A new interview fresh from the oven for you. The interviewee this time is Joel Oberstein from New Releases Now!, a site that was recently reviewed on MusicKO.

This is the first half of the interview. The second (“Music & You”) has just been posted. Give it a look.

Full Name: Joel Oberstein
Startup: New Releases Now!
Position:  Co-owner / President

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

We’ve been in the music marketing business since 1995 and despite the fact that we’re living in the information age we found that there wasn’t a comprehensive source for retailers, radio programmers and on-air personalities, music supervisors, clubs/concert promoters, and others in the entertainment industry, as well as music fans to sample what was being released each Tuesday across all genres of music.  Having grown up in the heyday of record stores, we like to think of it as a virtual new release end-cap.  We keep release info active in the system well past street date, so if you’re interested in seeing what came out in prior weeks you can do that.  Users can also search for titles by genre or even record label, so if you’re a fan of Prog Rock or Sub Pop Records for instance you can easily find those titles as well.  NRN Radio then allows a user to stream a track from those selections.  We also partner with several popular music related and pop culture sites such as Ranker, Popdose, The Music’s Over, and American Music Association (to name a few) to provide content for them.  In addition to being a high traffic site, we also deliver NRN electronically every week to a large industry/fan mailing list.  As a huge music fan, it’s the type of service I would sign up for if I didn’t work in the biz just so I could stay up to date on what’s going on release-wise.

What was the original launch date?

November 2009

What has been the response so far?

People seem to like that it’s easy to navigate and has what they’re looking for in one place.

In which countries has it been more successful?

Since we’re based in the U.S. that’s where most of our traffic comes from, but we do see a lot of activity in the Europe, South America, and Australia/New Zealand.    

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

The site will soon receive some cosmetic changes and part of that will include incorporating tour information on our release pages.  We’re also going to add the ability for users to leave comments about releases that will tie into Facebook.  And there will be a few more new wrinkles in the coming weeks.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?

I worked in record stores for many years and will always love them, but the internet has taken music discovery to a whole new world where you can sift thru to find what you like…and then buy it from your favorite store!

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

The music industry is getting its footing again and this is an exciting time to be involved.  Find a gap and make sure you have a solid idea to fill it….keep it simple.

Continue to Part 2 of this interview (“Music & You”)

Want to learn more about the music that brings the best out of entrepreneurs? Well, below you’ll find what inspires Brian O’Toole (founder of Vibin.fm) the most.

This is the second half of an interview we conducted earlier this week, right after I reviewed Vibin.fm on MusicKO. The first dealt with the startup itself, and you can read it here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I’ve been intrigued with music since I was little. I remember my first CD I purchased was ‘Korn – Freak on a Leash.’ I took it to the counter and my mom saw the ‘Parental Advisory’ sticker and about lost her mind. Somehow, a bit of convincing did the job and I was the first in my 3rd grade class to have the CD.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I was not in a band. So, no, there is no clip on YouTube of me performing, but I do have lots of talented friends.

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

I like all types of music genres. I really like Kanye West as an Artist. When I say the word ‘Artist,’ Kanye really does just that. He creates an experience in every song, every music video and every CD. No one does that better than Kanye.

If you had to name the song that moves you the most, what would it be? Can you pinpoint the reason why?

Right now, I’d have to say Nicki Minaj – Turn Me On. (Listen here: http://vibin.fm/#!/track/33196743) Don’t ask…

Is there a song that – to you – captures the spirit of your startup and what you have set out to do? What would it be?

David Guetta ft. Sia – Titanium. This song is all about perseverance and striving for something you believe in. I’ve been working towards this for a long time and this song personifies my journey. Oh, and it being a Progressive House song doesn’t hurt!

I’ve got a couple of cool interviews to share with you over the days to come. The first is this one with Brian O’Toole from Vibin.fm, the site that is aiming to become “the Pandora for electronica”. You’ll see from this interview how passionate Brian is, and how much he believes in what he’s doing. That’s reason enough for most people I know to check the service he’s created. I encourage you to give it a try – remember, you don’t even need to register for an account to begin listening to mixes and playing them to your friends as if you were David Guetta.

