Leeds seems to be a bit of a hot bed of talent for all things music, maybe its something in the water, but creativity seems to run deep.
One chap in Leeds at the moment, but originally from the mean streets of Edinburgh is Nom De Strip aka Chris Elliott.
We've heard a lot from Mr De Strip in the last few months, he's been a virtual conveyor belt of choonage since he burst onto the scene. No stranger to that scene, Chris is standing side by side with Stupid Fresh (Tod), as they look set for double domination. We hop skipped and jumped over the Lancashire/Yorkshire border to catch 5 minutes with the man himself:
Don - We'll start with the standard.... Describe your sound in 3 words? Nom De Strip - Whatever I Fancy! ... nice answer, and if you had one nugget of advice for unsigned dance music producers, what would it be? Try to make original tracks and avoid too many remixes. I have made millions of remixes that could have been, and would have served me loads better as, original tracks.
It is an interesting point that, sometimes an eagerness to just make music, and new music leads to an endless supply of remixes. It is true to say that remixes and bootlegs can help you make your stamp, but it is always prudent to make a stamp on some original beats, even if you sample/be influenced by other music!
As a Logic user and abuser, what is your favourite VST Plugin? I really like Gladiator, unfortunately that synth kills my 4 year old laptop CPU!
Just a few then ha ha! Thanks for the tip-offs - a few of those guys will be familiar to readers, but some others less so... and this is what this blog is all about!
And what's next for you? What does the short-term future hold for Nom De Strip? Release-wise I have tonnes of stuff out in December, 'Nom De Bomb' EP on Bombsquad, remixes of Dizzee Rascal - Dirtee Cash, Rishi Bass - Dirty Balloon (both with Tom Piper), and of Pablo Decoder - The End Of It All. I'm also gonna be in the studio with Tim Healey. Next year I have an EP with Bart B More out on his label, my first EP on Southern Fried in April, and more remixes for Tim Healey, DJ Dan, MC Flipside, Tom Piper, and I almost forgot.... my mix of Hatiras - Spaced Invader!
Gigs wise I have my final tour as part of Stupid Fresh to South Africa for xmas and New Year, after which I'm fully focussing on finalising solo Nom tours to Canada, north Europe, south Europe, Australia, Asia, USA in the first half of 2010 as well as as many UK gigs as I can get. I'm happily looking after my own gigs for now (promoters hit me up!), and have Tim Healey taking care of my music management as well as maintaining strong ties with Micky Slim and Bombsquad in the future.
Awesome, another very busy man!
If you still haven't heard of Nom De Strip, definately check out his Myspace... and look out for him and Stupid Fresh hitting 2010 hard!
1. Get all your followers/friends in one place - grab their email addresses! This is the first point, and if you are being proactive about building a fan base you need to get this bit sorted.
Scenario: So you have loads of friends/fans/followers over lots of different social media sites... reign them all in with a "sign up to get 3 free downloads from me" webform, and add them to your mailing list. We have developed an email capture/storage system here at Venga, which you can join for freeeee, see the video below for how to do this, seriously easy stuff. Once you are in, you create a list, then create the webform, then customise the subscription process by specifying what you want to send them back... all coming from your name and email address. Did I mention it was free?
2. Myspace still has its place so keep it up Yes Facebook is the daddy for getting in touch with relevant fans, and yes Twitter is "cooler" at the moment.... but people will always still check out the streamable music on Myspace so keep it rockin! A custom Looking Profile, packed with good content and your sign-up form... the profile doesn't have to bee anything too fancy.... you can get one like this for £89, email Veibel to hook that up on james@veibel.co.uk
But in keeping with the "free" theme if you check out this blog, you have access (for free) to all the code you could ever need. You have to be a bit of a geek to work it all out, but with a bit of practice you will get there - and/or pay another geek to sort it for you. Make sure you have an email capture form, and make sure you plug it like mad!
3. Facebook is the Daddy Set up a fan page for your music, there is lots of funky stuff you can do now with Facebook fan pages, upload tracks, embed videos, attach your events... and now with the dawn of FBML you can custom build tabs for your pages in html, and have html boxes on the left of your page... And a nifty tip if you are setting up a page from scratch: It's social media right, so invite 10 of your good friends to recommend the page to 10 other friends. It works, and itll bring you some decent "fans" on there.
