria, a young photographer and energy drink enthusiast. The video was in fact conceived when the director wanted to get a free tattoo from her. There are so many people in this video, and they all belong to an emerging scene celebrating creativity."
Even though feelings of nostalgia and melancholy lurk in the Scandinavian shadows, it’s not difficult to find indie-pop gold in its purest form, glittering below the heavy layers of synth and reverb. Tracks like ‘Shade’ and ‘Abroad’ have an up-tempo urgency to them which calls to mind bands like Motorama, whereas other dreamy psych ballads like ‘Muted Colours’ and ‘Stuck In The Fall’ occupy a rich and hazy middle ground between Diiv and Wild Nothing. Though Chain Wallet may not have many genre colleagues in Norway, they easily join the ranks behind international indie counterparts like Twin Shadow or Beach Fossils.
On their debut album, Chain Wallet explore themes of betrayal, idleness and crushed dreams against the backdrop of an existential breakdown. Wrapped in the shimmer and haze of the lo-fi soundscape that they conjure, the album is loosely based in the same universe, and portrays different aspects of the quarter-life crisis. Self-titled debut album out Oct 7th via Jansen Plateproduksjon. Facebook here.
'Faded Fight' has a paced psych pop vibe running right through it. The vocals and the music flow along well together, with the mix and production bringing out the best of both. At the very least it's a good appetiser for Octobers album release.
Background promo - The Dustaphonics: London 'party beat' rockers reanimate with "Johnny & Bo" - new album release. Kingaling and Dirty Water Records present the fourth album from London Town’s R&B surf-rock’n’roll combo, The Dustaphonics. Like it's predecessors (Burlesque Queen, Party Girl & Big Smoke), this record is a fine mix of soul slamming, popped out powered, garage rock rave-ups, all fine tweaked by producer DJ Healer Selecta.
The title song is a tribute to two inspirational legends, Bo Diddley and Johnny Ramone, whose unique guitar styles influenced zillions of rockers the world over. Also included is an ode to the band's dear friend and fan Tura Satana, actress best known from her high-kicking jinks in Russ Meyer’s cult Faster Pussycat Kill! Kill! - who sadly passed shortly after the first single of The Dustaphonics, which she also co-wrote.
The album boasts the uber-catchy “You Don’t Love Me Anymore," an uptempo garage punk version with one foot in 1966 Texas, the other in 1977 London, and a high octane R’n’B version complete with a honking horn section. If pounding surf is your thing, “Listen To Showman Twang” will have you hanging 10 with your toes on the nose. If groove is your move, you will need to shake your “thang” to the New Orleans funk of “Q Sounds Groove”. “Dreams on Screen (Dolce Vita Dream)” is a laid back slice of perfect cinematic pop; ideal for kicking back with a ”Cachaça” cocktail on a beach somewhere.The band reinvent a slinky version of Billy Gales/Ike Turner’s “I’m Hurting which will tug at the ol' heart strings.
And as if that wasn’t enough of a marvellous melange of musical mayhem, everything draws to crashing crescendo with a breathtaking run-through of The Specials’ classic “Gangsters”, rearranged with a breaking, bad ass surf edge. The closing track “Love Jinx” is a top notch instrumental “Hammond” garage mod-rocker, perfect for a ride on Sunset Boulevard. With fantastic artwork by Tony Diavolo, Johnny & Bo” is a de-luxe lexicon of top quality R’n’B-based music styles that will shake up your party house all night long! Tour dates and more here.
'You Don't Love Me Anymore' is a mixture of chunky riff's and hot urgent vocals. Raw and spicy garage meets surf rock, and is dispensed with style and passion. As a taste of the album, this hits the spot.
Background - Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs met in music secondary school in Melbourne, Australia, drawn together by a shared love of songs with no boundaries or expectations. The duo, now both 24, have since unveiled three EPs, but it’s their debut album, Stadium Cake, that truly showcases Hally and Emmerichs’ uniquely compelling collaboration.
Hally and Emmerichs decamped to Halifax, Nova Scotia to record with producer Daniel Ledwell. After initially meeting Ledwell in early 2015 and recording two tracks with him for their Living EP, Oh Pep! felt that he had the right sensibility to carry these new album songs through the recording process. The band spent their August in Ledwell’s studio, and celebrated the culmination of the recording by swimming across Lake Echo, which neighbors the studio.
