Ken Lewis - News, Thoughts and Advice for Musicians, Artists, and recording industry people
Thursday, May 29, 2008
What's Really Going On
Sometimes it takes a rock band to open up our eyes to a side of things not being shown to us by mainstream media. This is a Youtube Video of Linkin Park "Hands Held High". Please watch.
Anybody who's heard Danity Kane's "Damaged" hopefully understood the blog title. Sing along now. So, yes, Danity Kane is once again Damaging the Top Ten on Billboard. Here's a quick recap of this weeks new Billboard Charts!!
Billboard Hot 100 Singles - #10 Pop 100 Singles - #9 Hot 100 Airplay - #9 Pop 100 Airplay - #5
The album "Welcome to the Dollhouse" (i mixed 5 songs including Damaged) is holding steady at #64 on the Top 200 Albums after 9 weeks and a #1 Debut.
I produce a pop rock band from Ohio named Small Town Sleeper (Signed to my production company as well as Upper11 / Fontana Records). They released their first single "Backseat" from the album "Conversations" recently to national radio, and its building very well right now on Hot AC and CHR. I think they had 350 spins last week and building fast. Hopefully by mid summer they will have enough momentum to cross the single over to Top 100 radio. keep your ears open!!
Sirius Satellite Radio has about a zillion channels, but the most listened to channel is Channel 1 - HITS! Thats the one i'm usually listening to in my car. Hits 1 has a show broadcast 9 times each weekend called "Hit Bound". It showcases new artists with singles that have the potential to become hits. Small Town Sleeper's single "Backseat" will be featured on Hit Bound this weekend. So if you have Sirius Radio, tune in!!
The broadcast times are Saturday 2am, 6am, & 2pm, and Sunday 12am, 4am, 8am, 12pm, 4pm, & 8pm. If you hear it and like it, call the station or drop them an email and let em know!!! and you can hear several song clips from Small Town Sleeper's upcoming debut album at MySpace.com/SmallTownSleeper
You can also buy the single "Backseat" right of their MySpace page!
Hi All, Here's a little video blog showing some really basic editing techniques. So, if you are new to digital editing, maybe this will help you a little bit. I haven't done a tech post in a while, but i'm going to start doing more stuff like this now. Some beginners stuff, some more advanced. I think my voice is a bit low in this. I'll get these better as i do more of them.
So, iStandard is hosting another of their now famous Beat Battles tomorrow (Wednesday) night, 10pm at Don Hill's in NYC. They had a judge cancel at the last minute and asked me to fill in as a judge so i definitely said yes! I love these battles, so many amazing producers up there duking it out with their beats. Some real amazing talent up on that stage each time. I judged a Beat Battle for them in Philly 2 weeks ago and was just blown away by the level of talent that night. I'm really looking forward to this one tomorrow. If you are coming down for it, stop by the Judges table and say hello! And if you are one of the producers in the battle, you had better bring your A+ Game tomorrow night!
I posted in an earlier blog about an artist i recently mixed named Yves Jean. His album for "Love & Desperation" is now being spun on 167 radio stations nationwide. Two weeks ago he was at 137 Stations. Another indie music success story in the making! -Ken Lewis
OK. If you've just read the article on AllHipHop.com, skip this blog. Its not the first of mine you want to read. Its not very hip hop-ish. I'm currently traveling. I just drove 5 hours in a car and just arrived to my destination a few minutes ago. The place I'm staying is beautiful. Let me back up and lay some groundwork for this story. 11 Months ago, I had open heart surgery, a fairly life changing event. Well, it certainly changed my whole life, and i guess, also saved my life. I don't take that lightly. Since my surgery, i have not eaten a single cheeseburger, not a single french fry. OK, actually, i did eat 1 single french fry from someone else's plate one time since surgery, but thats it. UNTIL TONIGHT. About 3 and a half hours into my drive, i stopped for gas and food. I hoped to find a Subway Sub shop, or any place with anything healthier than fast food. My only choices were gas station food or fast food.