Well, if you’re aiming high why not aim for the top, I ask you?

Full Name: Brian O’Toole
Age: 23
Startup: Vibin.fm
Position: Founder & Creative Director

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

Vibin.fm was originally thought of inside a nightclub. I was out with a few friends and was completely overwhelmed to see just how much everyone loved electronic music. I’ve seen many different eras of music (90s rock, punk rock, 2000s rap, etc), but have never seen a generation of people so in awe with the club’s music – especially the DJ. I thought, why not create this experience for people to enjoy before the club, after the club… whenever! With that, Vibin was born.

To me, the most distinctive feature is the ability to press one button and stream unlimited, hand-crafted radio of your choice. Whether it is a favorite genre, favorite artist, DJ mix, or raving city, Vibin.fm allows you to party your night away in just one click. You can also filter each station by Tracks, DJ Mixes, or DJ sets. My favorite filter is DJ sets (40+ minute individual mixes), which bring the club experience to your computer. My other favorite feature is the ‘Discover’ mode. This feature helps you find new artist to enjoy, simply by entering an artist. Once you found one that you like, press ‘Listen’ and you’re all set to vibe!

What was the original launch date?

Friday, February 24th, 2012

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?

The response has been awesome so far! We had over 2,000 page views in the first 4 days and have been featured in over 20 blog articles. Surprisingly, Spain has been the largest traffic source – especially in the city of Madrid. I’ve always wanted to visit Madrid, so I may have to plan a vacation in the near future.

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

In the near future, we expect to add a number of new features. The first, will be better stations/mixes. Our core feature is the ability to listen to streaming mixes with just one click and we want to keep improving upon these mixes. Next, we’d like to offer a better ‘Profile’ area. Then, we are looking to build an iPhone & Android mobile app. Although the site functions perfectly on a mobile browser, we’d like to make it as easy as possible for viewers to listen on the go and there is no better way than an app!

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?

If you are a music service, I think there is a certain line that you cannot cross – free downloads. If your service offers the ability to download music without compensating the Artist for their talents, then I believe you should be shut down. However, if you are a streaming music service and provide listening pleasure for your audience, then I believe you are helping the Artist far and beyond hurting them. Streaming services offer a platform for Artist exposure and should be thought of as a marketing stepping-stone for Artist success. No longer are many people willing to buy a hard copy of an Artist album. I personally believe albums are irrelevant. If you buy an album, chances are you only liked 2-3 of the singles from it, which means the other 10 songs are just sub-par. If you’re like me, then you would rather create mixes of songs you enjoy. The internet has left an unquestionably positive mark from this aspect alone – playlist creation sites. Are these sites legal? Maybe not all of them, but the ones that are pay millions to labels for the rights to songs. SOPA and other lobbyist efforts want to shutdown music providing sites for good, in which they think, will help stimulate the economy. I’d ask… if we shut down these services, what do we gain from it? Will CD purchases increase? Will the Artist generate more revenue? If there are not more CD’s purchased and the Artist is removed from the one way they were exposed the most, then no. So, we’d be hurting the Artist more by shutting down these online platforms. The ideal model is to offer an Artist exposure platform and reward users for sharing a particular Artist’s song. A great example of this is Grooveshark (www.grooveshark.com). Is it ironic that they are going through a tough law suit as we speak? This is the main reason why I chose to use resources that are available, without the hassle of lawsuits – APIs. Any song that is uploaded to SoundCloud.com’s plethora of music is able to be indexed on Vibin.fm. You get the wealth of choice from SoundCloud curated through Vibin.fm.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

Be creative. If you are a music-related startup, or any type of startup, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Take a look at what your competitors are doing well and what they could do better and figure out a unique niche to compete in their playing field. If you are a startup, it is impossible to compete with the big companies, but you can leverage their inefficiencies to create a targeted, niche service.

Continue reading part 2 of this interview (“Music & You”)

The final part of the interview with Motoi Konno from Mashroom.fm is posted below. If you’ve read yesterday’s installment and enjoyed it, now you have a chance to know about the music Motoi-san has always been inspired by.  Just what you need to start the week in a motivated way, wouldn’t you say?