Stadium Cake marks the first time Oh Pep! recorded with a multi-track approach rather than recording live. They wanted to be completely open to new ideas and approaches, and to not confine themselves to preset conceptions of how the music should be made. “Doctor Doctor,” the album’s first single, is a pop song with elements of the unexpected, revealing the band’s interest in experimental and occasionally dissonant melodies as Hally sings “Where is the light, for me it's the darkest night.” A sense of light and dark stitches together the tapestry of Stadium Cake, continually bringing a sense of tension to each song. It's heard in the texture of “Tea, Milk and Honey,” as Hally sings with sparse accompaniment before the delayed entry of the band. That tension can also be heard in the jarring time changes of Emmerich's line in “The Situation” and “7 Babies.”
Oh Pep! has been bringing their recordings to the stage for years, first trekking around Australia and then touring internationally since early 2015. They’ve performed at CMJ, SXSW and Nashville’s Americana Music Festival, and for Seattle’s KEXP and NPR’s Tiny Desk. KCRW named Oh Pep! an artist who 'won' CMJ and NPR's Bob Boilen proclaimed that “the Melbourne band’s music is infectious. Their harmonies are sweet, with lyrics that are thoughtful, deep, funny and poetic.” In 2016, Oh Pep! will tour Europe for the first time supporting Lake Street Dive, and in North America with Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats and Lord Huron before making a triumphant return to Australia later in the year. Tour dates here, including a London show at The Lexington on Friday 28th October.
This is a fine song. 'Bushwick' resonates with pop and rock sensibilities, and with tasteful vocals and a super fine musical accompaniment, my first reaction was to go and search for more of their music.
Background promo - Grappel/Cohen Recording Endowment winner Cory Goodrich pays tribute to the roots of country music and the Carter Family with her album, Wildwood Flower. Songs of yesterday and today are woven together with the Appalachian autoharp as the central uniting factor. Featuring five different harps, guitar, banjo, and mandolin, this acoustic set, produced by Malcolm Ruhl, explores the past and the future of traditional folk.
Cory has been seen on stages across the country in shows like Ragtime, Bridges of Madison County and Ring of Fire, where her portrayal of June Carter Cash earned her a coveted Jeff award and sparked her interest in the autoharp.
Born in WIlmington, Delaware and raised in Michigan, Cory Goodrich is a Jeff Award winning actress for her roles as Mother in Drury Lane Oakbrook’s acclaimed production of Ragtime, and as June Carter Cash in the Jeff nominated Johnny Cash revue, Ring of Fire at Mercury Theater Chicago, where she was also seen as Alice in The Addams Family, and Alma in The Christmas Schooner. Coming this fall, Cory will play Carol Brady in the hilarious war between the Partridges and the Bradys in The Bardy Bunch.
Cory recently returned from the first regional production of he Bridges of Madison County, at Arkansas Rep. She has played Pepa in the midwest premiere of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown at Theatre at the Center, Seussical the Musical at Chicago Shakespeare on Navy Pier and before that as Sr. Margaretta in The Sound of Music at Lyric Opera, Chicago. A five time Jeff nominee, Cory has performed in productions at the Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire, Chicago Shakespeare, Theatre at the Center, Ravinia, Candlelight and Drury Lane. A Graduate of Michigan State University, she is also a singer/songwriter, producer, writer, and mother of two,children's composer with her two award winning CDs, Hush and Wiggly Toes. Website here.
'Far Side of Lovin' You' is the first of twelve songs on 'Wildwood Flower'. It's an album that explores classic country and folk songs along with some new material, doing so with superb musicianship and Cory's outstanding vocals. Indeed her vocals give the collection it's identity, so that old standards take on a different feel, albeit whilst remaining true to their original roots.
Background - With his powerful music video for “Stand,”soulful singer/songwriter David Nyro sings from the heart about the tragic Syrian refugee crisis. A prolific writer whose retro pop has earned him comparisons to Jackson Browne and Don Henley, Nyro calls “Stand” a determined plea for action and an attempt to answer the difficult questions surrounding the conflict in Syria: “How many children must wash up on a beach? How many millions of lives must be torn asunder? How many hundreds of thousands must die before we do something?”
