I don’t watch TV-but I LOL when I saw this commercial on you tube. Great stuff-& all on 1 take (57 times but still…)! I also saw a clip on the making of it & the only part that is computer generated is the diamonds part.
-I took part in the filming of a scene for the movie “Rise Up & Fall” by Hewitt Films. I met Brian a year ago when we were both in a scene for Ron Bonk’s movie “Ms. Cannibal Holocaust.” He said he wanted to include me in his film involving drug loads in Upstate NY & I said sure. I play the part of a bodyguard for one of the drug bosses. No lines here-I was just told to look menacing-like I wanted to kill someone. The cast for this scene included
-Brian Hewitt
-Anwar Armstrong
-Dan LaManna
-Doc Loveless
-Doobie
-Alvin Doogle
-and me!
-We shot the scenes at Diamond Dolls in Syracuse, NY. Took about 3 hours to do. It was fun and everyone did a great job-I was honored to be asked to be included in this. I have some more scenes to be in for this & I’ll be adding them up here as they come. I’ll get back to labeling the pics later cause I now have to go to work! (!!)
-Brian also has Rise Up & Fall as a TV series & you can check out the flavor of all this by going to HEWITT FILMS ON YOU TUBE
-Thanks Brian for the opportunity and it was a please to work w/ all of you.
BAND PRIMER-MAY 2010
VIDEO SHOOTS-PT.1
-Hi everyone! Since my band CAROLINE BLUE is in the process of shooting music videos for songs off of our “Not For The Innocent” CD, I thought I’d share a few things in regards to this.
-Back in the days when MTV actually played music videos 24/7, it seemed like a dream for a band to have a music video made. Costs for a 3 minute video could easily rise to $15-30,000 or more & you needed an actual filming company and/or studio to make it. Today, prices have come down drastically & it can all be filmed by home camcorders & edited on your computer. What’s popular as of late are small camcorders w/ some editing capability. For less than $200 you could film a band live, tweak it a little and have it up on your site and/or You Tube by the end of the day. Not bad! Course, if you’re going for a more polished video there’s more involved…
-One of the main reason why costs have come down is the digital format. Each digital media has a time line on it. This applies to both video & audio. With this being in place, it’s a lot easier for someone to edit parts around. The base line is the same so, depending on the program used, you can just move stuff around via the time lines. This is a simplified explanation of the process. If you were to do this via analog format, the process takes much longer because there’s no time line to use as a basis. Remember the stories of engineers having to cut analog tape w/ razor blades back in the day? Digital makes editing so much easier in that sense.
-There are 2 basic ways to film a music video-you can either perform the music live or you can lip sync to a pre-recorded track. There are advantages/disadvantages to both. If you shoot while performing live, it’s best to have at least 3 camcorders running at the same time-unless you have someone who’s really good with editing and/or filming. The reason why is no matter how many times you play the song live, there will always be some change involved. Maybe the song’s tempo was slower on the 3rd take or the bassist made a mistake here, or the drummer played something different here, etc. This makes editing harder because if things aren’t in sync, then the person editing has to make it so-which takes more time-which costs more money (mistakes are obviously edited out). With lip syncing, that problem is eliminated because the music will be the same each time. In addition, if performing live & you have multiple camcorders running, you won’t have to film as many takes. One of the most important things when filming is the angle of the shot. A great angle can make or break a shot. If you have multiple camcorders, each one can focus on an individual band member. Let’s say the band performs their song & it’s hot. Even if no other take comes close, you at least have 3 different angles with the same audio track-and it’s amazing how having different angles can create the illusion of movement in a video. You could make a pretty decent video just with that.
-More video shoot info next month!
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BAND PRIMER
MARCH 2010
BAND CONTRACTS
-Hiya! Hope everyone is having a great 2010 so far! This is a continuation of last months article on starting a band that writes/performs their own material. While the following can also apply to cover bands to a degree, it’s more important with original bands. Cover bands, in this aspect, have things a little easier cause they’re mainly covering other peoples songs-hence being a “cover band.” Things become more complicated when in a band doing your own stuff.
-This subject always makes people feel uneasy. Think about it. If a friend of yours presented you w/ a band contract to sign, for most people, their 1st reaction is “What-you don’t trust me?” It can potentially cause some bruised feelings. However, in this aspect, you have to look at it as a business. And it’s always best to have people agree & sign stuff when things are going good. If things are going bad & you try to do this-you might as well forget it so it’s always good to get this out of the way 1st. If things go bad or worse, get ugly, you’ll be glad you did.
-A band contract can be simple-or very complex. You can hire an entertainment lawyer (no-not Bob the real estate lawyer) to make one up for you or get an up to date book that has forms in it. You can even get copies on the web. I’ve seen band contracts as short as 1 page and as long as 12+. The ones I have w/ my band are only 1-2 pages long.
-One of the 1st things in it should be who owns the name &/or logo and it’s usage. This ex. has happened to 2 bands that I know of in the Syracuse area. A band is formed with one guy doing a good chunk of the work (which-BTW-is common). He comes up w/ the name & logo and works his butt off to make things happen for the band. Time goes on & people get replaced. Eventually he’s the only original member. Then he gets kicked out of the band he formed & they carry on-with the same name & logos. Or how about having a former member of the band form another band & use the same name. How would you feel if all this happened to you?
-Another thing you can use band contracts for is to determine what happens to any money the band makes and, if equipment was bought w/ that money-what happens with that. You put a ton of work into a band that makes a lot of money & buys a full lights/PA system. Then you leave for whatever reason yet the band is still going on. Or worse, same scenario but you’re kicked out & things are getting ugly-all that money down the drain?