4. Soundcloud Soundcloud have some of the smartest guys out there and you can get going on the free account. You can customise the players for embedding in Facebook, Myspace and your blog. Make sure you utilise the "description" area of your profile on there... and direct potential fans to your other online platforms. All free, very easy and most people are comfortable with viewing it now. You can embed Soundcloud players almost anywhere now so you should be on there. We have some good tips for Soundcloud, these points are just an overview - a tick list if you will!
5. Last FM Little known fact number 1... You can upload your own music to Last FM... Little known fact number 2... You can "claim" your profile, and add information and images if there already is a profile on there due to users playing your music... Little known fact number 3 You can get paid for streams! I will do another post on streaming services, as it is a grey area that needs some explaining, however as a rule of thumb if you are a signed artist - speak with your label about Last FM, Spotify, Grooveshark etc... if you are unsigned then feel free to upload music. If you have a deal already and your tracks are out, only the label can claim the royalties. Here is the Sign-Up link!
6. Understanding the Twitter behemoth Twitter is excellent if you get it right, but oh so easy to get wrong. Fortunately Twitter is also very forgiving. Allow me to explain. By "getting it wrong" I mean infrequent updates saying "My single is out now go buy it" ... there is no engagement, no interaction. Fortunately, you can join the party at any stage - you are never too late. So if you have a Twitter account not doing very much, try and resurrect it... contribute as much as you can, and sync your Facebook and Twitter profiles if you are struggling for updates, cos you always update your Facebook right?
7. Podcasts / Mixtapes People love mixtapes, but what people love more is mixtapes with exclusive tracklists.
I appreciate this is difficult if you can't get the exclusive stuff, but put as much of your own music on there as you can, you can't get much more exclusive than that can you? Upload it to Soundcloud (which gives good opportunities for interraction) and spread the word! As a side point, sign up with bit.ly (free) to shorten your links... you can then keep tabs on how often your links get clicked from your Facebook/Twitter profile or blog!
For the very adventurous amongst you, set yourself apart with a Podcast, invest in a decent mike and pretend to be Pete Tong. You can add your Podcast to the Itunes store for free download, and you can pick up subscribers that way, which you can direct to your site/blog/profile and scoop up their email address with your form!
8. Get Blogging It is sometimes difficult to start a blog from scratch, and I can totally relate to that. I also appreciate that an empty blog is worse than no blog at all. But this is in the list, as it is something you really should be doing to give you an extra edge - as most people aren't.
Talk about music production, talk about your favourite DJs, talk about the advances in DJ equipment recently, talk about the state of the Underground UK Cattle Farm Psy-Techno scene (maybe don't talk about the last one) but whatever you feel confident of putting a few words together about. All of this will help you stand out from the crowd, and will give you loads of interesting stuff to talk about on your Facebook and Twitter updates! With Blogger you can sign up for free, or just use your Myspace blog!
9. Get in touch with blogs Slightly different to blogging yourself, this is sending music, videos, information to the dance music blogs out there. There are a few, and you will get varying levels of success, but if what you are offering is good (free download, nice vid and a good image/logo of yourself as an artist) you should get some success. These guys get lots of visitors on a daily basis, all will be interested in what you have to say! In addition, you will get a link back to your profile(s)/blog and you will hopefully attract a few email sign-ups!
*IMPORTANT* - Follow these rules though for contacting blogs and labels in general.
10. Forum Involvement Finally, Get involved with the dance music forums around there. There are loads. You don't have to be an authority on anything, but if you have interesting stuff to say you will earn some friends and get familiarity with people who you would like to listen to your music. And having that "familiarity" will make such people more likely to listen to your stuff.
In addition, stick a link in your signature to your blog/profiles!
11. Get a Youtube Channel Free setup, good customisation tools (you can pretty much make your channel look how you want nowadays.... and people LOVE listening to music on Youtube. Even if the pictures are stills, people love will still watch it. Make sure you link out to your profile(s) from the video description! Tools for making the video generally come with newer macs and if you're on Windows... Windows Movie Maker would do just fine - FREE.
