Archive for November, 2011



Records & Concerts, Spotify & Songkick.

by ian

A few years ago our friend Anthony from Hype Machine invited me to the Spotify private alpha. Anthony does not recommend things lightly so I started playing with it and was blown away. We’ve been using it at Songkick ever since and I’ve lost track of how much great music I’ve discovered through Spotify – I’m currently working my way through Sasha Frere Jones’ epic Spotify playlists which span everything from Appleblim to The Fall.

We’ve got to know the Spotify team well over the past years and have been trying to figure out the perfect way to marry recorded and live music. Some kind of integration between Songkick & Spotify has been one of our most requested features, and many of you have written in with suggestions for what you’d like to see.

You know that cycle you go through when you discover a great new artist, find out they’re coming to town (through Songkick hopefully!), get tickets, and then in the lead up to the gig you listen to all their back catalogue, and then finally the rush of seeing them live. Then if it was a special show I’ll find myself listening to them intensely the days after the show digging into old albums and replaying songs from the set. We believe that the connection between a great record and a great concert could be even deeper and so today we’re launching the app to do just that.

Similar to our iPhone application, our Spotify application will scan your Library on Spotify and figure out which bands you’re listening to and give you an calendar, right within Spotify that shows all the concerts for artists you love, and finds you the cheapest tickets to the show.

If you’re on the road you can add another city to track and we’ll update your calendar to include that location as well. But what’s even cooler is that the city listings are now playable. So you can see who’s playing tonight, give a new band a listen and head out to the show.

And as with any of Songkick’s apps and partnerships, this all builds on top of our huge database of upcoming listings, from Cape Town to Chicago, with hundreds of ticket vendors spanning the big guys like Ticketmaster, to fast growing new vendors like Eventbrite, Front Gate Tickets and Ticketfly to artist ticket allocations on Crowdsurge & Topspin to tiny cash on the door shows in coffee shops & record stores. That’s a great marriage with Spotify’s epic catalogue of music.

If you’re a band this is great news – with your music on Spotify and your concerts on Songkick, we’ll connect the two and get more fans out to your shows, creating more memorable experiences, all over the world, wherever you’re touring. Keep adding your tour dates to Songkick and we’ll keep moving them all over the web for you.

So check it out! I’d love to hear any and all feedback you have on our app. We can’t wait to hear what you think.

The app is available through a special preview download of Spotify over the next week (http://www.spotify.com/uk/download/previews/) and then launches globally later in December. Help us kick the tyres on it over the next 7 days!

Bigup all of the Songkickers who have been pulling late nights and weekends to get this launched. Here’s a photo of our war room & a couple of shots of the app to check out.

landing

 

scanning

 

personalise

 

team2

 

team 1


Giving Back to Britain: Helping the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs

by Dan C
For a startup, Songkick is actually pretty old. We were founded in 2007 and are one of the original startups in Silicon Roundabout. With age comes wisdom and a sense of responsibility, just ask Keith:

Photo courtesy of Dr. Noe 

One of the bits of wisdom you pick up is finding out your problems are shared with others. You also learn its good to give back to your wider community.

There are now several hundred tech startups in the Shoreditch area. Many are still small, employing two or three people, while others have dozens or hundreds of people working for them. Several thousand new jobs have been created in the area in the last four years and thousands more will be created in the coming years.

So we need lots of people to come work at startups like Songkick – skilled, entrepreneurial folk who want to build awesome products and amazing companies. Finding the right blend of technical skills and business acumen is challenging. Historically, Britain’s education system hasn’t been good at turning out students with both deep technical mojo and the skills to be great business leaders.

A few weeks ago, I spoke at the first Guardian TechCity debate with David Willetts, the Minister for Universities and Science. He’s announced a new trial initiative called Behind the Screen which teaches programming at GCSE level. Yesterday the government said it would consider teaching programming more widely in schools. These are good steps forward, though why we didn’t do this twenty years ago is beyond me. Teaching strong maths and programming skills in school is essential if we want to fuel the technology boom that started in Silicon Roundabout.

