Chords Magazine - 1st Edition

INTRODUCING: Nina Folino Up-and-coming local GTA singer has just released her first EP Escape

INDIE: The New Cool

How independent music producers and musicians succeed

ANALYSIS:

Classical music is dying? Not according to music professor Myra Kay

GENRE HIGHLIGHT: Find out how Christian music is successfully crossing over to the mainstream market

1 CHORDS

Sara Rozalina Krstevski’s New album Soli Deo Gloria

Let Sara’s

new

album of classical piano favourties relax you today!

To order call now at: 1-866-300-9995 Or

go online at:

www.SLM-Balkans.org

CHORDS 2

Inside Chords 4

INDIE: The New Cool How independent music producers and musicians tough it out and succeed.

6

INTRODUCING: Nina Folino Up-and-coming local GTA singer has just released her first EP Escape.

9

ANALYSIS: Classical Music Classical music is dying? Not according to music professor Myra Kay.

10

Genre highlight: Christian Music The ever-increasingly popular Christian genre is crossing over to the mainstream market with a bang.

Credits Copy & Layout Editor Sara Rozalina

Krstevski On The Cover Nina Folino Interviews Rob Weaver, Colin Lingdren,

Da’Verse, Naomi Petty,

Nina Folino, Steve McPhail,

Myra Kay Photographers Kaitey Button, Steve

Burton, Nikki Horvath,

Tien Long Advertisements Brilliant Red Studios,

Sara Rozalina Krstevski

From

the

Editor

W

elcome to the first edition of the online music magazine CHORDS. Being a classically trained musican myself and a recording music artist who performs on Canadian national television, you can see why I’m writing about music.

Already having three albums you will probably understand that music is my life.

I have decided to expand my other skill which is writing. That is one of the reasons of why I’ve started my own magazine. I’m also the managing editor of the magazine Word of Life Today for Shining Light Ministries.

I like to contribute to today’s society in a greater way by doing what I love. I love music and I love writing.

I want to give out to the world stories that will inspire and ignite a passion in people to influence others in a positive way. I have that passion and I will let it out through song and of course my pen.

Welcome to the first edition of CHORDS magazine.

To find out more about me check out my Facebook or MySpace page.

Sara Krstevski Sara Rozalina Krstevski, Editor 3 CHORDS

Indie

The New Cool

By Sara Rozalina Krstevski

Rob Weaver

I

n a world where media rules and major music labels run the show, independent music producers and musicians may find it really tough to hang in there.

Rob Weaver, a 22-year-old independent music producer, has already started his own production company called Brilliant Red Studios.

“I started about three years ago. I had just graduated, when my brother told me to download a program called FruityLoops (now called FL Studio). The program is user friendly, and is designed mostly for electronic music. I began producing techno and electronic songs, which eventually escalated to rock songs. And that’s really how I began as an independent music producer,” said Rob. As a music producer, talent is not the only thing required. Being educated about the CHORDS 4

field helps tremendously.

“In the field of production and engineering it helps a lot to have an education. It saves you from a great deal of trial and error. There are many things that I learned from audio engineering school that I may have never learned on my own,” said Rob. Rob does admit that competition from major record companies makes it tough. But it all comes down to cash.

“Competition is always tough in any field.

It seems that there is always someone better than you no matter how hard you try.

It’s frustrating to know that some producers working under major labels have millions of dollars of equipment at their disposal,” said Rob. “But all I can do is work with what I have and give every project all I got.”

Colin Lindgren, who is also a young music producer, as well as part of a band called

Beauti, also understands how hard it is to get heard.

“Being an Indie band is something that requires much work to be heard. I have been touring with Beauti for about two and a half years. Only now are we beginning to be noticed by record labels, management companies and booking agencies,” Colin said.

It shows that hard work creates results. Beauti gets about 500 plays a day on average on its MySpace page and the band has sold about 5,000 CD’s.

In the end it matters how you market yourself and determining who your audience is.

“Being independent means you have to go out there and get it! No sitting around...”

“MySpace is my main source of marketing. I spend at least eight hours a week adding and messaging bands and artists. Every band and artist that is serious about what they do is guaranteed to have a MySpace page,” said Rob. “Another way I have promoted myself is by going to shows. I attend shows and talk to the bands and artists after their sets. Then hand out business cards.”

Some benefits come as a result of being an independent musician and music producer.

“Every dollar we make is ours. For us there is only one slice of pie. We make money from various sources, such as CD sales, merchandise, ticket sales and also radio royalty,” said Colin.