So, I said what the hell, I haven't eaten a single cheeseburger or fries in almost a year, there's nothing else good to eat, whats the harm. A quick trip thru Wendy's Drive Thru, and i scored a #2 meal. 1/2 Pound Double Cheeseburger, Fries, and a bottled water. I scarfed that stuff down like there was no tomorrow. Now, have you seen the movie "Super Size Me!"? OK, this is the part of the story where you really need to rent it. It might, hopefully, change your life. In the movie, a documentary, the guy eats ONLY McDonalds food for 30 days straight. Previously, he had eaten very healthy foods. After 30 days he had gained about 30 pounds, he constantly felt terrible, and his health was in complete shambles, to the point that his doctors were begging him not to continue with the documentary. It was that bad. Thats pretty much how i feel tonight. That food made me feel like complete &#^^!@#. It was horrible. I still don't feel right. It feels like the grease from those burgers is clogging all of my arteries as we speak. I hope i remember this awful feeling in 11 more months when i think "why not, just one burger". Nope. I dont eat super healthy, but i eat pretty well. I definitely avoid all greasy and fried foods, and fast food, and tonight i was reminded exactly why. So, I'm only 37, and I'm in pretty good shape and my heart nearly quit on me. Don't think it can't happen to you. Please take care of yourself so we can make records together for many years to come.
Right now i am the #1 featured story on www.AllHipHop.com on todays news (May 13). In case you are reading this at a later date, here's a link to the story. AllHipHop.com did a really nice interview of me, thanks to Dynasty at AllHipHop who i thought asked some great questions, which hopefully i answered with some decent answers. So, if you wanna know a little bit more about me, then click here....
I produced and mixed 7 songs on the 2007 Skidmore Fountain album release "Break". My production partner, Brent Kolatalo, mixed the other 4 songs and everything was recorded here. AirplayDirect.com recently put on a contest called "All Things Digital AAA / Alt Rock" Artist Contest. The contest offered some really sweet prizes. So, Skidmore Fountain entered their album "Break" into the competition and ended up beating out several hundred other bands to win the Grand Prize package worth $17,600!!!
Congratulations Skidmore Fountain!!!
Here's a press release from Skidmore Fountain about it.
This just goes to show once again that its possible for indie artists to do great things without the benefit of a record label. And you can also check out their music at MySpace.com/SkidmoreFountain
On their MySpace page, i produced and mixed the songs "Dance Political", "Break", "Lost n Lonely", "Blur"
This is the beginnings of a real indie success story. Last year i mixed an album for Yves Jean titled "For Love and Desparation". Yves is one of the hardest working indie artists in the game right now, period. Last summer he toured Europe playing festivals in several countries, and he's played all over America (he's based in Pittsburgh, Pa).
Yves recently launched a radio play campaign for his new album and so far 137 stations nationwide are playing his music!!! ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY SEVEN. Just absorb that number for a moment. These are mostly college radio stations, as well as mainstream AAA stations. Yves Jean is currently unsigned, which just goes to show how much you can do on your own as an artist. Step one was making a great album, which i am very happy i was a part of. Congrats Yves!!
Well, last night was a BARN BURNER of a competition! All ten Producer Battlers were really throwing some heat last night, and i thought there were 5 different guys who could've easily been crowned Champion. The way it went down, 3rd place tie went to CardiaK & DJ Shihan, 2nd place went to Mindesign, and 1st place was stolen with the last beat of the night by PersuaZion. It was a photo finish. Club Fluid was bangin last night. that sound system is one of the best club systems i've heard. Congrats to all the producers last night, that was really some amazing display of talent from all of them. And a shout out to DJ ILL SKILL who was the previous Philly winner, who got to showcase several of his latest beats last night at the start of the competition. Crazy crazy stuff from him! Philly really represented last night!
