Performer Magazine: April/May 2022

THE MUSICIAN ’S RESO URCE

APRIL/MAY ‘22 FREE

What’s the Deal with NFTs? How Vocalists Can Maximize Beat Marketplaces

interviews The Linda Lindas Walter Martin Bloc Party

SOCCER MOMMY Takes Us Inside the Process of ‘Color Theory’ Follow-Up

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Cover

KT Wolf

COVER SOCCER STORY MOMMY

2 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

by Casandra Armour

con

BLOC PARTY

by Carolyn Vallejo

14

5.

Book Reviews: Jagged Little Pill & Her Country 8.

Ten Ways to Ruin Your Music Career

TABLE OF CONTENTS

22

4.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

DEPARTMENTS

10.

Make the Most out of Beats Marketplaces for Vocalists 12.

Get to Know NFTs with Vault.fan

WALTER MARTIN

by Wilhelmina Hayward

18

34.

GEAR REVIEWS: PreSonus, AKAI, Black Lion, Roland and more…

48.

MY FAVORITE AXE: Seth Adam

THE LINDA LINDAS

by Gus Rocha

28

ntents

VOLUME 32, ISSUE 2 PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 3

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

LETTER

from the editor

For those of you who read my intro letter to last month’s issue, you can probably sense that my optimistic mood on 2022 has shifted dramatically in the past few weeks. After the Winter Olympics concluded in February, Russia initiated an unconscionable invasion and assault on Ukraine, both on its territories and its civilian citizenry.

As some of you who know me may be aware, my family came to America from several parts of modern-day Ukraine, including the cities of Kiev, Odessa and the small village of Dubova in the Cherkasy Oblast. We left, in part, because of the pogroms and raids that killed many Jewish citizens living in the Russian Empire during the early parts of the 20th Century.

When I see what modern-day Ukrainians are going through, my heart breaks and I fear that the innocent people living in the country may never know peace. As more and more details come to light about the horrors, the resistance, and the courage that everyday Ukrainians and their president embody, I cannot help but think of what it means to be a true patriot. We tend to throw around the word pretty loosely here in this country, but when you see the lengths to which

PS – For those of you looking to get more involved, there are a number of humanitarian efforts that you can donate to, all of which are dedicated to providing relief to those directly affected by the crisis, whether still in Ukraine or having left as part of the refugee exodus.

the citizens and politicians of Ukraine are going through to defend and save their homeland, one must re-evaluate what the word truly means.

I had plans on visiting Ukraine with my mother as recent as last year, to visit the areas our family lived and gain a better understanding of where we come from. Obviously, those plans may be on hold indefinitely, and the truth is we may never be able to make that trip together. Whatever the outcome of this war, I appreciate the overwhelming show of support from around the world. As trivial as it might seem in light of what’s happening, even small gestures like the blue-and-yellow armbands being worn by captains of European football make me tear up a little and give me hope that the world will not sit idly by and let the crisis go on without grave consequence. Because that’s really all we can do from the outside: hope.

I can only wish that next month’s column brings with it better news. Until then, we stand united with Ukraine, its citizens and its sovereignty.

You’re all in our thoughts.

Benjamin Ricci Some site that we recommend include: htttp://www.redcross.org https://www.projecthope.org/Ukraine https://www.rsukraine.org https://novaukraine.org/donate/ https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org

ABOUT US / Performer Magazine, a nationally distributed musician’s trade publication, focuses on independent musicians, those unsigned and on small labels, and their success in a DIY environment. We’re dedicated to promoting lesser-known talent and being the first to introduce you to artists you should know about.

MUSIC SUBMISSIONS / We listen to everything that comes into the office. We prefer physical CDs, cassettes and vinyl over downloads. If you do not have a physical copy, send download links to editorial@performermag.com. No attachments, please.

Send CDs to: Performer Magazine, Attn: Reviews, PO BOX 348, Somerville, MA 02143 CORRECTIONS / Did we make a heinous blunder, factual error or just spell your name wrong? Contact editorial@ performermag.com and let us know, cuz we’re big enough to say, “Baby, I was wrong.”

EDITORIAL SUBMISSIONS / In the words of our esteemed forefathers at CREEM: “NOBODY WHO WRITES FOR THIS RAG’S GOT ANYTHING YOU AIN’T GOT, at least in the way of credentials. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t be sending us your stuff: reviews, features, photos, recording tips, DIY advice or whatever else you have in mind that might be interesting to our readers: independent and DIY musicians. Who else do ya know who’ll publish you? We really will...ask any of our dozens of satisfied customers. Just bop it along to us to editorial@performermag.com and see what comes back your way. If you have eyes to be in print, this just might be the place. Whaddya got to lose? Whaddya got?”

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Volume 32, Issue 2 850 Post Rd Suite 8385 Warwick, RI 02888 CONTACT Phone: 617-627-9200 Fax: 617-627-9930 PUBLISHER William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com EDITOR Benjamin Ricci ben@performermag.com DESIGN & ART DIRECTION Cristian Iancu EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Bob Dobalina editorial@performermag.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Benjamin Ricci, Carolyn Vallejo, Casandra Armour, Chris Devine, Gus Rocha, Jason Peterson, Michael St. James, Seth Adam, Tasos Frantzolas, Wilhelmina Hayward CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Wunmi, Zen Sekizawa, Sophie Hur, Melissa Martin, Casee Marie ADVERTISING SALES William House Phone: 617-627-9919 bill@performermag.com © 2022 by Performer Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any method whatsoever without the written permission of the publisher.

The magazine accepts no responsibility for unsolicited recordings, manuscripts, artwork or photographs and will not return such materials unless requested and accompanied by a SASE. Annual Subscription Rate is $30 in the U.S.; $45 outside the U.S.

REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEW Jagged Little Pill

By Eric Smith with Alanis Morissette, Diablo Cody, and Glen Ballard (Amulet Books)

A timely, unputdownable adaptation of the Broadway hit that those immersed in the musical and the original record - or those coming to the material for the first time oughta know.

A

lanis Morissette said recently, when talking about the subject matter of her 1995 phenomenon Jagged Little Pill, “A lot of people would say, ‘Wow. You’re so brave.

You’re so empowered. You’re so strong,’ you know? And I’m like, ‘Sometimes.’ I can’t write all these songs without obviously having been disempowered. I mean, half these songs are about attempting to become empowered.”

This balance between empowerment and those seeking it - of people striving to be seen and loved as they truly are - permeates both the Jagged Little Pill jukebox musical and now this worthy novel reworking. Readers are immediately drawn into the world of the teen protagonists and their parents, each dealing with various levels of empowerment that will shape their stories in significant ways.

Author Eric Smith, working from Diablo Cody’s framework from the musical, does a masterful job intertwining the narratives and raising the

stakes of each interaction. The book seamlessly switches perspectives from Frankie (an outsider adoptee filled with passion and confusion in equal measure); Nick (Frankie’s “perfect” brother cracking under pressure); Jo (Frankie’s best friend with benefits, navigating identity and expectations); Phoenix (the new kid in town, dealing with grown-up responsibilities); and Bella (re-discovering her voice and power after losing both).

lyrics in overt and subtle ways, and once again Smith makes the most of the material, evoking the heart of classics from the Jagged Little Pill record and other songs from the musical without being trite or cheesy. It’s a tough needle to thread, and it works here in surprisingly impactful ways.

As Morissette’s opening quote suggests, her songs resonate with so many because listeners feel seen in her lyrics - and thus empowered by them. That this book can do the same without a musical accompaniment speaks volumes of Smith’s skills as a writer, Morissette and Glen Ballard’s emotion-packed ideas, and Cody’s remarkable story.

That each of these characters - along with Frankie and Nick’s struggling parents - feel fully realized is a considerable feat. An assault on Bella at a party sets the plot in motion, but it’s the characters who stand out. By using rotating first-person chapters, text messages, and poetry, Smith is able to reveal interior lives, motivations, and contradictions as each person interacts with one another up against conflict both minor and life-shattering.

www.abramsbooks.com

Fans of Morissette will catch allusions to her

Jason Peterson

It’s a powerful combination, and one that will stick with readers long after the cover closes and the music fades.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 5

REVIEWS

BOOK REVIEW

Marissa R. Moss

Her Country: How the Women of Country Music Became the Success They Were Never Supposed to Be (Henry Holt and Company)

A highly-readable deep dive into the lives and careers of the women of country music - and the history of why they needed to blaze their own trails to succeed

I

deeply reported anecdotes about their early lives and breakthroughs into country music, while newcomers will see just how much work they put in to achieve the success they have today.

Moss does stellar work delving into the backgrounds of Kacey Musgraves, Maren Morris, Mickey Guyton and a handful of other artists, tracing their common fandom of outspoken performers like The Chicks while forging their own paths in the business. Fans of these artists will be rewarded with

It’s that work, set against the background of the institutional sexism and racial biases of commercial country radio, that stands out again and again throughout the book. It is made crystal clear that Musgraves, Morris, and especially Guyton achieved their hard-won success despite the country music business establishment, with the echoes of The Chicks’ Iraq War-era banishment still reverberating nearly twenty years later. Moss weaves the thread of The Chicks’ experience throughout the book to fine effect,

t’s not until the afterword of the vital Her Country that writer Marissa R. Moss breaks down exactly why she - a native New Yorker who moved to Nashville a decade ago chose to write about the trailblazing women of country music. But the book itself makes it clear from page one: these are the most interesting, uncompromising, and passionate artists in music today. This book does their talents justice.

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showing the stark differences of “outlaw” male artists compared to their female counterparts.

Despite the potential heaviness of the book’s thesis, Her Country is no dirge - instead, it’s a celebration of the persistence and vision of these women and a call for change to the industry they’ve transcended. Marissa R. Moss has created something that - like The Chicks have been for the subjects of this book - will be an inspiration to young musicians and a forewarning to anyone standing in their way. www.marissarmoss.com

Jason Peterson

MUSIC BUSINESS

10 WAYS TO RUIN YOUR MUSIC CAREER

T

here is no shortage of people who can give you great advice on what to do to further your music career, including me. Sometimes it’s better to tell you what NOT TO DO. It’s just simpler. With that in mind, here are some universal ways to ruin a music career in one way or another.

10. Be a Jerk to Other Bands Spend your time ripping on other musicians.

Make fun of what crappy players they are. Poke fun at other bands and their gear when they are starting out. Definitely make sure you comment on how other artists look and the clothes they wear.

Make sure to be that guy who goes to shows, sits in the back, and makes snarky comments about every other band in the scene thinking you look cool. For bonus points, when talking to managers, bookers, or mixers, talk shit about the other bands you are playing with and how much better your band is.

This will make you look cooler and better than all the other bands who may help you in the future.

9. Be Unreliable Show up late to soundcheck whenever possible.

Your bandmates and the mixer will really love that. Take forever to load in and load out so that it inconveniences the other bands and causes time delays. Cancel rehearsals at the last minute by coming up with lame excuses. Never learn your parts before rehearsals, always come in with questions and waste a lot of time trying to learn parts while everyone else is there. Take a few days, or more, to answer a booking inquiry so that the agent has no idea whether you’re available. Half-ass show promotion by only doing the bare minimum. Run over late on your set times by not actually timing your show and then bitch about how you deserve a headlining spot.

If no one can count on you, then no one ever will.

8. Don’t Respect Women When you deal with women in the scene, talk down to them about gear or musical techniques so everyone knows you assume they don’t know what they’re doing. Treat all women as sexual objects, make sexual remarks about their body. Ask if they are married or single, they love that! Try your pickup lines on that booking agent. Flirt with the PR rep because you think that will make her feel good. If you are dealing with a woman who is a producer or mixer, definitely mansplain their process to them. If

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there is a female band member, make sure you say something like, “She’s a good bass player…and hot.”

Oh, definitely treat your female fans with disrespect by not being honest about where you stand on relationships and hookups, and then ghost them.

This goes for women in other bands, too.

Sadly, this is so damn prevalent, even now. The lack of respect for women as peers is still a huge problem in our industry (and really the country) at all levels. No matter who you are or where you are in your career, you need to be a force for change.

We all do. It doesn’t matter whether your band has women in it or not, women are an important part of the industry.

So, if you really want to screw up, disrespect women.