As well as teaching 21st century tech skills, we need to get more students equipped with the business skills required to create great companies. Building a product that people love is really exciting. Growing a company that builds and delivers world-class products is also a huge thrill. We need to inspire the upcoming generation to start their own companies; its certainly much better than going to work at a bank.

Another of the panelists at the Guardian debate was Professor Jeff Magee, the head of Imperial College’s faculty of Engineering. Imperial is leading the way in getting students exposed to the world of startups. I’ve been working with Imperial to help with this. Recently I gave a talk to their Executive MBA students about startups and I’ll be back at the end of the week to talk to their full-time MBA students.

Photo courtesy of anaru

I talked about my experience working at five startups in Silicon Valley, at Apple and Google, and now back in London at Songkick. I’ve learned some painful and fun lessons along the way. Hopefully I can help these would-be entrepreneurs avoid some of the mistakes I’ve made along the way.

I’m also delighted to be supporting Entrepreneur First, a non-profit organization that provides training and mentoring to a select few new graduates to help them start their own company. Songkick’s own Pete Smith is one of the founding mentors who will be advising participants as they build their startups.

Last week I spoke at Southampton University at an EntrepreneurFirst event. I talked to students from the university’s FishOnToast entrepreneurs society. They’re enthusiastic, motivated and very smart. They have lots of great ideas for startups and many already have fledgling businesses. It was a pleasure to talk with the next generation of startup leaders and hopefully pass on some ideas and encouragement.

At Songkick we love to find ways to help other startups. We organized Silicon Milkroundabout to match developers with cool jobs at startups. We continue to be involved in the debate on education and skills for the next round of digital entrepreneurs. We’re actively involved with student entrepreneurs. And we never stop finding new ways to help fans experience awesome live music.


Subscribe to ALL your upcoming events with Google Calendar, iCal and Outlook!

by Julia

It’s the feature you’ve all been waiting for! You can now subscribe to all the events your artists have coming up in your locations with Google Calendar, iCal and Outlook. Staying up to date with live music in your area just got a whole lot easier.

Go to ‘Upcoming Events’ on the main Songkick banner and select the ‘Your Artists’ tab. From here, you can subscribe to every date on your Songkick calendar.

 

Alternatively, if you just want to export the concerts you plan to attend, select the ‘Your Plans’ tab.

 


On the Road with: Battles

by Rachel

Battles, an experimental rock band from New York City, released their second album “Gloss Drop” earlier this year. We talked to drummer John Stanier about what it was like collaborating with various musicians on the new record, the benefits of being a trio, and Battles unique live show.

You guys were playing in different bands before Battles. How did you all come together?

Well, Ian pretty much knew everyone from different times- my old band had played with his band, his old band played with Dave’s old band. So Ian had moved from Chicago to New York, and one day I ran into him on the streets and he said he was doing a new project. I went along and I liked it, and here we are eight years later.

What was the original objective when starting Battles?

There really wasn’t an objective when starting Battles. I wasn’t looking for another band to be in since I was already in one. Battles wasn’t an art project, but it certainly wasn’t “Oh we’ve got to get a manager, we’ve got to get signed.” There wasn’t any of that. It was more about naturally letting it take its course. There was zero agenda from day one, no master-plan, no manifesto. I think that has a lot to do with why we sound the way we do, because there are no rules or boundaries, and we let it organically take its course.

On “Gloss Drop” you work with various artists who provide vocals. What were the advantages and challenges of collaborating?

Ironically, collaborating was the easiest part of making the record by a long shot. Normally it would seem that it would be the hardest part but it was pretty simple. Three of the four people we already knew. I knew Matias Aguayo from Kompakt. Kazu Makino we knew from Blonde Redhead, and it was just a matter of ringing her up in Manhattan, asking her if she wanted to do it and driving her to the studio. We knew Yamantaka Eye from when we played with Boredoms, and we sometimes use their soundman, so he was up for it. Gary Numan was really the only person we had never met or didn’t have any contact with. So it was as simple as getting our manager to get in contact with his people. We met him in Boston and he was on tour so it was perfect. Really simple.

