The Futile Project, with a Wink

by Hendrik Heuser

Hendrik Heuser of The Futile Project


When I read the advertisement for the contest, I had to chuckle. The Nassau cultural prize for contemporary composition 2003 sounded great to me. Yet I hardly believed in myself enough to think the effort to apply would be more than futile. So that’s what I called my non-existent band project: The Futile Project.

I had left all my former bands when I returned from six months abroad in Glasgow. There, for the first time, I had an opportunity to present my music to an audience of musicians I hardly knew. Therefore, the feedback I got was honest and not tainted by friendship or sympathy. I performed almost every Monday at Gerry Lyon’s open stage night in the Nice’n’Sleazy, a club on Sauchiehall Street.

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Some things stop, some things don’t

by jakson

jakson


I am jakson.

jakson is a musical project by me, jakson.

It first began in 2019 with the release of ‘guilt.’ There have been three releases since.

The latest release, ‘too artsy for the footy kids, too footy for the art ones,’ was released in February 2023.

It was written and recorded in my bedroom as I moved across Melbourne, Bendigo, and Canberra over the last three years. Its title comes from a line in its second song, ‘michael cera, serotonin.’ It references how I fit in socially, growing up in a country town with an interest in sports and art.

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Modern Fairy Tales on the Piano

by Million Pebble Beach

Million Pebble Beach


Mrs. Penny was one of those teachers you remember – she encouraged me, enjoyed my stories, and often read them to the class. She told me to study sciences for a better-paid job, and off down that road I skipped studying engineering. But as Iggy Pop once quipped, if you’re creative, there’s something inside you, and it needs to get out…

Million Pebble Beach is my chosen “Nom de Guerre” – a nod to a local artist and the area (Pete Codling’s One Million Pebbles project in Portsmouth).

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30 Years of Originals

by Pedro Alsama


My mother used to say that when I was 2 or 3 years old, I was a little pest, but when music was on the television, it was silent; it was peaceful at home. I was absorbed in what I was wanting to do forever. Music.

I started my sound adventure learning sounds; I created them around me with a k7s recorder. I walked around the house reporting where I went, something like: “And now this is the sound of water, and let’s all listen…” turned on the bathroom faucet “listen, it’s the water singing…”

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Artificial Empathy

by Remi of Aurora Falls

Aurora Falls


We are Aurora Falls, a post-rock band from Poland. We are a mixture of musical souls 🙂

We gathered at the beginning of 2021 to play some music, and we stayed longer. From the very beginning, we loved to seek space in our musical improvisation, somewhere between shoegaze, post-rock, blackgaze, or dreampop.

After a year of playing together, this concept finally took the shape that we call Aurora Falls. At the end of 2022, we decided to record some of our songs to share it with the world. That’s how it started.

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Without Any Constraints

by Nethracedicon

Nethracedicon


Greetings! I want to let you know that I have an Avant-garde/Alternative Rock music project called NETHRACEDICON.

I’m sure you’re probably thinking, “Nethra-what!?” And, you’re correct. This is not a word. It’s a fictional title I have given myself, as an independent recording artist. “Nethra” is actually a male first name that can be found in India. Also, at the tail end, you can find “Icon,” which someone I used to work with pointed out to me.

When I was 20, and still in college at Texas A&M University, I hooked up with some musicians who were needing a drummer for their Reggae group, Raggamuffin. During the Fall of 2005, I became their active drummer and managed to capture multiple rehearsal sessions with a portable device. This was my introduction into “do-it-yourself,” home audio recording and I’ve been doing this ever since.

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Life Is Just A Mashup

by Alex Black

Alex Black


For those who don’t know my name is Alex Black, but I go by many names. I’m Alex Black. I’m Flash The Stampede. I’m Johnny Louisville. Hence the The Man With Three Faces moniker. When I practice martial arts I’m Three Chāoláng (超狼) LOL. My main creative persona is Alex Black, however. I’m an artist in every sense of the word. A dreamer, hard worker, flamboyant, charismatic, experimental. I’m gorgeous, and one of the most dopest people walking this planet. I’m one of one, I do what I want, when I want & how I want which confuses people.

I’ve said this somewhere else but people see a 6’5 dude from Brooklyn, muscular, with an androgynous pretty boy style, constantly rocking something flamboyant. They’ll see this dude pull up in a streetwear brand from London, or maybe he’s rocking some vintage designer clothes from the 80s and 90s, mixing it with crazy footwear and eyeliner. An eccentric human being, but his talent and charisma is undeniable. That’s who Alex Black is.

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Radical Presence

by Alexander Jones aka THATS NOKAY

Photo Credit: Jake Hanson 


A few years ago I found myself banging away on a $12 Casio from goodwill in a basement in Edmonds making some weird experimental pop songs.  Soon a pandemic was upon us and I decided to buckle down and learn how to make beats and use Logic to record.  Some friends gave some pointers and drum kits to download, and soon I was off and running, making beat tapes and collaborating with vocalists over the instrumentals.

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Lock In That Rhythm!

by Torsten Jensen of Hexcut

Hexcut


Hi, my name is Torsten, I play piano and synth in an instrumental band from Bristol, UK called Hexcut. Also in the band are Chris Dreher (electronics), Dominic Fludger (bass guitar) and Rick Entwistle (drums). Our sound is somewhere between rock, modern jazz and electronic dance music and is hard to put into any one genre! It comes from the collective influences of all of us, and we write music together so it comes out as a blend of all our tastes: I am particularly into jazz acts like Gogo Penguin and Mammal Hands as well as alternative electronic acts such as Bonobo and Jon Hopkins, Chris is into hip hop and trip hop such as Blockhead and Portishead, Dom is into progressive rock and metal and Rick is into heavy rock and metal as well as house and drum’n’bass.

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