7. Only Post About Your Music Always post about how amazing your music is. Use social media to only talk about your songs and upcoming shows because fans absolutely love that. Beg and plead people to pre-save your new song which they have never heard and have no idea what it’s about. Post about that one big gig you had years ago with something like, “remember this show, that one time we opened for (so-and-so) that was a blast!” Definitely tell your fans to help share your music and upcoming gigs all the time with no incentive or thanks. Continually hammer people to buy tickets to an upcoming show without telling them that it’s going to be the same songs they’ve seen you perform before. Do not post funny or interesting things to entertain your followers. Stick just to the music, especially if you can flog older releases for years at a time.

By only posting about music, you can play it safe and never have a controversial opinion or become interesting as more than just a musician.

6. Piss Off Music Supervisors You got a music supervisor or licensing contact’s email. Great, you may be close to a deal which might break your music to millions. You are just sure your music is perfect for them. What do you do next? Well, if you want to burn that relationship, here is your roadmap. Send them an email attachment of music.

Send them a piece of music with uncleared samples.

Make sure to not have split sheets outlining writing percentages, or PRO information to share. When sending a link to music, make sure it’s not labeled correctly and, if possible, a low-res mp3. Send them

a link to your album or WHOLE catalog and say, “I think you’ll find something you like here.” And when you don’t hear back from them, make sure to email or call them multiple times bugging them for an answer. When they don’t answer, send them one more passive aggressive email stating that “it’s their loss” or that “it’s not too much to ask for a response.”

This way, none of these supervisors or licensors will ever work with you again– but the real kicker is that they will never tell you why.

5. Be a Druggie or Drunk Drink to excess during rehearsals. Show up to the show a little too high and don’t pay attention at soundcheck. Get so messed up on your day off that you forget to answer fan messages or take booking calls. Do too many shots during your show so that your playing or singing is affected and maybe make sure to yell at the drummer on stage. Get too cozy with your shady drug dealer and totally invite them to band-only functions. Make sure to party so hard you say something inappropriate at a show, and if possible, get into a fight with other bands, or better yet, fans! Accountants don’t get drink tickets when they get to work. There are no 3am afterparties for bank tellers after their job is finished on the weekend. So, live it up.

But to truly screw up, perhaps your unchecked drinking or drugging can get to the point of not being able to function live or maybe even dying. That would definitely ruin your career, as well as that of your bandmates.

4. Be a Major Label Hater Rip on the big, bad “Major Labels” by calling them gatekeepers or money-hungry scammers.

Make sure everyone knows that if your project had that much money you’d be just as famous and popular. Talk about how there’s nothing a label can do that you can’t. Call them “corporations,” but use it as a slur. It’s not just enough to support independent musicians, make sure to keep them from ever growing beyond their tiny scene by dissuading them from growth because they would be “selling out.”

Talk down about commercial radio stations, big tour promoters, music marketers, and more. If you can, make sure to really slam music lawyers as bloodsucking vampires, and do it in public.

This will ensure that you never have to deal with national-level success.

MUSIC BUSINESS

photo by Ashley Webb

3. Never Change Play the same set of songs for years in your own scene. Do not change it up and add new music. Use the same jokes and lines in your stage show. See, fans who follow you will become accustomed to paying over and over and over for the same show. Same goes for the bar staff and managers, they will appreciate that same tired-ass gig you perform. Hell, wear the same show clothes too! Never change up your guitar or bass tones on recordings to add texture or personality to certain songs, just set it and forget it.

If you’re a singer, do not try to increase your range or the quality of your tone. Do not change up the band promo, update bios, or EPKs. Do not invest in new equipment and keep playing guitars that go out of tune.

If you never change then you never have to grow, and you won’t have to please those pesky new fans!

2. Waste Your Time Once you get a little success in your local scene,

try not to grow. Don’t do bigger shows. Don’t try to partner with other bands. Don’t go out and support other artists because you are above that sort of thing.

Definitely do not work on new music all the time.

Prevent your band from rehearsing on a regular basis once you’ve been together for a while so you don’t accidently get better as a unit or come up with new material. Do not release new recordings.

Why would you interact online with people and try to gain new followers and fans? You already have a few hundred, I’m sure that’s plenty. Spend no time reading articles or watching videos learning about the business of music publishing, marketing, or recording techniques. If you are a songwriter, no need to write new songs until you absolutely have to.

Why be an artist when you can just mail it in? Just coast.

This all will solidify you as a local act, and therefore, you’ll never have to deal with growing your band or pleasing new fans!

1. Lie, Lie, Lie By far, the best thing you can do to ruin your music career is to lie. Lie about the amount of people you can bring to a show when a booking agent is inquiring. Lie about how many people are streaming or buying your new music. Be as dishonest as you can with promoters and PR people about the strength of your live show. Lie to the press about your upcoming project and the plans you have to promote it. Lie to producers about your ability to record quickly and precisely and how talented you are. Lie to your fans about when new music is coming out and how all of these major industry people are interested in your project. Lie to yourself about how little you need to practice. Lie, Lie, Lie. The bigger the better. After all, who’s gonna know?

ABOUT THE AUTHOR -Michael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 9

MUSIC BUSINESS

Beats Marketplace Basi From Leasing to Recordi I

n many ways, there’s never been a better time to be an up-and-coming singer, rapper, or producer. The DIY scene is thriving in ways that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. Options for self-recording and production are better and more available than ever. Just about anyone’s laptop can hold a whole range of professional-level tools, and it doesn’t take much to transform your home into a usable recording studio.

The beats marketplace is one of many parts of the industry that has opened up to the wider world of creators. Today, there are thousands upon thousands of beats, loops, and other tracks available online that anyone can license for use in new compositions. It’s just a matter of knowing how to find the right ones and put them to good use.

Accurate information about how to find the right sounds for making music as a commercial venture, though, can be hard to pin down, and that’s a problem. No matter how much creative genius you have to give, it’s critical to know the rules and best practices, spoken and unspoken, of making music. Too many options means that it can be hard to know where to begin.

And, when you’re a self-made artist who has to know everything from fundamental copyright regulations to the nitty-gritty of file formats and equipment, the details can seem overwhelming.

It can feel impossible to find the answers that will help you move forward in your musical career.

This isn’t a coincidence. For decades, major labels and publishers have gatekept the tools of the trade and knowledge of how to use them.

For outsiders, it’s been an uphill battle to try and break out into the public sphere. Only in recent years, with the rise of indie labels and advances in personal technology and music streaming, has it become possible for individuals to take all the steps they need to make good work and get it into circulation.

So, how do you get started finding and using beats for music you intend to release on YouTube, Soundcloud, Spotify, or other platforms? Here are a few key considerations to keep you on the right track as you navigate the beats marketplace: Know your licenses.

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As you get started sourcing beats and sounds for use in your own work, always make sure you understand the licensing terms you’re using–no matter how dry they are. Licenses tend to vary not just from platform to platform, but from track to track. They can specify anything: where you can use the beats, how many streams are allowed, and even how much you can do with your beat.

Think ahead: is this a song you might perform live? One you might use in a music video? Make sure you know if your license clears those uses so you don’t end up in legal hot water later on.

When possible, your best bet is always to find an unlimited license, one that allows for any number of uses and streams of your work. That way, you don’t have to deal with the stress of tracking plays and then having to come back and upgrade your license.

Credit your people.

Whatever sounds you end up using, you’ll always need to properly credit any producers or writers whose works you use, both for legal reasons and, more importantly, because it’s simply the right thing to do. Most producers know exactly how they want to be credited, and they’ll note that in the license terms. Whether you’re using their work in a video on YouTube or posting a track to Soundcloud that builds on their beats, there’s always a way to make sure you’re properly paying respect to the people whose work makes your music possible.

When distributing a track via a website like TuneCore or DistroKid, you will likely need to enter the producer’s information.

You can usually find this info in the License document that you can download when you are buying a beat online. This info typically includes the legal name of the writer(s), their IPI number, the ownership percentages of the composition, publishing designee (if applicable) and also the “preferred credit,” which means how they want to be credited (usually their alias).

It’s your responsibility to check that and credit them accordingly through whatever distribution platform you use.

PRO TIP: Take some time to read up on performing rights organizations or PROs, the

companies every songwriter and publisher has to register with to earn royalties. In the US, these are ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC. Each one has different ways of issuing licenses, tracking plays, and distributing royalties, so do a little research before you sign up.

Be picky.

Not all tracks are mixed equally, especially in the free-for-all world of the beats marketplace.

While some are professionally mixed, many are not. You might not always be able to tell the difference until it’s too late. Before you choose a beat, get a second opinion from an expert if you can, preferably an experienced sound engineer.

Another important part of quality control is making sure the beats you lease have all the parts you need. If you’re planning to rearrange the track you’ve licensed, you’ll need the stems (or “multitrack”) -- stereo recordings of each element of the file (often also called the “multitrack”). Otherwise, you’ll have to use it asis.

The files you use in your production process should always be in .wav format. This format is uncompressed, meaning it will be much fuller and clearer than .mp3 files used for demos.

Finally, when you’re putting the beats in your track, use the mix file, not the master. The compressed master file may sound fine when you’re previewing a beat, but they’re bound to sound distorted on the final track when you add vocals. The uncompressed mix is the one to download.

Get the right equipment.

If you’re just getting started, you might still be figuring out what equipment you need for getting the best possible sound at home–and on a budget. Today, it’s easy to find the inexpensive equipment you need to make professional quality music at home.

A portable vocal booth keeps you isolated and gets rid of background noise. While these span a wide range of prices, you can find relatively inexpensive ones at most music technology retailers.

Along with that, you’ll also need a pop filter. If

MUSIC BUSINESS

asics 101: rding you talk directly into a microphone, you might find that sharp noises like plosives or laughter cause a pop sound, the result of strong air pressure. A pop filter keeps the air from hitting your microphone too fast. It also protects the microphone from your spit, helping it last longer.

Don’t skimp on engineering.

Few things impact the quality of your finished track as much as your sound engineer’s level of expertise. An engineer who knows how to mix tracks correctly is crucial in elevating your track from a home recording to a polished product.

Good work means the difference between flat, amateurish music and powerful dynamics, wellbalanced beats and vocals, and an all over more interesting and professional-sounding track.

If you’re lucky enough to know an engineer who might work for a reduced cost, this might not be a major expenditure for you. For the rest of us who don’t have anyone in our networks with audio engineering experience, though, there are plenty of places to find freelance workers. Sites like SoundBetter and Airgigs offer a range of different services to fit different budgets, as well as customer reviews. When you can, make sure you check out engineers’ previous credits to get a sense of their skills. Choose an engineer that has experience working on your specific genre and style.

Keep in mind that when it comes to skilled professionals like audio engineers, you’ll often get what you pay for. When you’re putting together your budget, this is one part of your process that might be the most worth a splurge.

About the Author Tasos Frantzolas is founder and CEO of Soundsnap and Beatopia.

About Beatopia Beatopia is the ideal beats marketplace where artists at any point in their careers can find high-quality tracks from hitmaker producers.

With an affordable subscription model and a single standardized license that still incentivizes producers, Beatopia makes it easy to find the perfect instrumental for all genres. Beatopia’s monthly fee is $15 for full rights to five beats, .wav files and stems included. Representing a value of around $1000 a month, the platform lowers the price barrier to better democratize creativity.

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 11

MUSIC BUSINESS

Vault.fan - Simplifying NFTs for Music Superfans NFTs! Web3! Blockchain! You’ve heard about them, your fans are into it, but you have been stuck in the studio working on this damn album and have very little time to really jump in. You don’t want to lose money, but you don’t want to miss out. You’re also not a smart contract genius, you’re an artist, a creator, a musician. And what the hell is up with these Ape Yacht pictures anyway?

Alright. Let’s simplify. NFTs are not just a stupid jpeg. Some can be complicated and ridiculously priced (there are reasons for this which have nothing to do with any of us). But they don’t have to be expensive or complicated.

In the music space you can look at NFTs as a way for your fans to join your fan club. A fan club card which shows they own it (an entry on the blockchain with a wallet address), and details as to what that fan club card gets you (the utility written into the smart contract). This may be the download of the song, a video, stems of the recordings, even partial royalty participation for anyone who owns that NFT. Let’s make it even simpler. What if you could build excitement and reward your super fans with content around a project like a tour or new release all in one place? Patreon kind of does this, but it’s about supporting the band or artist, not particular projects. And if you stop paying, you lose your access.

