Paid Volunteers Needed for Events in Anaheim (7/14), Oakland (7/15)
Paid promotion, 10 reps needed for each day. THIS IS AN ALL DAY PROMOTION!
Please email wearethekidsblog@gmail.com with your NAME & EMAIL for more information.
: EIY Chapters Formed! Get involved with your local scene + Vans Warped Tour!
EIY is in full force this year, and many chapters have already started their plan of attack for Warped Tour. Imagine going to Warped Tour and seeing a booth fully designated to your local music scene…you could help create that!
WHAT EIY IS DOING AT WARPED THIS YEAR: …
: GET INVOLVED W/ VANS WARPED TOUR 2012 + EARN IT YOURSELF!
In case you missed the HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT on earnityourself.com last week, plans for WARPED TOUR 2012 were rolled out, and we want you guys to get involved! For those of you who are unfamiliar with EIY, it was founded by an awesome person named Sarah Saturday who devotes much of her time to…
Festival Season is upon us!
While everyone else gets excited for spring to come and all the flowers to grow, I am more anxiously awaiting for all the festivals to start up! They provide such a dynamic grouping of people and defiantly lots of volunteer opportunities! Which is what I will be talking about.
First off, I just like to say that festivals are very under appreciated unless you are Coachella (no hard feelings but just stating a fact I’ve noticed). I’ve noticed that everyone is more themselves and just free and happy whenever I’ve been to a festival, its very infectious! The music’s going, people just their bodies sway to the music and guide them. Everyone of all ages are signing and dancing along. I’ve also noticed that people are more relaxed and carefree, in the sense that there’s no alcohol throwing, fights or other crazy shenanigans. So if you haven’t been to a local festival (seriously, they exist) then you are really missing out!
Okay so the point of this post, Opportunities!
- But how do I find them?! Well like anything, they won’t just land on your lap(some many after a while) so you have to research. Instead of trying to get your paws on Warped Tour or Coachella, go locally! See what your city has to offer. Seriously you will be surprised what your city puts together each year. Go to your cities homepage and look at what events they have every summer or even google *city* festivals.
- But I don’t listen to *insert genre* At the time I was about to volunteer for Folk Fest, I was a die hard metal fan (the two are an odd pairing) but you have to let that “Oh I don’t listen to that” crap and just check it out. How do you know if you don’t give it a shot? Open yourself up to see what they have to offer. I left that summer having a part of folk music and vibes stitched to my heart.
- But all I am doing is something insignificant?! Yes, it may seem like nothing at first, but over the years I’ve learned that they really appreciate all the help they get! But it is also your first year, so they don’t know your work ethic or what you can do. When I first started I worked on clean up, parking and children’s tent. I dreaded the first two but I got through it and did my job. I will be on my third summer with them! They recognize my work ethic and provide me with extra volunteer opportunities throughout the year!
- But how am I going to build connections?! Keep going back and provide the best work ethic you can give them. People will notice if they see that someone is going above and beyond expectations. Last summer I kept picking up random shifts whenever they needed a filler, I simply couldn’t get enough of it. I even had a staff member tell me to enjoy the festival for once! But for me, helping out made it more enjoyably. That same staff member personally sent me an email this year after I sent off my volunteer application. She noticed my continuous help with the festival and my dedication to it.
I guess all I’m trying to get to is to give it a chance. It doesn’t hurt you if you try. Yes, maybe it won’t land you your “dream job” or even a a job with the company. But you WILL get the satisfaction that you’ve helped your local community, gain experience and meet like minded people.
Your chance is now, Music is Now!
My name is Teyha and I am a Community Partner in Regina, Saskatchewan(Canada)
If you have any questions, you can reach me on my other blog:
http://truthbehindthenoise.tumblr.com/
: An Interview with Jason Blades of To Write Love on Her Arms
If you’ve been to Warped Tour, Bamboozle, or any number of shows over the past few years, chances are you’ve heard of an organization called To Write Love on Her Arms. TWLOHA just finished up a run on the Everything’s Fine/Symphony Soldier Tour. I spoke to employee Jason Blades about what…
: An Interview with Alex DeLeon and Alex Marshall of The Cab
Hey WATK followers! My name is Caitlin O’Halloran, and this is my first submission as a Community Partner. I had the chance to catch up with Alex DeLeon and Alex Marshall of The Cab prior to a sold-out date of the Everything’s Fine/Symphony Soldier Tour last week in Foxboro, MA. The…
Eden Interview by Marisa Gumina
MG: Can you introduce yourself and say what you do in the band?
