Mentor My Mix: Find Your Career in the Music Industry!

Mentor My Mix: Find Your Career in the Music Industry!

By Greg GordonEducationSelf-Improvement
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Mentor My Mix: Find Your Career in the Music Industry! episodes

  • #34 Alphabet Rockers: A GRAMMY Winning Design Creating Conscious Hip Hop Music

    In this episode, we get to know Kaitlin McGaw and Tommy Shepard, the dynamic duo who lead the children's music collective Alphabet Rockers, and who just won a Grammy for their latest album The Movement.  The collective was born out of their passion for Hip-Hop music and culture, social justice work, and letting the young people in their community be a driving force in the media made for them. The collective includes Kali De Jesus, Tommy Shepard III, and Maya Fleming, as well as other collaborators like DJ Roza Do and Samara Atkins.

    Kaitlin and Tommy talk about how the goals of the collective have been shaped, deciding early on that young people are sophisticated enough to enjoy authentic Hip-Hop and giving them opportunities to write songs from their perspective, as well as choosing not to compromise their focus on racial justice and bring up uncomfortable topics just because they make children's music.

    They also talk about what led up to their Grammy win, how the landscape in their field has been changing, and how the win has opened up new opportunities for them, and how they plan to make sure to keep those doors open for others. They talk about their working dynamic and the business model they have developed and how a policy of giving people a chance when it comes to input for the project has led to discovering new talent.

    Listen to the Grammy-winning album The Movement here: https://open.spotify.com/album/6OJMNs9bxCaxUc72OfzcO9