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I think it was when I was 6years old. My mother taught me how to play the piano.
The first album that I purchased was probably a SPITZ’s single. (Japanese pop band)

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

Yes, I’ve been playing blues for the last 10 years and I am blues guitarist and singer in Japan. And this is my channel.

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

Blues, Soul, R&B, MOTOWN, STAX
I really admire many blues artists. Especially, Robert Cray, Lurrie Bell, and there are plenty of others.

If you had to name the song that moves you the most, what would it be? Can you pinpoint the reason why?

Robert Cray’s “Right Next Door”
It’s got a very beautiful melody, with real bluesy lyrics in there.

Is there a song that – to you – captures the spirit of your startup and what you have set out to do? What would it be?

Playing For Change’s “One Love”, a cover of the great Bob Marley song.

Motoi Konno, one of the founders of Mashrooom.fm (a web service for creating your own mashups using different YouTube videos) was kind-enough to answer all the questions I put his way about his startup, and also about the role music has in his life.

This is the first time that I interview someone from Japan, and it’s really refreshing to have the insight from people living in what’s unarguably one of the most technically-developed countries in the world.

You can read the original post on Mashroom.fm here. And if you wonder when you can read the other half of this interview (“Music & You”), then that’s just been posted.

Full Name: Motoi Konno
Age: 28
Startup: Mashroom.fm
Position: Music Manager/Marketer

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

1 years ago, I and co founder Makoto Watanabe watched the video of Playing For Change. There were a lot of professional musicians and street musicians playing together there, no matter how different were their lives and their languages. It really moved our hearts. And we simply thought “We want to make this happen on the web!” That was the start.

What was the original launch date?

It was 27 January 2012

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?  

So far, it hasn’t been so bad but we hope to have more active users per month.
Right now, our site is visited from 59 countries. Spain and USA are the most active ones.

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

We want to support musicians and artists all over the world. So, in the future we want Mashroom.fm to become a platform where they can sell and exchange their work. We want to change the fact of gifted musicians and artists not being able to earn enough money to support themselves.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?  

Because of the Internet, music files became easier to copy and spread. And sometimes, people violate musicians’ copyrights. But because of the growth of the Internet and SNS, there are big changes in how we get to share information. And who can stop that? Nobody.
No matter how hard the music industries tries, that’s the will of people in the world.
People have really got used to sharing information this easily on the web. So, maybe in the future information these things that are easy to share lose their value. And information that is really hard to share becomes very valuable. Say, real-time gigs and jam sessions.

But, because of the Internet, information has become really easy to spread around the world. So, gifted musicians and artists gain the chance to become famous just by sharing a single song or video.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

A very important thing is to protect the musicians and artists of the world, and empower them to do their best. Their every single piece of work is valuable. The worst thing to do is to use a musician and his art just to earn money for your own service.

Read Part 2 of this interview (“Music & You”)

Find below the second part of the interview with Mike Bishop from RecordTogether.com. This is where we talk about the artists he likes and his musical background. To learn more about Record Together itself, read the first part of this interview and the original blog post.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

The first album I purchased on my own was “Blood Sugar Sex Magik” by the Red Hot Chili Peppers.  Consequently, it also became my favorite album.  It was so scratched from being played there were only a few songs left that didn’t skip.  The bass on that album was my biggest influence in learning how to play.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I’ve been playing in bands around the Twin Cities, Minnesota area since I was 12.  I played in “Modern Day Supplement” for about 5 years, and then 6 years in a band called “Live From Heaven”.  Here’s a clip from a Live From Heaven show:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F3BtCdklVLQ

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

I’m partial to rock music, but really enjoy anything with a groove.  Red Hot Chili Peppers, Sublime, Nirvana, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Rage Against the Machine, Garbage, Nine Inch Nails.  I can usually find at least one thing to appreciate in all music.

If you had to name the song that moves you the most, what would it be? Can you pinpoint the reason why?

I’ve always found myself really attached to “The Fragile” by Nine Inch Nails.  Most of the album was recorded while Trent Reznor was struggling with heroin addiction, and there’s something very honest and haunting about that song that I love.

