Sam Wegman [Video]

This is something a little closer to home. At my university, the University of Portland, we have a lot of on campus musicians. One of the more prominent musicians is Sam Wegman, a junior business major, from Seattle, Wash. Recently I was able to visit his house, interview him and listen to him play a one of his songs acoustically. See below to watch the interview and a clip of his new song "A Riddle".

More from this session:
Full Interview
"A Riddle" by Sam Wegman

Frank DeFeliccia [Interview]

Knowing how much some close friends of mine love music I decided to interview one of them. My friend Frank DeFelicca, who I mentioned introduced me to the band Faded Paper Figures, let me interview him. In this interview I ask him about his love for music, some of his favorite music, and what new music he recommends.

FROM THE GROUND DOWN: Why do you love music?
FRANK DEFELICCIA: Music is a release. It seems to be a way for people to express emotions in a way that they can never do in everyday life.

FTGD: What type of emotions do you mean?
FD: Any kind of emotion that somebody has because a lot of times people have emotions bottled up inside of them. They all have a way of getting it out. Some people choose music.

FTGD: Who is your favorite band or musician? Why?
FD: Well, Sum 41, just because they’re music is extremely relatable. You can listen to their songs and listen to the lyrics and understand where their lead singer [Deryck Whibley] is coming form. You can feel all the emotions in their music.

FTGD: Has any of their music related to your life? If so, what song(s) in particular?
FD: Asking to pick one song is impossible.

FTGD: Why is it impossible?
FD: It just seems that all of their recent work, like Screaming Bloody Murder, Underclass Hero and Chuck, the songs just remind me of different aspects of my life. It’s kind of nice when I am feeling certain way and I am not sure how to put words to it and I can find a song that can describe exactly how I feel.

FTGD: Are you able to pick your favorite song form the band? If so, which is it and why?
FD: “Pieces”, a hundred percent completely hands down. The song talks about somebody who tries to be a different person to everybody around them to gain acceptance. They never take the time to try and consider who they are from their own point of view. They never try to be happy for themselves. They only make the effort to please other people.

FTGD: Can you relate to this?
FD: For me personally, I spent a majority of my life trying to do things for other people, doing things to make other people happy, rather than to try and do things to make myself happy.

FTGD: Switching gears from your favorite band, is there any new music you have been listening to lately?
FD: Let me think. I’d have to say that I’ve been listening to a wide variety of music that just jumps from genre to genre

FTGD: Any bands you are particularly interested in of that new music.
FD: Mumford and Sons, Panic! At The Disco, The Starting Line, Starfucker. It’s just completely random.

FTGD: With your love of music, do you happen to make your own?
FD: I’ve only experimented before with writing songs, but only recently have I decided to seriously pursue writing music. I’m in the process of writing my first album.

FTGD: What genre your first album be? What do you hope it to sound like?
FD: It definitely has to have some punk in it. Maybe if it goes a little dark that will be fine as long as it still stays true to punk.

FTGD: Do you intend to record this album for others to hear?
FD: If I have the opportunity I would love to.

FTGD: Some musicians do not put their music out under their own name and use a band name instead. Would you be doing the same?
FD: Not a band name per se, but I would definitely have to use a stage name. With how difficult and how often mispronounced my last name is, I think I have no choice but to take a stage name.

FTGD: Lastly, what band or musician do you wish more people knew about? And what is one thing you wish more people knew about music?
FD: The Superjesus. They’re a former Australian rock band who never really got notoriety outside of Australia. [I wish more people knew] That music is something that is undefined, even though it has notes, people can play it, the thing is that it can take on any form that people choose. It is not limited to just one thing.

FTGD: Thanks for letting me interview you.
FD: No problem.

An Introduction To A Record Label

What is a record label? This a question that I have heard from many people before. In my record label profile on Sub Pop Records, my friend Steven commented, "Great to finally put a name to the label behind Nirvana's early work and The Postal Service!" Reading this I thought, not many people know what a record label actually is.

Not many people know who is behind all of the albums they love. There are certain times when a band or an artists self-releases an album of theirs but that is usually early on in their careers. As they grow to notoriety the are able to release their albums on a record label.

A record label, as Wikipedia states, is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Urban Dictionary says a record label specializes in manufacturing, distributing and promoting audio and video recordings, on various formats. Dictionary.com states a record label is a company that produces and sells records, CDs, and recordings.

