Good shows good music good sound OH MY!

hello hello everyone!

I just want to say thank you to all our friends and fans for coming to our TT's show!  It was a great success everyone was dancing drinking sinning and singing. :)  Although on the manners side, their booking person gave us a very hard time about the show then didn't show up...and the sound was terrible.  Too bad they don't know about Haven Music's skilled sound guys MAYBE TT's SHOULD GIVE THEM A CALL ahem ahem.  Esp.  since my one man band bassist  Michael Dylan usually ends up pulling the sound together at most of the shows we play.  (Thank you Mike)

BUT you guys, the audience made it a really fun show.  Everyone should dance more, everyone should dance more.

Club passim was an equal success, very different audience.  Everyone was older, therefor able to shake off their fear of looking foolish and have a really good time.  

Very responsive, I managed to get not one but TWO sing-a-longs going. Seriously!  Some how we went from singing "Love"(which is the title track off my new EP*cough* plug*cough*plug) to singing "gotta save my life tonight".  Anyone who has seen Hamlet2 will get a huge kick out of that, if you haven't google it and while you're at it google: rock me sexy jesus.

If anyone hasn't been to club passim...you should!  I had my judgements about it, mostly cause I was bitter about never getting a gig there....BUT once I was there and met the wonderful people who volunteer their time(thats right most of them don't get paid) I changed my mind full swing.  Everyone was so warm and friendly and dare I say...organized(gasp), I instantly wanted to be a part of this place.

Also the sound at this place was best I've ever experienced in the area.

All in all if you like vegetarian food and good acoustic music check it out in Harvard Square.

Anyways thats enough from me...I'm not even really sure anyone reads these ha ha. 

 I feel that blogs are like sex, everyone does it but no one will admit it.

X

A

GET UP AND DANCE! IT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET IN MY PANTS!

Hey people...I want to preface this with a note that this blog is being written with positive intentions. It is not a negative rant with no real purpose. With that in mind I'd like to say... what's the deal with very few people in this city being ok with dancing in public? Boston's music venue scene is relatively unsavory as it is so why would people want to exacerbate the situation by standing around awkwardly while bands play their music?

Here's my pitch...The way I look at it everyone would benefit greatly by just letting go of some inhibitions and shaking their groove things. Here are my reasons why...

1. If more people let their hair down and moved their feet to the music then you wouldn't have to worry about being embarrased for doing those moves you usually only do in the shower or after a roll in the hay with your favorite bed buddy. BECAUSE most of the people in the room are already dancing like fools! AND IT'S OK!

2. A lot of people go out to shows to meet people of the opposite sex and riddle me this?...is it easier to meet guys/girls if your standing by the bathroom sipping your margarita and making conversation with the sound guy or if your dancing hot and sweaty in the middle of a sexually charged group of college kids? You see my point.

3. Dancing is a great way to burn off the calories that your chugging down. It will also create the illusion of sobriety for a period of time...or at least keep you from getting as drunk as you may have gotten because dancing and drinking is tough to do simultaneously. In any case if you do actually get to go home with someone you'll have a better shot of getting lucky because you won't be vomiting all over their brand new comforter.

4. If you didn't go to the show just to get drunk or laid then you may have come for the musical performance. You probably want to see a really great show...guess what!? Bands play off of the audience more than most people realize. If you dance to their music they will rock even harder AND you will have had more fun experiencing their music.

5. Most importantly dancing is a freeing, spiritual, sexual, fun, positive, and uplifting experience not just for the dancer but for everyone in the room.

So don't be worried about being the only person out on the dance floor...make the concious decision to JUST NOT CARE. Be your own person and move to the music however YOU want to! If it's coming from your heart it will become contagious and others will join in and suddenly, before you realize it, Boston's music scene just got a whole lot cooler. Don't you want to be a part of that?

