To promote the use of physical product to help a dying industry (see “We’re Holding Out for a Hero” blog) I am encouraging the use of this logo on all physical products that I am involved in:
Here is the link to the hi-res download:
files.me.com/lukesolomon/jiqf92
Feel free to use if you wish on any physical product to help support the cause. Music is a dying art, let’s bring it back to life again.
The drowning fate of the music industry is beginning to sadden me deeply.
It seems that the point at which it couldn’t get any worse, it kind of did.
This time though, it wasn’t down to the new “I don’t pay” ethic. This time it was the economy. When we had started to come to terms with the fact that, as artists, we would have to make a living from touring and promoting, suddenly the clubs started closing.
It is at this point you begin to realize that if we do not return to educating people in the value of music, then our world is kind of doomed.
When Prince said the internet was over, he kind of had a point. If we feed the internet with music either for free or for sale, then it’s inevitable that it will become viral and free. If we turn to using the old school concept of distributing physical product as a starting point, then may be there is a way out of this. I am not just talking about music, I am talking about drawing people in and using your fan base to build a community that you can educate and help them understand that this isn’t about being famous and making millions, it’s about feeding a dying art so that it exists for the next generation. There are some great new portals that encourage this new business model. Topspin is one, band camp another. That doesn’t mean you can use them and expect people to pay for your music straight off the bat, but you can incorporate them and include the idea of merchandise, DIY CD’s, art, a badge, a postcard, a 7 inch, and at the same time, still give things away.
The days of making a piece of music, throwing it up on a download site and expecting to tour the world on it, are few and far between.
People are getting savvy to dance musics great con artists else they are being conned by them. There are a mass of people out there that care about the music and not about how high you hold your hands in the air whilst playing somebody else’s songs. The problem is, they have either lost interest or been lured into a false sense of security. Or they just aren’t aware of the industries demise.
The underground, the place where most great movements begin, is in real danger of being diminished to the point of being a part time hobby, and I know that as an artist I have chosen this as my life long profession.
I know I would be sad if my job became my hobby.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niGs2esnCjE&hl=en_US&fs=1]
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Luke began his proffesional DJ career in 1992 having practiced hard at his Friday night residency at Middlesex University student Union, where he met cohort Justin Harris. During this period he started working at a local Barnet record shop selling house music and soul music whilst holding down a part time job as a fishmonger. Following this his career within the industry was secured whence he got a job at Freetown, then home to Robert Owens, Felix the housecat,Jamie Principle and Masters at Work. This openned doors and led him to a long lasting relationship with Rob Mello and Kenny Hawkes, with hom he started his recording career and passion for live radio (Girls FM) respectively. Rob took Luke under his studio wing and taught him the ropes . Together they worked on productions for both Freetown and Prescription Underground. It was through the prescription owner Chez Damier,that he met a certain Mr Derrick L Carter. They immediately jelled due to their fascination with late nights and wild parties. From this Classic was born. The DJ’s record label, home to artists such as DJ Sneak,Isolee,Tiefshwarz and Greenskeepers. During this time Luke and Justin had also begun to devlop their own production team,”Freaks.” Recording for their own label Music for Freaks, they went to complete 3 studio albums, including within this, “the Man who lived underground, followed by a Top ten hit in the UK with the Creeps.
More recently Luke recorded his first longplayer “The Difference Engine” for Radioslave’s Rekids label.
Luke is currently in the process of setting up a new label under the moniker “Little Creatures.”
Luke has also finished his follow up the Difference Engine, entitled, “Timelines.”
NB: Don’t forget to search the categories for a whole host of free and exclusive goodies.
It’s taken me a while to get my head around digital promo culture.
I cherished the days of waiting to see what the postman had brought me.
I even built a special post box.
At the height of physical promo culture I probably recieved well over a hundred records a week. Out of those, there were on average 5 or 6 killer records, the rest went in the “Record and Tape Exchange” pile. This helped sustain my record buying habit, and was part of the whole ritual.
Now everything is digital, and quite honestly, I struggle with it. I feel like it has really devalued music, and in turn, the way I listen to it. Primarily on my shitty lap top speakers. But, what I have noticed, is that it has made me more critical. And with the excessive rubbish output of dance music these days, that’s really not a bad thing.