Is there a song that – to you – captures the spirit of your startup and what you have set out to do? What would it be?

Bon Jovi – Livin’ on a Prayer, haha.

Another great interview for you, this time with Mike Bishop from Record Together. As you probably remember (the site was reviewed last month on MusicKO), RecordTogether.com lets you crowdsource the recording of individual tracks for your own songs. The site is really ingenious, as it lets you ask people in other parts of the world to record their parts in exchange for a bounty.

The interview has got two parts. The first is about the site itself, and you can read it below. The second is about Mike’s musical background and his favorite artists, and you can read it here.

Full Name: Mike Bishop
Age: 23
Startup: Record Together
Position:  CEO

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

The idea came from some frustration I experienced trying to find studio musicians to collaborate with on recordings.  I felt like there had to be an easier way to find a talented violin or pedal guitar player.  That’s I think what makes it distinct, is that it’s the first free market on the internet for musical recording talent.

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?  

We have had 342 registered users since we launched in November of 2011 with over $100 paid out to musicians.  The response has been much better than I had expected, and I’ve had a lot of people tell me they have wanted the same thing for a long time.  Most of our traffic is coming from the United States and Canada.  The has also been a lot of participation in England, Germany, and The Netherlands – pretty much all over.

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

More social networking features and an easier to use interface.  There isn’t really anything that I have to model this off of, so I am always looking for ways to make this easier to use.  I would also like more in depth tutorials for getting high quality recording results.  

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?  

The internet has made music far more accessible than ever before.  The people that don’t like this are usually the same people who made a lot of money off of the old distribution models.  I think getting your music out to people has become far easier, although that also means a lot more competition.  The best thing the internet has done for music is building a platform (such as Youtube) that allows talent to be recognized, without the bureaucracy of the music industry.  The internet isn’t going away and neither is piracy.  The music industry needs to accept this and adapt.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

My best advice is that it’s not about being the first one to have an idea, it’s about being the person to do it the best.  Always ask yourself:  how can I make this easier and more accessible for people?

Read Part 2 of this interview (“Music & You”)

This is the second half of the interview with Mickey Richardson from ShareMyGuitar.com, and if you liked the first part then I’m sure you’ll enjoy it from start to finish. Mickey gets to talk about the music he’s been inspired by, and all of his favorite artists.

It must be said that he’s got an excellent taste in music. Read on, I’m certain that if you check MusicKO regularly you’ll find he’s keen on the very same artists that you love.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I have been interested in music for as far back as I can remember. My parents had an old piano in the house. I gravitated to the piano and taught myself to play by ear. Then around 13 years of age I acquired a drum kit and messed around for a few years before migrating to the bass guitar. I played bass for many years and joined a bunch of bands that gigged all over Los Angeles and Orange County. Listening to music, playing and creating original music has always been very important to me. Funny enough it wasn’t until I started SMG that I really ever even tried playing guitar!

The first album I can remember purchasing was Van Halen’s “1984” on vinyl from a record store called “Best Records” in Simi Valley, California.  But before that, I would listen to my Dad’s old records. I remember listening to stuff like “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” by Elton John, various Beatles albums and all kinds of other 50s and 60s music. The music was great and it left a strong impression on me from a really young age.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I’m not in a band currently. There are songs posted on my SMG profile from a previous band that I co-wrote and recorded on and I still enjoy listening to those songs. Hopefully I can find the time to play live again sometime soon.

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

My favorite music includes anything that sounds good to my ears. I used to rule out county and rap music when I was a kid. But I have heard some amazing country artists and some good rap too. I think it’s important to keep an open mind but if you checked my iPhone you would find music from Alice in Chains, Guns N Roses, The Beatles, AC/DC, Bad Religion, Ozzy, Queen, The Sex Pistols, Foo Fighters, Led Zeppelin… okay, this list gets pretty long, so I will leave it at that.

If you had to name the song that moves you the most, what would it be? Can you pinpoint the reason why?