If you had to sum up the sound of “Gloss Drop” how would you describe it in comparison to your previous records?

I would say it’s a more focused record, not as all over the place. Now it’s only three people and I think being a trio really opened up our sound. It’s a little more to the point compared to our previous records, especially in our early EPs where we were trying to figure out what it was we were going to do in the first place.

Because vocalist Tyondai Braxton left the band you had to figure out a new way to approach your live performances. You do this by projecting footage of the various singers during the show. What was the first gig like using this new method?

The very first gig we did without Tyondai was in Japan right after the earthquake and we didn’t use the screens. It took some time to figure out the screens and how we were going to do it, but it works and I really like it. I’m super used to it actually and I don’t think I would want to go any other way now. It’s very very fun, even more fun now to be honest.

Do you have a favorite song to play live?
No, no! It’s like asking to choose your favorite child.

What has been your favorite memory thus far on the current tour?

My favorite memory…too many memories. Everyday is fun.

What do you consider to be the greatest achievement since the band formed?

Certainly I would say that completing “Gloss Drop” is the biggest achievement by far.

What’s next for Battles?

A lot of touring still. We’re nowhere near finishing at the moment, so we’ll be touring well into next year. That’s kind of all I know right now.

Great. Lastly, how did curating All Tomorrow’s Parties Nightmare Before Xmas come about?

They just asked us a while ago actually and we said “yes.” They asked us to pick “x” number of artists to play, and then they came back a while later and said “alright, here are the bands that said ‘yes’.” So from our part it was very simple. I’m really looking forward to that. It’s going to be awesome.

Check out Battles perform their most recent single “My Machines” live:

Upcoming concerts:

Nov. 30th – Sala Apolo, Barcelona, Spain

Dec. 1st – Joy Eslava, Madrid, Spain

Dec. 2nd – Kafe Antzokia, Bilbao, Spain

Dec. 5th – Live Club, Trezzo sull’ Adda, Italy

Dec. 6th – Das Bett, Frankfurt, Germany

Dec. 7th – Postbahnhof, Berlin, Germany

Dec. 9th-Dec. 11th – All Tomorrow’s Parties-ATP 2011, Minehead, UK

Check here for more dates.


‘Untrack’ multiple artists at once

by Julia

A great new feature has been added to the website which allows users to ‘untrack’ (stop tracking) multiple artists at once. This makes it really quick and simple to keep on top of your tracked artists, and to only receive the updates that interest you!

Just select the ‘Tracker’ tab on the main Songkick banner.

From here, you can hand-pick the artists you no longer want to track by ticking the appropriate boxes, or as highlighted below, you can now ‘Select all on this page’. Once you’ve made your selection, click ‘Stop Tracking’ to remove artists from your tracker.


On the Road with: Terraplane Sun

by Rachel

Terraplane Sun, a five-piece blues/folk rock band out of Venice, CA, are making a name for themselves in Hollywood with songs featured on various hit TV shows. We caught up with Ben and Johnny to talk about their favorite tour memory in Amsterdam, airlines as a source for discovering new music, and the value of deodorant.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard you before?

Johnny: We switch up so many different instruments and styles that it’s hard to stick us into one category. But definitely like folk, blues, hints of country, and vintage rock kind of stuff.
Ben: We could just keep it simple and call it rock n’ roll.

Collectively, how many instruments can the band play?

B: I don’t know if we’ve ever actually put a number on it, but definitely north of ten.
J: One guy alone in the band I think plays five. So that boosts our median number.

If you could have written any song in music history, what would it be?

J: Wow. I wish I could have written the verse from “Dirty Work” by Steely Dan, the hook from “Kind Woman” by Buffalo Springfield, and maybe the bridge from…uh…
B: I think I’m just going to have to settle on “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys, written by Brian Wilson. That’s probably the most spectacular song I’ve ever heard.
J: “Pet Sounds” is a major influence so I can definitely second Ben on “God Only Knows”

Your music has had a lot of success on television with songs featured on “Nurse Jackie,” “Damages,” and “The League,” as well as your song “Trouble” being chosen as the theme song for A&E show, “Relapse.” What’s it like being a developing band in Hollywood?