It also forces creators to constantly be churning out blog posts and updates, instead of concentrating on artistic creation. Kickstarter kinda does this, but people get burned waiting for rewards or content that may never come even after they have pledged money. Neither creates exclusivity or rarity.

That’s what NFTs do. When a fan buys an NFT with their wallet, they own that experience, it’s verified on a blockchain. They can even sell that NFT to someone else and make a tidy profit while also generating more royalties for the creator each time it’s sold.

Vault is a new platform which is making this process easier for creators and fans to participate in. Creators like you create a “Vault” around a project and then sell a limited number of “keys” as NFTs which unlock all of the content you package and place in that Vault. That content can be music, multiple videos, early and exclusive access to future drops, lyric sheets, private messages, journals,

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Fans who are keyholders then can experience all of that inside the app on mobile, anytime, anywhere. You could even throw exclusive realworld events for keyholders.

Vault is built on Solana which means that those gas fees you’ve heard about are far, far lower, and crucially the environmental impact is as low as possible, with a public commitment to lower the carbon footprint of the NFT ecosystem.

While I think that NFTs can be useful for musicians for revenue generation and building an audience– as well as rewarding for fans–I worry about too much time being spent on the tech side and marketing and not enough on the art. Vault is solving that piece of the puzzle, making it easy and understandable for musicians to create something exclusive and fun for their fans, and make some good revenue doing it; which means more money and time to create more music. I am down for that.

I spent a lovely afternoon chatting with Kara Burney, CMO of Vault, to give us some insight into what they have built and how it can help musicians make sense of this NFT wave.

What got you into working with Vault?

I got my start in book-to-film rights scouting and script development before taking a jump to do marketing and tech. I had been thinking a while about getting back towards arts, entertainment, and technology working with creators.

Then I discovered NFTs and went down the rabbit hole myself. I was never really interested in the cryptocurrency space. When I saw NFTs it kind of clicked for me. A way for creators to own more of their revenue but share some of their art in a new way.

How do you see the rollout of Web3 and what are some of the challenges we’re facing?

I think there is a ton of exciting stuff happening in Web3. Specifically, for artists to share and monetize their creativity. I think it has to be both.

Share AND monetize - for it to make sense. It’s a huge opportunity, particularly in the music and the athlete space. Those are two categories where you have really loyal fan bases who want to interact more.

Everyday fans and creators have a large adoption curve to overcome. The blend of mobile and desktop experiences is still happening, and that piece will be important. So much of the NFT world is done on desktop now, but we’re getting there with Metamask and Phantom having mobile wallets.

Things will get interesting when the real world and Web3 interact with each other -- this is why we built Vault mobile-first. It’s not easy for musicians

to participate in NFTs and Web3, there is a lot of pressure for them to offer some kind of utility for their fans right away and to follow up. Vault is trying to make that much easier.

There is huge potential for NFTs to fit with the hype cycle of the album or single release. That is something Vault is working on, unlocking projectbased hype cycles that fit with your creator cycles, so creators don’t burn out or burn their fans out.

What’s the elevator pitch for Vault?

Let’s tear down these barriers to entry with straight up ease-of-use. And let’s add a storytelling component with immediate utility on top of it for everyday fans and everyday artists.

Is Vault a platform or a marketplace?

We are a platform. The marketplace element is specific to Vault. Fans can buy keys on our website, with SOL or with a credit card. They then can unlock access to that Vault and enjoy all that is in it, and it can continually be added. It becomes an unfolding story where musicians can drop in links to private events, tickets, or more.

A lot of opportunities for surprise and delight.

Why did Vault choose Solana (blockchain) and not Ethereum or Cardano?

First and foremost, environmental impact.

That is very important to a lot of musicians, and a factor in where they want their work stored. Solana has a public commitment to carbon neutrality. The gas fees, of course. Lower gas fees and transaction fees are really important for the everyday fan to be able to participate at the consumer price purchase level. We’re talking about $20, $50, $100 gas fees are a rate limiting step. You cannot buy something with the gas fees you find on Ethereum at that level. Ease of use of the Phantom wallet is another reason.

How does a music creator upload files to their Vault?

We have started with having all files uploaded by mobile into the app. We started there because we wanted creators to be able to post in real-time from a show or rehearsal, as if they were posting an Instagram Story for their keyholders. For instance, if you are backstage and you wanted to drop a quick video, or an afterparty announcement to [them], you could record it straight in the app and post it… instantly. We will enable web upload eventually, but our priority right now is mobile to enable real-world connection.

Have you seen any secondary market sales for keys, or is it still too early?

We haven’t launched secondary sales yet. We want people who are early to the platform to have an experience with the artist for a long time rather than buying keys just to quick flip them Let’s break down Vault fees.

Creators receive 92% and VAULT will receive 8% of each initial key sale. Secondary sales: Initial Key owners will receive 8% and Vault keeps 8% of that. A caveat to that is any in-app purchase subject Apple’s or Google’s cut, which we do not participate in.

So, how much should I offer my Vault keys for? Is there data on good opening floor pricing?

It depends on what the content in the Vault is. Some may be producing much higher value content like a video series with multiple episodes, and you would maybe want to charge more. For us, we think the pricing should be similar to a real-world purchase. Is it comparable to like 2x the concert ticket sale price, or the price of a t-shirt? Or, like a $49.99 special vinyl? It should feel comparable with your other revenue.

MUSIC BUSINESS

behind the scenes pictures, stems of the songs for remix, links and more.

Many of the projects are selling keys for around .33 SOL floor price which is about $29.99 (depending on the market rate of SOL). We recommend .05-1% of your social audience as a rule of thumb to how many keys you should make available. Find a price that’s consumer friendly.

We price in USD and then back convert to Solana. So, consumers will see the real-world price, creators get paid in Solana, and are free to do what they will. You get paid for every Key as it is sold and the smart contract triggers. So, you do not have to wait until the Vault keys sell out.

Any parting words for musicians?

We are excited to give musicians the ability to connect with fans in a new and different way, but also rely on their supporters that financially aligns them all. It’s in everyone’s best interest to have a better fan experience and a better way for creators to concentrate on creating art.

Here’s how you can try it for yourself.

1. Go get a Phantom Wallet here as a mobile app (or chrome plugin): https://phantom.app/ Setup your Passphrase. You’ll want to add at least $20 in SOL (that’s the crypto for Solana) to your wallet and the Phantom site will walk you through it.

2. Download Vault on iOS or Android OR on desktop go to https://vault.fan and connect your Phantom wallet and then hit the Creator Dashboard. Now you can look at other Vaults for great ideas on how other musicians are pricing and what content they are offering.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Michael St. James is the founder and creative director of St. James Media, specializing in music licensing, publishing, production and artist development.

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SPOTLIGHT

Bloc P Carolyn Vallejo

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Wunmi

SPOTLIGHT

Party Rediscovering Their Sense of Purpose Amidst Global Chaos

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loc Party had been in a retrospective mood as 2020 approached.

By December 2019, the illustrious indie group had finished their Silent Alarm tour, which paid homage to their debut and fan-favorite record released in 2005 by playing the album in full, front-to-back.

After reflecting on the songs that first shot Bloc Party into the fandom ether more than 15 years ago, it would have been understandable to press pause and take a breath. But lead singer Kele Okereke had balanced out that retrospection with an eagerness for the future: he and the rest of Bloc Party began writing new songs in 2018, and by the end of the Silent Alarm tour, Okereke was mentally preparing to lay the tracks down and release the band’s sixth album.

“We were ready to make this record Alpha Games at the end of 2019,” Okereke says. “This record was ready to go two years ago.”

And then—well, you know the rest.

Now in 2022, it’s difficult not to place everything in the context of the pandemic.

For many artists, lockdowns forced a period of introspective creativity, and today we’re beginning to see the fruits of that often-painful labor.

Yet for Okereke, the struggle during lockdown wasn’t about creating. Rather, it was a challenge to allow what he had already created to remain as-is, and a lesson in knowing himself as an artist—both his strengths and weaknesses.

“My big fear in taking an extended break from the music was that, knowing how I operate, I felt I would want to keep tweaking things and changing things,” Okereke says about having to sit idle by the new tracks while the virus waged its war. “You want the media to represent where you’re at right now, and I felt that if we’re sitting on it for a year, I might start to think it needed

He adds, “To second-guess ourselves and take it somewhere else, it felt like that would have been a slightly dangerous thing.”

the sound into which Bloc Party have evolved with Alpha Games: sexy and dangerous, yet glamorous and fun.

Instead, Okereke dove into solo work to keep his hands busy, releasing The Waves Pt. 1 in May of 2021. For Bloc Party, the result of this selfrestraint is 12 tracks of promiscuous, ethereal, glamorous rock that wavers between indie, metal, and electronic, a balance for which Bloc Party has developed a reputation over the years.

That’s the mood for other standout songs on the record, like “The Girls Are Fighting,” which Bloc Party released as the album’s second single back in January. The track recounts a late night at the bar and the explosion of a fight that breaks out between two women.

Coming off the high of their Silent Alarm tour, Okereke felt a desire to create a record built to feed off the energy of a crowd. It was a diversion from the previous record, Hymns (2016), which Okereke says was written on the foundation of studio machinery. That album allowed Bloc Party to experiment with new sounds and engineer ideas with precision.

“They were studio creations that we then had to work out to perform live,” he says. “After touring the Silent Alarm shows, we were reminded of the energy and the intensity that we could create and conjure up between the four of us, just on a stage in a room.”

The band made the conscious decision to write Alpha Games in the same fashion.

“That should be the center of this record: the sound of us playing together,” Okereke adds.

Undoubtedly that approach will bode well when Bloc Party begin the tour circuit again, and there are a few standout songs the lyricist says he’s particularly excited to perform live.

There’s “Sex Magik,” the record’s third single with the energy of an underground warehouse party thanks to a glam-rock, spaceage electronic beat, and “Day Drinker,” the album’s first track that meshes David Bowie musical flare with the band’s signature hi-hats and heavy guitar riffs.

Okereke also highlights “Rough Justice,” an adventurous synth-heavy track that brings

“That should be the center of this record: the sound of us playing together.” to feel a little bit different. I was adamant, just knowing who I am, I had to safeguard to make sure we didn’t do that.”

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the singer’s theatrical flair for Sprechgesang, that vocal space between speaking and singing, to center stage. The song seems to embody

This jealous lovers’ quarrel is something Okereke says is “something that will never stop to amaze me and stop me in my tracks: that moment when a switch is flicked in someone’s brain, and they start putting hands on other people.”

It’s a scene he describes as “very frightening, but also very intoxicating.” Bloc Party amplifies the paradox with the track’s music video, which depicts an empowering boxing match between two women instead of the petty catfight the song describes.

“There is a slight dissonance between the lyrical perspective and how the video is,” acknowledges Okereke, who says that in 2022, it wouldn’t seem right to portray visually the kind of scene the lyrics describe. Rather, he wanted the video to reflect female aggression and athleticism. “I didn’t want it to feel like that Duran Duran video for ‘Girls on Film.’ It wasn’t about being an erotic moment at all.

That’s what’s I’m really proud about with the video, that it was showing women in positions of strength.”

Kele denies that the song was written as a sort of feminist anthem, but with lyrics like, “The girls are fighting / and the boys can’t cope,” it’s difficult to deny such an interpretation. The dissonance between the lyrics and the video may not be as pronounced as Kele thinks after all.

Regardless of its message, “The Girls Are Fighting” certainly mirrors the overarching theme on the record of “people locked in dual,” as Okereke describes it, highlighting dreamy track “You Should Know the Truth” and the shadowy monologue of “The Peace Offering” as other songs that fit this bill.

“If I’m being frank, I have no need for your scented candles,” sings Okereke on “The Peace Offering,” the final track on Alpha Games. “I don’t need your peace offering. I’d rather have the money you spent, if I’m being frank.”

That frankness is part of what first captured fans’ hearts with Okereke and Bloc Party in the mid-2000s. Unpretentious lyrics like “I’ll pay for you anytime” on Silent Alarm’s “This Modern Love” showcased Okereke’s ability to catch many off-guard and hit a nerve with simplicity.

