I don´t consider myself a musician because music is a time travel for me. As a child I dreamt of otherworldly figures whose opal spaceships landed in front of our house. After long conversations I asked them to take me, in fact to save me from this, already then perceptibly hopeless situation.
Do you remember when you discovered music and what were your first thoughts about it?

I think that I am not existing as a personality in this respect. According to my strategy, I relish executing the program, the conception that I consider capable of functioning, like a robot. It is based on the fact, that I always learn everything I am interested in. For example, I am interested in the Japanese tonal system, then it seems to me that the closed Indian musical élite has admitted me as a traditional musician playing on vina and sitar, then I have learned how to cast a Javanese gong and what kind of intervals had been used by Persians in the 13th century, and particularly why

This whole policy of no cameras at gigs is done. Obviously many places state no professional cameras, or no cameras with interchangeable lenses, but what does that even matter any more. With Canon, Panasonic, and Nikon all selling products that you can slip in your pocket capable of shooting photos that one could make billboard ads with being allowed into the shows, often by people not knowing what they are really doing, so where does that really leave this policy? I could understand if they didn’t want people to make money off the photos, okay, but how can you stop the people with the pocket cams from making money, where is the difference. Chances are those people are going to take the photos and post them in a public forum, say facebook or myspace, and often without context.

As album sales are becoming a less meaningful component in the overall success of an artist or band, the live performance sector, including ticket sales and merchandise sales, is becoming increasingly important. While the live show itself must be unique in order to encourage repeat customers and ultimately drive ticket sales, the merchandise table has the opportunity to drive significant revenue and first hand, artist-fan engagement. But just having a merch table is not enough, as there are essential elements that must be accounted for in order to make the effort worth while.

With the more than 10000 people, the 6 unique and wonderful stages, the costumed characters, the funky psychedelic art, the lights, the lasers, the beautiful Salmo River Ranch, the many smiling faces, the five minute best friends, the long term connections and reminders of eternal truths, Shambhala is an amazing experience.

Tribes exist as a way to connect and to share an interest in a topic, and it is because of this that you as an artist must recognize that creating a tribe is an essential step towards success and career-longevity. And since a developed tribe acts as its own entity, the incessant ’shameless self-promotion’ that unfortunately paints the walls of all too many artists’ Facebook and Twitter pages will become a thing of the past.

We were wet, we danced and jumped, we explored, we climbed a mountain and crossed a river, we traveled on shrooms with Mary Jane, we camped and made new friends and met old ones. Oh yeah, there was music too…

Emerging musicians are in an eternal struggle against two evils: funding projects and growing a fanbase. In the past, musicians have funded their own albums, and have used it as leverage to gain more fans. But artists on a fixed income may run into issues funding their own projects, which can have harmful effects on the quality of the final product.

Sounds of Old Strathcona Fest, Edmonton, Part 4
Sunday the last day of the festival.  The streets on Whyte avenue were shut down, and two large stages were set up two blocks apart.  Vendors dotted the street selling books, and beaded things, the standard festival fare, but they were certainly not the main event, and it captured a solid all ages party atmosphere, with kids and parents dancing along side Edmonton’s hip Youth.  I was only able to catch two bands on this closing day of the festival.  The first not …

Sounds of Old Strathcona Fest, Edmonton, Part 3
Saturday morning I awoke to thunder.  Not again I thought to myself.  I left Vancouver expecting to come to Edmonton, and have two weeks without fucking rain.  I guess it’s just too much to ask for.  I was a little apprehensive about leaving the house, I know I had shows to see, and photos to take, I just didn’t want to deal with another torrential downpour like the day previous, but the clouds burned off and there was a return of those blue …

Sounds of Old Strathcona Fest, Edmonton, Part 2
The first day of festival came with a darkening of the skies.  I was just arriving to the ave. when the winds began to pick up, and people on the street were running for shelter.  Not one to be left out, I ducked into the first restaurant I saw, just in time to escape the torrents of rain the clouds decided to let loose on the unsuspecting masses that had gathered below.  In seconds the streets looked more like rivers, the storm drains …

A music festival showcasing mainly Alberta Talent

Hey Toronto Musicians Be Seen And Heard In Vancouver! I’m in Ontario on the outskirts of Toronto at the moment and I’m looking for music. VanMusic is a Vancouver based music website I’m on a mission to get Vancouver musicians seen and heard in Toronto and Toronto musicians seen and heard in Vancouver. Canada overflows with talent and our music scene needs to be spread around, so here’s the plan…

I had been waiting for this show for the better part of two months, and I was getting sick. My throat killing me. Distracting me from not only the job I had to do, but also enjoying much of the show as I would like, but I soldiered on. I took up position at the side of the stage while the band readied themselves for the fierce looking crowd that was waiting for them. One fan I knew from Edmonton came back to greet the band. Asking if they remembered certain shows in Red Deer, and Calgary, and then offered them his basement to come play in. He did have a big basement.

In an attempt to open up the discussion, lets explore a few unconventional ways that musicians can use their Twitter accounts. The idea here is for musicians to use their Twitter accounts in a way that is ultimately unique enough to rise above the static of the thousands of self-promoting musicians to increase their following and more importantly their engagement with fans.

László Hortobāgyi, a self described time traveler, is one of my favourite musicians. Away from rock and world music etiquettes which he despises, he goes beyond the realms of conventional music. He is a connoisseur of music, a collector of bizarre sounds. An auditive inventor of landscapes of imaginary ancient cultures. He is the equivalent in music of HP Lovecraft in literature, Bosch (El Bosco) in painting or HR Gigger in visual arts. Maybe a combination of Jodorowski and the Quay brothers in cinema with a touch of sci fi. He absorbs the millenarian knowledge of the old civilizations to extrapolate it to modern technology.