LAUNCH Music Conference Coming To Lancaster In April

For Jeremy Weiss and Rick Gadd – two figureheads in Central PA’s music scene – it was obvious that there simply weren’t enough resources out there for young and developing bands looking to truly learn about the inner workings of the music industry. 
 
“A lot of these bands have the talent and the drive, but they don’t always know where to go with it,” explains Weiss, a veteran of the business for over 20 years. “We wanted to create an environment that had something for everyone, from entertainment to instructional seminars.” Enter the LAUNCH Music Conference – the first and only music conference of its kind in Central PA. 
 
Unlike many other music conferences, LAUNCH separates itself from the rest of the pack by virtue of the major emphasis being placed on the instructional aspect, as well as the founders’ ability to bring in many of the well-known, respected and influential people with whom they have enjoyed longstanding relationships and work with on a weekly basis – booking agents, managers, musicians and more, all of whom are active and relevant in today’s scene.

“I attend a lot of music conferences, and one thing that I’m generally struck by is that many of the people that the conference organizers have brought in to speak are folks who no longer work in the industry, and haven’t for many years,” says Weiss. “This is an industry that has changed a lot in the last few years, and many of these people – while I’m sure they had great successes in their careers – aren’t qualified to talk about the current state of the industry! One thing that will really set LAUNCH apart is the caliber and diversity of the industry professionals we are bringing in to speak, all of whom are currently actively engaged in the music industry.” 

LAUNCH has already confirmed panelists from many of the bigger booking agencies and management companies in modern music, as well as a slew of other industry professionals with differing backgrounds. The chance to hear these folks speak – as well as the opportunity to interact with them – is what makes LAUNCH an integral experience for young and developing musicians.
 
In addition to access to the panels and the panelists themselves, attendees of LAUNCH will be able to check out over 150 showcasing artists of all different genres at several venues located around the hub of LAUNCH, The Brunswick Hotel in downtown Lancaster. Showcasing acts have submitted from all over the country to perform at Launch. Each night of LAUNCH will be capped with national headlining acts appearing at the Chameleon Club.

 The LAUNCH Music Conference will take place at the Hotel Brunswick April 16-19, 2009.

For more information, please visit: www.launchmusicconference.com

“Rock Band 2″ And Smooth Editing Make Jellybricks’ “Ruin Us” First Clever Viral Video of ‘09

The Jellybricks are making some national news with “the first truly clever viral music video of 2009” according to Rolling Stone.

From the Rolling Stone aticle:

Confronted with the task of thinking up a low-budget video concept for the first single off their new album, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania guitar-pop band the Jellybricks found inspiration in a hobby they shared with tens of millions of music-loving Americans: Rock Band 2. After countless hours of playing, editing and meticulously sculpting their polygonal doppelgangers into the game, the end result for the Jellybricks’ “Ruin Us” is the first truly clever viral music video of 2009.

“As a band, after rehearsals, we sometimes get together and play Rock Band, and I was just noticing the camera angles and the shots that are used, that we can make characters that kind of look like us. There’s these great sets in the game, it just looked really cool,” bassist-singer Garrick Chow tells Rock Daily. “Instead of taking cameras out into the Pennsylvania winter trying to figure out a video, we basically spent a week playing the game, capturing it in my computer and trying to edit it all together to make it look like we’re actually playing the song.”

The final product is edited so well, you’d never even notice that the band’s song is really just playing over Rock Band 2 tracks by Oasis and the Smashing Pumpkins. “It was time-consuming, I spent four of five hours a night for a week combing through about six hours of game play, trying to find vocals that match up. I’d go through the list of songs in the game and try to find tracks that are similar in tempo or have lyrics that kind of match up with ours, especially the long-held-out syllables,” Chow says. “It was difficult, but when it matched up it was like ‘That’s so cool, he’s singing it!’ ” For instance, the snare roll in the Smashing Pumpkins’ “Today” matched up similarly to “Ruin Us,” but as the Jellybricks’ song has a faster tempo, Chow increased the speed of the “Today” clip during editing.

“The response has been overwhelmingly great,” Chow says, but adds, “Of course, hard-core gamers who are really into the game criticize that the score keeps going up and down.”

Despite the band’s “special agreement with the creators of Rock Band 2” — “We agreed to pay money in return for a copy of the game” — the ‘Bricks didn’t exactly get permission to make the video, but Chow says, “If you do a search for Rock Band or Guitar Hero on YouTube, you’re going to find tens of thousands of people who are uploading content from the game. It’s just that we have done something different.” If the video hits it big, is there a possibility we could be seeing “Ruin Us” on a future RB2 expansion pack? “Almost more than getting a record contract, I’d love to have a song in Rock Band, officially,” Chow says. The Jellybricks’ new album Goodnight to Everyone is out on digital music services now.

Daniel Kreps

You can read the article on RollingStone.com, or go directly to the video on YouTube.  The band’s website is TheJellybricks.com.

Pan.a.ce.a will be opening for Hinder

3/13/09 Just announced – Local hard rock powerhouse, Pan.a.ce.a, will be opening the Hinder show on Friday, March 20^th at the Kingston Armory in Kingston, PA (near Wilkes-Barre). 