SPOTLIGHT

If his lyrics are frank, it’s Okereke’s compositions that bring sophistication and complexity to Bloc Party’s sounds, resulting in more paradoxical harmony: “If We Get Caught” is sweet and low, “Callum is a Snake” houses Okereke’s impressive vocal range with more theatrical song-speak, and “Traps” – the album’s first single released before the new year – sits within the space of provocative hard rock.

Collectively, Alpha Games is the sound of 2019 Bloc Party jamming in a room, ready for a crowd.

The next album, on the other hand, probably won’t follow suit, and in true Okereke fashion, he’s already looking ahead.

“I’ll bet my bottom dollar that the next thing we do will be a step away,” Okereke says. “But I think that constant veering, like a pendulum, that constant varying between extremes is a good way to work because it means that everything feels exciting.”

That energy is what Okereke says has kept him going over the years, through murmurs of conflict within Bloc Party, breakup rumors, a hiatus, and lineup changes – not to mention the external turmoil of terrorist attacks, the pandemic, and now, more war. Six Bloc Party albums, five solo

Follow on Instagram: @thisisblocparty

albums, and a musical later, Okereke finds that what grounds him is keeping his hands busy with creation and focusing on the gratitude he feels for being able to build a life for himself as an artist.

BLOC PARTY ALPHA GAMES STANDOUT TRACK: “IF WE GET CAUGHT”

“I’ll always be creative,” he says. “Will I always be in Bloc Party? I don’t know, I can’t answer that question. But I know the joy of pulling ideas and moments and songs. I know what that does for me, and I just can’t imagine I’d ever not have that in my life in some capacity. With all the turbulence in the world, that’s even more of a reason not to quit,” Okereke adds. “That’s even more of a reason to carry on, because it calms me down. It gives me a sense of purpose in a world that doesn’t seem to have much purpose right now.”

“We were reminded of the energy and the intensity that we could create and conjure up between the four of us.”

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Walter MARTIN

Former Walkman Founder Walks us Through Latest Solo Journey, ‘The Bear’ Melissa Martin

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Wilhelmina Hayward

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here is a certain beauty in simplicity and in a world that seemingly grows in chaos, perhaps simplicity is what many of us long for, either knowingly or unknowingly. In order to process and better understand the turmoil of our time, we increasingly turn to the artists and seek out a commonality in art. Walter Martin’s new album The Bear is a simple yet insightful look into his own life and family, and his own search for meaning. And the simplicity of this album is expressly where the beauty of it can be found.

I’d love to start with your origin story, so to speak. What first drew you into music, and what or who were some of your early influences?

Ah, you know, I started really early, I started doing guitar lessons with my friend Stuart when I was in fifth grade. You know, more so than deciding we wanted to be musicians, I think we decided that we wanted to be, like, cool… or to be

different from the people in our school. So, we started writing the names of cool bands on our shoes, skateboarding, getting into music, and getting into playing music. It was really that… we just wanted to be cool. And then, we got lucky in that we actually really love music. And I became totally obsessed with music to this day.

And throughout all of middle school and high school, I played in a lot of bands. One of which became… it was a serious band. And we all ended up going to college for a year and dropping out and then doing that band. So yeah, that was Jonathan Fire*Eater, which went on to get… I don’t know, we did alright, we got a big record deal, and then had problems, and broke up. And then, basically, the same guy that I’ve been playing with since seventh, eighth grade stayed on for the Walkmen, and my friend Matt, and my friend Paul… and got my cousin to do be the singer… and it was just kind of the only thing I’ve ever done, you know, so it’s just what I do.

So, it was never really a conscious decision to pursue music as a career, but rather evolved into that because it was

“[Music] was all I really did, all I really put my energy into… there was never anything else I considered doing.” just what you started doing since you were young, is that…

Yeah, I think it was like going down a narrowing path. You know, it was all I really did, all I really put my energy into… there was never anything else I considered doing.

Can you talk about what has been your experience writing collaboratively versus writing music on your own?

Writing collaboratively is something I just always did, and it was just something that… same with deciding to be a musician, there was never a decision, like, I’m gonna write collaboratively.

I was always in a band. And we sort of wrote together and… you know, I love writing collaboratively… especially doing it for so long you learn how to… I learned how to play and write for all the instruments and stuff like that by the time I was doing Walkmen.

At that point, I knew what I liked and I felt like I could write for different niches. I really started writing a ton of lyrics, and writing lyrics collaboratively is really fun. You know, it’s really like you’re creating a sort of collective personality, is the way I used to think of it. And I think that when I decided to do stuff on my own, 20 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

I maybe didn’t appreciate how hard it is when you’re writing something that you’re singing for yourself and that your name is on.

Can you talk about how that process for you then evolved? What does the songwriting process look like for you now?

How do the lyrics and melodies come to you, and do you find that one arrives before the other, or is it all fluid?

Well, they kind of come at the same time.

I mean, I sit down at my desk every day to work, but I’m mostly editing or recording or trying things out. All the ideas that I get usually come from just, regular life… just sort of letting your mind wander and thinking of lyric ideas, or song titles, or a way of saying something that I like.

Or, it’s sitting there and spacing out and playing the guitar until I have a little music… the hardest part for me is really figuring out what the album I want to make is, or… just a larger idea of what I want to be making. And so, once I have that, then I can sort of shape some of those things into a song, and I can use some of the music that I have to sort of help me generate more lyrics. I think I’m explaining it pretty badly…it’s sort of different every time, but it’s a lot of just really being careful about noting every little funny or small idea that I have musically or lyrically, and then spending a lot of time editing and organizing it all.

And then once you have a more solid idea of the direction you want to take your music, can you talk about your process when you take it to the studio?

Yeah, I mean, it’s different every time, you know… sometimes, like with my first stuff that I did on my own, I really did it mostly myself.

I made demos and then I wanted to go into the studio to record them professionally, and I went and did that, and they somehow lost their charm.

I don’t know what it was… if I was too uptight in the studio or something, but they weren’t charming to me anymore. So, I ended up just polishing up my demos and that became my first record and then you know, I still do that for other records.

With this record, The Bear, I ended up… I wanted it to be very simple. So, as far as taking it to the studio, I didn’t have any demos or any arrangements. All I had was just voice, I mean just lyrics and guitar parts. So… I felt like everything could sort of stand on its own like that… I just recorded everything like that, which is guitar and singing and then went to California to LA to work with my friend Sean. We just put together how we wanted it to… you know, to flesh it out, but with some pretty romantic piano, and some lap steel, and some additional guitar. But we really wanted to just keep it simple.

Let’s talk more about The Bear. What was the inspiration behind this album?

I just finished a lot of commercial projects, which I do, and TV stuff. However, I really have to be super catchy and super user-friendly. And I guess I was just getting a little… I mean, it was a really shitty time in the world, it still is obviously, but you know, it was the winter of 2020. And it just felt like I wanted… I just wasn’t in the mood to be working on that stuff anymore. I just wanted to write stuff that felt more, I don’t know, write about the things that are really important to me, which is my family and art and... stuff like that.

So, it took me a while to figure out how I wanted to express it. And then I just, suddenly, had a couple of songs. And I had a song called “Baseball Diamonds” and that one felt really right to me, like… it was exactly what I wanted to be saying. I wanted all the songs to be like that, I wanted all the songs to be just quiet guitar, and voice with conversational words… and a lot of words, and I don’t care about choruses or anything. I just wanted it to be packed with whatever detail and lyric.

I wanted it to be about family, and about my family, and about my life… you know, whatever things that are important to me. It’s sort of a document. It wasn’t really an idea like, oh, that’s the idea, it just sort of fell into place. And after I wrote it all, I was like, I guess that was the idea.

Was writing this particular album, at all, a cathartic experience for you?

I mean, yeah, I don’t know... It doesn’t feel necessarily cathartic. Maybe it is in some way. It probably is, like, I certainly feel very lost when if, I don’t know… when I’m not working on music… if I’m not working on music that’s important to me.

So, I guess in some way, it is cathartic, but I don’t really process it that way.

kind of headspace and mindset writing commercially versus writing for yourself, can you talk about your experience navigating between the two?

I sort of swing... You know, I really love doing that, so it’s really like a puzzle for me… like rhyming is a really big thing for me, in everything that I do. And doing commercial stuff… you’re writing for 15 or 30 seconds, and sometimes they’re longer, but it’s often really short and you gotta get… it’s like reading a little haiku or something. You have to get information across very efficiently, and get the rhymes perfect, and paint a little picture really quickly, and it’s just a really great exercise. I really do love doing it.

of relating to it and understanding it… just the feeling of connection. You know, just the whole reason that people make art in the first place is really… I just want people to feel a connection to it.

So, it’s nice to swing back and forth between those two different types of writing. And it’s nice to be able to hide behind that it’s a commercial… but sometimes I’m writing things, you know about friendship, that otherwise, I wouldn’t say.

Like, I wrote a song for this animated movie called Missing Link, and it’s just a song about friendship. That’s what they wanted, so I wrote a song about friendship. In my real life, I’m not gonna sit down and write a song about friendship.

So, it’s nice… it’s nice to have to do that and try to write it in a way that people can get excited about.

I always think of Phoebe Bridgers who does such a great job of really saying something that’s real, and warm, and so human… and I’m so glad that there are people like her, young people who are kicking so much butt you know, because it’s nice that they’re... I feel like it’s a great thing for the world.

Yeah, that’s awesome. I mean, every artist kind of has their own process, but do you feel like you’ve developed, over the years, any habits or have any outside hobbies that you would credit to being able to get into the right headspace for writing music?

I mean, really… running, it helps me so much.

I feel like a lot of people who write say that being in motion, for some reason, does spark good ideas. But definitely running, whatever it does to your brain chemistry I think helps, so I run a lot.

I’ve read that this album is more autobiographical for you than anything you’ve written before, did you have any reservations about releasing it?

No, I don’t have any problem with that. I feel like, why not? It’s funny the things that I get notes on from people who respond to the little details that I put about my life, and they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a similar thing to something about my life,’ which is sort of the whole point of doing it, you know… I feel like if I’m not willing to do that, then it really limits what I can express, so I don’t really want to limit it.

I’ve heard from a lot of different artists that walking or running really opens up their mind, so there must be something to it!

I do want to come back to your new album, can you talk about what this album, in this particular time period, means to you and what you hope your audience will get from it?

I mean, you know, it’s just such a hard time.

It’s just such a tough time in the world. And it has been for a while, you know, but it seems like it’s only getting tougher and… whatever the state of our government, our country, it’s all just scary. And I have little kids, it’s just a really very terrifying time. And so, I guess that’s why I just try to focus on the things that really have… provable meaning to me, which is my family and my thoughts about my life and about art.

Circling back to the commercial work you’ve done and the success you’ve had in that realm… I imagine it’s a different

So, you know, I just want it to be about that. And I want people to be able to feel… like, a warmth and a sense of friendship, or a sense

I love that. And I think now more than ever in our lifetime, it’s increasingly necessary for us to remember that we are all connected.

Yeah, I mean if I was like sitting, writing about whatever… I don’t know, just like I hear so much pop music, or so much, even like, cool music… and it’s so not warm. I just want something warm said… something real.

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Yeah, sometimes that can be the hardest thing to do once you get to the studio.

For sure, it really can.

Totally, completely agree with you on that. So, I know we’re all still a bit raw from the times, but are you thinking of touring anytime in the near future?

Slowly, yeah, I haven’t done shows in a while.

But I’m gonna do a show in LA in June and a show in New York in June. And I’m probably going to do more over the summer. But I’m working on it.

Follow on Instagram: @waltermartinmusic

WALTER MARTIN THE BEAR STANDOUT TRACK: “EASTER”

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SOCCER MOMMY Sophie Allison on Following Up Her Breakthrough Album Sophie Hur

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occer Mommy comes roaring back into 2022 with an album that tops even their near-perfect last LP, Color Theory. We caught up with the Sophie Allison to learn more about her background and how she prepared to follow up such a critically-acclaimed effort this time around.

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You grew up playing music, so I’ve read: what drew you into that at such a young age?

I always loved music, I started playing when I was like six years old. It was one of my first actual memories, probably. I always really liked it and was really enthusiastic about it. I had seen a charity concert and was really enthused by people playing and I got a toy guitar and I started playing it. It didn’t even tune! So, kind of terrible.

