Urb’l Remedy will be…

+bringing you mostly music features, but style and social causes will also be highlighted.  (music + style + causes)

+all entertainment, no gossip.

+all original, no filler.

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Urb’l Remedy debuts next Monday, August 13, 2012!

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MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 12. SALVO LOTTO Interview

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

12. SALVO LOTTO Interview
The Year 3 Number 12 spot goes to SALVO.  ATX in the house again!  Represent! Represent!  Like NYC-based Sariah at Number 12 before her, this rank is impressive because this interview only went live on Tuesday, August 9, 2011.

Interesting also because I wasn’t sure if both of our schedules were going to allow this interview to see the light of the day, but SALVO got it to me and I posted it!  And here it is at Number 12.  Not too shabby!  Shows that SALVO’s got mad support from her peeps.

The LOTTO Interview is a variation of THE REAL popolio pop quiz interview.  I created it for a stint as a weekly music columnist at Zubterrain, e-zine of Zonisphere Media Group, based in New York, which is now on a hiatus due to a site overhaul.   I brought my LOTTO format over to popolio and started using it a bit.

I wanted something standardized, but that would allow for more variability in and the interpretation of  those questions, the answers, and the order of the questions.  I also wanted more of a balance in the mix of the type of questions.   As I created my 100 list of questions, I made sure everyone other question was a musical question and tried to balance the fun ones with serious and pop cultural ones.

This is only the second LOTTO Interview to make the Year 3 countdown.  The first featured another ATX-based band, Feedback, who tied with a BB Gun Johnny pop quiz at Number 28.

See the original post here — LOTTO Interview:  SALVO — ATX .  It includes a video of a live  SALVO benefit performance.

See all the LOTTO Interviews here.

See all my posts (including the original LOTTO Interviews) at my music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, here.

LOTTO Interview: Alison Clancy

Editor’s Note:  Zonisphere Media Group, home of the e-zine, Zubterrain, where my weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, lived, continues to undergo a site overhaul, indefinitely.  So, my column is currently halted.  I finished out my June posts here at THE REAL popolio.

My articles normally went live on Tuesdays. I thought I was done for the meantime, but I have a few outstanding.  Since this was in flux and submitted by the artist, I think it deserves to see the light of day.  This is the last pending LOTTO Interview.  I would have posted this on Tuesday, but there’s been a lot going on in September and I’ve gotten a little behind.  See the other LOTTO Interview that was pending featuring the ATX’s SALVO here.

That said, I normally had a Cause of the Month interview that kicked things off the first week of each month.  Since, I’m not writing the column for the the whole month, I’m just going to choose what would be my COM and link it here.  I choose the Texas Council on Family Violence as the September 2011 Cause of the Month.  Click on the link to find out more about the organization and enjoy the interview.
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Cause of the Month:  Texas Council on Family Violence

Alison Clancy is a Brooklyn artist who fronts two bands.  HUFF THIS! and Electric Child.  She was actually the answer to on of the questions in a previous LOTTO Interview.

The question reads, “Play it Forward: Make a case for an up-and-coming indie artist or act that you’re really into and that you feel more people should be into. Who is it and why should we be into them, too?”  Fifth Nation played her forward.

The idea is simple. I have a list of questions that are a mixed bag of musical, fun, serious, and silly. Alison Clancy chose ten numbers from 1 through 50 without getting to see the questions.  The questions she answered for this interview are the questions that corresponded with the numbers that were chosen.  The list is currently holding steady at 100.

Alison Clancy started as a modern dancer and brings that sensibility to her musical expression.  Especially her videos.  Watch the official video for “Lovin You” by HUFF THIS!  Read Alison’s LOTTO Interview below.

UR:  Why did you get into music?
AC: Because it feeeeeeeeeeeeels GOOD!

UR:  Greatest movie of all-time?
AC:  I probably haven’t seen it.  Or it hasn’t been made, yet.

UR:  What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
AC:  Guilt is never pleasurable.

UR:  Tell me a secret.
AC:  Don’t have many.  I’m a pretty open book.  Maybe too open.  I was kind of in a cult for a while, but that’s not even a secret.  I like crazy people and freaks and sometimes I can follow their logic a little too long even when it doesn’t make any sense.  Or I let people into my life who maybe I shouldn’t trust so quickly.

UR:  What do you hate about the music industry?
AC:  In the music industry there is always the slight chance of a song, person, or band garnering money/fame and sometimes this makes people unnecessarily possessive/jealous/competitive.  For me, the point of playing music is expression/community/catharsis.  Having come from the dance world, where no one is ever expecting fame or glory, it’s all about process and the discipline of training.  This was a very foreign and frustrating dynamic for me at first, but now that I understand it I think I’m getting better at dealing with it.

