And yet, another high quality song and video coming out of my beautiful hometown of Austin. This one is by Cha’keeta B., with an assist from Jake Lloyd. The song and video for Forever Love share what it can be like to be on the same wavelength with another soul. The good times are better, the creative energy can be shared, and the presentations to the world can be much stronger. This one came heavily recommended by many of my musical peers in Austin, and this was a pleasant surprise, and further proof that our scene can hold one another down when it matters.
Retr0gRaDe is one of the handful of Austin hip hop groups that seems to have their eyes set on exponential growth for 2017. The self-titled debut album is cruising along nicely, and now the duo has dropped a second single and video. Body Heat is a nice dose of love rap, rounded out with a little advice about the key points to keeping your lady happy. The video is crazy dope… simple, but powerful, and amazingly well shot, lit and composed. Quality work from some quality fellas.
It took many many years. It took the rounding up of footage from multiple cameras. It took finally getting an editing setup that could handle the magnitude of footage it would be forced to render, edit and so on. And, after all of those hurdles, it took a full 24 hours to get it on YouTube, but it’s finally here and ready for the world : the final .::liquidstereoproject show. This is comprised of footage collected from Atom Todd, Dave Brewer and myself. Rather than choose the best moments, I decided to share it all. The audio (and some of the video) is a little choppy, seeing as this was well before HD, but the feeling shines through. I know I always say enjoy, but really and truly, I hope you do enjoy this… we left it all on the stage that night.
My main man SniperShot dropped an extremely wonderful video about love and being yourself, and just in time for Valentine’s Day to boot. 8-Bit not only tells, it shows, and both expressions will stay with you for a long time, guaranteed. This is 100% DO NOT SLEEP ON material.
Like many of the other creatives in Austin, Anastasia is using 2017 as a clear signal that she is evolving into an even more diverse artist than the one we’ve come to know. Born To Love You, with its impeccable timing just days before Valentine’s day, is set to be a nice soundtrack for the day we love love. The song features gues bars from Lil Milez, and the video is a perfect telling of the story of passion and anticipation. Beautiful work from beautiful people.
After a relatively strong 2016, San Marcos-based filmmaker Jeffrey Garcia has been in rapid attack mode via a series of short projects released in the last couple of months. The latest is sunflower, starring Bri Lee of Lambchop fame, and Jeffrey Garcia also makes a brief appearance in this one. The future seems to hold nothing but entertainment for us that are staying in the know about Jeffy’s Playhouse.
Many years ago, around my senior year of high school, I knew two things for a fact… I would be a live musician in some capacity, and I would be involved in film in some capacity. I had no idea to what extent yet, but all of my energies were focused on those two things.
As I moved into college, I decided that music was the realm where I could compromise my vision and still achieve to a level that will allow to, at some point in my life, be financially stable and creatively strong enough to transition into film. The next nearly two decades of my life found music taking me all over the world, and introducing me to many creative people. The landscape of creativity also changed, and film eventually became as easy to do independently as music.
So, as we enter 2017, I find myself at a signpost in my creative journey. The transition towards the film era is in full flight. Repossession is my first official short film release (there are some college films that will never see the light of day if I can help it, lol).
Many thanks to SymmaTree and Sara Nadeau for their acting contributions. Thank you to Jeffrey Garcia for providing his lights and lighting expertise. Thank you to Carley and Ginger Root of All Evil out at Wildflower Country Inn and Event Center for allowing us a space that elevated the project. Thank you to Butcher Bear and the whole (iN)Sect Records label for making music dope enough for a movie. And thank you to all of you out there who have already seen this, and those who will hopefully discover it in the future.
The last few years have been full of growth and achievements for The Deer. Their latest video release, a compilation of live performances from all over tied together by the song And Like Through The Eye Go I, shows how rewarding and beautiful it can be to share your gift with any and everyone willing to listen. This video brought me joy, and hopefully it does the same for you.
Coming soon… a new short film from Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice. Starring Troy Baham Jr. (SymmaTree of Grid Squid and Stereofiend) and Sara Nadeau, Repossession is the examination of a soul reaper in a technological world, forced to play the role of repo man to complete his work. Please like the trailer, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and keep an eye out for the full release this week.
Anytime babelfishh releases something, I’m interested. This time around, he’s connected with james p. honey for a collaborative project known as SHOTGUN HOWLING. First impressions, this falls somewhere between Themselves and Panda Bear, with a wonderful sparse and organic approach to the production, like Tom Waits on an MPC. The first video, vicious proposals, is super dope, so check it all out, share it all, and support if you can!
Chief and TheDoomsdayDevice 