Yet if you are reading this, music is obviously a
friend of yours, something there to kept the seclusion and loneliness of winter
at bay. Thoughts might even be turning to those most fabulous times that lay
ahead in the summer months (or hrs, if you live in the UK) commonly referred to
as Festival Season WoooooHoooooooooo. A quick search on the internet at some of
the talent parading on the big stages can lead to a racing heart and numbers
rolling in a downward spiral from the electronic banking page.
Here enters www.theonlinefestival.com. Why wait for
summer!! What a great concept and it's an idea that seems to be working,
attracting the bright sparks in the music industry that dance around like a
firework in the dark sky. Too many times talented, good young new bands flash
on the scene and disappear because there are too few places to get maximum
exposure to an excited passionate audience. Working in tandem with Hourglass
Recordings the Online Festival is achieving a place to go.
Hourglass are a new independent record label whose
mission it is to discover, develop and ultimately market the amazing new talent
that is out there. Specifically talent that has the special unique qualities
that today’s extremely demanding and challenging music market requires; real
passion, energy, drive, a professional edge and above all, the ability to
create great original music.
It's great to hear the philosophy of the main players
behind this idea, it's refreshing and here it is in their own words:
"We aim to give our artists a first step on the
music ladder and offer them our help and support in releasing their music to a
worldwide audience as well as helping them reach their full potential and
building up the brand that they can be. Our short term contracts are ideal for
new bands, musicians or producers who are looking to sign to a label but are
afraid to commit long term to somebody new for the first time. We will be
looking at offering single or E.P deals to artists to enable them the backing
of a label but without the shackles of a lengthy contract. We hope to become a
stepping stone label for theonlinefestival.com members and help them on their way to
a successful career in the music industry".
All interested singers/songwriters, new bands, DJ`s,
producers, rappers and rockers please register to theonlinefestival.com to share
your music with the world. Create a profile page and then upload your songs,
mixes and live tracks. Add pictures and videos or live gig footage and share
information about upcoming releases, gigs or events.
Obviously this is great for the bands, but let's look
at this from an Indie Dunes perspective. We are far away from those green
grassy fields. We are from the sandy dunes, it's not just baron of green
things, its devoid of these mass gatherings of talent. Fishie, lives in more of
a talent desert than Toon. He at least gets a few one day events full of
established and emerging bands. I'm sure the Indie Dunes team are not alone in
feeling a little empty and "left out" when all the festivals are
filling the booking sheets.
So certain parts of the body get a tingle when you also
read that it's all about getting people involved, not just the bands. theonlinefestival.com also want music fans and festival
goers who enjoy their music, to share their thoughts and opinions with other
like-minded people. You can sign up now for free and share your musical
knowledge and tastes with our community. Members can also create a member page
and then upload or share your favorite music and vids with other members.
Review your last gig or discuss future festival line ups. Just like in tent
cities and streets of porta loo's everyone is welcome to mix and mingle.
The first release to come from the Online Festival and
Hourglass Recordings collaboration is "Indievidual" a compilation of donated
tunes showcasing the exciting talent just waiting for a break. Well they got
it!!! A great collection of the of tracks, highlighting perfectly the diversity
within the online festival. Fishie took time out to ask @daveyhub a few things about the CD and the festivals plans for the
future:
The tunes have been donated by the bands - from this I
assume that the proceeds from the sales are intended for something else, not
going back to the bands?
The bands/ musicians have kindly donated their songs to
us and they are all members of theonlinefestival.com anyway. The deal is we sell the album
at a reduced price , around £5 depending on the online store, and the proceeds
will be split 50/50 between the new record label Hourglass recordings and theonlinefestival.com website. This way we get funds towards
the upkeep/ improvement of the festival website as we have no other income
streams at the minute and also we get funds towards the label which will
ultimately go back to helping the new bands & musicians who sign to us.
The name of the compilation is Indievidual -
will it include urban and dance compilations, too?
I was going to cover all genres under the name
Indievidual but I got sent in so many decent guitar based songs I've decided to
keep Indievidual as indie/rock/acoustic. I am already putting together Vol 2
which should be released in a couple of weeks. I will also be looking after our
dance / urban community with a new compilation called Ultrasonic . Vol 1 is
nearly ready too. It made sense to try and keep them apart but still cover
different aspects of each type of music if you know what I mean.
Is the online festival going to step out of the virtual
and into some muddy fields, tents n all? :)
Well we are still in our infancy as website/label but
my dream is to one day have a proper real life festival. Or even just get our
own stage at a more established festival would be good. I know we have enough
members to fill a good size stage over a weekend. I am looking at putting on a
one day event around the end of May ( prob the bank holiday sun ) involving
bands / musicians from the website in a 500 capacity venue. Early days yet but
we will keep people informed through our website.
Leaving the cyber fields (profile pages) of the theonlinefestival.com and heading back to the great things
about the festival season. Well this is from our limited point of view, you
might not agree and that's good...Leave a comment HINT HINT. It's great to see
the "Headliner Act" but I always get the biggest buzz seeing that "unknown"
act on a back / small stage that blows you away and you need to hear more. That's
the key factor for Iindie Dunes that keep us coming back, it's that cure for
the "I need to hear more" craving.
We are not going to give an in-depth review of the CD,
but at the bottom of post you will see a couple of songs that made our ears
prick up and take notice, and should wet your ear's appetite to hear the rest
of the compilation. I suppose the biggest compliment we have for "Indievidual"
is that it has introduced us to a number of bands that we are hoping to feature
on Indie Dunes in the near future. So stay tuned!!
Featured bands:
Mama Roux - Fire
Alexander Vann - I will be the air
Lisa Redford - Reminders
Orphan Boy - Letter for Annie
Velocets - Naked
The Vindickers - Buddy song
Transition, Baby! - Manners are wasted on you
Crystal Seagulls - Ups and downs
The Relics - Been down to the bottom
Sonnic Image - Sunday Sofa Sisters
The Revival - Katie
Stolen Heaven - Decent Shoes
Tomlin Leckie - Earthwaker
We came from the sea - dog dog dog
Cherry Head Cherry Heart - The Illusionist
You can grab the CD on iTunes, in the meantime, feast your ears on these:
Register and become part of the Online Festival
collective here:
Checkout Hourglass Recordings here:
http://hourglassrecordings.com
For more reviews of the Indievidual, read on here:
Ralph's review
Rock'n'Roll In My Soul's review
Spread the word, support indie bands! x
For more reviews of the Indievidual, read on here:
Ralph's review
Rock'n'Roll In My Soul's review
Spread the word, support indie bands! x
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