UR:  If someone were to play you in a movie of your life, who would it be and why?
AC:  I would play me because I’m awesome at being me.

UR:  What would the soundtrack to the story of your life sound like?
AC:  Grass growing, airplanes crashing, lots of classical ballet music, sexy R&B, and Zach Hill bloodying himself on a drum set.

UR:  Does Ghost still make you cry like it does me?
AC:  Hmmm.  Haven’t seen it in ages.  Would probably depend on the context of my life at the moment.

UR:  You can get a song remixed in another genre, which of your songs would you remix and in what style?
AC:  I would get the HUFF THIS! Song, “My Love,” remixed as a dubstep dance anthem.  The cello/synth dance duo, Electric Pussy, might do this.  If so, it will be SICK!

UR:  Favorite part of your body?
AC:  Whatever part is being touched by my lover.

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME! 25. Kaydean pop quiz

MY TOP 30: Year 3 Posts of ALL-TIME!

Editor’s Note:  Kaydean is an artist signed to Zonisphere Recordings, part of Zonisphere Media Group, and I used to write a weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, for Zubterrain, the e-zine of the the Zonisphere Media Group.

25. Kaydean pop quiz
I didn’t know too much about Kaydean when this posted and I still don’t.  I do know that he is a producer and has worked in the music industry as such for many, many years.  I also know he’s worked with both Janet and Robyn in the past.  That’s all I need to know.  Ha!

Seriously, though, as an artist, I think he’s exploring interesting territory and not doing what you would expect.  At the time of this pop quiz interview, he was promoting his just released concept double EP, Emerge/Submerge.  You can tell from the songs included with the pop quiz that his brand of ambient electro is richly layered and that, with this particular project, he was exploring the two sides of his musical spectrum and how they met in the middle.

His pop quiz interview, posted on Friday,  June 10, 2011, and takes the Year 3 Number 25 spot.  It was the first pop quiz of June 2011.  The second posted on Friday, June 24, 2011 and featured Elephant Sky.

See the original post here — Kaydean pop quiz interview.  It includes his songs, “Tranquility” and “Daywalker” and 3 Doors Down’s video for “Let Me Be Myself.”

See all 28 Year 3 pop quiz interviews here.

Courtesy of Google

LOTTO Interview: SALVO – ATX

Editor’s Note:  Zonisphere Media Group, home of the e-zine, Zubterrain, where my weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy, lived, continues to undergo a site overhaul, indefinitely.   So, my column is currently halted.  I finished out my June posts here at THE REAL popolio.

My articles normally went live on Tuesdays. I thought I was done for the meantime, but I have a few outstanding.  Since this was in flux and submitted by the artist, I think it deserves to see the light of day.  There is one more LOTTO Interview pending.  Look for that one in September.

That said, I normally had a Cause of the Month interview that kicked things off the first week of each month.  I had reached out to local R&B songbird, Lisa Marshall, to be my interviewee for August, but then I learned about the hiatus at Zubterrain.  I do know her COM would have been Out Youth Austin.  So, for these two August posts (one more coming at the end of the month), that’s what it will be.  Click on the link to find out more about the organization and enjoy the interview.
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Cause of the Month:  Out Youth Austin

SALVO is an Austin-based artist who raps and sings.  Mixing hip hop and R&B, her pipes remind me of P!nk‘s.  Being perfectly honest, I wouldn’t be mad at her if she decided to just simply sing. No disrespect to her rap skills, it’s just that I’m that taken by her vocal ones.

The idea is simple.  I have a list of questions that are a mixed bag of musical, fun, serious, and silly.  SALVO chose ten numbers from 1 through 50 without getting to see the questions. The questions she answered for this interview are the questions that corresponded with the numbers that were chosen.  Up from the 50 SALVO chose her LOTTO numbers from, it is currently at 100.

Interesting fact about SALVO, she is a hairstylist/makeup artist during the day while she hustles and grinds on her music game the rest of the time.  Watch a YouTube video of SALVO performing at a benefit for Japan at local beauty shop, Sirens Salon, on June 6, 2011.  Read her LOTTO Interview below.

UR: Greatest movie of all-time?
SO:  Ooooh, that’s a tough one…I’ll go with Scarface…it’s a classic.

UR:  Do you believe in God?
SO:  I have faith and I tend to think of myself as a spiritual person and all I know for sure………….is that no one knows anything for sure.  Undoubtedly, something greater (a higher power so to speak) exists.