Which of these are right? Well all of them. A record label producers, manufactures, and distributes music. But not all record labels are the same. There are two categories of record labels: major and independent.

A major record label is a large corporation managed by a parent company. There currently are four big major labels: Sony Music Entertainment, EMI Group, Warner Music Group, and Universal Music Group. These labels are parent companies. Warner Music Group for example is the umbrella company for the Atlantic Records Group which is then the parent company for Fueled By Ramen Records.

A independent record label is one that does not have the financial and corporate backing of a major label. An example of an independent record label is the label Steven commended, Sub Pop Records, Saddle Creek Records, and Equal Vision Records.

These labels are the "men behind the music". They do not take part in making a band's music but are able to give it direction. This is the case with some major record labels. These overarching companies for bands are what give them funding for their albums, tours, merchandise, and other promotional tools.

I wish more people knew what a record label actually was. In my dorm room there are three different people in here, excluding me, and only one of them knew exactly what a record label was. My roommate Chanel was part of this group and knew what a record label was from a structural standpoint and exactly what they did in the music industry. I asked the people in my dorm if they knew what the two types of record labels and they did not.

The idea of a record label is vague to those who are not in the middle of the music industry. Knowing what a record label is can help in knowing where some of the money that is spent on band's merchandise and ticket sales are going. As Steven said it is "Great to finally put a name to the label..." If only more people were seeking this information or already knew what it was.

Profile: Sub Pop Records

Record label: Sub Pop Records
Origin: Seattle, Washington
Founded: 1986

Sub Pop Records is an independent record label with acts from the indie, alternative, and rock genres. The label was founded by Bruce Pavitt and Jonathan Poneman. They rose to fame when they signed Nirvana and Soundgarden. Nirvana's album Bleach, the band's first album, has gone platinum gaining the label commercial success.

Since then a number of their artists have had successful records. Flight Of The Conchord's self-titled album has gone platinum and The Postal Service's Give Up and The Shins Wincing The Night Away have both gone gold.

The label started as a fanzine called Subterranean Pop by Pavitt while has was attending Evergreen State College in Olympia,Washington. The fanzine was shortened to Sub Pop on it's fourth issue. After the ninth issue Pavitt stopped publishing the fanzine. In1986 when the record label started he started releasing compilations from underground rock bands.

In 1996 Pavitt and Poneman had disagreements about the future direction of the record label resulting in Pavitt leaving and being able to spend more time with his family. Pavitt and Poneman did not speak for seven years after the disagreements.

2006 marked the year Sub Pop became the first Green-e certified record label. The following year the label started a sister label Hardly Art. The imprint label's unofficial motto is "Quality records for quality people since very recently."

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I love this record label. I listen to many of the artists that are signed to the label. Sometimes I will find new music I like through the label and other times I will find new music and realize they are signed to Sub Pop. I find the artists to be an eclectic group of independent artists.

Some of my favorites from this label are: Iron & Wine, The Shins, Band Of Horses, Vetiver, The Album Leaf, and Fleet Foxes.

I've Been Persuaded... Faded Paper Figures

 (c) Faded Paper Figures

Mellow, indie, electronica, pop, experimental and soft. These are all types of music that I like, but I would never expect to find a band with these qualities from someone else. I am usually the one of my friends who gives everyone else music. I had given my friend Frank over thirty different artists since I had met him earlier this year and it surprised me when he introduced me to a band I had never heard of.

He introduced me to Faded Paper Figures, an indie pop electronica band originally from Irvine, California. The band formed in 2007 and has had some changes to the way they make music as some of the band’s members have moved across the country. The band continues to write and record all of their music bi-coastally.

I did not know their story when I first heard of them. I did not even know what album the songs I was listening to were from as Frank’s iPod does not have the album listed. I had only listened to them because Frank compared them to the band Starfucker, who we both enjoy.

After hearing them and immediately liking them I decided to hear more of their music and finally find out their album titles. Their album Dynamo was released in July of 2008. They had one video produced for the song “Metropolis”. In May of 2010 their second album New Medium was released.