According to Nyro, he saw a tweet by well-known humanitarian Dr. Alison Thompsonshortly after recording “Stand.” Thompson, who has courageously volunteered her humanitarian services to help refugees for more than 22 years, tweeted about not standing for all the violence and heartbreak in Syria. She insisted that “we need to stand up for the refugees.” Thompson is also an acclaimed filmmaker, with Sean Penn presenting her award-winning film, The Third Wave: A Volunteer Story.
Compelled to let Thompson know about “Stand,” Nyro asked if she wanted to hear it. She did, and decided to put “Stand” in a new documentary she is making on the refugee crisis. Thompson also granted Nyro permission to use some of their unused footage and stills of the refugees that videographers Ian Stevens and Zack Bivins (Amphora Media) incorporated in the video for "Stand."
Always the optimist, Nyro calls the Syrian civil war and resulting refugee crisis a “chance for compassion, redemption, transformation, and amazing grace.” He admits that while “Stand” was “born out of pain,” he hopes it can provide an opportunity for “awareness, change, and peace.” Websitehere.
Our second David Nyro feature this year, this time with 'Stand' a poignant song to say the least. It's also one of those music videos that adds a vital dimension to the song. As for the song itself, it's passion and concern for one particular problem mankind faces, is genuine and heartfelt!
Background - Australian based pop rockers Brufield have had a busy 3 years cementing their reputation as one of Perth’s must see bands. Fusing captivating melodies with powerfully emotive vocal delivery, Brufield take audiences on a rollercoaster ride of emotion from the lows of their brooding ballads to the highs of their sparkling pop anthems getting even the most skeptical of pundits tapping their feet!
The band are excited to release their much anticipated new single, ‘Goodbye’. The track is being launched through The A&R Department and is being backed by a national tour and a short tour run in the UK and Ireland. In June 2015 the band released their debut EP, Cracked, which was very well received by music press, scoring 4/5 stars with themusic.com.au.
In November 2015 the band released the title single from the EP, 'Cracked', along with a poignant music clip. This clip attracted a lot of attention due to its controversial content. January 2016 saw Brufield launch their ambitious double A-side single. This double single explored the light and the darkside of Brufield. The release was met with widespread acclaim, with AMNplify dubbing the band as 'One of the bands to watch in 2016'. “Goodbye” by Brufield will be released 30th of September 2016. Website here.
'Goodbye' has all the content to expect from an indie rock song, where the band really do want to stand out in the crowd. Melody and power combine to give us a three minute plus blast of quality pop'n'rock.
Background - SLØTFACE lift the lid on new single ‘Bright Lights’ – a melancholy mood-brood signaling the release of forthcoming EP ‘Empire Records’ on November 18 via Propeller Recordings. It showcases a more mature sound for the Norwegian four-piece – with a bass line that harks back to ultimate 90's alternative bands, a la The Pixies – while retaining their signature pop-punk sheen.
“Bright Lights is about escaping from things that are going on in your own head and in society in general by distracting yourself, especially from the minor and major personal issues we all have,” explains vocalist Haley Shea. “It’s about a desire for escape, and a break from dealing with things that might seem too hard.
“We recorded it at Ocean Sounds in Norway – the most beautiful studio in the world – with our awesome producer, Dan Austin, late last year. The environment and stormy weather when we were recording really helped set the mood for what is a quite melancholy, emo track,” she says.
Also hosting jive cut ‘Take Me Dancing’ – which was recently afforded a fittingly physical Video – new EP ‘Empire Records’ follows the band’s acclaimed four-track debut, with its title track ‘Sponge State’ clocking more than 1000 plays across international radio, including weekly spins from Annie Mac, Huw Stephens and Phil Taggart on BBC Radio 1 and a playlist add at triple j in Australia.
'Bright Lights' suggests the November EP will be a good one. The band have an intensity with this song, where emotions seemingly could boil over quite easily. The music drives the song along adding to the sense of potential melodrama, punk theatre I might suggest...
A week ago we featured singer and songwriter Jen Baron and her composition 'Til I've Got You.