So these are the 11 things that you should have going on. It seems a lot now, but get into the groove and you can keep them all motoring along nicely! The post that compliments this one can be found here, definately have a read of that one aswell if you haven't seen it before already!
They say word of mouth is the best form of marketing, and an artist getting plugs from the best in the biz is Tom Flynn.
Props from Jesse Rose, Mowgli, Worthy, James Zabiela, Zombie Disco Squad and more... and with releases on Mowgli's own Deadfish imprint, Tom has been on the lips and in the playlists of the guys that make the big waves in the scene... and with good reason.
Slick techy productions with crunchy percussions and a flow worthy of any set have set him apart.
Fresh from his release on Jengaa, which is out on Beatport now (go get it!) we caught a few minutes with Tom for a chat, on (amongst other stuff) why you shouldn't rob your future!
Don - Great to have you with us Tom, let us get straight to it, describe your sound in three words? Tom - Bouncy, Dirty, House (music)
If you could empart one nugget of knowledge, what would it be for unsigned dance music producers out there? My one piece of advice to unsigned producers would be don't keep on buying synth after synth. It's an easy trap to fall into, thinking that the next synth you buy will make you sound like claude VonStroke. It's best to master one synth instead of having 12 synths that you don't really know how to use. On a seperate more important note - don't illegally download music, you're only robbing your future.
(Don Note:) An interesting point there, and something we haven't discussed in great detail on here... I will cover it in a blog coming soon, but I think it is important for guys to go out and buy music. It is sometimes so easy to download music off a blog, I have seen big zips floating around with the Beatport Top 100 on... that is plain wrong! I think there have been a few blogs closed down recently for doing just that. In any case - if an mp3 accidentally slips into your music folder by mistake, always try to look it up upon release and download it anyway, if only to give a nod (and 32p) to the guy(s) that spent hours making it in the first place!
Moving on then to a more production level, what is your favourite vst plugin? My favourite plugin at the moment would be Dr Device from Audio damage, insane mangling heaven which i reach for quite often.
... and who do you think will blow up in 2010? My top tip for 2010 would be Strict Border, I think the tribal thing they got going on is really rocking it, very percussive and downright dirty.
Finally, what is next for Tom Flynn? Well, Following on from my EP on Jengaa, coming up for me is an EP release on Deadfish - Magia and Twisty, an EP on Worthys Anabatic label next year, a remix for a new signing to Jengaa called Hoppa! by the Headshotboyz and a remix for Daniel Carro's Bakelite beats label. I've also just finished a remix for Chris Crowthers Dubnoir Label, a track called Balkan Blues which will be out in a few weeks.
Super, all busy busy, thanks for joining us, its been an interesting chat!
Hailing from the Red Wine City, Bordeaux... and with a nose for a bouncy beat, Don Nola represents the kind of chap we look for in this "Introducing" section of the blog.
A pro-active outlook on self-promotion, coupled with some pretty cool tuneage to boot - Don Nola is ticking boxes here, and hopefully he is set to break through as we nudge closer to 2010.
We caught 5 minutes with Don Nola to discuss how is doing currently, and who he is tipping for next year!
Lock'Don - Hi Don, its Don, first things first... describe the vibe of Don Nola in 3 words? Don Nola - OldSchool fidjet tropical
And could you tell us the most interesting thing about Don Nola? Hum, i don't know but according to what people say about me, the most interesting thing about me is me at 6 o'clock at an after party!
Let's move on to spreading the love elsewhere, who is your tip for an artist under the radar to blow up next year? Definately Kid Komas from Columbia!
Excellent, thanks for that...
We were made aware of Don Nola through a few demos sent over to us, and we think they're pretty rockin, so go ahead and show him some love, on his Myspace
Short and sweet this time, we've got loads of people to speak to this week, so keep an eye on the blog for some household names, together with names of guys pushing the right buttons in the scene at the moment!
This year alone, Malente has been involved with releases on such "Holy Grail" labels as Fools Gold, Southern Fried and Dim Mak... so with hit latest number "I Like It" getting props from - it seems - every AA list DJ out there, and 2010 fast approaching, you definately feel that the best is yet to come from this Germany based Purveyor of Party!