Going back to when I was a kid and sifting thru my Dad’s record collection. I remember finding his Simon and Garfunkel album that had a song called “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” on it. I listened to that song over and over because I recognized that the music was able to strike emotion. It really wasn’t about the lyrics, not that the lyrics weren’t great, but the music itself invoked an emotional response and that was just amazing to me. Since that moment, I realized that a song could trigger happiness, sadness, fear and anything in between. It’s all about hitting that special note and drawing feeling from the listener.

Is there a song that – to you – captures the spirit of your startup and what you have set out to do? What would it be?

“A Day In The Life” by the Beatles because it’s my favorite Beatles song and sharemyguitar.com is also a place for musicians to keep an online journal of a day in their life… so the song seems fitting!

Fresh from my summer vacations, I’ve got some great interviews for you. The first one is with Mickey Richardson from ShareMyGuitar.com, a superb social network for guitarists that was reviewed on MusicKO last month. You can read the original post here before delving on Mickey’s great answers. Pay special attention to the in-depth advice he gives when asked about the obvious mistakes to be avoided when launching a music-related startup.

And the second part of this interview (“Music & You”) can be read here.

Mickey Richardson From ShareMyGuitar.com

Full Name: Mickey Richardson
Age: 39
Startup: ShareMyGuitar
Position: Founder/CEO

PART I

THE STARTUP

Tell us a little about your startup. How was it conceived? What are its most distinctive features in your opinion?

The site was conceived mainly because I had taken up playing guitar. Like a lot of people do when they start playing, I was looking for a way to find good quality online lessons, as well as a way to get answers to my many questions I had about playing guitar like: What kind of strings should I use? What is the correct way to hold a pick? What songs should I focus on learning? What scales should I practice? The list goes on and on. The thought process was that if I could find a community where I could exchange questions, ideas and so forth in a format much like Facebook but just for musicians, it would be the perfect way for me to connect, network and progress on guitar. That’s how SMG came about.

One of the most distinctive features about SMG would be that it is a niche guitarists/musicians network. Our members can connect and become friends with other musicians who are located in nearly every country in the world! Connecting with others is easy because of nice features like the wall feed, live chat and a host of other cool features. To me, one of the coolest things about SMG would be that no matter what culture our member’s come from, their guitar speaks the same language.

What was the original launch date?

Well, I guess I should first explain that the idea for the website was initially for a social network for guitarists, but due to complications with finding the right developers to make it all happen and work out all the logistics, I launched the SMG Blog prior to the SMG social network. The Blog was launched in August 2009. The SMG social network followed the Blog, by the end of December 2009.

What has been the response so far? In which countries has it been more successful?  

The response has been really great. Our members have provided us with a lot of useful feedback to allow us to constantly improve and grow the site. It’s really funny when we look at the early versions of SMG and then compare them with what is here today. It’s like night and day! It’s so much better, not only in the layout or design but also in the stability of the site. Although we tend to get a lot of positive feedback, which we really appreciate, its also the people who have let us know what works and what doesn’t that has allowed us to make the site that much better. The most common response has been “Cool, Facebook for guitarists!” and we take that as a tremendous compliment.

The USA leads with the most active daily users. Next would be user from the United Kingdom, Australia and followed up with an even mix of users scattered throughout Europe. In any given day, you can find that new members have signed up from South America, the Middle East, Africa and Asia as well. As long as there is an Internet connect, people can log on and join SMG!

What features can we expect to see implemented in future revisions?

All kinds of stuff! We are in the process of adding a “Pages” feature that will allow our members to create a special SMG Page in order to promote themselves, their product and obtain a loyal following. We are also developing an iPhone and Droid App to allow our mobile users to access SMG in a more optimized format. Another feature we are working on is adding sub networks in order to allow other musicians the ability to login and connect with each other in a instrument specific or mixed genre format. So a lot of exciting features are in the works and coming soon.

There is a certain tendency to demonize the Internet in the music industry. I think it is all a matter of perspective – it all depends on the uses it is put to. What is your opinion? In which areas has the Internet left an unquestionably positive mark?  