One of the main sources of dj promo is through a company called Fatdrop.
The method is simple, you listen, you rate, you comment, it then allows you to download.
You rate the record out of 5 by clicking the relevant stars. Now I may be mental, but this is important to me.
I follow a Halliwells method, I.e. A 5 star film is one that has to make an impact on the film industry and the cinema world as a whole.
So, for me to give a “dance” record 5 stars, well, it quite simply has to move me, inspire me, else change my musical world. Now the problem I then have is that in my world of dance music, it is quite rare that that happens as much as it used to. In most respects I have heard it before in one form or another.
But, quite recently, a friend sent me a track. First things first, the title intrigued me “Old Shamanic Ritual.” Right, cool title, this better be fucking good.
I pressed play and from the get go I knew I was listening to something special. The beat was new, but old, the moog sounds, the acid , just the vibe.
The record made by a certain DJ Onionz. Now for those in the know, they should know of Andrew, for those that don’t, the boys has a history and a pedigree, but this isn’t so much about that, but more about why it deserves 5 stars.
For me, it’s always about timing. Some records were just supposed to happen at certain times in my life. I use them as a time line, a significant blip that drops a marker . This has done just that. It bridges the gap between house and techno, it sounds both old, yet new .It carrys an Industrial quality, but all the while it feels musical. I don’t know, I guess it just ticks all the right boxes.
Now you may not feel the same, but that’s not the point, this is all about a feeling and a moment, and that’s just why I love it.
Old Shamanic Ritual by DJ Onionz is forthcoming on Electric Soul.
Hi,
I feel like I have been neglecting you.
It goes like this.
There is a parallel world that I live in. A world that involves getting things done for other people relative to schedules. This is the world of the music industry I don’t really care for. But, its a necessity and comes with the job.
What I am trying to say is that, I don’t get to do the things that i really love. Well thats not completely true. I’ll re-phrase that. I don’t get to do the things I really love doing, at my own pace.
Ultimately, I’ve been busy. Yippee for sorry old me. But busy is good though, I hear you say. Yes, busy is good. Busy can be fun in the world of creativity. This busy stuff has meant that I have completed a follow up to The Difference Engine. The new album is entitled ‘Timelines.” This is part 2 in a series of three. A more elaborate continuation of what i was trying to say in the last. It’s pretty vocal, and it’s pretty much an album about the end of the world in a “War of the Worlds” meets “Desperate Housewives,” kind of way. It has been fun making. It has been fun working with a stack of people. A stack of people that continuously make me feel like I am just winging it, as usual. They put me to shame.
The album has been mixed by Richard X’s right hand man, Peter Hoffman.
I always wanted this to be the case. I wanted to be the artist with the vision and let someone else tune the canvas. This has been a real ear opener for me.
On top of this, I have been working Manchester band, The Whip. This is still work in progress. More info on this soon.
And, I have finished a collaboration with Shinichi Osawa aka Mondo Grosso.
This has been wonderful, and the song will be featured on Shinichi’s new album.
That’s all for now. As usual, it’s all about me. But hey, ain’t that what this here is all about.
Lukatron aka The Greekness
Following a stream of emails has forced me to write a train of thought.
Can independent labels justify spending money on watermarking and ISP chasers .
I am intrigued to know if these companies really make a financial difference. Or is there another approach? True story . Big club record appears on torrent. Watermark traced back to A List Dj. A list DJ denies all knowledge. What then? DJ no longer a fan of said label, as Dj is now accused of being the route cause of label bootlegging . Label loses support of one of their key promotions people.
As for ISP chasers. Well this is the new Geffen approach to slapping the hand of offenders. But. We all know the age range of those highest offenders. 18. – 24 if you don’t. Chances are they live at home. Chances are , it’s their parents ISP. Where does that leave anyone.
Ultimately this all leads to ignorance, and where there is ignorance, there’s bliss. Educating people in the awareness that escapism requires money to be created, is the key route to all off the above issues.
Since writing this AIM are proposing a three strike option. 2 hand slaps and then finally reducing offenders bandwidth. This will allow them to use basic internet facility, but not download large files. This seems to be one of the most realistic ideas so far.
I am now officially part of the club.