We kidnapped 12 minutes of his day to ask him a few questions:
Don - Hey Christoph, thanks for speaking with us... If you had to explain your vibe and direction to untrained ears in 3 words, what would you say? Malente - Party, Party, Party! ....and whats your 1 piece of advice for unsigned dance music producers? Do what you feel like doing. don't think about Styles, Labels, Money, Girls (well maybe Girls). The main thing though, is you should enjoy the processs of making music. if not do something else. Whats your favourite VST plugin of the moment? Old Native Intakt Who is your tip for 2010? Who have you seen glimpses of this year, that you would like to see more of next year? Well, what i can tell you is that the in my humble opinion one of the most underrated tracks of 2009 was "We Gonna Give You The Lesson" by Mr Miyagi. I played the sh_t out of that and everybody asked me what that track was, but as far as I know it didn't even get a proper release.
Funnily enough, Mr Miyagi is an artist we are definately aware of at Venga Digital, in fact we were about to release that track - but unfortunately the guys had blogged it quite a bit. Which was good for them, but made it a bit difficult to give a full release to! They are definately guys to look out for, we definately agree with that tip-off! So what's next for you? What do you have out and upcoming? Well Malente & Dex ft Bonde do Role - Bangkok is out now on Exploited, its an amazing package featuring remixes from by Freeform Five, dOP, Idiotproof, DanM & James Braun and another original "Gipsy Kings" remixed by Round Table Knights. Also in that package, is the Douster remix of "Lions" - and I am happy to give that to the Lock'Don readers! - See Don. Following that, theres a release on Southern Fried in December with Jay Robinson, and a release in the New Year on Dim Mak, where I am teaming up with Azzido Da Bass! Then Australia tour in January. Wow, probably the busiest guy we have spoken to of late - that is a serious schedule!
Malente then has kindly (big thanks to Exploited Records for this aswell) allowed us to share the link to that Douster Remix, so I do that below:
So that was an excellent showcase im sure you will agree, Malente really is one of the nicest guys in the biz, and always has time for the little guys.
I am sure when Kelevra reflects on the 12 months he has just experienced, he will do so with a little smile on his face.
With tours on 4 continents, heavy hit after heavy hit - together with new projects and enterprises starting all the time, Kelevra (Paul) is definately riding a wave at the moment.
We caught up with Paul, as he was preparing to swap Lincolnshire for Johannesburg!
Don - We'll start with a taste of what your vibe is at the moment... describe your sound in 3 words: Kelevra - Bouncy, Fun, Unpretentious!
...and Whats your favourite VST plugin of the moment? I have an old favourite which I still use for mainly everything, Synapse Hydra!
What's your 1 nugget of advice for unsigned dance music producers? Keep doing what you enjoy and dont give up, if u stop enjoyin it, dont do it!
Who is your tip for 2010, an "under the radar" guy you think will break through next year? I am digging 2 young south african producers Kabz & Jason Williams at the moment, and a little more well known one, but Black Noise have really burst onto the scene recently. Oh and Redsquad also, I think he is 17 aswell, so theres a lot of good stuff out there!
Fantastic, that kind of answer is exactly what this blog is about... lets flip it back to you then... What's next for Kelevra? Well I am about to leave for a 10 date tour of South Africa then takin a well earned rest and hiding in the studio for the first couple of months for 2010!After a year of US & Canada 3times, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Sicily, Holland, Spain, Ibiza, Paris, South Africa, its much needed!
Definately, although I can't see the pipe and slippers coming out just yet :)
You can follow Kelevra on Twitter @KelevraUK or mosey on down to his Myspace , and keep checking the blog for more bits of genius from the heavyweight
Who's that knocking on door of the Dubstep-Bashment-house crossover scene? Introducing. . .Melé!
It was nice to see props from Lee Mortimer in the Prowcase this week, so we thought we would add yet more fuel to the fire... which is already being stoked by the likes of Sinden, Herve, Toddla T, Foamo and Martelo.
Praise indeed, for chap of only 17 from Merseyside, looking to get a foot in the door of the industry!