UR:  Favorite meal? 
SO:  I’m Italian/Puerto Rican and I looove food, but my mom’s pasta and homemade meatballs never disappoints!

UR:  What do you love about the music industry?
SO:  Music and the industry have changed so much in the last 20 years in both negative and positive ways and continue to do so.  What I love most about the industry is the potential to change someone’s day and make it better by sharing words and notes from my soul and inspiring others.

UR:  How would you describe your sound?
SO:  Soulful Hip Hop/R&B with a twist.

UR:  Is it just me, or does Whoopi Goldberg never get enough respect for being one of those special few artists that has won one of each major award (Grammy, Oscar, Emmy, and Tony)?
SO:  LMAO!  Honestly…I’ve never thought about it; however, I can say that credit should always be given where it is due.

UR:  Madonna or Lady Gaga?
SO:  Madonna.

UR:  How would you describe your personal fashion style?
SO:  Ha!  I’m not sure how to explain that…It depends on the day and my mood, but I always keep it fresh and original.  I definitely love to shine, but being comfortable is imperative whether it be my Chucks or stilettos.

UR:  Favorite piece of clothing you can’t live without and that you wear all the time?
SO:  My skinny jeans.

UR:  Why do you think that, arguably, music translates better globally than film or television?
SO:  Music has the ability to affect and bring to the surface all of the most intense feelings people experience.  Music understands when no one else does and there is no need for visual aspect in order to convey any message…a few notes speak volumes.

R&R: Hope for the Future

Editor’s Note:  Zonisphere Media Group, home of the e-zine, Zubterrain, where my weekly music column, Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy lives, is undergoing a site overhaul that will take some weeks to complete. So, my column is currently halted.  I plan to finish out my June posts here at THE REAL popolio.

My articles normally went live on Tuesdays.  This is the last edition of R&R for awhile.
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Cause of the Month:  It Gets Better Project

Not only will this be my last edition of R&R (Rant and Rave), but it will also be my last post at Urb’l (Urban Cool) Remedy for awhile as the Zonisphere website is revamped for about a month or so; maybe less.   I don’t know what’s in store, but I’m excited to find out and to see what the new website will look like.  Stay tuned for that!

As I thought about what I would write about I can’t help but just echo what I’m feeling to be true to myself in the moment.  As a blogger, I write on the side of a day job that has nothing to do with my true interests or even what I went to school for.  Though not an artist perse, I’ve always considered myself a creative.  I feel frustrated and boxed in.  Like that hamster on the wheel who goes nowhere.  I have a destination in mind, but don’t know how to get there.

I guess this got me thinking if an artist came to me for advice and was feeling the same way as I am now what would I say to that artist. I don’t know what I would say, but some common phrases came to mind.  “Cream rises to the top.”  So, if you’re good and have talent, eventually it will happen for you.  Now, you can make it happen yourself.  Invest in yourself, release your own product, create your own label, your own company, etc.  But, what if you don’t have those resources or like me don’t really feel business-minded and feel like you’d be better off teaming with someone who could better handle that part, but that person hasn’t really materialized?

So, then you’re like if it hasn’t happened, yet, then maybe I ‘m not good at it and I should give it up, because surely I would have “made it” by now.  “Takes 10 years to become an overnight success.”  Then there’s that.  But, how long is too long?   When should you throw in the towel and decide you’re just meant to have a “normal” life?  Even though every fiber in your being wants it to be otherwise. If you’re cool with the starving artist bit, I say have at it, but I need some security, to pay bills, and insurance.  Hence, the day job.  Yet, I would rather make a living at what I am passionate about and something related to the degrees I earned.

Then you hear the stories about those who give up and decide this is there last project.  An actress in a film, for example.  That if this doesn’t work then they will go live that “normal life” and BAM! it works out for them.  Jodie Foster, anyone?

Is it about the right person seeing what you can do and providing an opportunity?  Is it about you getting in front of that right person to see what you can do so you can create an opportunity for yourself?  You’ve got fire and passion and follow-through, but you get burned out and tired, too.  You’ve given it your all time and time again, but still it’s not enough.  So, what do you do? The other option, I suppose, is taking breaks when you feel burnt out and then just going back to it full force once you feel it again.  This, in stead of, stopping all together.

I guess I would say to that artist to follow your heart and pay attention to your instincts.  I think there are opportunities that come along that we miss sometimes.  You don’t have to do everything, just what feels right to you.  I think once the right thing comes along and you start working in that direction the pieces start to fall in to place. I hope that’s what is in my future and I hope that for all of yours.

peace, love, and all that jazz

freddie beat