    Check out Alphabet Rockers Website:  https://www.alphabetrockers.com/

    Learn more about their projects: https://www.alphabetrockers.com/links

    Listen to more Mentor My Mix episodes here: http://www.mentormymix.com


    1 hr 16 min
  • #33 Vital Powers: Leveraging Social Media to Build an Artist Brand
    Episode #33 of the Mentor My Mix Podcast brings us Vital Powers, a performing artist Born to Jamaican parents and from Wolverhampton, England.
    Pyramind's social media director initially discovered VitalPowers through engaging and well-produced content on his Instagram & Youtube channels. He sparked our curiosity enough to DM him and invite him down to the studios where his charm & talents convinced us to invite him on as a podcast guest to share his path to success by becoming a BBC talk-show host and a content creator and rep for DITTO Music, one of the UK's leading digital distribution platforms.
    The interview begins with a world premiere preview of his newest track, Too Savage. Topics range from strategies for hosting festivals and using social networks to book & promote tours with similar artists to using his presenting skills to diversify his visibility and earnings as an artist.
    They analyze and discuss Vital's various vocal styles and then Greg creates a beat on the spot in Ableton Live using the Push 2 for Vital to freestyle too.
    Vital's influences & styles come from Grime to Rap and Drill to Dancehall. Vital's influences & styles come from Grime to Rap and Drill to Dancehall.
    He's been a BBC Presenter and is now a DITTO Music Video Content Creator & Mentor.
    Affiliated with: BBC R1 / 1X / AN / WM / Introducing / Three, MOBO's, Help Musicians, PRS, Multiple Charities + more. Releases like 2016’s “POWERS" hit the iTunes Hip Hop top 20 charts
    Performing on over 200 stages like MADE Festival 2016 + BBC Radio 1's BIG WEEKEND Festival 2016 alongside artists such as: Stormzy, JayKae, Lethal B, Dappy,
    Stylo G, Big Narstie, Alkaline, Wiley, and J Hus. In 2018 BBC West Midlands gave VITAL Powers his own Radio Show. ‘The Midlands Source’
    VITAL has over 2 million+ Youtube views collectively including on his personal Channel. 5 music videos featured on Channel AKA & television appearances
    on #MADEinBrum + BBC 1's Midlands.
    • SEARCH "VITAL POWERS 力" or @VITAL0
    Spotify Playlist: I Came Here For VITAL
    Tracks Played:
    ● https://youtu.be/uALU35Y83pk (Too Savage - VITAL Powers) (UNRELEASED)
    ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gljz4ZmLEbU (CAMMY RIDDIM - VITAL
    Powers)
    ● https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbBTrn4Po28 (WAKE UP - VITAL Powers)
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    1 hr 7 min
  • Big Rich and Project Level: Educating & Discovering The Next Generation of Talent
    Bay Area Hip Hop legend Big Rich started his career making beats at a young age, which is how he first met a young San Quinn. He quickly developed his love for producing and rapping in the group Fully Loaded, which became the breakout group on San Quinn and Charlie Kelley’s record label. In 2002, Big Rich released San Francisco Anthem with San Quinn and producer Traxamillion, which became the most requested song on 106.1 KMEL and became the theme music for the Giants and 49ers. Big Rich went on to work with other bay area legends like Mac Dre and E-40 and had a number of hit songs in the greater Bay Area. 
    Rich made the decision to diversify his career in the industry first by starting a marketing agency with his girlfriend and business partner Danielle, by offering label services. They then pivoted to education and artist discovery by launching Project Level and 1015 Management. Project Level is an educational organization that trains underserved youth in San Francisco about jobs at many levels of the music industry, including music production, videography, photography, choreography, talent management, and record label A&R work. 
    Rich came up with the idea for Project Level because he believed music saved his life at a young age, and he wanted to be able to share that gift with a new generation of young people in the community. 1015 Management is geared toward finding the next generation of talent to help them get developed and signed like 24KGoldn, a Bay Area superstar who Big Rich helped make the introduction to get signed by Columbia Records and go multi-platinum. With a combination of training, management and a discovery showcase called "The Next Big Thing" Project Level is well poised to deliver on its promise. Add to that funding sources and partnerships including Atlantic Records, Time/Warner, YouTube, The Golden State Warriors, and Pyramind Institute, and Big Rich is well on his way to creating an amazing ecosystem of opportunities for career development and finding the next generation of superstars.
    See the video recap and blog from the interview here: https://pyramind.com/big-rich-discovering-the-next-generation-of-talent
    Follow Big Rich https://www.instagram.com/big.rich/?hl=en
    Listen to the music from the podcast https://open.spotify.com/artist/5lkPydJppIPd2K9jJkfmMC
    Check out Project Level https://www.projectlevel.org/
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    50 min
  • Smasheltooth: Being True to Yourself & Your Art, Making the Jump From DJ to Artist, Working Hard For Your Disrespect