J: A little fish in a big pond. Every night there are four or five bands playing at every gig across L.A. You can sometimes feel lost, but there are so many different avenues for a small band to break through.
B: I feel like with any city or any era there is always kind of a sound that becomes the norm. And like Johnny said, there will be five bands playing in any given area, but four of them probably fall into the sound that’s hot right now. I guess we like to pride ourselves on hopefully having a sound that’s unique.

It is very interesting times. Like you said, there are so many ways a band can take things into their own hands and traditional avenues have kind of taken a backseat.

J: You have to be super creative now. People aren’t buying CDs so you can cross that off the list. You can make a YouTube video on a bunch of treadmills and the next thing you know you can headline a national tour.

You released  your second album “Coyote” in January. How does it differ from your first album?

B: It’s night and day. The first record was more or less me just kind of blabbering with a producer. And “Coyote” was kind of like the rebirth of Terraplane Sun as we know it today. We went into the studio after a year of playing with nine songs and within three days we layed it down.

You guys come from all over the U.S., but have settle in Venice Beach. What appeals to you about Venice?

J: Venice has such an amazing vibe to it. It’s more gritty, and not as polished as Santa Monica and other parts of L.A. You have a lot more freedom to do certain things because there’s less judgment. It’s like an artist colony and it makes you feel like you can do as you please. Creatively, it’s just an inspiring spot.
B: I’ve never known another beach town quite like it. It’s aware of the beach and it’s proximity, but it’s kind of like when the city meets the beach, so it’s like this kind of edgy, artistic little nugget that cool stuff comes out of.

You play a lot in Southern California and Vegas, and recently went to Amsterdam. What has been your favorite tour memory so far?

J: I don’t really want the world to know…
B: Amsterdam for me. That will be a trip I’ll remember for the rest of my life. As far as one moment in Amsterdam…
J: Oh ya! We met a pub owner on one of the first nights we got there. He was eyeing us up and down and claimed to be a blues aficionado. At first I thought he was going to fight me, but he ended up taking us in as like his adopted American children, and invited us to play at his pub the next day. So while we were setting up outside the pub the following day this woman drives by on a bike with a cello strapped to her back. I went after her and asked if she wanted to play with us and she said yes. We sat down and I began to tell her what the chord changes were, but she just said “No, don’t worry about it.” So we laid into the song and she made it one of the most beautiful performances I’ve ever heard in my life. She never heard the song once and she nailed every change plus improvised a cello solo. It was just one of those things where all the pieces came together. It was incredible.

What are you listening to while you’re on the road?

J: Ben, who’s that sick guitar player that we listened to on the way up? I’m going to butcher his name if I try to say it.
B: The west African guy? I’m a huge fan of Ali Farka Toure. It’s like the best road music in my mind.

I actually discovered him on an airline music channel.

B:It’s funny, airlines are really becoming the source for discovering new music. I’ve actually just discovered a couple new bands on JetBlue.

If you were going on tour and could only take three things with you, not including your instruments, what would they be?

J: When I was a kid we had a huge fire that came by my house and I did kind of the same thing, where I actually could only take what I could carry. I still get made fun of this till this day because my priorities were deodorant, my guitar, toothbrush, underwear, and that was it. I left all my toys and like…
B: But why deodorant?
J: Well think about this- my house burns down, I’m homeless, and I have to get a job so I have to smell good. So i’d probably still go with deodorant on the road.
B: That’s a no brainer.

You were wearing deodorant at 11?

J: I was a hairy child. I’m just kidding. I was trying to be a little older than I actually was.

Favorite place you’ve ever played?

B: We were just at the Belly Up in San Diego. I think that’s my favorite place. I love that place. It’s one of the best sounding venues. The Cosmopolitan in Vegas is pretty cool too.
J: Ya, the Cosmopolitan is my favorite.