But I instantly didn’t want to put it down.

That’s kind of amazing. Do you still have that toy guitar?

I do! It’s more like a prop than anything!

Untunable nylon strings.

When did you start writing music? What did that look like?

enough to share it, post it on my Twitter, whatever. Honestly, it was great, at that point, I think especially when you’re kind of just doing it yourself before there’s any labels, and tons of fans or anything like that, it’s all very positive, it’s very empowering.

For me, it’s never been this sense of trying to think about making stuff to release. It’s kind of the same as it was when I was younger doing it.

I write songs, and when I really like something, I keep it. Obviously, now, I know that when I really like it it’s going to end up being on an album.

It definitely got crazy when things started picking up, I never expected any sort of growth.

The only thing that I thought with putting music online was eventually it’d make me more comfortable about playing some shows around town, joining a band, that kind of stuff.

And what is that writing process like?

Is that getting inspired and picking up a pen and paper, or are you sitting down and going, “Today, I would like to write”?

Now, we’re talking the day after you had a Grammy nomination for an album, Color Theory! And we’re talking about…what number album is this?

I just play guitar all the time, you know?

When I’m at home sitting and watching TV, I just have a guitar in my hand a lot of times. I just kind of start playing stuff. It always starts with a guitar and finding a chord progression or something that I like, a melody, or a riff that I like. And then I start thinking of melody and lyrics to go with that.

Further down the line, your Soccer Mommy career kicked off via Bandcamp: what tools were you using then?

Still just me, in my room, writing songs!

But I got a little TASCAM digital recorder, a little before I started doing all that stuff and just posting music online in general. At that point, a lot of it was really inspired by learning how to use this recorder, learning how to record things, and just being excited over the idea of being able to record this song that I wrote on my guitar and add drums or bass, even in a sloppy way, but to just be able to get this arrangement put together. That’s how it all started! I would really just use that box, with its own internal mic, record stuff on to that and mix it a little, put it online.

I still use it all the time for demoing! I think that those sound great!

I know a lot of folks in that same era as you have come up in that same situation of making art in their bedroom just to make art and then they put it out there and it blows up.

That was when I wrote my first song, at that age. And I kind of kept liking doing it.

Obviously, they were very stupid little songs when I was that young. I never really stopped, and I started taking guitar lessons pretty young to actually try to learn chords and stuff.

But I think for me it was always a way to write music. My interest was always in writing songs more than playing guitar or singing. I just kind of kept at it.

Definitely. The first time that I was putting stuff up, I was definitely nervous about it. I’d put stuff on Bandcamp or Soundcloud at first and not even really tell anyone. If any friends heard it or anything that was nice, but it was very much just for breaking that wall down a little bit. Then, I was just excited about recording stuff and writing new music to record.

Eventually, I started feeling comfortable

SPOTLIGHT

What is your writing goal now? Are you a person who has an album concept in mind, a tour concept in mind, that you’re working toward? Or are you writing all the time and cherry-picking from that output to create the album, create the tour?

I guess three?

See! I didn’t want to be inaccurate! It felt fuzzy!

I would say three! I think Collection is just rerecorded versions of stuff that was just from Bandcamp. For Young Hearts is only eight songs.

If we print it, it will mint it! We’ll call it three. This is your third album. What’s it like moving into this era where everything you’ve done has been well-received and critically acclaimed, Color Theory having a Granny nomination.

I’m excited! Release times for records are always stressful because there’s so much anticipation. You have this moment where, I’m really happy with it and everyone who’s been working on it with you loves it too but then you have this thing of imagining like, “Wow, only twenty people have heard this!” and everyone is about to have the opportunity to hear it and there’s a lot of opinions flying around. I’m super happy with it and I think everybody in the band is super happy with it, excited about it. We’re just

“I’m excited to move on from Color Theory, in a sense. I’m still very happy with that album but I want to grow…”

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 25

SPOTLIGHT

excited to play, even at soundchecks and stuff, just working on the new songs. We’re excited, I’m excited to move on from Color Theory, in a sense.

I’m still very happy with that album but I want to grow, I want to do more and we’ve been obviously kind of trapped in it for longer than usual. It’s really only a couple of months longer than my usual turnaround time.

Did life during Covid ever feel like a return to that more intimate era of working more solo?

Honestly, it felt the same as every other time.

For me, writing is always the same. I don’t cowrite or make beats first or do any sort of production beforehand. I just sit there and I write on my guitar. Once I feel like it’s completed, I might demo it but honestly a lot of the time I don’t even write stuff down unless I’m working on lyrics and having to kind of work through some certain parts and tweak them a lot.

Maybe it felt a little more like a couple years back, because it felt like I had some free time to get excited about not just writing the songs but trying to mess around with making demos and stuff and play on my computer after these songs were already written on guitar. Whereas usually we’ve been touring quite a bit since we started and it’s pretty busy.

What was it like working with producer Daniel Lopatin of Oneohtrix Point Never?

I feel like I can hear him very distinctly in certain places, all of the little beeps and bloops, in the beginning of the song With U, for example, a lot of little cosmic flourishes throughout the album.

That’s a great way to say it! I was personally a very big fan of his and the idea of doing this album with him was great because I felt like, just even from the demos, some of the songs were going in a different direction and I really wanted to explore that and get kind of weird with it.

I really wanted him to bring exactly that mystical element, vibe, to the album. I’d always been a big fan of his stuff and kind of knew that that was something that he’d be good at. I really wanted him to just kind of go for it and do a bunch of stuff that no one would usually expect me to be doing, and he totally did.

I don’t want to feel trapped in just doing guitar stuff. I don’t want everything to just be beautiful.

I think it’s so much better when it’s got a lot of beauty and a little bit of ugliness, shock. Not to mean ‘shock value.’

But there’s a contrast.

Yeah, exactly, that makes it intriguing and

26 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

exciting. Like you said, on the song Unholy Affliction, that outro is basically the live take with almost nothing on it, there’s a little bit of a synth thing.

It sounds that way! It sounds raw.

Yeah, I think that we spent most of the studio time just getting good live takes that we were really happy with, with the band just trying to get that. We’ve been playing together for a long time on stage and we’ve kind of already been doing– I don’t want to say experimental because that’s a little much but – kind of having fun jamming off of each other a little bit more and more working off of each other’s stuff. It’s not rigid, it’s not like we’re playing the exact thing that’s on the record every night.

Nirvana is a great example, where they can get this really good live take and you don’t need that much else. I wanted there to be that. And to be able to take that, since Dan is so great with messing around with tracks and giving them interesting sounds and tones and putting cool effects on them and stuff. We basically wanted to get that first and then take it and fuck around with it and make everything get a little bit weirder.

SPOTLIGHT

On the sounds of the new record: “I don’t want to feel trapped in just doing guitar stuff. I don’t want everything to just be beautiful.” from each other.

I think that that provides a good contrast, an idea that we’ve talked about extensively here, so I think that that’s a cool way to do that. Are either of those songs your favorite track off of this record?

Ooh, that’s hard! That’s really hard!

I know, it gets to be like Sophie’s Choice, no pun intended!

I do really love “Unholy Affliction,” I’d say that’s one of my favorites. I’d say that “New Demo,” that’s probably one of my favorites, as well. I do also really love “Do It All the Time” -- I think that those are kind of my top but honestly, I’m really happy with all of them and it kind of changes all the time.

Birmingham, which is super cool. It’s a great time when we’re there.

Does it feel good to be touring again?

Yeah, oh my god, it’s great! I was getting mildly bored with my life. It’s been nice and we’ve been lucky enough to not have trouble with Covid. But, you know, fingers crossed, we’re all trying to keep safe. It’s been good to get back out!

Follow on Instagram: @soccermommyband

And you’re touring right now! What are your favorite venues and cities to play?

What are you looking forward to being the first single from ‘Sometimes, Forever’?

Pretty much anywhere I’ve ever played in Boston I’ve had a great time! I don’t know why! [laughs] Obviously, New York has great venues but that’s kind of a cheap shot. Nashville has some good ones, I feel like we’re struggling a bit right now with not enough mid-sized venues, though.

Well, “Shotgun” just came out, so that’s the first. And then the next one, we already know, is going to be “Unholy Affliction.” They’re going to be a little different from each other and I think that’s exciting, I like to keep people guessing.

I’m not only going to write this kind of song, and there’s going to be other stuff going on the record that maybe you’re not expecting. Or maybe you are expecting! I don’t know what people are expecting of me. [laughs] I think it will be cool to have some back-to-back stuff that’s different

One of the ones I just announced that they’re going to move somewhere else, they’re going to be closed a while. But obviously being from Nashville somewhere like the Ryman, I’ve never played but it’s like a dream to play a place like that.

Chicago is really great! Thalia Hall is obviously amazing, that one is beautiful. They have a lot of good-sized theaters, more than somewhere like Nashville. A really fun one is in Philly, my sound guy used to work there, a place called Johnny Brenda’s is really great. And there’s The Saturn in

SOCCER MOMMY SOMETIMES, FOREVER STANDOUT TRACK: “SHOTGUN”

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 27

SPOTLIGHT

THE LINDA LINDAS On Finding Your Way Through Creative Freedom Gus Rocha 28 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

Zen Sekizawa

SPOTLIGHT PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 29

SPOTLIGHT

P

unk music isn’t necessarily a genre one would associate with Gen Z. A quick scroll through some of the most popular posts on TikTok will, more than likely, yield an entire playlist’s worth of autotune-drenched pop and R&B before one even comes close to hearing anything that resembles the iconoclastic sound that turned the music world on its head almost fifty years ago. But for Los Angeles-based group The Linda Lindas, punk isn’t simply a vintage novelty genre.

It is an inclusive and freeing form of artistic and 30 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

personal expression.

Made up of sisters Lucia and Mila de la Garza who take up duties on guitar and drums respectively, their cousin Eloise Wong on bass, and childhood friend Bela Salazar on guitar, the group members’ ages range from 11 to 17. The daughters of Grammy Award-winning producer and mixer Carlos de la Garza, Lucia and Mila had never considered music as an option until their cousin Eloise approached them with the offer to play in a new wave cover band assembled by Dum Dum Girls lead singer Kristin Kontrol for Girlschool LA back in 2018. Looking to enhance their raw and high-spirited sound, the three of

them recruited Salazar, who at that point, had more than enough experience on guitar.

Over the next three years, the group cut their teeth playing benefit shows and all-age matinees around Los Angeles, sharing the stage with LA punk luminaries like Alice Bag, The Dils, and The Alley Cats and legendary riot grrrl group Bikini Kills. During this time, the band released a self-titled EP and was featured on the Netflix documentary The Claudia Kishi Club and in the Amy Poehler-directed movie Moxie. But it wasn’t until a video of a live performance of their song, “Racist, Sexist Boy,” went viral last spring that the group caught the attention of A-list musicians

SPOTLIGHT like Tom Morello, Flea, and Thurston Moore, and received multiple accolades across social media and the music industry.

Following a string of television performances that included Jimmy Kimmel Live and The Late Late Show with James Corden, the group’s debut full-length album, Growing Up, is due out on April 8th via Epitaph Records. A fugacious collection of tightly-wound, fists-in-the-air, hard-hitting rockers, the album serves as a musical bridge between the dissident and nonconformist ethos of “first-generation” punk rock, and the beliefs in inclusivity, social equity, and justice that define the current cultural zeitgeist.

I got the chance to talk with The Linda Lindas and discuss their new record, the LA punk scene, and their thoughts on their growing popularity.

So I know a few of you guys are related, but then of you isn’t, correct? How did you all sort of come together?

Lucia: Mila and I are sisters and Eloise is our cousin, and we’ve known Bela since we were very tiny because our moms worked together.

Bela: We’ve known each other for more than

a decade, at least.

How long have you been playing music and what inspired you to pursue a musical path?

Mila: So Eloise, Lucia, and I all used to play classical piano before the band and Bela already played classical guitar. So, we were all already kind of playing music and had grown up around it. We’d always had music in our lives.

Eloise: Kristin Kontrol of Dum Dum Girls invited us to play in a band with a group of kids that she put together for this show where we got PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 31

SPOTLIGHT

to perform with bands like Best Coast. After that, Bela invited us to play a show with her friends and we just kinda went from there.

