2 artist stores launched on Cyber Monday

Today we pushed stores for SHEL and Gareth Dunlop out into the world. Both stores are powered by topspin on the backend and have some very cool offers and features.

SHEL’s store is a mixture of merch and music. Their feature offer is the ability to download all of their currently published songs (15) for $11.  We thought that was a great gift to the fans as well as a way to get introduced to their entire catalog if you are just discovering the girls.  They also have some very unique merch items including wrist cuffs made from vinyl records and the ability to buy the custom top hats they are known for.  See all their offers here

Gareth’s store is actually 3 stores.  Gareth has fans in the USA and all over Europe (including his native Northern Ireland).  We didn’t want fans to get hammered on exchanges rate (the dollar sucks right now) so there is a store for the US Dollar, the Pound Sterling and the Euro.  And the offers are geo-limited so that you can’t buy the US dollar offers in Europe and vice versa.  Check out garethdunlop.com and click the store button.

New theme for Auburn Moon

To coincide with a new school year we built a new theme for Auburn Moon Agency.  The theme is based off of the design of their new print advertising.  Be careful.  It’s bright!

Hush Hush – New video from South Jordan

SoJo has just posted a new video they recorded live in Hollywood.  Big deal you say?  Well the cool part is that they are giving fans a brand new song once the video gets to 2k views.  Do your part!

 

The Right Now set to record in with Orgone

I first heard Orgone about four years ago while hanging with a college buddy that loves deep groove funk and soul as well as West Coast label Ubiquity Records (Orgone’s label).  We listened to Orgone’s 2007 release Killion Floor and I was blown away. The record is a total party starter–ass-shaking beats galore, good songs, and even better musicianship. These guys can play.

The most striking aspect of Killion Floor is the production. Just like the music released by the Daptone label, Orgone’s records sound classic, straight out of the golden era of funk and soul (60s and 70s). They do a great job walking the line between retro and cutting edge.

Old school production isn’t enough to make a record great, though. The songs need to be there. Orgone’s got the goods on this front as well…even on the instrumental tracks (which is pretty dang hard to do. Ever since The Meters, bands have been trying and failing at it). Orgone avoids falling into the bro-funk jams by putting meaning behind every note, staying focused in their arrangements, and keeping the solos sparse. The core of the group has been together for 15 years and it shows.

The songs–sung by the tremendously talented Fanny Franklin–kill. This is what soul music is all about: great lyrics, dynamic phrasing, and hooks that get stuck in your head for days. “Who Knows Who” is my personal favorite:

So how do we get from me listening to an Orgone record in a friend’s basement to us flying out to LA in a week? Good old fashioned hard work…and Facebook. Seriously though, I think this story might be interesting to any musician interested in how to get what they want in today’s music business landscape.

I use Facebook in the same ways that most people do: to check in on friends, keep up with family, and waste a whole lot of time. For DIY musicians, however, Facebook can be a great networking and information-gathering tool. It would be damn near impossible to keep up with all the bands we’ve met, all the friends we’ve made, and all the fans we’ve gathered without FB. Sure I love hearing about my friend’s kid and what my 3rd grade crush is up to, but when I’m on Facebook I’m way more interested in what bands are doing: where they are touring, who they are playing with, what they are listening to.

During some FB browsing in June 2010, I noticed that Orgone was doing a last minute show in Chicago at Angels & Kings (a random place to play, no doubt). They spent years touring up and down the West Coast and this was their first venture east of the Rockies. Smillie and I met up, watched the Blackhawks win a Stanley Cup, and caught the Orgone show. Despite the small stage and low turnout, Orgone blew they roof off that joint. I stayed until the end of the night and introduced myself to a few of the guys and Fanny. I also gave Sergio a copy of Carry Me Home and my business card. That’s always an awkward moment–meeting a musician you admire and shoving a CD or card in their face. It’s easy to come off as over-eager, but luckily Sergio is a really chill dude and didn’t seem to mind.

At the end of that summer we got the chance to open for Orgone at Lincoln Hall. A solid piece of advice for musicians: when a band you admire rolls through your town, do what you can to get on the bill. It’s easier said than done, but it is invaluable for forming relationships with people. You get to hang before and after the show and, hopefully, they’ll catch your set and dig it.

Orgone got a spot on Rebelution’s winter tour, so they were back in Chicago in January 2011 at the House of Blues. Despite the cold temperatures and 7 p.m. start time, I decided to go to the show. It was a pretty hilarious scene: North Shore high school kids in lacrosse tank tops, wasted on Boone’s Farm and cheap beer by 6 p.m. on a Friday. Oy. Sergio and I hung out after the show and got to talking about making records. It was great to pick his brain about gear, techniques, and the records he loves. I also resolved to convince TRN that we  should drastically change our routing to Austin for SXSW in March. Instead of going from Kansas City to Austin, we’d come all the way back to Chicago to open for Orgone (and then turn right back around to go to Austin the next morning). Crazy, I know, but it turned out to be worth it.

After the March gig at Schubas, Sergio told me that he’d love to record TRN at his studio in LA. It seemed like a great idea but pretty impractical. How could we get all of us out to LA affordably? Like a lot of things with this band, we resolved to make it work. That’s what I love about how we do this whole band thing.

A one off to Philly to play at the legendary World Cafe Live? We’re in.

Drive 6 hours on a Sunday to open for George Clinton? Sure.

Save every penny we earn to make a record in a legit studio? Done.

We haven’t even cut this record yet, but I’m already pretty damn proud of this band. I’ve also resolved to believe Smicks when he thinks big.

FROM THE RIGHT NOW’S BLOG

Our 1st 360 client project

The company’s 1st total overhaul project is to re-brand all of the web properties of the band SHEL. This includes a new website, a youtube background, a twitter background and a couple of custom tabs on facebook.

The site was designed using sitegrinder. Anyone who has a graphical versus a web design background who wants to build sites should invest in this product. It is a photoshop plug-in to automates the process of taking a psd file to a website. And they recently added direct support for creating wordpress themes.

Taking control of their web presence also included using two of our other preferred partners – topspin and artistdata. All of the band’s media assets (email collection, audio players, video players) are topspin widgets. Artistdata allows you to post all of your show data in one place and it will populate facebook and myspace with the events. You can also have it sent out tweets and/or facebook messages when you add shows and send show reminders.

We are excited about moving on to the next phase of our work with SHEL