If you could choose any place to perform where would it be?

B: Hollywood Bowl, baby!
J: I would love to play the House of Blues on the strip. I grew up going there as a kid, and it has been a life goal to get up there. I don’t think it’s too far out of reach at this point, which is really exciting.

What do you like most about playing live?

B: The relationship between the band and the crowd.
J: It’s a rush like no other. When the crowd is really vibing off you…that energy is something you can’t replicate in any other medium. But also, the musicianship in this band is incredible, and I love being able to improvise. Those freedoms really elevate our playing and that’s just an amazing feeling.

What is your favorite song to play live?

B: Probably “Tell Me I’m Wrong.” Johnny probably agrees too, ya?
J: That’s definitely the one.
B: No matter what kind of night we’re having, as far as if we have the crowd or not, we can always rely on that song.
J: Without fail that trombone solo will put a smile on my face every single night.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement so far?

J: I think the record has been the greatest achievement because it took so many chance occurrences and events to even get this formation of the band together and get us all on the same page.
B: Ya, just the band in general. After I finished the first record I played with several musicians, and I’m sure you know musicians tend to be crazy. Finding guys to collaborate with where there are no egos is difficult. So I was more or less ready to not even continue, but then I met them and we got really lucky. From where I am now to where I was then, it’s amazing we’ve gotten this far.

What’s next for Terraplane Sun?

B: We’re currently sitting on our best material so we’re working feverishly to try to get into the studio and find a producer to make our third record, a record that will validate us in the music world.
J: We should be dropping an EP within the next month and a half, so we’re super excited about that. We’ve got an amazing bunch of new tracks, so stay tuned!

Upcoming concerts:

Nov. 22nd – The Hotel Cafe, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Nov. 23rd – The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV, USA

Nov. 24th – The Cosmopolitan, Las Vegas, NV, USA

 


Some changes to Songkick

by Emily

Over the past few months, we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to scale with the increasing number of fans using Songkick to find concerts – this has meant streamlining the site to focus on what we do best: making it easy to track your favorite bands and get concert alerts.

At the beginning of next week, we’re going to start rolling out a new, simplified version of the website. The core service will remain the same: track your favorite artists, get concert alerts, and build your gigography. However, to make way for improvements, some features that you know and love will not be available in the near future:

Photos, posters, videos: We’ll continue to display the great photos, posters and videos our community have added, but you won’t be able to add new ones for the time being. We hope to resurrect this feature when we figure out a better way to maintain it sustainably.

Setlists, reviews, and tweets from concerts: Setlists and reviews will be removed from the site, and we’ll no longer pull in tweets from concerts. While these things won’t appear on Songkick for the time being, we will continue to store the data so we can display it in the future, and can export contributions if required.

Import methods to track artists: The Songkicker iTunes app, Last.fm import, and Pandora import will be removed. We will be building new and improved import methods that work with your favorite music services, and welcome your feedback on what you’d like to see. Don’t forget, you can always scan all the music on your iPhone/iPod with our app.

Tracking venues, festival, and other users: You can continue to track artists and locations for maximum concert alert goodness, but the option to track venues, festivals, and other users will be removed.

We know some of you will really miss these features – for every one we removed there was a Songkick team member who fought hard to keep it in! But for now, we have to start on a clean slate to focus on making sure you never miss the unforgettable experience of seeing your favorite band play live (and to allow us to prepare for something new coming very soon).

Ultimately we think you’ll be as excited as we are to see what is coming down the line in a few weeks! We hope you’ll understand why we made these difficult decisions and stick with us while we build the site back up again.

We are interested in hearing your opinions on the changes – the good, the bad and the ugly. Don’t hesitate to direct your thoughts to support@songkick.com, or let us know in the comments section below. We’re all ears for you.


On the Road with: Ellen and the Escapades

by Rachel

With their first album in the works, folk pop band Ellen and the Escapades have already received critical praise, including being named winner of Glastonbury’s Emerging Talent Competition in 2010. Currently touring in the UK, Ellen took the time to answer our questions about touring, performing live, and the anticipated new album.

