Music and Geekery
"The geek shall inherit the earth" was a pithy tshirt for a long time. Now it's actually happening. Geekery underpins much of what's great about music in the Internet age. Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Topspin, even cranky old Myspace was built by geeks. Then geeks got in early and took all the good usernames.
Recording software and hardware is cheaper than ever, and the selection of sound-producing tools and toys - both manufactured and DIY - is growing exponentially. Most of your potential fans are walking around with tiny web-connected computers in their pockets. If you're not ridiculously excited about all of this amazing stuff, then good luck to you.
Jaymis Loveday is RIDICULOUSLY excited about all of this amazing stuff and will be leading a discussion at UnConvention this year. Jaymis explains:
I'm a music video director and visualist. I spent 2007-08 touring Australia as the on-stage VJ in an Australian Idol finalist's rock band, while also running a web design business, editing Visualist blog http://CreateDigitalMotion.com and administering http://CreateDigitalMusic.com and http://Noisepages.com - sites about technology, music and art which now receive over half a million visitors every month. I'm now the visual member of Brisbane indie band Cowper (http://cowperband.com), and "Mad Scientist" at Graetzmedia (http://graetzmedia.com)
I get to see what happens on stage and on the servers. The sweat and the statistics. It's really fun.
I've also been learning drums. My Xbox is teaching me. I can get 94% on expert for Queens of the Stone Age - No One Knows.
Joining me to discuss and hopefully demystify the technology, will be:
Dan Teasdale - Lead Designer of Rock Band 2 and 3, amongst other awesome computer games. Bass player for Nerd Rock "band" (his quotation marks) Speck. Now working on The Gunstringer at Twisted Pixel in Texas. Probably the first ever computer game with marionette-enabled control via Kinect: http://www.thegunstringer.com/
Leigh Dyer - Is a software engineer at Bandcamp.com. He works on the infrastructure, so musicians can sell (and give away!) their music on the best distribution platform yet created. He also uses Linux and Open Source Software to make electronic music as Pneuman: http://pneuman.bandcamp.com/
Chris Johnson - Is the manager of AMRAP (the Australian Music Radio Airplay Project - http://amrap.org.au), which is funded by the Department of Broadband and Suchlike, and aims to get national airplay for Australian musicians. Awesome. AMRAP are also sponsors of Unconvention! Chris gets the comfy chair.
Hunz - Is a darling of the Brisbane electronic music scene. His live 3 piece "Melancholy Pop Electronica" band is a must-see, and his upcoming chiptune/game/concept album/stage show "7 Bit Hero" is collecting all of the powers of music and gaming, and forging them into a sword item of +10 Sparkliness! http://hunz.com.au
When he's not being Hunz, he's Hans Van Vliet, 3D animator and director at animation and post-production house IV Motion: http://ivmotion.com.au/
He also recorded one of the most amazing covers ever - the Astroboy Theme - for Japan fundraiser album "Soundcrane": http://soundcrane.bandcamp.com/track/astroboy-theme
To join Jaymis, Dan, Leigh, Chris and Hunz for a chat grab your tickets for UnConvention from Oztix.