And of course, a big shout out to Don Di Napoli and J Hatch, two of the finest hip hop promoters in the country, as well as my fellow judges, Skickmore, and Michael Trampe of HipHopDX.com
first off the weather is absolutely perfect!!! Not too hot. perfect top down weather so I've been driving the Lotus all day long soaking up the sun and fresh air. At 4pm i was driving around listening to Hot 97 FM and the Top 4 At 4 was just beginning. And what was song 4 you ask? "Got Me Going" by Day 26, which i mixed.
OK, let me just say there arent too many better feelings in the world than driving around with the top down listening to a song you mixed blasting on the radio. It felt great. Later i drove down to Philadelphia, where i am at my hotel right now blogging before i catch some good food. I dont think I've ever made it to Philly so fast :-) I'm judging an iStandard Beat Battle tonight here. These Beat Battles showcase the most amazingly talented producers trying to make a name for themselves, and many who've won these battles have gone on to much success. I hope tonight showcases another great night of talent, I'm sure it will. And my drinks are free, so one way or another, its definitely going to be a great night!
a very cool website / online magazine called www.TheFlowLive.com recently reached out for an interview. Lots of good questions and a couple very funny stories. Here it is.
Danity Kane's new album "Welcome to the Dollhouse" was just certified Gold (500,000 albums sold in the USA). this is my 46th Gold (or Platinum) album of my career. with some luck "Day 26" will be my 47th soon!
If you havent gotten the album yet, its a great pop record start to finish. I mixed 5 songs including the hit single DAMAGED.
Just got back from dinner out and seeing the new "Iron Man" movie (yes sometimes i pretend to have a life). it ROCKED!!! It was amazing. i loved it. I never read comic books growing up, and somehow i think i really missed out.
One of my clients, a rapper from the Wu Tang Clan named Ghostface Killah (for those of you not up on hip hop, i'm not kidding, thats the names :-) is fairly obsessed with Iron Man comics. I wrote and produced a cut on his "Fishscale" album called "Iron Man Takeover". Really, i did. Ghostface refers to himself as Tony Stark alot.
Anyway, the movie rocked. possibly my favorite Marvel comic turned movie yet. go see it.
FINALLY! OK, one of my favorite bands is "Flyleaf" on Octone Records. Their debut album has been out for about 2 years now and is still going strong. That is just incredible, even though i wish to God they would put out a new album, but I'm very happy for them that their music is still finding new audiences and new life after so long. The record went gold over a year ago, so its not like its just now catching.
Anyway, I was a big fan pretty early on, and my favorite song on the album has always been a song called "Sorrow". they FINALLY did a video for it, which hopefully means its going to be a single. I love this song, here's a link to the video. If you havent checked out Flyleaf yet, you should. They are amazing. I got to hang with them for an hour on their tour bus during the Family Values Tour and they were all the nicest folk.
I recently did a radio show at 91.9FM JAMZ in NYC. It was a Producers Round Table with DJ DWI, Don DiNapoli from iStandard / Prototype Ent, and three amazing up and coming producers, El Boogs da composer, Pyro, and Keyiv. All three are monthly winners of the iStandard Beat Battles in NYC, which, i should know from being a judge, are some very fierce beat battles. Canei Finch won the April competition, Canei is NASTY!
Anyway, if you are a young producer on the come up, this round table discussion might interest you. It takes a couple minutes to really start, but it flows well once it gets going. Its a live video stream from that day and runs about a half hour.
So, the neighborhood i grew up in, West Chester, Ohio, was very far from anything that could be called "the hood". In fact, i led a very normal suburban middle class upbringing. My real education in urban music began in New York City in 1993. And what an education I got. A short list of producers, engineers, and artists who were my teachers, mentors, colleagues, etc... Double X Posse, T Ray, Troy Hightower, DJ Muggs, Malik Pendleton, MTUME, Just Blaze, Kanye West, Puffy, Mary J Blige, this could become a very long list.
Anyway, all of this to preface the fact that an online publication called Hoodgrownonline.com just interviewed me. They interviewed me even though I'm not hoodgrown, but i've still managed to make an impact on urban music, and hopefully a few other genre's as well. If you'd like to read the interview, here it is.....