Lucia: For me, I wouldn’t say that I had a moment where I went ‘I want to play guitar for the rest of my life.’ It was more of like gradually realizing that I love being on stage with all these people and just writing songs. I kinda felt like I belonged when I was on stage. I felt like I belonged when I had a guitar. I feel like I don’t belong in a lot of places, but I’ve never felt out of place when playing music.

Are there any artists or bands that inspired you?

Lucia: I’d say The Go-Go’s and Bikini Kill and Sleater-Kinney and Best Coast are like the original starting point for me.

Your first show in LA, you played it as a new wave cover band. Can you tell me about that experience and how it came about?

“We’re just having fun and playing music that we love.”

Lucia: So Kristin Kontrol from the Dum Dum Girls was looking for a younger group of kids to play a few covers. That was the first time that the four of us had played on stage together.

Eloise: Kristin got a video of me singing for one of the shows that my parents put on for my school’s music program. So, she invited me, and I was like ‘Hey, maybe I should invite my cousins Lucia and Mila.’

Lucia: And to be honest, it didn’t really sound super great, so we were thinking that maybe we should get someone who actually knows how to play their instrument.

Eloise: Haha yeah, so enter Bela! Because she knows how to play better than all of us. She really knows her instrument.

Lucia: During practice, she usually goes into all this really cool solo stuff. It’s really, really cool.

How has it been to be a part of the music scene out in LA? Where have you played so far?

Eloise: My parents put on these benefit punk shows to raise money for my school’s music program out in Chinatown. So that’s where we started playing. We started out playing with bands like The Dils, Alice Bag, The Alley Cats and so many of these LA punk bands and that’s sort of what we kind of grew out of. It’s so cool to be a part of that scene.

Was there ever a point when you felt intimidated or when you had any doubts about being on stage in that particular

32 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

Mila: I was certainly a little excited and jittery and a little nervous the first time we played. But then, once we got on stage, the more we did it, that kind of went away. So it’s felt sort of really natural, really comfortable.

Lucia: For our first show, we went on stage around 11 at night, and that was really late at the time. But then, by the time we actually went on stage, we weren’t tired at all. There was a lot of energy and also anticipation both from the audience and from us because I don’t think that they knew what to expect.

As time goes by, a string of really exciting things happen for you: one of your tracks is featured on the Netflix show, you get an appearance in the Amy Pohler film, and finally, you give a performance at an event at the Cypress Park LA Library for AAPI Heritage Month last May where you perform “Racist, Sexist Boy.” Can you walk me through all of these moments?

Lucia: Moxie actually happened first, even though Claudia Kishi actually came out first.

So, the timeline goes: Claudia comes out and we go into lockdown, and that’s when we start writing a bunch of songs. We have to cancel a bunch of shows, which was really sad because we were supposed to play with Jawbreaker and a bunch of other cool bands. But yeah, so we start writing a bunch of songs and our EP comes out in December of 2020. And then, Moxie comes out in March of 2021, and that felt really cool because we’d been waiting for that for a really long time.

And then in May, that’s when the video goes big.

For me, the whole thing felt like a realization that there were all these other people out there and that we had a lot of support, that there were all these people who are interested in what we’ve got to say.

Mila: For me, with everything that’s happened, I feel like we’re still kind of doing the same thing. We’re just having fun and playing music that we love. Now it kinda feels like we have a better or bigger audience, but I don’t think that we’ve really changed that much. I think maybe if anything, we’ve gotten closer. Like a lot of people, like my classmates, for instance, view me differently now, but I haven’t really changed.

Bela: For me, I don’t think that much really changed. I think that the day that the video came out a lot of people were definitely posting about it. And yeah, it was cool to see a bunch of people and a bunch of my friends, or even a bunch of celebrities post about it. But I don’t really think that anything really changed. It just felt like something really cool to see happen.

Your debut LP, Growing Up comes out digitally on April 8th before it’s released on vinyl on June 3rd. How does it feel to have your first full record ready to come out, and what was the process of recording this like?

Bela: Recording was really fun. We’ve always enjoyed being in the studio with each other.

Lucia: The process started when we got out of school last June. We sort of raced to get it all done before we had to go back to school. But yeah, recording was super cool. It was a lot of fun to get to know our songs a whole lot better and each other better. It was a whole different experience.

There was this really professional feeling and it all just felt really nice because we felt like we were making something. It just felt really exciting.

As the touring and festival season draws near, what do you guys have planned?

Mila: We’re playing in Japan, and we’re really excited for that. We’re doing two shows, one in Tokyo and one in Osaka.

Lucia: As far as touring goes, we’re probably not going to stray off the US too much for now.

But at some point, we’d love to travel and play in South America, Europe, and Australia. We’re being patient though. Right now, New York, Las Vegas for When We Were Young, and Japan are more than we can really ask for. Oh, and we’re headlining at The Troubadour (in LA) on April 10th, and then also in New York at The Mercury Lounge.

Any artists or bands you’d like to work with in the future?

“I kinda felt like I belonged when I was on stage. I felt like I belonged when I had a guitar. I feel like I don’t belong in a lot of places, but I’ve never felt out of place when playing music.”

SPOTLIGHT

setting or did it always feel fun and normal?

And how was the stage chemistry then, and how has it evolved over the years?

Follow on Instagram: @the_linda_lindas

Lucia: There are so many! We’d love to play with Sleater-Kinney, The Go-Go’s, Blondie. I don’t know…there are so many.

Any advice for anyone out there, no matter what age they are, who’s interested in pursuing music as a career or as a creative outlet?

All of them in unison: Go for it!

Eloise: Even if you don’t know how to play your instrument too well, just go for it.

Mila: We didn’t know how to play our instruments when we started.

Eloise: Yeah…but we did it. Just go for it and have a blast.

Lucia: It’s all about what you want to say and what energy you’re going to bring. People are going to love it if you love it.

THE LINDA LINDAS GROWING UP STANDOUT TRACK: “GROWING UP”

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 33

GEAR REVIEWS

JOBY Wavo POD Desktop USB Microphone

U

SB mics either used to be overpriced or overladen with every possible option, and for most applications were overkill.

JOBY’s Wavo has streamlined the audio options and added in some features that make sense for a user who wants a quality sounding microphone for a reasonable price.

It’s a large diaphragm capsule with two selectable patterns, omnidirectional and cardioid, the included red pop filter has markings giving the user some extra guidance as to what sides of the mic go active in the specific modes. For newbies dipping their toes into doing audio this is a nice touch. A desktop stand is included, and for mounting on a microphone stand, the bottom also has a threaded insert (and adapter) for users that prefer a cleaner desktop. On-board monitoring is provided by a headphone jack, and includes USB-C cables for connection to a computer, one with a standard USB-A end.

One unique feature is on the desktop stand, with threaded inserts on each leg. This allows for other Joby accessories such as Joby’s Gorilla arms or action clamps for mounting a smartphone or other devices.

Audio quality is nice in both modes with audio processing at 24-bit // 48kHz resolution and there was no noticeable latency in using the unit. It’s meant for doing live streaming audio and recording, and it does the job well. For this kind of “home professional” use it makes sense, as it’s allin-one and dead-simple to operate.

Trying it out as a vocal mic got great results, and the included pop filter did its job nicely.

There’s plenty of clarity and warmth in there in doing solo voiceovers, and for an interview podcasting mic it’s a great choice for the cost; having it in omni mode for a “table setting” session, it worked great with multiple voices in the room. The only downside is not being compatible with Apple portable devices, which is a bummer.

There are a lot of USB mics in this price range, but the added pop filter and accessory points are simple and practical touches for audio and overall workflow. To be frank; it’s quite surprising that a “pro-sumer” level microphone sounds this good.

Chris Devine

34 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

PROS

great sounding, included pop filter, well priced CONS

not iOS friendly STREET PRICE

$99

GEAR REVIEWS

B

y now everyone has seen some vlogger/ YouTuber walking around holding a camera, talking about their topic of choice, and when the camera pans to a reflective surface, one name is clear on the windscreen: RODE. Their audio quality has always been excellent, but with their VideoMic GOII, that quality is now within reach of any content creator.

This is a shotgun condenser with a super cardioid design, which means it has a very specific directional pickup pattern. Point the mic right at the sound source directly for the best results, the additional grills on the side act as phase cancellation, wiping out competing sounds from behind the mic itself. These are always great for broadcasting where wind and background noise can’t be controlled. Overall, this is a very compact unit; just over 3/4” diameter and 4.75” long. Power comes from the device it’s connected to, such as a DSLR camera, or a USB device. Included is a very stable set of shock mounts that sit on the typical camera rail with a threaded mounting point.

RODE sent us every possible cable connection as well as their WS12 deluxe windshield.

Using this in the field makes the most sense.

The included RODE-branded foam windscreen worked fine for most applications, however in very windy conditions the WS12 was an improvement.

RODE VideoMic GO II Microphone The overall audio quality was excellent, with both iOS devices and a standard DSLR camera we had available for this review. The RODE Central app enabled it to interface with our iPad and iPhone with no issues. Using it to capture audio from an iPad made sense for doing video work.

With the threaded insert we mounted the mic on a small tabletop tripod and were quite surprised at the results using it as a podcast and voiceover mic.

The small size and light weight make this the perfect travel companion for content creators on the go. RODE also has a control software for laptops that optimize using the mic in this setting, and like the other RODE mics we’ve covered, this one also worked great with it.

The only downside is that when you order it, make sure you get the right cables for your devices, as the only connection provided was a 1/8” TRS version. Most content creators start off with a set of equipment and get separate mics for outdoor and indoor applications -- with this lil wonder, it’s the perfect little mic that won’t take up space, travels well, works with a variety of devices, and delivers perfect sound indoors and out. Your travel bag will appreciate the space and the audience will appreciate the bump in audio quality.

PROS

small format, excellent sound, very well priced.

CONS

specific cables and additional windscreen are not included.

STREET PRICE

$99

Chris Devine PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 35

GEAR REVIEWS

NEAT MICROPHONES King Bee II Large-diaphragm Condenser Microphone

N

eat’s King Bee II is a serious step up from consumer-grade to a professional piece of gear.

This is a beefy piece of hardware with an integrated honeycomb pop filter and an exoskeleton of a shockmount. The cardioid condenser capsule is large, coming in at 34mm and the diaphragm is gold-sputtered, and paired with its class-A design, meaning there is plenty of clarity and articulation as well as depth. Phantom Power is required, and the Max SPL is 140dB, with a frequency range of 16Hz-20kHz. Using this in a voiceover situation was very nice. The signal to noise ratio was excellent, and easy to notice in this application. The attached pop filter worked well on its own, helping the user really get on the mic, without any extra hardware.

Vocalists might want to really get close to the honeycomb for optimum response, though.

On instruments there is a slight top end response that’s noticeable, as well as plenty of low end. The midrange seems a slightly subdued, but that’s certainly not an issue when recording mid focused instruments like guitars; it can tend to balance things out sonically in this sense.

However, if it’s being used in a scooped out setting, like metal rhythm guitars, or bass drums, it might be a good idea to add some minds either at the amp or on some EQ plug in, for a fuller sound if need be.

Acoustic guitars came across very well, placing the capsule at the sweet spot of the 12th fret gave a nice balanced response, and when placed about 10 inches off of the fingerboard, there was enough air to catch the essence of the pick attack. Clean electric guitars were equally well done -- the better response came from the mic when it was about 6” off of the speaker grille.

Distorted guitars had a bit of darkness so placing the mic about 3” off of the grille helped, but if it was a heavy scooped EQ it would certainly require amp tweaking to compensate.

Directionally, there’s a great focus with excellent off-axis response. A great application would be a pair of these as stereo room mics to really zero in on a stereo spread for drums that will ignore any room “splash” or coloring.

For the “just above home” user looking for a nice, well made, great sounding mic that’s not a cheap knock off, this can cover vocals, guitars and drum applications with ease, and minimal 36 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

fiddling. It’s certainly touted as a good option for video and streaming, but for that specific need this might be a bit overkill price wise, as Neat’s Worker Bee II fits that role nicely, and is slightly less expensive. This sits more on a serious side of uses and is certainly closer to the “pro” side of “prosumer.”