-Another use-rights to use songs. Song writing will be on other articles, but basically, if you co-wrote a song, you don’t have to worry too much about this. However, what if your most popular song (s) was/were written by the guy who’s getting kicked out of the band because he had an affair w/ your girlfriend (or one of many other reasons)?
-It’s really no different that a prenup. No one wants things to go bad & everyone is on great terms in the beginning. But fame, money, ego, sex, new relationships-all these & more can change people and their thinking over time.I have people who I’ve known for over 15+ years sign contracts.Most pro bands do this-why not you?
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-This is a concept (lip sync) music video from Caroline Blue for the song “Pain.” It was filmed in February 2010 at The Gear Factory in Syracuse, NY. Concept by WWJ. Filmed & edited by acclaimed film maker Ron Bonk ( “Clay”, “Ms. Cannibal Holocaust”). “Pain” is from the CAROLINE BLUE CD “Not For The Innocent.” © 2007 WWJ Productions (ASCAP)
BAND PRIMER-FEBRUARY 2010
STARTING A BAND THAT WRITES/PERFORMS THEIR OWN SONGS-PT.1
-I hope everyone is off to a great 2010! The last couple articles have been on advice/suggestions for starting a cover band. Now we’re going to the other side-to bands that want to write & perform their own material AKA “original bands.”
-As in starting a cover band, you need to have a strong foundation-& that starts w/ the band members. It’s very important to be specific in what you’re looking for. It may take longer this way, but it’s also less of a time waster. Example-years ago I was looking for a drummer for my band CAROLINE BLUE. I put an ad out in the paper & received about 11 calls.1-2 were into the style of music CB is-most of them were blues &/or classic rock players. Be specific so when you do get a response, you already have some common ground-the more the better.
-Like most types of bands, when you get someone who might work, one of the 1st things you do is set up a jam session to see how good the person is-as well as seeing how the vibe/chemistry is. As important as skill/ability is, just as important is attitude-if not more so. You need to know if you can get along with this person. Communication is very important for any type of band. Don’t forget that he or she is also auditioning you as well. The type of music the person plays is a factor too, but not as much as a cover band per say. Example-a cover band that does jazz interpretations of Metallica tunes probably won’t go over well in a cover market-most people want to hear the CD versions-not someone’s interpretation of it. However,in doing your own stuff-that could be your “style”.
-It can take a long time to find the right people to fill out a band. There are other options though. Many bands consist of 1-2 people who play all the instruments & their main thing is creating their own music & recording it. Nothing wrong with that-in fact, there have been times when CAROLINE BLUE had only 1 member in it-and that was me. Our last CD, “Not For The Innocent.” had me hiring a drummer to play on the tracks. The rest of it-with the exception of a gang vocal on 1 song-was all me. Another way is to have one person doing the above-and then hiring a “live” band to play out the material. I’ve done this with CB as well & both subjects will be discussed in more detail in future articles.
-See you all next month!
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BAND PRIMER
JANUARY 2010
PLAYING POPULAR COVER SONGS VS. LESS POPULAR/OBSCURE SONGS
-Hiya-hope everyone had a great Christmas! Last month I talked about how some musicians don’t have a problem playing popular covers-as long as they’re at least 10-15+ years old. Now comes the next part-musicians who are in cover bands, but who can’t stomach playing popular cover songs. You hear things like “selling out”, “integrity” & more in these discussions. Some are such that anything deemed popular makes them want to puke. So what happens if you’re in a cover band & you have this situation?
-First, you have to go back to what the band is all about & what are it’s goals. Cover bands are formed for a number of reasons-to make money (usually the most popular), to have fun, to help you get laid, to have an excuse to party, to live out your Guitar Hero/Rock Band aspirations, etc. All are valid. If a cover band is formed for reasons besides making money, it usually doesn’t matter what is being played per say. Those bands are into having fun & if there’s money involved-that’s a bonus. They don’t mind not playing out much in clubs because they’re jammin in their practice rooms, garages, etc.
-However, if one of the primary goals is to make money, then you have to start thinking about business. While it’s great if a bar/club owner likes you &/or your music, the bottom line is-are you helping them make money via ticket and/or drink sales? If so-great. If not-you won’t be playing that place for long. In general, Joe Public (JP) likes to hear songs that they are familiar with. Remember the jukebox analogy from last month? JP usually just wants to unwind from the work week & party. JP usually is not in a mood to be exposed to new stuff-especially in large doses. Yes, there are exceptions to all of this but, in general, you’re a jukebox. Popular means appealing to a large number of people. Play covers that are popular and chances increase that you’ll play to more people. If you play covers that are hardly well known except to a few, you might as well play originals IMHO.
-Of course, there are other factors involved. We’ve all seen bands that play a very hot cover, but don’t have the ability to pull it off. Sometimes that’s OK-per say-because people are basically replaying it in their heads so as long as you don’t make any major mistakes, it’s usually OK (not to the musicians in the crowd though-they’ll pick up on every mistake-usually). And what about songs that every cover band is playing? Like anything else, over exposure can lead to lessening the impact. In this case, what usually happens is the top cover bands still get great reactions from the hot covers, while the lesser known/popular bands get a lesser response. One way to help overcome that is to play in new areas..
-Also, you’ll have people who just don’t like songs by popular artists. And that’s fine. Bottom line-there’s basically 2 ways to deal with this. #1-compromise. The ‘if we play this song we play this song” deal. This also helps everyone feel more involved. And #2-change members. You have to get along-constant bickering will increase tensions & problems which, unchecked, will lead to breakups.
Next month-I’ll start into original bands. Happy 2010 to you all!
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WAYNE W. JOHNSON 