Keith: I’m Keith Robinson and I play bass
Matt: I’m Matt Lidwin I play the guitar and I sing
Kevin: Kevin Organ, I play the synth
MG: How did you guy’s meet? And whose idea was it to start a band?
Matt: Kevin and I have known each other since kindergarten and it’s kind of funny we’ve been hanging out since 5th grade. Then we stopped talking for awhile, then in the 9th grade we had a class together and I gave him a CD because my really crappy band called Story Time needed a bassist. So I found out he played the bass guitar and I gave him some songs and he checked it out.
Kevin: Yeah, I liked every single song you showed me.
Matt: I gave him a song with HIM and the 69 Eyes, and that’s what I’m influenced by.
Keith: And you would always come over to my house to hang out with my sister and I would always just be there.
Kevin: Remember you showed up with gloves and we had Keith play the keyboard while it was freezing out.
Matt: He’s like 12 years old and I was making him play the keyboard in zero degree weather
Keith: You introduced me to music that didn’t completely suck, and then you introduced me to the guitar and you tried to teach me, but I totally sucked I had no faith in myself but then I started pressing keyboards and I learned.
MG: You guys just released and EP, how long did it take to make?
Matt: A year
Keith: lot’s of roadblocks
Matt: Yeah lot’s of roadblocks, Keith never had a job couldn’t afford anything, so it was me and Kevin going at it. I work at Kopps custard and Kevin worked at Toppers Pizza and we were just getting $200 checks and you have to pay $25 an hour when you’re in their 4 hours it’s 100 dollars. It’s so hard and so much time consuming but it got done so that’s good. Keith finally got a job at Kopps and he hates his life now just like I do.
Keith: This EP is a after a bunch of other EP’S
Matt: Yeah we have like 20 other songs recorded that we did with a guy named Beard
Man, he had the biggest beard ever. Then we just went to Shane.
Keith: He really knows what he’s doing.
MG: So what is the writing process like for the band?
Matt: Starts off with usually me with a three string acoustic guitar that’s under my bed, I’m not even kidding, because I’m too lazy to restring it. I usually just get a rough structure of the song
Keith: You just tell me or show me like two things and I’m just the opinion guy
Matt: Yeah he’s the opinion guy he doesn’t like anything I do. Then Kevin comes in and just improvises perfect with me and he does a great job. And Keith plays the bass good. Kevin used to play lead guitar but we needed a keyboarder.
MG: What is the process like when you get in the recording studio?
Kevin: Matt hauls ass pretty much all day long, he records the drums the guitar, bass, then sings. Matt and I kind of both record keyboards.
Matt: Yup and there’s a lot of improvising too, like I’ll make a change. The ending of the song Hellbound I wrote in 10 minutes in the studio. It’s pretty sweet.
Keith: It’s a lot of work too.
Matt: Yeah I just hate sitting in there for nine hours straight.
MG: what does a typical EDEN band practice look like?
Matt: Four guys and one room. I do a lot of yelling and screaming
Kevin: I do a lot of sitting
Keith: I do a lot of opinions
MG: What’s the local music scene like here? Are you friends with other local bands or is it more of a competition.
Matt: Crap, and were only friends with MICAWBER
Keith: Yeah people usually hate us
Matt: Yeah everyone hates us; my name has been around a lot. You gotta know me to know me. But otherwise I don’t care for the local scene at all, I don’t like the music.
Keith: No one gives a shit unless it’s all pop
Matt: It’s all pop that Michael Jackson used to write, it’s already been done
MG: Matt and Kevin you recently took a trip to West Chester, Pennsylvania, how did that trip benefit the band?
Matt: We got our music on Radio Bam (Magera)
Kevin: We got to meet pretty much meet all of Bams family
Matt: Yeah it went really good and I’m being flown out again on the 16th to go hang out with Bam and talk business with the guy.
MG: What made you guys want to stand apart from most Punk/Alternative bands and develop your own sound?
Matt: Just to stay away from everybody else and what they’re doing
Kevin: Plus it kind of just came out of what we’ve been influenced by
Matt: We listen to HIM 69 Eyes and all that good stuff. And everyone else listens to Forever the Sickest Kids and All Time Low.
Keith: It’s all a trend
Matt: Yeah it’s all trendy. I’ve been influenced by Finnish rock for so long and then I showed these guys it and they love it.
Keith: HIM is like an infectious disease, everyone loves it
Kevin: Yeah, certain people
Keith: Yeah well everyone should love HIM, best band ever
MG: So would you be against playing Vans Warped Tour?