Chris Devine

PROS

great sounding, musical EQ profile, reasonably priced CONS

Might be overkill for the casual user STREET PRICE

$169

GEAR REVIEWS

PRESONUS AudioBox GO 2x2 USB-C Audio Interface

S

mall format interfaces are great in theory, and then when users are searching for one extra feature, the next unit up the price ladder has it, and of course about a dozen more features, and now totally defeats the purpose of a small device. PreSonus has introduced the new AudioBox GO, with everything a user could need for a true recording experience, on the go…

Form-factor wise, this is tiny, a standard guitar stompbox is about the same size.

Amazingly the front panel is packed with two gain controls for a rear facing combo XLR and 1/4” connection as well as a standard 1/4” connection. A mix level control covers how much input signal vs recorded signal you’re getting. For monitoring, the large master control knob and a 1/4” headphone input with its own level control have you covered. 48v Phantom Power works with mics and devices that need that extra juice like DI boxes. For speaker monitoring, two 1/4” connections reside on the back, as well as the USB-C connection.

class! We had no issues connecting it to our favorite DAW software, Studio One 5 running on a Mac mini.

Audio quality is excellent with the XMAX-L preamp on the XLR channel, and the phantom power is a great feature for higher-end microphones or condensers that require external power. With 24-bit/96kHz audio resolution this is a powerhouse. For users who prefer a minimal appearance, this will also fit the bill.

For connecting to iOS devices, the Lightning to USB 3 Camera Adapter is required, but can even turn an old iPad into a practical recording device.

For users who would like to use an iPhone for recording videos, but want better audio options and control, this is the perfect little companion.

Overall, it’s a really inexpensive device that delivers a lot in the small format. For an artist who needs a simple interface on the road that works easily, there’s no other way to go.

Chris Devine

PROS

Small, simple, easy to use CONS

none.

STREET PRICE

$79.95

To make everything happen in one box, a copy of Studio One Prime, Studio Magic, and Capture Duo is included, which is perfect for a “starter” package that certainly punches above its weight PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 37

GEAR REVIEWS

BLACK LION AUDIO Auteur MkIII 2-channel Microphone Preamp

W

hen it comes to recording, one buzzword is always “preamp.” With Black Lion Audio’s Auteur MKIII mic preamp, a small format studio can now really deliver a robust and clear signal to any DAW. It’s a two-channel unit with each channel sporting the same options, with XLR in, as well as a 1/4” connection for audio, and 1/4” outputs.

The control panel covers gain, phantom power, polarity reverse, and a 10dB pad. At a 1/2 rack unit design it’s a perfect pair for 2-channel interfaces.

With 62dB of gain on tap there’s no lacking for power, regardless of the mic type. Its solid-state IC design on the front end makes for capturing fast attacks clearly, and the output side uses a Cinemag transformer, which adds in vintage color and warmth.

Running some tried and true mics into the Black Lion, it certainly livened things with SM57’s on a guitar cabinet. It certainly has a vintage tinge to the color, but nothing soft and squishy. Connecting some more vocal centric mics like the neat King Bee II and a Mojave MA37 again brought in a nice snappy attack.

Running guitars and basses in DI on their own with no speaker sims sounded really clear and natural. This is usually a make-or-

38 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

break point with a mic pre. Snap and clarity sat nicely with rhythm parts with no “oh it’s a direct instrument” noticeability. Tracking with a Strymon Iridium, really warmed things up a lot regardless of guitar type. For bass guitars, fuhgeddaboudit, as they say. Tell the bassist to leave their rig at home. A simple J-bass setup maintained its growl and punch, with plenty of bottom end.

PROS

The secret sauce is the Cinemag Transformer.

It’s the type of component that gets used in highend audio, from microphones to amplifiers, and every time it’s applied to a piece of gear, it takes things up a notch or two. Another great feature is the lack of fiddling needed, within minutes the pre was set to give enough signal to the DAW and start tracking. This could be “my first preamp” for a lot of users, and it’s certainly not an amateur piece of kit.

Easy to use, excellent inexpensive mic pre

Mic pre’s were usually only the domain of more production-based studios, but the size and price are scaled nicely for the user who isn’t running (or doesn’t need) mega channel systems.

It won’t take up a lot of space on a desk, and the simple controls make it a “set and forget” kind of device. For a small home/project studio this is the missing link that pairs nicely with every mic.

Chris Devine

$419

CONS

None STREET PRICE

GEAR REVIEWS

A

kai’s MPK MIDI controller is basically the industry standard when it comes to MIDI input for home studios, producers and beat makers around the world. So, what’s new here? Well, for starters you get 100+ built-in sounds on tap, plus a built-in speaker and headphone jack so you won’t bother anyone if you want to make music on-the-go.

Sure, it’s only got 2-octaves, but let’s not focus on what this doesn’t have. After all, it’s likely target audience is probably using it for bass lines, melodies and pads, so you’re not exactly doing 8-octave Jordan Rudess runs here. The keys, for what they are, feel fine, and the pads are exactly what you expect from Akai – nice and touch sensitive without being too spongy. We had no trouble hooking this up to our MPC Studio software and going to work right away on finger drumming and MIDI input.

The draw here, again, is likely to be the built-in sounds. You get about 100+ drums and a handful of nice virtual instruments to choose from. Honestly, if you can’t find inspiration

AKAI MPK Mini Play in what’s on tap, then maybe music and beat making just isn’t for you. Because with that many options, for a ludicrously low price point (we’ve seen these on sale for under $100), there’s bound to be something you can latch onto (no pun intended).

You’ve got VST control, too, and a couple of handy knobs up top to adjust and tweak parameters until your heart’s content. Again, for the price, we can’t stress enough how this might just be the centerpiece for any beginner beatmaker’s production toolkit. Just add a laptop and you’ve got pretty much everything you need to get going.

Even the menu screen, which we normally abhor, is bright, easy to use and scroll through, and provides the visual feedback you need to know what’s going on at any given time.

PROS

easy to use, nice built-in sounds and pads CONS

none.

STREET PRICE

$139

We can’t find any faults with this new offering from AKAI. We recommend it, and just might be adding one to our own desktop setup.

Ben Ricci PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 39

GEAR REVIEWS

M

aestro is back, baby! Maestro started the whole pedal “thing” back in the 1960s; the original FZ-1 fuzz is all over “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction ‘’ by the Rolling Stones. Music was never the same since.

Gibson has revitalized and re-envisioned some essential guitar effects pedals by re-launching the Maestro name.

For a proper test we were provided with a complete pedalboard with the FZ-M fuzz, Ranger Overdrive, Invader Distortion, Comet Chorus and Discovery Delay, all wired up for sound and power.

Each pedal has a very similar control layout; 3 knobs, a toggle switch for a secondary mode, and a true bypass footswitch. The Paul Rand retro style graphics are complimented with the three colored “horns” lighting up when the effect is engaged – a super-nice touch.

The FZ-M Fuzz lives up to its reputation in the classic mode. It’s rich and can get plenty hairy at the same time. It certainly sits on the side of where a fuzz was meant to be an “effect,” and complement a guitar tone, not re-write it as a new landscape of psychedelic freak-outs. It’s still potent though and works well with both single coil and humbucking pickups and has plenty of cut and edge without getting unusably sizzly.

The modern mode cleans things up a bit with more punch and presence. It’s perfect where you want the fuzz to really kick in, and not get lost in oversaturation. Players looking for a “classic plus a bit more,” this may out-do some overpriced and over-hyped fuzzes that have recently gotten some attention in forum-land.

For driving an amp, the Ranger dips into some mythical beast territory (hint, hint). The driven signal has a bit of the clean signal blended in, all adding up to a very rich and dynamic feel.

There’s also an excellent response to pick attack.

It’s a “clearer” distortion that has a bit more highend present. This is a great feature and color for cutting through for solos (and gain stacking).

This could easily be one of those “always on” pedals at a lower gain setting for a more hi-fi approach to everything else in the signal chain.

Either way, it could easily be the go-to mid-level drive for a lot of players.

Distortion pedals are often overlooked in modern music; a lot of players either find them too over the top, or they have some weak point in the frequency spectrum that makes them hit or miss. Not here; the Invader recalls when a distortion pedal was meant to hurt the front end of an amp while still retaining some semblance of articulation. This is the perfect blend of drive, and attack. The perfect test is the “all at noon” approach. If this setting works, there’s plenty of room for more gain, plenty of EQ adjustment and

40 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

output level. It passed this test with flying colors.

There’s a lot of classic distortion pedal character, but it’s not all gooped up in gain, or hiss, thanks to the selectable noise gate. Clarity and definition that still responds to picking attack, usually only resides in a tube amp on the edge of hell, and it’s found in this unit as well. Lead bits sang nicely, and power chords chugged through with plenty of articulation and harmonics.

into “orbit mode” it adds in a tremolo effect that feels even more like a vintage vibrato warble that is quite expansive. The pulsating modulation combo is something that usually only comes in “bouteek” pedals, and in this case it’s an option that takes things a step above the average chorus pedal. With a healthy dose of reverb and delay this could easily be an analog soundscapist’s new dream device.

Chorus pedals can easily draw ire, especially the overdone 80’s shimmery versions. However, the Comet Chorus sits more as a lo-fi version tonally. It’s certainly got a darker tone and overall warmth in the “earth mode.” Switching

The Discover’s Dream Delay uses a bucket brigade style circuit to capture those classic early analog delays. Simplicity rules here, and for a slapback, tape echo style it sits nicely in a mix.

Like the chorus, there is a darker presence that in

GEAR REVIEWS

MAESTRO Original Collection Guitar Effect Pedals this case adds a bit of texture to the effect. It tops out at 600 milliseconds, so for any classic delay tones, this has everything covered, and there’s a lot to be had in those areas, from clicky clacky upper range pedal tones to “let it hang” solos that remain in the air after the notes naturally decay.

The modulation option gets very warbly with the delayed signal getting processed, and kind of feels more like a vibrato, but still has a nice and haunting effect.

There are some internal trim pots on the delay and chorus units, and more tweak ability under the hood is never a bad thing. Maestro may be a classic name but they have seemed to capture a blend of old school flavors along with modern touches in the pedal-world that could easily add some more colors to any player’s sound (and pedalboard).

Chris Devine

PROS

CONS

All great versions of classic and more expensive pedals with their own flair

STREET PRICE

Some slightly $149, darker feel Delay is $159 from the chorus and delay may not appeal to all players

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 41

GEAR REVIEWS

ROLAND JX-08 Boutique Series Desktop Synth Module

W

hen the original Boutique series synths were announced a few years back, the JX-8P was one of the ones I was most looking forward to – of course I knew they’d have to cycle through the Junos, Jupiters, D-50s and so forth before they hit this sleeper, but here we are. Finally, in 2022 we’ve got a Boutique version in the JX-08.

Now, the Boutique range has its fans and detractors, and I can see both sides.

They are certainly not without their faults *cough*notenoughvoices*cough* But for those of us who want that vintage flavor without the headache and expense of actually buying and maintaining aging synthesizers, these are a fabulous alternative. The original JX-8P is one of my all-time faves, but programming it was always a challenge, and made even worse if your unit didn’t have the companion controller addon. Luckily, the small-format boutique version dispenses with the need for add-ons and makes everything easily accessible on the front panel.

Size-wise, it’s what you expect from the Boutique series, similar to the tabletop Behringer format in dimensions, just not Eurorack compatible like the Behringers. They also cost about $100 more than most of the Behringer units. Not that we’re complaining, because you get the two digitally controlled oscillators which sound great – nice and crisp but are even better

42 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

when you engage the on-board chorus. And let’s face it, don’t all Roland synths just sound more magical when you engage the chorus? We just want to place it in context with other things on the market.

If you’ve ever dialed in a Moog or Arp style subtractive synth before, the layout will make a ton of sense, so even novices shouldn’t have option paralysis. It’s quick and simple to get lush pads, killer leads and bass lines down without having to break a sweat. You also get all the presets from the original (plus like 100 new ones to fiddle with), more than a dozen fx built-in, an arpeggiator, polyphonic sequencer and up to 20 (!) voices with splitting options. You even get individual LFO control for both of the DCOs – nice touch for modulation wizards out there.