For all who want to be successful in whatever area of life, there doesn’t seem to be any magic formula, except for plain old hard work.

“Being independent means you have to go out there and get it! No sitting around,” said Rob. “It’s not easy to be successful in any area of the music industry, but almost anyone can do it. Put all your energy, time and emotion into it, and don’t give up.”

Colin Lindgren 5 CHORDS

Introduci

By Sara Rozalina Krstevski

N

ina Folino is an example of someone who is taking a leap of faith to start living out her dreams. Dreams that inspire people though music. Born in Mississauga but raised in Burlington, Ont., 20-year-old Nina’s musical ways began when she was just a young child.

“I was always a very loud and musical kid. My mom would always have some ‘80s jam on in the house,” Nina recalled.

Nina would sing and dance along to Michael Jackson, Madonna or Prince and performing became an important part of Nina’s life.

“You never really know what people are going to think of your stuff.”

“In Grade five, I was in my first musical and once I was on stage in front of an audience, I knew I had to do it for my life,” said Nina. “I caught the ‘bug’ so to speak.”

From then on, both in her elementary and high schools, Nina continued to get involved in performing in plays and talent shows, receiving positive responses from her classmates and teachers alike.

After high school, Nina decided to attend Sheridan College in Oakville to take the one-year Performing Arts-Preparation program, which she graduated from this year.

CHORDS 6

ing

Nina Folino

Nina Folino 7 CHORDS

“I wanted to better myself as a performer with more training and I felt that Sheridan was the place to go,” said Nina.

Nina didn’t have much training before Sheridan.

“She has an ability not only to sing well but to write catchy melodies and create hooks...”

“When I was 15 I wrote my first song. I was never taught how to play an instrument and I never had professional training so that was when I went to Melody Man Studio’s and started taking vocal lessons with a teacher there, Steve McPhail,” Nina explained.

As Nina began taking these lessons her confidence began to grow and she recorded her first EP, Escape, which was released this year.

Since the release of her EP, Nina has been receiving a lot of support from her fans.

“It’s so surprising and I am so thankful to those who appreciate my music and support it. I have so many different fans both, male and female, and they have a wide age range.

You never really know what people are going to think of your stuff,” Nina explained.

Steve McPhail, the producer and owner of Melody Man Studios in Burlington, thinks that Nina has amazing potential as a singer and songwriter.

“She has an ability not only to sing well but to write catchy melodies and create hooks in her songs,” said Steve. “I wanted to help Nina in her recordings because I really like her song ideas and she has a great quality about her voice that I believe people will want to hear. She also has great presence on stage when she sings, but still is very down to earth and level-headed about her career.

CHORDS 8

I think she will have great things to offer the music world.”

Nina’s dream is to be able to perform her music to everyone around the world. She says that you “gotta dream big.”

“For the future, I’m currently getting a band together and once we’re good to start performing we’ll then perform around the GTA. My goal is to have my original music.

It’s about getting out there and being seen,” Nina said.

To do this it takes a lot of work, but there is a particular avenue that Nina finds very useful.

“I use the Internet a lot – MySpace, Facebook, Reverbnation. All those music sites where you can upload some tracks and people can see what you’re about are very handy,” said Nina. “I also bought a distribution deal through Indie Pool and so now I’m on iTunes, Amazon and other music-buying sites.”

With all the things going on with her music career, Nina still finds the time to have fun.

“They (family) keep my feet on the ground.”

“I’m super cheesy. I love walks down by the waterfront in Burlington. I love watching movies. Movies have always fascinated me.

My family. I love just hanging out with them,” Nina said.

Nina’s close Italian family is what she considers her greatest support system.

“I am really close to my mom, dad and two younger sisters. We’re a tight-knit group.

And I can always trust them, talk to them about anything and I know they’ll always be there for me,” Nina said. “They keep my feet on the ground.”

By Sara Rozalina Krstevski

C

Classical music

lassical music is essential for life and it’s here to stay, according to a Burlington music teacher and performer.

“Classical music has been around for hundreds of years. In the past it was considered the most dominant form of music especially in European society. In modern society classical music is continuing to thrive despite the many myths surrounding its dying interest,” said Myra Kay, who has 12 years of experience.

Proof that classical music is alive and well is in the music sales. iTunes sold a billion tracks in its first three years of existence and classical music accounted for 12 per cent of the sales, according to a New York Times article.