The band has gained some awards in their career as well. Their song “Being There”, off of Dynamo, won Best Song of the Year in the UC Irvine Songwriting Contest. They were chosen as the Best Electronic live band by the OC Music Awards in 2009 and were declared one of the New York Post's "must have" new music of 2009. They also had a few song featured in the ABC show Grey’s Anatomy and the snowboard film Isenseven.

I was attracted to this band because they were a soft electronica band. Their vocalists John Williams and Heather Alden have soft melodic voice that pair well together against multi-instrumentalist Kael Alden’s compositions.

I plan to follow this band as it continues to grow and work from different coasts of the United States. I know I will keep up with this band’s music but it might just be my friend Frank who keeps me up to date on them. That is fine though because I have thirty plus artists to help him follow.

A point of advice: Even if you think you are great at finding all of the music you like do not hesitate to accept recommendations from your friends.

Recommended song: “Metropolis”, “North By North”, “The Cold Wars”, “The Persuaded”, and “Future Self”

Friday Flashbacks

Like the iTunes Indie Shuffles, I have decided to showcase some older music on certain Fridays, called "Friday Flashbacks". I will not do it every Friday, but sometimes I will if the right band comes up. I have four in mind currently. The one for today is The Academy Is...

The Academy Is... are rock a band from Chicago, Illinois. They formed in 2003 and have released three full length albums. They also have four EP's as well. Of their albums my favorite is their first album entitled "Almost Here". This was the first I had heard of the band and have always liked this album. Unfortunately, I have not followed their music since this album. Though, the songs I have heard from their subsequent albums have not interested me. So going back... there first album seems appropriate to talk about.

The album, released in February of 2005, consists of ten tracks. The three singles from the album are "Checkmarks", "Slow Down" and "The Phrase That Pays". All of the songs from the album were written by lead vocalist William Beckett and rhythm guitarist Mike Carden. Their song "Down and Out" was solely written by Beckett. Beckett also wrote all of the lyrics for the album. This album, as their others, has been released through Fueled By Ramen records, a record label based in New York City but founded in Gainsville, Florida.

I recommend this band to people who like rock music. The band states their genre is "Emo / Indie / Rock" on their MySpace. This band is recommended if you like Fall Out Boy, Midtown, or This Providence. These are some of the similar artists listed on their Last.fm profile. If you want to get into this band I would suggest starting with this album, "Almost Here", and then experiencing their newer music. They have a good natural progression in their sound. If you would like to learn more about the band you can check out their official website.

Recommended songs: "Classifieds", "Almost Here", and "Down and Out".

iTunes Indie Shuffle

This week I decided to do something a little different. I am calling it "iTunes Indie Shuffle." I have over 6,000 songs on my iTunes and most of them are from independent bands. I have had friends come to me for new music and realize they have not even heard of half of the music on my iTunes. So I decided to put my extensive and growing collection of music to good use. I put my iTunes on shuffle and the first band independent band to come up I would write about.

So drum roll... The first band of the shuffle is The Rocket Summer.

In later posts, as these "shuffles" will be back, the band name will be in the title of the post but I decided to leave the suspense up with this one.

Upon putting my iTunes on shuffle, out of my six thousand songs I thought it might just find some obscure band I have a few songs. It played "Walls" by The Rocket Summer, the project of Bryce Avary from Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. I actually have all of the releases from the band as well. Somehow my iTunes does not always shuffle onto music I have more of.

Back to The Rocket Summer... They are an alternative, rock and pop band. Their music has catchy hooks and meaningful lyrics. Avary, the lead vocalist, guitarist, and pianist, also plays bass and drums. He has played every instrument on all of his albums and co-produced them as well. The Rocket Summer has released four full length albums and five EP's.

The band's most recent album is "Of Men and Angels", released in February of 2010. They also released an EP of five b-sides which did not make the cut for the album in October of the same year. There are three singles from the album, "You Gotta Believe", "Hills and Valleys" and "Walls".

Currently, Avary has been focused on touring and writing for others. He was recently approached by several platinum-selling artists who have asked him to help write songs for their upcoming albums. He helped co-write the song "Stomping The Roses", a song by David Archuleta of American Idol fame.

It is always good to listen to The Rocket Summer. It is "feel good" music to me. I am glad this is what came up first when I put my iTunes on shuffle. I did not expect it come up but it was a good unexpected moment. I hope the next shuffle artist makes me this happy.

To hear more from The Rocket summer see their official website or their MySpace page.