by Maekkelae
Glamour? Stardom? Fame? Money? Is this it? That what you’re in for? Then you’re missing out on the real thing. On the hardship to inspire you. On the failure that’ll make you stronger. On the losses that’ll teach you there is more to it than things. On all of what’ll make you put your soul into your songs. Believe me, they will understand. They will know by the way you sing them. And they’ll laugh and cry and weep and smile. Once you’ve seen this, you’re on the right track.
by Satyr
Satyr Syndicate Records is my project to re-record and master much of the music I have written. On the website, I play the part of Hermes, the messenger god. Hermes gives updates on how the excavations are going. Sometimes, there is drama with the bands. For example, there was a socialist funk band, called Smashpattern, who only put out a single EP, and then tragically disappeared into the jungles fighting for liberation. Satyr Syndicate is the group of satyrs who write, record and perform the songs. They represent various moods or genres. There is also the imagery of excavation and of Hades. Since I am re-recording, I am excavating stuff that was done long ago, like an archeological dig. Hades represents the other-world or sub-conscious, from which the music comes. Gravedigging in reverse.
by Sid Ready
I started my music journey at fourteen in mid-2014 playing small coffee venues with my ukulele and guitar. In early 2017, I began to grow tired of my acoustic guitar and ukulele. I then moved on, and I started writing “I Can Actually Speak.” The album portrays a lot of things bunched into one that happened between mid-2016 and up until the end of 2017. I endured failed relationships and projects, moving out really young, and realizing how awful human beings can be. This is where the harsh beginning of “I Can Actually Speak” starts.
by Steven Roden
sometime in 1979, i went to the whiskey a go go with some friends to see randy hansen, the jimi hendrix impersonator. while i liked music as a kid, but hendrix was the first music i really dug. i can’t remember how many of us were there, maybe 3 or 4 kids, age around 14.
the show was amazing. randy came out in a coffin with purple dry ice, and he did a good job of impersonating hendrix hits. while i’d been to a number of big venue concerts, this was the first club gig i’d ever been to.
a few weeks later, we went back to the whiskey to see another show…
by ION
(In the Tempo of the Dog, please…)
“Can’t smoke, can’t drink, can’t dance, can’t sing,
can’t punk, can’t folk, can’t fight, can’t fall anymore…”
– “Taon II”
All that is not entirely true.
I can still sing.
And punk.
And fall…
like you wouldn’t believe.
My story. It started with hosting/producing a public cable access TV show out of a mid-western Canadian city that focused on the local music scene in 1989. I was a teenager who wanted to know more than just what mainstream Top 40 could offer me. Though I had an extreme interest in music, I knew nothing about playing it myself other than some power chords I could figure out, by luck and patience, listening to some Heavy Metal and Punk songs. The first song I partially was able to play was “Shout At the Devil” by Motley Crue. Then some Blues chords would follow, and an individual mix began to take place. Wonders what could be next?
by K.P. Ransom
Ohmwrecker was formed out of complete chaos and desperation.
After recording 20+ albums by myself as Six Car Collision for 18 years, I moved from Boston to Vancouver Island, British Columbia, and was unable to write and play music for about 4 years. I was just blocked… completely stuck and unable to write or say what it is I needed to say. For the first time since I’d started writing and performing, I was completely helpless.
With the passing of legendary soul singer Aretha Franklin and the 60th birthday of Madonna occurring within days of each other this week I started to think about the enduring legacy of certain women in the music biz and how they got to where they are today. I also started to think about the mentors that have helped me on my journey. Here are seven female performers who have influenced my work and the stage of life I was in when they found me and first sang their song to me.