It seems simple to me for the most part. The Internet makes it easier to get information. For example, a musician can post songs online and get the material to an audience faster, cheaper and at a greater profit margin than in previous years. We can look back and see how Apple embraced a new technology and created iTunes, which has sold billions and billions of song downloads to date!
Unlike in past years, anyone can have a virtual recording studio in their living room these days by using anyone of the many great audio-editing tools on the market. Bands that I played in within the last 10 years were still paying recording studios a lot of money to have the tracks recorded and mixed. Now anyone with a computer can record, market and sell their songs online. The music industry dropped the ball in not embracing the new technology, no doubt about it. But there should be a balance in getting top-notch marketing and distribution, while allowing artists the ability to make a larger slice of the pie; all of this is thanks to the Internet and an evolution of technology in music.

What advice could you give to anybody who is launching a music-related startup in the future? What are the obvious mistakes that should be avoided?

My advice would be to go for it! If you have an idea for creating something that you believe other people would find useful and you are willing to put in the time, effort and dedication it requires to succeed, than you should absolutely go forward and make it happen.

Mistakes to avoid… where do I begin? I made plenty of screw-ups, but they have all been learning experiences. Here are some tips:

1.    Get help! Don’t try to do everything yourself.
2.    Trust is good but a contract is better. When you are ready to hire a developer, seek professional references and make sure they can backup what they promise (time/results) with a contract. You should have a contract agreement that spells it all out. Then, prepare to pay 50% of the total cost upfront and the balance upon completion.
3.    Make sure to use the correct web host for your website. I went through several web hosts before finding the right host for my needs. Also make sure that you have the right type of server for your websites needs in terms of bandwidth, memory, and CPU. Will it be a shared server or a dedicated server? These are important decisions that will need to be addressed correctly depending on the software you are running and the amount of traffic you will get.
4.    Don’t try to be everything to everyone. It’s not possible. Just try to be the best at one thing. You can always build and grow upon that.
5.    Lastly, have fun with your website! If it loses its fun, than something went wrong. You will need to isolate whatever that is and correct it quickly. Now go start the next BIG music website!

Continue to part 2 of this interview (“Music & You”)

This is the final part of the interview with Robert Dede (of PumpYouUp fame). In this installment we talk about the music that he loves, and which inspires him the most.

And in case you haven’t read it yet (why?!), the first part of this interview is found here.

PART II

MUSIC & YOU

When did you become interested in music? What was the first album or single you ever purchased?

I was forced to take piano lessons ever since I could remember.  Though I did not enjoy playing until in college and I created my first midi studio. This was on an Atari St computer running the first version of Steinberg software.

My first album: I can’t recall the actual name, it was an 8-track hit collection advertised on TV.  I only remember that one of my favorite tracks was “Rubberband Man”, Detroit Spinners.  I was age 10 at the time. I mowed lawns and had bought a nice amp and speakers; I still have the speaker cabinets today though the internal speakers have been replaced.

Are you in a band yourself, or have you been in a band in the past? Is there a clip on YouTube or elsewhere we could watch?

I’ve never been in a band.  I have jammed with friends but nothing formal and mostly just partying and making noise.

Musical likes and dislikes? Favorite artists?

I like all quality music that has energy, from the hardest Trance and Industrial to the loudest Classical. As of this writing I’m currently listening to mostly hardstyle dubstep and house and original electronica. I do not prefer music that puts me to sleep such as slow ballads, slow country, slow classical, Taylor Swift (all her songs sound alike) and similar artists who refuse to invoke energy but instead mostly heartache or pain. I believe life is too short and its tough enough to be productive without listening to music that makes you want to nap or feel sad.

As for favorite artists, early Van Halen, early AC/DC, early Metallica, Rob Zombie, Thomas Dolby, Depeche Mode, Thompson Twins, The Prodigy, Blink 182, Eminem, Rhianna, Skrillex

If you had to name the song that moves you the most, what would it be? Can you pinpoint the reason why?

Jay Ferguson’s “Thunder Island” invokes memories of my first crush, hanging at the neighborhood pool all summer, age 12, my first serious attraction to girls. While writing this I decided to listen to it again, the lyrics and how the song climaxes starting at 2:17 still gives me goose bumps.

Is there a song that – to you – captures the spirit of your startup and what you have set out to do? What would it be?

Skrillex’s “Reptile”, where it says “FIGHT”