They’ve also given us a pair of tickets to give away to one of their forthcoming shows, find out how to enter at the bottom of the post.

How would you describe your sound to someone who has never heard the band?

Ellen: I think the best way to describe our music would probably be to say it’s a blend of folk, rock and pop music. We’re massively influenced by bands from the sixties and seventies, like The Beatles and Fleetwood Mac, but also more contemporary artists such as Ryan Adams, Bon Iver, and even bands like The Shins.

Who are The Escapades? Where did the name come from?

E: The Escapades are:

Jeff Schneider on electric guitar and backing vocals
Chris Quick on keys and backing vocals
James Warrender on drums
Andy Calder on bass

In perfect truth, we came up with the name Ellen and the Escapades because of the alliteration, and not a lot else!

You released your first ep ‘Of All The Times’ in 2010 – do you have plans for a full album soon? If so, when are you hoping to release it and how has your sound progressed?

E: We’ve actually spent the last few months recording the album, in between playing the summer festivals. We’re hoping to release it in the spring, but nothing’s set in stone just yet. I think we’ve developed our sound massively since the EP came out – we’ve just grown as a group of musicians and I think our arrangements and songs have just gotten better. Some of the tracks on the album are songs we’ve released before, but changed and re-recorded and some are totally new. We worked with a producer called Matt Peel, and he’s been great with us – he’s really pushed us and I think it’s made a big difference. We’re really excited for everyone to hear it!

You’ve just kicked off a UK tour. What are the best and worst things about touring?

E: The best thing about touring for me is just being out on the road with the guys, playing in different places each night, and just getting into a routine of gigging. I think naturally you just kind of grow in confidence and become more comfortable with the shows and the audiences. We feel very lucky that we’re able to do it- it’s a lot of fun… I guess the worst things are probably the times where we’re in a van for hours on end and not getting much sleep- that can get kind of tedious but we can’t complain, really!

What are you listening to at the moment while you’re on the road?

E: It depends on the mood in the van really – there’s usually a lot of Beatles, The Band, some soul and Motown stuff… A lot of the time we’ll all listen to different stuff on our MP3 players. At the moment, I’m really enjoying a band called Other Lives. There’s a new Ryan Adams record out too, so that’s on my player a lot.

You played a lot of festivals over the summer. Which one was the highlight and why?

E: I think Green Man was a big highlight for all of us this year. We really didn’t expect to be playing to such a big crowd and the response from the audience was so great – we all loved it. It’s such a lovely festival in general and there were a lot of bands playing that I really love too, so for me it was perfect!

What would be your dream venue to play in?

E: I’ve always loved the idea of playing in old theatres. I think that’d be really cool. We were really spoilt when we toured in Switzerland. We played some stunning shows by the lake out there. I’d certainly be up for doing that again too.

What do you like most about playing live? Do you ever get nervous before performing?

E: I always get nervous to a degree, but some times more than others. Mostly I get nervous when there’s either a really big crowd, or if a venue is really, really intimate. The ones in between aren’t as nerve racking for me for some reason. I love playing live though. It’s probably my favourite thing about being in a band. It’s different every night and always unpredictable so it keeps things interesting.

What’s your favorite song to play live and why?

E: We have this song called ‘All the Crooked Scenes’ and that’s probably my favourite to play live at the moment. It’s fairly quick and kind of has a different vibe to a lot of our other stuff. I really pushed myself vocally too when I wrote this so it’s always a nice challenge! And I really like what everyone plays on it. It sounds really cool when it all comes together.

What do you do when you’re not performing or making music? Do you still have day jobs?

E: There’s actually very little time spent not making music/performing/rehearsing and other such Ellen and the Escapades related activities! So it’s quite a novelty to have days off. I tend to do really boring, regular stuff! I like to see my family and friends, go out, go to gigs – do all that sort of thing. We’re all almost impossible to employ because of what we do, so at the moment Andy works one day a week when he can and that’s about it!

There’s been a lot of debate recently about whether music streaming services are good for up and coming artists or not. What’s your take on it?