Matt: No, were cool with everyone in the bands. If we get to play with the bands that’s awesome and that’s publicity for us it’s not like we’re gonna shit talk them or anything. They do what they do and we do what we do. We each do our own thing and that’s what makes a band a band.
Keith: We played a battle of the bands and we were the only rock band. There were like 10 metal bands and we were the only rock one.
Matt: and they actually all liked us
Keith: Yeah exactly, they didn’t all just walk away and go to the bar they actually stood around and enjoyed it.
MG: How did you come up with the name EDEN?
Kevin: We couldn’t think of anything else
Matt: It sounds kind of stupid but HIM has a song called “In The Nightside of Eden” and I’ve never liked band names that are like “In The Fire I Will Be The Best”.
Kevin: we like short and to the point
Matt: Yeah it’s easy and it’s simple
Keith: and at the time we wanted to change it to something actually cool and badass but it’s too late now, everyone knows it now.
MG: -A struggle for most unsigned bands is financing the band; do you have one specific person who deals with the business and finance side of the band?
Kevin: Matt kind of handles most of the business aspect
Keith: He’s really good at talking to people about important stuff, he gets things done.
Matt: I just tend to do all the emailing and all that fun stuff. And figuring out where were gonna get shirts and where were gonna get the cds pressed.
Keith: I’ve tried a lot, but I don’t wanna make the wrong decisions and like agree to something.
Matt: Yeah like book us a show that’s gonna charge us a $1000 to play
Keith: And I’ll be like yeah dude yeah $1000 that’s a fair price, call Matt up and he’ll be like cancel that shit now.
MG: Some local bands chose to remain unsigned, is that the case for EDEN or are you looking to get signed sometime in the near future?
Matt: Well if theres a record label that’s gonna pay us which they never do. I’d rather just make our own record label and release our own cd. You get a 100% of the profit and not 15 cents an album, if you sell.
Keith: Getting signed was pretty much the goal from day one
Matt: We wanna get signed, but we wanna get signed to BAMS record label but it’s not around anymore. If a company paid us all good the way we should be paid.
MG: Do you have any favorite labels that you wouldn’t mind getting signed to?
Matt: Maybe Sire Records
Keith: This guy that we were talking to was talking about Atlantic Records coming to watch us but it’s all like Snoop Dogg and stuff. I mean it sounded cool.
Matt: I don’t know, probably no labels, unless there good and they know what they’re doing
MG: What’s the biggest goal for your band, what do you want to accomplish in five years?
Matt: Make a living off music
Kevin: Tour
Matt: Yeah definitely want to tour with the band Hello Cleveland
Keith: Have the best time possible
Matt: Just live the way a lot of people don’t live
Kevin: Constantly record, that’s what I wanna do
Matt: Yeah I wanna do that, have our own studio that would be the best thing.
MG: Any last minute announcements:
Kevin: Good things are coming
Keith: Yeah, nothing that no one can see on the book of faces
Kevin: Were still recording so you haven’t heard it all yet
Matt: New tunes that are gonna sound way different
Keith: Don’t get used to pop
Matt: Yeah everyone get out of this pop phase. It’s over with and happened a long time ago. That’s about it.
Check out EDEN on:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/edenwisconsin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/edenwi
Email: EDEN.Music@live.com
: Take The Day Community Partner Interview!
Interview by Milwaukee Based Community Partner, Marisa Gumina.
Who does Take The Day consist of?
Well we’ve got Adam on vocals, Tim on guitar and back-up vocals, Aaron on guitar, I (Rob) play bass, and Jon plays drums.When you first started making music together was it just for fun or…
: DAVE FILICE Interview - 9/23/11
Hey everyone! My name is Amanda Maratta. I’m from a small town in Connecticut that is not too far outside of Hartford. I frequent shows around my area. As one of your new Community Partners for WATK, I would love to talk to you all! You can contact me on my Tumblr! I had the…
: Bandier Program for the Music & Entertainment Industries
Hi guys! I already made an introduction post on here as a Community Partner a little while ago, but my name is Ashley Aron. I’m originally from Connecticut but am currently a freshman at Syracuse University as a part of the Bandier Program. This program is geared towards the non-performer in…
We Are The Kids Community Partners have a unique and significant role in their individual music communities. Community Partners are responsible for covering everything music related about their local communities. This includes reviews of venues + record shops as well as interviews of people working in the local music scene and pictures of the area! This site is an archive of all of the Community Partners and their hard work!
Look below for links to apply to be a WATK CP!
Click here to go to the We Are The Kids Main Site
Look below for links to apply to be a WATK CP!
Click here to go to the We Are The Kids Main Site
