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Alternative

Alternative music (also called alternative rock, alt-rock or merely alternative) is a style of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s. In this instance, the word refers to the genre’s distinction from mainstream rock music. But the term’s original meaning was broader, referring to a generation of musicians unified by their collective debt to either the musical style or simply the independent, DIY ethos of punk rock, which in the late 1970s laid the groundwork for it. The term is a broad umbrella term consisting of music that differs significantly regarding its sound, social context, and regional roots. By the end of the 1980s, magazines, and zines, college radio airplay, and word of mouth had increased the prominence and highlighted the diversity of it, helping to define some distinct styles (and music scenes) such as noise pop, indie rock, grunge, and shoegaze.
– Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia

Riff Rafting

by Ed Rawlings


I love guitar riffs. Great riffs encapsulate the chords, melody, and feel of a song. They are a force that propels the songs forward. A good song also tells a relatable story, but a great guitar rock and roll riff can draw people quickly into that story.

Sometimes, riffs are memorable guitar melodies, like The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” or  Bruce Springsteen’s “Born to Run.” I particularly like riffs that are part chord, part melody, and are often as memorable as the lyrics, or maybe more so – like Chuck Berry’s opening riff for Johnny B. Goode – one of the classics of rock and the inspiration for many riffs to come.

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Summer Band Camp Series

by The Uncivil Society

Suburban Utopia Projects


Project Manifesto:

Let’s face it, as we get older it is hard, hard to balance the demands of work, life and family.  Where we suffer is that we loose the connection to the formative communities that helped shape us by finding our place, our voice and people.

When I moved to Wisconsin in 2001 from the bay area, I struggled to connect with the community, and found solace in recording solo projects.  When I moved to Washington in 2005 I encountered the same constraints and in the 20 plus years since I have continued to write, record and produce by myself.

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Painting the Soundscape

by Charlie Wright

Charlie Wright - Painting the Soundscape


There is often an expectation that great work comes only from deep intention. That it is birthed from the mind of the artist, fully formed. Picture the romantic image of Mozart, writing out his scores fully formed with no eraser marks. I find this to be a harmful narrative that can hinder creatives.

Just think of how many great improvisers we can look to and see their apparent musical genius. For example, just about every great jazz musician. The point that I am getting to, albeit in a roundabout way, is that it is okay not to know the end result when you start something creative. And it’s even better if you can begin to without expectation.

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Love Is Punk

by John Kennedy of The Dark City Kings

The Dark City Kings - Love Is Punk


Out of the blue? That doesn’t even describe the moment. Dark City Kings was the runt of the litter in the Asheville music scene. We’d lost two guitar players in the Spring and had just brought in a new guitar player and fiddle player. The core of Dark City Kings has been around the Asheville music scene for a decade – but this band was the runt of the litter and then tossed into a raging river to drown.

Dark City Kings? We were a drunken brewery band that was slowly writing original material. We wrote simple songs. We meant them. We wrote melodies you can sing in the shower and big sing-along choruses. We’d just decided to try again, write an entirely new songbook with this new band formation, practice twice a week, and play a show once a week.

We played our first show together on August 5th.

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34 years of DIY … and just getting started

by Tuffy Brazil of STROMBLE FIX

STROMBLE FIX


It all started in 1990 when five teenagers formed a new punk band. In fact, STROMBLE FIX was a merger of two bands that rehearsed door-to-door in the local youth center in the Ruhr area of Germany.

We played many shows in the early 90s and recorded our songs on 8-track or 16-track tape machines in a friend’s studio whenever we could afford to spend a weekend. The music was published on compact cassettes, and there was a culture of sharing tapes with other bands or even taping tapes to get the music heard. Mail orders these days worked so that you requested a printed catalog first and then ordered your vinyl or cassettes by writing a letter.

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‘10 Years of Travel’ – The Long Journey Home

by Andy Coombs of Soft Cotton County

Soft Cotton County


Music was once ‘the most important, unimportant thing we had,’ said music critic and presenter Robert Elms. This sums up my relationship with writing in general and music in particular. I want to keep it unique and avoid the fillers and the B-sides. One great song would make me happy. In an ocean of mediocrity, sea levels are rising, but starfish are still found in the depths.

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A Sort of Musical Debris in the Form of Eight Tracks

by Hugo Espírito Santo

Hugo Espírito Santo


It all started for me in the mid-2000s as a pre-adolescent who had fallen in love with hip-hop culture in all its forms. After a few attempts at beatmaking throughout my teens, life eventually led me to cinema, visual arts, and abstract painting.

But the enthusiasm for (making) music never left—hence the debris EP. This project is the result of six months of experimenting with synths and plugins. It is a sort of musical debris in the form of eight tracks inspired by minimalism, time perception, and the soundscapes of daily life.

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Swimming Against The Current

by Old Magic Pallas

Old Magic Pallas


We are a Brazilian band that emerged in the 90s, more precisely in 1994: Old Magic Pallas. Oh gosh, 30 years! Time flies… We met in a CD store that belonged to our drummer, where we always met to listen to the releases of the bands we liked, mainly British alternative rock. In fact, our band’s name comes from the liner notes of Blur’s Parklife album (it was the name of one of those racing dogs).

At that time, few bands played this style of music in the country, and even fewer sang in English.

This was even the motto for a documentary called “Guitar Days – An Unlikely Story of Brazilian Music,” which details the independent scene of that time and where we are mentioned.

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The Ten Counter Arguments

by The Uncivil Society

The Uncivil Society


When interpreting philosophers’ works and transforming their ideas into lyrical poetry, I understand all too well how their ideas can become didactic. Compounded by my tone-deaf vocal delivery, I have found that in every project, when I get to track 8, I am sure the listener needs a break. Ludwig Wittgenstein said it himself that “when one cannot speak, one should be silent.” Having an instrumental track is the best way to respond!

Because music is the management of vibrations that we can audibly perceive, this spectrum itself has a range of limitations. In creating instrumentals, I research a connected idea and use it as a sonic template. I found that even using the same chord structures of these songs, my limitations and aesthetics yield a truly different result!

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If I Were To Have A Daemon, It Would Be A Squirrel

by Liv Luce

Liv Luce


Writing music has been a constant in my life. I was the kind of kid who sang constantly to myself, my friends, my parents, stuffed animals, anyone, anything. For a while, I had a pen pal with whom I’d exchange song lyrics. I’m pretty sure there was one about a baby swallow I tried and failed to nurse back to health in my parents’ attic.

I began taking piano lessons around the age of nine. Being an introvert, I spent many a school break in the music rooms playing and composing songs. Then, aged 12, I plucked up the courage to approach other musicians about forming a band. It was then that Suzie (guitarist in my first band, Caliber) introduced me to Radiohead and Nirvana. I learned bass and have been in bands ever since.

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