Pan.a.ce.a is celebrating the release of All or Nothing (2009), which came out on February 17^th and is already a top seller in Northeastern-PA.  Several in-store appearances are being planned at regional FYE and Gallery of Sound locations, including an acoustic performance at the FYE in the Schuylkill Mall in Frackville the day after the Hinder show (March 21^st at 1pm).  Radio exposure is also increasing – just yesterday the band was involved in live remotes with 979X (WBSX Wilkes-Barre) in the afternoon and T102 (WAVT Pottsville) in the evening. 

For more info on the show, go to http://calendar.wilkes.edu/main.php?view=event&eventid=1234377118682. 

Hinder’s triple platinum debut album, Extreme Behavior, sold over three million copies and featured fan favorites “Lips of an Angel,” and “Better than Me”. Their newest album, Take It to the Limit, has been widely received by college students with the hit single “Without You”.  

Tickets for Hinder are $18

RIP John Marshall of Psycho Bettie

From the band website

“Some of you may already know, but to those of you that don’t, our lead singer, John Marshall, passed away today. Please respect the privacy of his family, friends, and band mates as we go through this difficult time. We will miss you John, Heaven has another rock star now. R.I.P. “

Psycho Bettie My Space page http://www.myspace.com/psychobettie94

The Mint gets music licence deal

LANCASTER, PA, – Independent recording artists, THE MINT, has licensed all songs from their first full-length, self-produced CD entitled “Love is Vapor,” to select network television programs.

Through Tinderbox Music, a Minneapolis, MN based music licensing firm, The Mint signed licensing agreements with Road Rules (MTV), Real World (MTV), RR/RW Extreme Challenges (MTV), The Hills (MTV), Newport Harbor (MTV), My Super Sweet 16 (MTV), Human Giant (MTV), Bad Girls Club (Oxygen), and America’s Psychic Challenge (Lifetime).

“It’s very rewarding to know that a network like MTV is recognizing the band’s talents and music by placing songs on some of their most popular shows,” said the band’s manager, Sovanna Mam.  “The potential exposure is incredible.”

Lead singer, Jon Decker added “It’s strange and surreal that next time you see a spoiled teenager planning their party, our songs could be playing in the background.”  Decker is referring to the hit MTV show, My Super Sweet 16, where wealthy teenagers plan their own elaborate birthday parties.

The Mint, a four-piece rock band from Lancaster, PA, released their first full-length CD “Love is Vapor,” in July 2007 to college radio and managed to get 250+ stations adding songs to their rotation.  The success of their radio promotions helped land them performances with bands like Lifehouse (Geffen), and Fiction Plane (Warner).  Their songs have been featured on shows on XM Radio, WQXA Harrisburg, WXPN Philadelphia and Radio 104.5fm Philadelphia. 

“Love is Vapor” is currently available on iTunes and through the band’s website at www.themintonline.com.

Herbie CD Release Party – March 8th

Mark your calendars for the LEFT OF CENTER CD RELEASE PARTY…

Saturday, March 8 at Appalachian Brewing Co.  Doors open at 9pm.  Herbie is planning on a few surprises for the occasion, so you definitely should plan on attending the event!

The Masquerade changes name

The Masquerade has changed their name to The Burn. The band states “We felt that with all the member changes and slight change in sound that it was time to change the name of the band. Not an easy decison but we felt the name The Burn fit all of our personalities the best.” Check out their new My Space page at www.myspace.com/theburnrnr

Salvation Army Benefit – Nov. 25th

Each year, Black Thorn Entertainment hosts their annual benefit concert to aid the Salvation Army.

This year’s event will be held on Sunday, November 25th, 2008, in the Comedy Zone at Doc Holliday’s in New Cumberland. From 1:00 – 8:00 pm, six bands will donate their time and energy in an attempt to raise funds for the Salvation Army.

 Admission is just a $5.00 donation or a new (unwrapped) toy.
Bands performing include SOS, Slim 6, No Risk, The Red Velvet Girls, Sugarcoat, and Fortress.

There will also be a silent auction during the event with lots of cool items to bid on. The show is hosted by Black Thorn Entertainment, Origivation Magazine, and OSH Radio; with supporting sponsors, Guitar Center, Neill Funeral Home(s) & Rolling Green Cemetery, Hbg Online, and Affordable Sound, Co.

If you aren’t able to make the event but would still like to contribute, you can do so by sending your monetary donations; made payable to The Salvation Army, to BTE, PO Box 426, Mechanicsburg, PA 17055

Final Spotus Show Nov. 21st

Spotus will perform their final show Nov. 21st at ABC in Harrisburg.  Show starts at 10pm.  Spotus invites all their fans, friends and everyone else to the final show. 

MMC 12 extends band submission deadline

MMC12 band submissions has been extended till Dec. 7th.  Interested bands can go to www.mmc12.com for more info.

 MMC12 will take place Feb. 14th – 17th, 2008 at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel and various venues around the Harrisburg area.