    This episode was live-streamed to the PyramindSF.TV Twitch channel. Greg speaks with Smasheltooth, a West Coast Dj, artist, and producer whose new album Smashel of Liberty comes out spring of 2023 on Mal Label Music. Smasheltooth, or “Smash” for short, gives us a look into how her life experiences and musical influences shaped her DJ career and her first full-length album, which includes both unreleased music from nearly a decade ago, and new songs from the past few years including collaborations with Rappin' Forte and other notable artists. Her career has taken her from editing Pornography in LA to being a touring DJ and performer, and now working in Tech in Portland. All the while, Smash has unapologetically brought her love for Hip-Hop, Hyphy, Punk, Dance Hall, and especially Mac Dre to the Bass and Dance music scene. After this episode was recorded, Smash headlined Pyramind live, a VIP live audience & streamed event, playing her first-ever set of all original music, with support from fellow female DJ, Source Zero.
    Soundcloud: www.soundcloud.com/smasheltooth
    IG: www.instagram.com/smasheltooth
    FB: www.facebook.com/smasheltooth
    TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@smasheltooth
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    1 hr 5 min
  • Dylalien: Bending Genres with the West Psy Sound, Goa Gil, Fractal Cowboys, Dome Of Doom Records, and touring the World
    In this episode, we get to know Dylalien, a San Francisco-based artist who writes West Psy, a style of dance music born out of the Goa Gil Psytrance parties in Northern California.
    Dylalien and Quasar, are the duo behind Fractal Cowboys. The two have played around the world on 5 continents and at some of the largest festivals in Europe.
    Dylalien shares the Fractal Cowboys song "Backdoor Dinosaur," the first West Psy release put out with his musical partner of many years, Quasar. They also listen to and discuss his latest solo creations, "Clocktower" and "Waken and Baken", recently signed with Dome Of Doom Records. He and Greg discuss the hallmarks of this emerging genre as an evolution of Trance music and its influences from traditional Psy Trance and west coast Bass music. Dylalien points to his personal inspiration from artists like Negativland and from creating "psychedelic propaganda" sound collage art before being introduced to Psy Trance at Burning Man.
    Dylalien talks about his experience putting on events, from his first time meeting Goa Gil at Burning Man to now touring the world and performing in front of 10,000-plus crowds in South America and Israel.
    The discussion focuses on the importance of evolving a genre and how that happens and the emerging regional differences in the popularity of Psy Trance, West Psy, and other Psychedelic genres around the world.
    Dylalien has recently joined the LA-based Record Label Dome of Doom, and is excited about the opportunity to grow a larger audience here at home in California!
    Learn how to become an Electronic Music Producer here: https://pyramind.com/electronic-music-producer-program/
    Check out Dylalien Here: https://linktr.ee/dylalien
    Check out Dome of Doom Records here: https://www.domeofdoom.org/
    Listen to The tracks from the episode: https://open.spotify.com/track/3z6SPG1L6ecmaBz5SUnMhG?si=d3f930b0e4c345a3
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    59 min
  • Bachelors of Science: Collaborating as a Trio, Dolby Atmos, and The importance of Meta Data
    In this episode, Greg talks with Phil "Rene" Collis and Lukeino Argilla two members of the Drum 'n Bass group Bachelors of Science, who just released a brand new LP Within This Moment. The trio, including Chris Doe, was originally formed in San Francisco but is currently based mostly in southern California. They open up the conversation by talking about the process of collaborating on this fourteen-track LP and the challenges of working together while in different cities and across different platforms, and how they've spent years working together and coming up with a group process that works.
    One of the members, Luke Argilla, also works for Dolby as a mix engineer using their ATMOS Spatial Audio system, and Bachelors of Science has been releasing ATMOS mixes of their music since the remixes of their Space Between album from 2015. Luke also has an atmos-capable studio in his home. He talks about the strategies for creating spatial audio mixes of their songs and creating interesting listening experiences that will also translate to different listening environments. Phil weighs in as someone closer to an atmos music consumer and talks about experiencing atmos audio for the first time in studios and nightclubs, and how the focus of the technology has begun to shift from those environments to streaming music at home.
    Bachelor's of Science, both as a group and individually, have previously worked with Pyramind on a few occasions, Luke's first release was on one of Pyramind's Test Press compilations drawn from the events under the same name that Pyramind produced in the mid to late 2000's. Bachelor's of Science was also previously featured as the opening track on the 2009 LovEvolution Compilation (along with many notable artists including Miguel Migs, Bassnectar, and Lee Coombs) which was released to benefit Pyramind's annual scholarship. Their track, The Ice Dance, became one of their most played tracks but due to metadata mistakes on the Lovevolution compilation, the album was listed as a Bachelor's Of Science release rather than a compilation. The three joke about it now but this was a problem that took some time to finally get resolved with the distributor, InGrooves, highlighting the importance of getting your metadata right the first time! In 2012, They founded CODE Recording, in order to publish their own music, as well as publish other standout Drum 'n Bass artists.