E: I’m quite on the fence – I think there are pros and cons to them. I think in general, for up and coming bands, the internet is a great thing and a good way to promote yourself and for people to find your music. However, it’s also useful for bands like us for people to hear our music on internet sites such as MySpace or Facebook and then buy it on iTunes or Amazon, rather than listening over and over again on Spotify.

What would you say has been the greatest achievement so far since the band formed?

E: We’ve achieved a lot of things we’re really proud of and we feel very lucky that that’s the case. Obviously winning the Glastonbury emerging talent competition was a big thing for us. But really, I suppose we have just recorded our debut album, and we’ve done that completely on our own without any label backing, and we’re all really, really proud of the way it’s sounding. We managed to reach our Pledge Music campaign target in just a week and this has gone a long way to helping us finish the record. Hopefully we can go on to achieve even more great things once it’s released too!

Check out their latest single, When The Tide Creeps In:

WIN A PAIR OF TICKETS TO SEE ELLEN AND THE ESCAPADES LIVE!

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to one of the bands upcoming shows, all you have to do to be in with a chance of winning is:

1) Like us on Facebook

2) Like the blog/competition announcement post here.

The competition closes on Friday 18th November and the winner will be announced on the Facebook post.

Good luck!

Upcoming dates:

Nov. 22nd – The Wheelbarrow, London, UK

Nov. 23rd – Boileroom, Guildford, UK

Nov. 26th – Durham Students Union, Durham, UK

Nov. 29th – Stereo, York, UK

Nov. 30th – The Forum, Sheffield, UK

Dec. 2nd – Bolton Brow Workingmans Club, Sowerby Bridge, UK


Augmented reality + meeting the PM – not your average day

by Dan C

I had the chance to meet with Prime Minister David Cameron today at the launch of the UK Tech City map.

We got to show him a cool new app from Autonomy called Aurasma. This let’s you point your mobile phone at objects in the real world and have it show you videos and other information about the objects. What better way to demo this new British tech than to try it out on a Songkick business card?

Everyone at Songkick gets to put a favorite band on the back of their card. Mine shows a live gig by Magazine – one of the most interesting and influential bands to come out of the late 70′s punk explosion here in the UK. So we had the PM point Aurasma at my card and watch Magazine roar into a rendition of their classic “The Light Pours Out of Me”

 

 

It was fun to give Cameron a blast of old school punk rock.

This kind of augmented reality app isn’t useful just for showing off to political leaders, though. It also gives bands another cool way to reach out to their fans. Imagine being able to link any image of the band to a YouTube video – anyone with a smartphone can now listen to your latest and classic track just by pointing their camera at a picture of you.

Anyway, I’m off to see Magazine live at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire tonight:

www.songkick.com/concerts/10071783-magazine-at-o2-shepherds-bush-empire

Should be bloody brilliant.


‘Balance: European Hardcore’ – Exhibition + Book Launch

by Rachel

Londoners, if you’re into your hardcore music, or have a passion for live music photography in general, make sure you head along to this free event tonight. ‘Balance: European Hardcore’ is a photography exhibition and book launch celebrating the European hardcore music scene.

Details:

When: Wed, Nov. 9th, 18:00-21:00

Where: Lo & Behold Gallery, 2B Swanfield St.,

London, E2 7DS

Price: FREE

‘Balance: European Hardcore’, by Tom Barry and photographer Sophia Schorr-Kon, documents the modern European hardcore scene and the people behind it. The book features striking photography of shows and portraits of influential musicians. Alongside these images, the authors provide insights into the informal rules that give order to the international movement—for example, all lyrics are written and performed in English—allowing readers an insider’s perspective on the enduring but underdocumented music scene.

The exhibition, which runs until the 20th November, will showcase select images from the book, check it out!

 

Balance: European Hardcore
Tom Barry and Sophia Schorr-Kon
Pub Date: November 2011
Page Count: 160
Size: 10 x 8 inches
Format: Hardcover
Price: $40.00
ISBN: 978-1-935613-36-7