Rewind back a little while and we remember receiving demos from "Duncestep" as he was then, and it's fantastic to see a progression.
So with a new name, a new glossy Myspace profile and a hunger to make the best of this early promise we decided to speak with the man himself, and get a mixtape from him, so you can draw your own conclusions!
Don - Thanks for joining us, its nice to see you're starting turn heads, but for those whos heads remain fixed - describe your sound in 3 words? Melé - Big Bass Bashmentstep
So that's a new genre then, that's one "interesting" box ticked, tell us something else that's interesting about Melé! I'm not even old enough to be in a club yet!
Wow, now you are making us all feel old, so lets skirt past the age thing, and look towards your opinion on other artists, who do you think will be following your early promise - whos your tip-off for 2010? Doc Daneeka (http://www.myspace.com/therealdocdaneeka) doing alot at the moment, check him out!
Excellent, im sure everyone will head right down the link to check him out! Back to you then... what is next for Melé? I have just finished remixing the Count and Sinden's new single, currently remixing for Kry Wolf, Greenmoney, Wearhouse Music and Ghetto Battle Weaponz. next year im going to have stuff out on Sinden's new label, and doing some productions for Toddla T's new imprint, but thats early days!
Wow, you seem to be a busy man, keep it up and we'll definately keep an eye on your progress, Thanks!
So yeah, a nice chap - we're all rooting for him... head along to his Myspace page myspace.com/ukmele or show some love on the Twitter @iammele
Need yet more convincing? Check out the mix he put together to compliment this profile:
Tracklist: Jungle Warrior - Last Japan Dub Pistols - Back To Daylight (Redlight Remix) VV Brown - Game Over (Dave Spoon Remix) The Count & Sinden - Tamborzuda Shystie - Pull It (Last Japan Remix) Max Morell - Girls Meltdown Jack Splash - I Could Have Loved You (Sinden Remix) Zed Bias - Neighbourhood 09 (Roska Remix) Re-spect - Locomo Boris Dlugosch - Bangkok (Roska Remix) Geeneus & Katy B - As I Alvaro - Make It Funky Crookers & Congorock - Sbombers DJ Zinc - 128 Trek Never Forget When You Touch Me (Edit) - Dubbel Dutch Deadboy - U Cheated Sekta - ? (Doc Daneeka Remix) Mommas Boy - Wappomathics Justin Martin & Claude Von Stroke - Beat That Bird Harry Choo Choo Romero - Jumped The Count & Sinden - Elephant 1234 Dave Spoon - Lummox (Plump Dj's Remix) Plump Dj's - Rocket Soul Lady Chann - Sticky Situation (Toddla T & Seiji Remix) Funky Dee - Are U Gonna Bang Doe Agent x - Decoy Wiley - Wot U Call It Oxide & Neutrino - Back 2 Da Floor Redlight - Be With You (Ft. Serocee, Dread & Omi) R1 Ryders - Karnifour Rmx High Rankin - Bubble & Squeak Benga & Coki - Night Maxsta - East London Is Back Emalkay - When i Look At You
Yo, im Don, I work closely with the A&R Team at Venga Digital. This blog pays homage to the guys that make this music happen, the DJs and Producers that go out and buy the beats. They make music, and they send it to us. We always listen, always respond... and now we have a channel for giving advice on these points, together with dothing a cap on a monthly basis to the best demos we receive!
All demos for the monthly unsigned chart go via Venga, so send them to the A&R team on demos@vengadigital.co.uk
The sign-up form below will get you on the "Producers Circle" list, and you'll be kept up to date with unsigned artist matters, an email when the new Venga Digital Podcast is live, and we'll give you a nudge when we are compiling the chart, in case you have any freshness you would like to submit!
If you are a producer yourself, you may be interested in the work of another Venga Digital offshoot, Brandshank, we offer Web Design for Bands, artists and record labels! See if we can get something working for you!
Then a little shout to the guys that help us behind the scenes, we have Iain who gives our long hair the chop at Hair Clippers for Men then we must give a nod to the people that kindly helped us out with our printing needs, the lads and lasses at Wireless Printer Reviews. Thanks all, and enjoy reading the blog!
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