    The tracks "Stomp" and "Brighter Days" from the latest LP, are also played and Phil and Luke talk about the inspirations for the tracks and their experiences working with the vocalists featured on them. Now that the record is out, the group has a full lineup of concerts everywhere from Denver to Sardinia and are already getting new tracks produced and mixed for their next release.
    Stream Within This Moment here: https://open.spotify.com/album/45gM8mKFlUM2U1dzj4mUpU
    Learn more about Bachelors of Science here: Linktr.ee/BachelorsOfScience
    Watch their Pyramind Live stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cdn8aPwvMic
    Check out CODE Recordings here: http://www.coderecs.com/
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    1 hr 2 min
  • Gizma: Psy Trance, Psychedelic Research with MAPS and Finding Inspiration in your Work and Culture
    Gizma is a Psy Trance artist and a MAPS (Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies) research physician. She is a native Mexican who grew up both there as a young child but is now based in SF. Gizma recieved her M.D. from the University of Michoacan in 2009, and comes from a family of doctors. She talks about coming to San Francisco to attend Pyramind Music & Audio Production Institute because of her passion for music and love for the city. "The Opening" is the first track played, and she credits the instructors at Pyramind that helped her learn the sound design techniques and Apple's Logic Pro that gave her the skills and creative workflow to produce at this level.
    Greg and Gizma discuss the influences that went into this track, and how her work as a research Physician for MAPS influences the music she makes. Being an indigenous Mexican drew her to her research with MAPS because psychedelic medicine is such a big part of her culture and has inspired the music she makes.
    They dive into the sound design process of her music, and she talks about many of the plugins and techniques that are staples of producing Psy-Trance music as well as how she likes to sit down and start a track, usually by choosing a vocal or spoken word sample. They then get into talking about the record labels that Gizma has worked with over the years, including Spun Records, and Antu Records where she releases music now. The conversation turns to collaboration with fellow label artist, including the next track they listen to, "Cognitive Liberty" produced in collaboration with Psy Trance artist Ital. Gizma talks about the inspiration for the song, as well as the collaboration process that went into making the track.
    The Psy-Trance scene in Mexico is discussed, and how it's no longer the underground thing it was back in 2003 when she started going to events there, and why it's now a great thing that it's much more visible and accessible. The conversation then turns to how the psychedelic medicine of her culture and family influences her work and music, and how she applies that knowledge in her medical practice.
    They close out the episode by listening to the track "Ainu" by Gizma and Amplify, which was inspired by the Aboriginal Ainu people of Japan.
    Check out Gizma at https://gizma44.wixsite.com/gizmamusic
    Listen to the songs in this episode at https://www.beatport.com/artist/gizma/767546
    Check out Antu Records at http://www.anturecords.com
    Check out MAPS at https://maps.org
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    50 min
  • Mal Harper: Magic Formula Release Strategies, Micro Licensing & Safe Dance Space
    This episode starts by listening to the song "Evil Aria" by Illexxandra on the latest Mal Label compilation Space Opera. Mal talks about putting the compilation together, and how they brought together a diverse lineup of up and coming and established artists around a common stylistic theme. Greg and Mal then mention the Pyramind live stream scheduled for later that day featuring some Mal Label Artists, and how they will continue to work together on events and Mal Label releases.
    Mal credits two events that inspired her to get into live event production, Shambalah and Bass Coast in Canada. Both because of how fun they are and how they work hard to create a safe dance space for their patrons. Mal and Greg then discuss the meaning of safe dance spaces and how important they are for the scene, as well as how much progress has been made to create Safe dance spaces.
    Mal Label now has over 250 releases. The label has gotten to this point by focusing on putting out material from up-and-coming artists, as well as prioritizing women and POC artists. Mal also talks about how the label has recently moved from putting out releases in rapid succession to focusing more on creating curated compilations in order for each release to get the proper time needed for marketing. She also talks about leveraging their large catalog into a music library that focuses on micro-licensing for internet ads and home-exercise content, and how doing so has created a consistent revenue stream for the label and its artists.
