The Animal Farm is a forward thinking independent music company whose 360 range of services include artist management, booking agency, record production, record label and music publishing.
Our 20 year career in the music business has given us the experience and global network of contacts to get our artists heard by the right people.
Suffering Silence’s remix of iremembertapes.’ new single All I Know is kicking our asses and we thought it might be nice to let her chat with Jaleh about her work:
1. How are you, what have you been up to lately? I’m doing just finesome thank you. Mostly just been longboarding and writing new songs for my band.
2. How would you describe your style? HYBRID!
3. What equipment and software do you use? Logic Pro Studio 8, M-Audio Fast Track Pro, M-Audio Key Studio, Wesley Flying V Guitar, Tanglewood Bass, NJD Dynamic Mic, Beats by Dr. Dre Studio Headphones.
4. Your best achievement in the remixing field? Being in the top 100 out of 2000+ entries in a Linkin Park remix contest.
5. How did you find remixing iremembertapes.? Any greetings you want to send to the band? Remixing the iremembertapes track was a lot of fun! So thank you for the opportunity, and to the band, keep making great music!
A lotta chatter about this in recent days. I always enjoy a good “fuck the government” rant, but the we shouldn’t lose sight of the basic argument, as it pertains to be business that has fed and clothed me and my fellow musical travellers for decades: musicians need to get paid. Peri-fucking-od.
In an article in the Guardian, Helienne Lindvall writes:
It’s a basic economic fact that you can’t make a living doing stuff for “free”. There will be no progress once you start starvin’, Marvin. People who side with computer geeks in saying that everyfink should be free often say that people will continue to make music, no matter what. True, but there is only so much amateur hour a guy can take. I wonder whose music you will miss more, the stuff from that band down the road who pesters you to like/vote their latest masterpiece or the stuff released by record labels.
Don’t be glib. Think it through.
Great music doesn’t happen by accident. It’s the cumulative result of a series of processes that start at home and at school when you first pick up an instrument and someone teaches you to play it. At some point it moves on to the local pub, your laptop studio or the local demo studio. Then to other stages and bigger laptops in better studios. Perhaps more in depth studies on the theory and construction of music. It can also be done in backstages of bars and clubs. Then more and more people get involved, each with their own particular skills to help make music that moves the spirit. Whoever pays for it needs to make their money back. Whoever works in it needs to make a living. This business of music has come up with all my favourite records. And all of yours, too.
There is no such thing as a free market. It’s all a complicated set of rules, laws and regulations that protect people, their dosh, ideas and all the rest of it. We need a set of (probably very) complicated rules to make sure that people who make music and invest in the process get paid. Work towards it, my friends. Don’t be bullied by the geek brigade into thinking that you should let them make all the money while you get zilch.
I’m ok, sat in front of the fire J Lately I’ve gone to a couple of gigs, done another remix, and put some more work in on my own album “Gamblers Ruined My Life”
How would you describe your style?
My style is mostly Drum n Bass, with Dubstep and other broken beat styles thrown in, with influences ranging all over the place including DJ Zinc, Dom & Roland, The Prodigy, Pink Floyd, Tangerine Dream, Pram, and pretty much everything I’ve listened to…
What equipment and software do you use?
Playing live I use Ableton Live on a PC laptop, and Novation Launchpad and Nocturn controllers. Sometimes I’ll use MIDI keyboards as well (Alesis Photon X25 and Q49), depending on the gig. When I’m writing, I tend to use a combination of Reason and Cubase. I’m working towards integrating more hardware into my setup over the coming months though, I like the hands on control.
Your best achievement in the remixing field?
I haven’t had much experience in the remixing field (aside from entering remix competitions every so often), but so far my best achievement was to be asked if I’d do a remix rather than me asking the bands or entering remix competitions.
How did you find remixing iremembertapes.? Any greetings you want to send to the band?
First off, I’d like to wish the band and everyone at The Animal Farm a Happy New Year. I found remixing the song was quite an easy experience, because the audio files were well recorded and the band played tight. It was a bit of a departure from what I’ve been doing recently style wise, as I didn’t want to do a full on Drum n Bass remix (I remember the dodgy dance remixes of indie tracks in the 90s…), or make too many drastic changes to the song.
Here’s the man himself live at The Sesh last year.
You can find out more about AbeZilla on Oblivioustoeverything.
I visited our local secondary school this morning to give a talk to the Year 9 Music Tech class about the music business in general and what people like us do within it in particular.
I was nervous. I’m not that used to speaking in a room full of teens. The last time I did it I was called a disruptive element.
I think it went well. At least, they were talking about music and how they feel about it, and I hope I was able to shed a little light on the business that has fed and clothed me all these years. At the end of the session I asked the teacher if I could ask the kids a question. I asked them what kind of music they were into. Their answers caught me by surprise. They don’t care much for a lot of what passes for “popular” music these days.
Referencing a bunch of old school artists from way before they were born, from way before I got into music, their feeling, in general, seemed to be that all the autotuned-Protooled-to-death crap sung by puppet like performers who all look and feel the same is not cool. They preferred, and spoke eloquently of, people who could sit down and make a signature sound with their hands and instruments.
I was blown away.
I could have sat there listening to the young dudes talking about music that matters, subject matter that is real, musicians who can cut it etc. for much longer than what the curriculum had time for.
Speaking of which, music lessons in schools are much more exciting than back in my day. They have such cool stuff to play with.
We as a society should support the efforts of people who make it possible for kids to get into and learn about music.
Below is a clip where Frank Zappa discusses some of the issues that today’s encounter touched upon.
iremembertapes. are a name on many people’s lips for 2012 according to Shout4Music who say more nice things about iremembertapes. in their New Music Radar section.
The ultra cool trio iremembertapes. bring out a brilliant new single titled ALL I KNOW. You’ve been hearing the remixes over the past few weeks. Here’s the real deal
The band are playing in Coventry at the Casbah this Friday 13th.
"The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side."
- Hunter S. Thompson