Whew, that’s a LOT of sound-shaping control at your fingertips, all under $400. Now, you’ll likely want to control this via MIDI, wither with a nice controller or sequenced through your DAW, because let’s face it, the K-25m keyboard Roland insists on pairing with their Boutique line just doesn’t cut it at all.

We’ve fallen in love with the clear, crystalline textures of the JX all over again. We think you will, too.

Ben Ricci

PROS

simple to dial in great sounds, no need for the external programmer like with the original CONS

the official keyboard option isn’t great STREET PRICE

$399

GEAR REVIEWS

ROLAND JD-08 Boutique Series Desktop Synth Module

Y

ou can read our companion review of the JX-08 that launched alongside this for more context on the Boutique series as a whole, but for now let’s focus on the JD-08, specifically.

Unlike the JX, we don’t have much hands-on experience playing the original JD-800 that this small-format synth is based on. The last time we played one in person was nearly 20 years ago. So, while our frame of reference may be outdated, that could be an advantage. We’re approaching this unit as its own instrument, not meticulously comparing how it does, or doesn’t faithfully (or not) recreate the vintage keyboard it’s based on. And I think that’s a healthy approach to take with the entire Boutique line, one that we sometimes neglect ourselves.

Sorry, we’re synth nerds.

What you need to know here is that this is not a pick-your-waveform and sweep-the-filter type of synth, like a Moog or something similar.

We’re dealing with the world of true sound design, so be prepared to strap in, read the manual and get accustomed to spending much more time experimenting. Luckily it does come with all the old patches and the more aggressive timbe of the original, so at least you’ve got some starting points to jump off of. If you’re looking for that 90s electronica and dance sound, this is this right place to begin.

It also has an on-board sequencer, so one trick

you might try is to load a sequence in your DAW, let it run freely through the JD-08 and then start messing around with the controls to shape the sound on-thefly. You might just stumble onto a great sound or patch that you otherwise wouldn’t have got. With plenty of on-board storage, we recommend saving patches often so you don’t lose them.

Look, we’re not going to pretend we’re experts on Linear Arithmetic synthesis, but we do know that we love the D50, and this certainly carries over that vibe. You’ve got iconic samples and PCM waveforms, plus the digital synthesis controls to mess about with, all in a tiny form factor that dispenses with the multi-octave keybed of the original. You also don’t have to try tacking one of those down in working order on Reverb, which can be a nightmare in itself.

So, if you want to add a bit of digital-retro vibe to your rig, this might be an -off-the-beaten track type of module to slot into your workflow, especially if you missed out on the original run of D-05 Boutique modules that are now out of production and fetching premium prices on the used market.

Anyway, the JD model sounds really cool if you’re into that specific vibe, seems to be easier to program than the original, comes in much cheaper, and even contains all the same sounds. So, what’s not to love?

Ben Ricci

PROS

compact, great sounds, good price CONS

the official keyboard option isn’t great, might be too complex for a beginner to really program well STREET PRICE

$399

PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 43

GEAR REVIEWS

M-AUDIO BX4 BT 4.5-inch Bluetooth Multimedia Monitors

W

hen it comes to audio monitors, the lower priced units are usually cheaply made, with poor sound quality, but try to get something decent and the price jumps dramatically. M-Audio’s new BX4’s are a great set for any media application and within any budget.

Inside the MDF cabinet resides a 4.5-inch Kevlar woofer and a 1-inch silk-dome highfrequency driver. The cabinets are ported for a better low-end response, something not seen on a lot of small-format units. Connectivity is done with 1/4-inch, 1/8-inch, and RCA inputs on the rear, and the front panel has a pair of 1/8-inch for easy access connections of other audio sources.

With a set of high and low EQs going from -6db to +6db each, these can be tuned for the space they’ll be used. For complete universal connectivity, they are Bluetooth equipped as well.

These come as a matched pair, with one speaker being the active control unit. Size wise they are perfect for workstations with limited desk space, but the overall sound is quite big and responsive. Tracking with a set of these was a breeze and paired nicely with our DAW and interface. The front facing connections are a great idea for performers to bring in their own mixes on an external device for comparison to what’s being worked on for comparison. Running though some mixes we were happy to report that these didn’t have a lot of over coloring in any frequency areas.

44 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

With 120W on-tap there’s plenty of clean power available, as well. For any content creator, whether it’s audio or video production, these are a serious set for the user who might be under a budget constraint.

M-Audio thought outside the box a bit with these, and one great application of these are for typical recreational listening. Turntables sales have been on the rise over the last decade, and a set of small format speakers like these make sense for a powered vinyl setup while providing great fidelity in a bookshelf-friendly formfactor. With Bluetooth connectivity, these also work connected to any compatible device like a Television, computer, or smart phone/tablet.

So, here’s where the roads meet. For a recording situation these make an excellent way to check mixes against other recordings the user may already be working on. If it sounds good on these, more than likely you’re on the right path. Finding a set of small format monitors, with Kevlar drivers that deliver plenty of quality audio at this price is well worth it. These might be considered a “starter set” of monitors, but they will give a user plenty of mileage, regardless of how they’re being used. For a user who might want to have a great sounding set of all-purpose speakers for pleasurable use, these make sense, space and sound wise.

Chris Devine

PROS

Small format, very compatible with other applications, great price CONS

None STREET PRICE

$179/pair

GEAR REVIEWS

POSITIVE GRID Spark Mini

C

ramming every possible option and configuration for every possible situation is a recipe for failure. However, Positive Grid has somehow made a unique and practical small format amp that’s option-laden for practicing, recording, playing live and doing videos.

PROS

Great sound, practical and easy learning tool, small format CONS

none STREET PRICE

$195

The Spark Mini is app driven, and paired to a smart device with the app, there’s plenty of selections of virtual amps and effects on tap. The choices are thankfully not generic, however the names are altered from their real counterparts, probably for legal reasons, but the visual representation is very spot on, and there are some nice boutique versions here, along with more common options. Sound wise they are very good, and definitely deliver the flavor that’s desired.

The player can make pretty much unlimited combinations and save them to be recalled as well. While the app is a big component of this mini rig, it’s not always needed, as the 4 presets on the control panel are always available for use.

The overall audio quality is pretty amazing; stereo effects still have great presence, adding dimension with modulations and delays are certainly felt. The amp and overdrive tones are shockingly realistic and reactive to playing.

There is an adjustable EQ, but right out of the box there was no need to make any changes. It used to be that any amp with a speaker smaller than 8” would just sound crummy, but the fullness and clarity is quite impressive, and certainly blows away the usual bedroom practice amp.

Connecting it to a computer; it’s now a guitar

interface and works with pretty much every recording software platform. With Bluetooth, it can act as an external speaker on its own, playing music for recreational use, but syncing it with Apple Music, Spotify and YouTube, there’s a chord diagram and play-along feature allowing the user to figure out songs easily and, well, play along.

Portability-wise the size is brilliant and can easily fit in a standard backpack. With two pins mounted on the sides, the included strap can be attached to a belt loop for busking, and portable live performances.

It can also act as an audio capture/interface for videos as well. It syncs up and uses the smart devices camera for video, but the Spark Mini as the audio input, and allows for backing music too. For guitar YouTubers doing lessons, this can make getting into content creation easy, without a lot of hassle or learning curves.

There are a lot of app-based guitar systems, but this one is very comprehensive. Overall, it’s a practicing and learning device, but it’s not limited to beginner levels. Using it to work out parts on your own band’s new material makes perfect sense, and it’s a simple, all in one device that can do all of that with ease. Add in the portability and video functionality and it’s a content creator’s dream. Of course, the sound quality and realistic amp and effect tones make it more than just a learning or practice tool, it makes playing something it should always be: fun.

Chris Devine PERFORMER MAGAZINE APRIL/MAY 2022 45

GEAR REVIEWS

MOJAVE AUDIO MA-37 Large-Diaphragm Tube Condenser Microphone

V

intage Tube Microphones have a lways been coveted to the point of being unattainable. David Royer of Mojave recognized that users want new versions of these classic microphones and their MA-37 shoots for the Sony C-37a’s style and characteristics and hits a bullseye.

This is a serious (like heart attack serious) piece of kit. The whole package includes a pelican style padded case, dedicated power supply, microphone and connection cables.

The microphone itself has two modes: Cardioid & Omnidirectional, selectable by a recessed switch on the mic. It’s a physical shutter, not an electrical version that changes its color.

The large 1” diaphragm is 6-microns thick, gold sputtered and resides in a retro style casing mounted on a beefy yoke. The frequency response is 30Hz-18kHz, with a max SPL of 135dB. The power supply sports a EF806 tube and has 3 high pass filter options: Flat (M), 100Hz ( V1), & 200Hz ( V2). Mojave has been known for using high quality components and the use of a Lundahl transformer is certainly a key piece in this sonic recipe.

On vocals this is a dream, there’s no other way to put it. There are not many mics that make a singer sound better, but this is one of the rare instances of magic. Its super smooth response makes us wonder “why haven’t we heard a mic this good before?” The response is hyper rich and dynamic across the board.

The high pass filter on vocals is a seasonto-taste formula, for higher pitches, let’s say Robert Plant-ish shrieks, the V2 option adds in a musical roll off that doesn’t dull the

46 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

performance, and a singer will find this mic works with them.

Applying this to acoustic guitars was also super pleasurable as we found using the V1 setting on the high pass filter was great, between the 12th fret and the neck/body joint for clarity and depth but placing the mic close to the bridge with the V2 setting gave it an edge that still had warmth in the top end.

Applying this mic to guitar cabs was really, really, really nice…getting that extra bottom end that still has clarity and definition right from the start, and the midrange sat in a very musical area without a ton of EQ. Even solidstate combos sounded better with this, with no fizz or grit. On its own the MA-37 definitely delivers, but users who can’t just put one mic on a cabinet; it won’t hurt, but the overall fullness will be coming from the MA-37. Forget plug-ins and IR’s, this is the real deal.

This is professional level hardware, with professional level results that are excellent.

We’ve never had a real C-37 at our disposal but this feels as close to vintage as you can get, without the hassles of old gear. For a serious mic locker, this is the secret weapon for vocals, guitars, amps, and anything else that just needs to sound warmer, dynamic, smoother and more musical. For users that subscribe to how the original version was legendary, this is the obtainable version that is worth opening up room in your budget. With the results on your next recording, you won’t be overpaying for the sound you get.

Chris Devine

PROS

wonderful sounding high pass filter is very useful and overall musical CONS

expensive (but worth every penny) STREET PRICE

$3499

MY FAVORITE AXE

ABOUT THE ARTIST

Singer/songwriter Seth Adam writes compelling, genuine songs with honest lyrics. Taking cues from artists like Counting Crows, Tom Petty, and Jason Isbell, he creates his own brand of edgy, Americana rock & roll.

Casee Marie

MAKE & MODEL

2018 RWM Guitars “Butcher Block” Tele ABOUT THE INSTRUMENT

This guitar means a lot to me. Since it’s built with up-cycled materials, I love that it’s environmentally conscious. Since it’s a Telecaster style body - and I came into possession of this guitar while I was in the market for a Tele; it fits my needs, sound-wise. Since it’s built by a local artisan and not a big corporate entity, I am happy to promote the builder. It’s a truly unique guitar, and I am grateful to have it in my life.

It sounds great! Sustain for days, able to get some gritty rock sounds, beautiful cleans, and some in-between sounds perfect for some of my altcountry/Americana songs.

I think the most special feature about it is that the body is made from a butcher block, which was also used as someone’s workbench in its past.

There are nails and writing still in the wood!

The last owner of the wood used it as a work bench, and apparently was a fan of music. His wife contacted me to let me know that she was so happy that the wood was being used to create music, and that her husband would have approved. There’s more to the story, but only so much space here.

This will be heard on a few tracks on my upcoming album Fits and Starts and Stops (due late spring 2022), most notably on a song called “The Trouble I’ve Been In.” LEARN MORE at http://www.sethadam.com

with

SETH ADAM

48 APRIL/MAY 2022 PERFORMER MAGAZINE

CLASS OF ’21

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@fortunes_folly

CLASSIC 5 Monitors

6. Foxanne

@foxannemusic

Bobcat V90 Guitar

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@hawksdonotshare

DrumBrute Impact + Microfreak

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Jon Manness

@jonmanness

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