    They listen to another couple of tracks from Space Opera, first "The Dragon" by El-Diablo and Nim-1. Greg and Mal talk about the crossover potential between Bass Music and Hip Hop, and how it's been done so successfully over the years. They close the Podcast with the closing track from Space Opera, "Space Coast Boogie" by Bukkha.
    Pyramind Live with Mal Label artists, El Diablo and DJ LB: https://youtu.be/5NpLSaNoVxg
    Mal Label: https://www.mallabelmusic.com
    Send Demos to [email protected]
    Space Opera EP: https://open.spotify.com/album/0C3Iukpu3ksSKuw5MwgPbP?si=h9c9qclyQjKw0tyR7-XvVw
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    1 hr 2 min
  • Sinukus: From Live 365 Internet Radio to Avid Pro Tools architect, The Ambient Mafia, The Unison Collective and beyond!
    Stephen Wilson, AKA Sinukus, has a long and storied Bay Area music industry history. This discussion starts with an introduction to The Ambient Mafia DJ collective, their compilation releases, and their move to streaming during the pandemic. Greg & Stephen discuss the use of different technology platforms to "stage-manage" all the DJs involved and their ability to seamlessly move from one set to the next all while re-streaming to multiple platforms. The conversation then moves to Stephen's background in tech and how he gained notoriety in the music tech sector by developing an embedded MP3 player in the browser for Live 365 Internet Radio.
    This then led to him being hired by Winamp to develop a system for accessing your music collection from the cloud and then Avid, the makers of Pro Tools, where he was originally a developer for 12 years and ultimately for the past 7 years became an architect. His development at Avid started with the challenge of latency compensation and went on to Elastic Audio, clip based gain, and cloud collaboration. All this while promoting and throwing multiple monthly parties and ultimately back to his passion for Down-Tempo chill electronic music with the Below Zero broadcast radio show on Energy 92.7 FM from 2008 to 2014.
    The podcast ends with a discussion of the formation of the "meta-collective", Unison, which is made up of multiple Bay Area DJ collectives that have come together to support each other and raise money for multiple charities. This super-organized, tech-forward crew also developed multiple education docs for the technology they use for supporting and managing large collective live streams. The closing track is from The Ambient Mafia compilation, Chillroom Culture Vol. 1, called Frog Pond by Mo Corleone, and featuring Beau Dream.
    Links:
    Unison https://unison.stream
    The Ambient Mafia https://www.ambientmafia.com
    Chillroom Culture Vol 1 https://ambientmafia.bandcamp.com/releases
    Ambient Mafia - Sunday Sundowns live every Sunday 5pm-10pm PST https://twitch.tv/theambientmafia
    Sinukus https://linktr.ee/sinukus
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    1 hr 4 min
  • Lucia Lilikoi: The value of Education, Crowdfunding, Vinyl and Sound Healing
    In this episode, singer-songwriter and recording artist, Lucia Lilikoi shares the experience of creating her latest album Luz and stepping into the role of producer and engineer for the project, Greg and Lucia discuss her musical career journey, beginning with her roots growing up in Sevilla Spain with the influences of a working musician and producer father, attending a music conservatory at a young age, and then moving to Los Angeles for High School, and attending Berklee College of music.  
    They talk about her experience recording her first album in her father's home studio and another friend producing and helping to recruit session musicians for the project, while also playing her music live in the Los Angeles venue circuit. She goes into detail about her experience crowdfunding her second album in a time just before the current major crowdfunding platforms became prominent, and how engaging with her core group of fans helped her accomplish a successful crowdfunding campaign, and allowed her to work with Grammy winning producer, Malcolm Burn.  
    Lucia also talks about how she developed her specific sound and distilled it into a genre she calls Dream Folk, and how this lead her to learn the practice of sound healing. She gives us her insights about building a sustainable career in music while remaining niche in the age of streaming.
    Finally, they listen to the song “Angel of Mine” from her latest record Luz, and talk about her inspirations for the song and the meaning behind the lyrics.
    Songs played during the podcast: Black Seed & Luz from the album Luz.
    Website: www.lilikoimusic.com  
    Sound Healing: https://www.alchemicalsinging.com/ Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3HKZMX5 
    Apple Music: https://apple.co/3uGc0wA
    Bandcamp: www.lucia.bandcamp.com 
    Videos 
    Light: https://bit.ly/3BcmzJ9 
    Angel of Mine: https://bit.ly/34Ora86 
    Live at The Center SF: https://bit.ly/3GJbhgD After the Wind: https://bit.ly/3uHBGcq 
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    1 hr 7 min

About Mentor My Mix: Find Your Career in the Music Industry!

From the publisher's feed

Join music industry veteran Greg Gordon in an ongoing series of candid interviews with music producers, recording artists, DJ's, label bosses, game audio experts, and more, who all share their…