Classical music, in its many forms, seems to have a big influence on today’s generation especially with the successes of Andrea Bocelli, an Italian tenor, and Josh Groban, an American baritone and the late Luciano Pavarotti.

“Its influence on society is especially seen in the soundtracks of movies, advertisements on television and even for video games. In most movies they use the classical genre to create the moods and feelings of the film,” said Myra. “That’s what makes classical music so successful. It is full of feeling and emotion, expressed in sort of a heavenly way.

The music is very melodic, harmonious and adds a lot of drama.”

Classical music is thriving because of its hold on the younger generation.

“Classical music can influence people from

a very young age. In Disney movies and little children’s films, happy classical music is used a lot which instills in the child a love for that music especially because it is cheerful and very harmonious,” Myra said. “Many parents are having their children trained in some form of classical music, especially for piano, classical guitar and violin lessons.”

“Children who are trained in classical music have improved their marks in school...”

One of Myra’s students, a nine-year-old girl named Elisabeth, is one of the many young people being classically trained with the piano.

“I like classical music because it is smooth and melodic. It feels good and it sounds really nice,” said Elisabeth. “I like getting trained in classical music because it helps me in my school and it really works my brain.”

Studies and research have discovered that even listening to some of Mozart’s classical pieces can help increase mental development.

“It has been proven over and over again that children who are trained in classical music have improved their marks in school.

Musical training helps develop almost every part of the brain,” said Myra. “But besides all that, it helps us learn and appreciate another genre in music. I believe that every cultured person should learn to appreciate its complexity and beauty.”

9 CHORDS

Genre Spotlight

By Sara Rozalina Krstevski

M

Christian Music

ichael W. Smith, Amy Grant and Rebecca St. James are some of the major Christian music artists that have helped the ever-increasingly popular Christian genre cross over into the mainstream market.

This cross over is helping Christian artists make a career with their music. Naomi Petty, a young Christian musician from Mississauga, started her musical experiences in the church.

“My dad had just started a church plant (founded a church) in Toronto and knew that someday, if not in his church, I might be able to use my skills and gifts to bless a local church or minister somewhere with that ability,” Petty said. “I started playing in church at the age of 11 and began more advanced studies through the Royal Conservatory of Music until I graduated high school.”

Contemporary Christian music is evolving to appeal to wider audiences and artists are taking advantage of ways to promote their music by creating their own unique sound.

“Because Christian music has a very focused theme of worshiping God, I think that CHORDS 10

Da’Verse

Christian artists have to work very hard at differentiating themselves from each other to make their music sound interesting and unique,” Petty said. “Whether secular or Christian-based, I believe that when it comes to instrumentals, music is music no matter who is playing it. So Christian artists need to be free to experiment with the many differ-

“The major difference between secular and Christian music is in its lyrical content.”

ent forms of music available today and use it in a way that’s glorifying to God.” Da’Verse, a local Christian rap/reggae trio from Oakville, released its debut album, Judge Me, this summer and the group is learning how to get people hooked to its music.

“To succeed in this genre you need to know what people like, what captures their attention and it comes quite easy because you like the same kind of music. You use your taste and opinion successfully to help create that buzz,” said Jacqueline Saliba, one of the mem-

bers of Da’Verse. “There are current trends that are occurring in the music industry and you must be aware of them. Research is also very important. Take the popular styles out there but make sure that you’re different.”

To succeed in Christian music, promoting yourself is the same as in any genre. The major difference between secular and Christian music is in its lyrical content.

“Christian music has come a long way in

“The true purpose of Christian music... lies in the foundational concept that we were created to worship.”

its sound and is almost identical in most aspects to secular music. I would have to say that the lyrics of Christian music would definitely have to be lifting up the name of Christ and praising Him for His character in one way or another,” said Petty.

Artists getting into this genre of music face tough competition against secular musicians and keeping the faith might be just a little hard.

“The moment you decide to enter the Christian music scene you automatically limit yourself to a much smaller audience by aligning with a specific purpose and content. This makes it very difficult to compete with secular artists as far as getting your name out there and earning a living,” said Petty. “But the true purpose of Christian music isn’t necessarily to compete against the secular artists—the purpose really lies in the foundational concept that we were created to worship. Christian music flows out of that purpose and nothing will stop it despite the lack of interest from the secular world.”

Naomi Petty 11CHORDS

Cheap

price,

Expensive

sound

www.myspace.com/brilliantredstudio

Brilliant Red Studios AD PUT HERE

Music

artists book your recording session today!

CHORDS 12