Album Review: Renaissance Digital 01 - Paolo Mojo, as well as some thoughts on the music industry

While scrolling through Itunes, I took notice of an album which I had never noticed before. Renaissance Digital 01 by Paolo Mojo is under the famous Renaissance record label, so I figured Id give it a listen. Paolo Mojo is a world-renown DJ and producer who I am a big fan of. After listening to a few of the track samples, I knew I must have it and luckily for me, I had an Itunes gift card. After careful listening to the album, I noticed that while it is a very good, minimal progressive house album, there were only a few tracks that stood out to me, namely Switch the Lights (Motorcitysoul Remix) by Fuckaponydelic and I’ll Lick Your Spine (Repeat Repeat Remix) by Let’s Go Outside. These two tracks mark the end of the chill “I’m dancing inside my head” to “this track is making me want to lose my shit”. All the tracks aside, it is the concept of this album that caught my attention. After doing some research, I realized that not only could I not purchase this album from Amazon, I could not purchase this CD on the Internet period. It turns out that Renaissance and Apple teamed up and had this album created with the intention of having it only available through Itunes and a few other select sources. It makes all the more sense that this album is titled Digital 01 because that is exactly what this was, a digital album. If you are a fan of his, or if you are a fan of minimal progressive house or good dance music in general, you should definitely check this album out. Check Paolo out at his MySpace Page

I got to thinking. What is to stop other artists from doing what Renaissance and Paolo Mojo did and start releasing more musical content that is only available digitally through Napster, Rhapsody, or Itunes. While I believe that as long as there are record labels, there will always be CDs and LPs, but I do believe that the popularity of the two, mainly CDs, is starting to slowly decay. As more and more younger generations are growing up and becoming introduced to the Internet, it will be harder and harder for these labels to push CDs on these kids when they have millions of albums at their disposal online.

The concept of selling an album exclusively through the Internet is not a new concept by any stretch of the imagination. Most famously, Radiohead released their most recent album, In Rainbows, on their website weeks before it was to be released in stores. The beauty of it was that it took the record label out of the equation and enabled buyers to name their own price. Whether you wanted to pay $100 or $.01, it did not matter to the band. The goal of this idea was not to see how much money they could make but rather to enable their fans to get closer than ever to them as artists and to experience what it was that they were trying to share. I feel like that is being lost these days with a lot of musical acts. They become too enveloped in the idea of “let’s make tons and tons of money” and not “let’s give our fans a say and give them something that we think that they would like”. I blame a lot of that on the modern music industry, whose motto is “what have you done for me lately”. To them, they couldn’t care less if the band is making good music; all that is important to them is what will make them the most money. I won’t say that money isn’t important because it is. Being a musician is still a job, and in the state that our economy is in, making money has become even more important. What I think is being lost in all this is a lack of any major record label tat gives the artists an opportunity to express themselves and make music that speaks to them. There needs to be a record label that says, “eh, while I may not be making as much money as Warner Bros. or Colombia, I am much more happy making music that my artists and myself can enjoy”. You could say that there needs to be a haven for all these artists to come together and change the traditional ways of music…

Art Lives!

Hello Havenites,

Last night, on the eve of the brightest full moon of the year, I was privileged enough to attend a magical gathering in the heart of Allston Village. I went out expecting the typical college party, complete with drunken rowdy kids and shameless macking. Instead, what I found was something very special indeed.

The evening was hosted by a kind and creative entourage of women who seem to care deeply about the artistic community. They had taken the time to meticulously adorn their spacious apartment with handcrafted decorations. Each area had a different theme and look. The highlight for me was the living room. Hung from the cieling by fishing line were actual branches from trees covered with hand-cut paper leaves. There were also paper birds perched and long vines draping downwards. The overall effect was like being in a surreal jungle canopy. The floor was festooned with oragami mushrooms, one of which even had a paper frog on top keeping watch over the scene. Certainly not your typical party fare.

Instead of socializing about the typical bullshit, conversations seemed focused on the abstact and beautiful parts of life - Art, music, philosophy and the like. Two party goers travelled from room to room with pet snakes in hand. Another girl who had arrived quite late chose to decorate the faces with paint. One guest even brought their dog.

The evening ended with some fantastic fire-spinning on the roof. Despite the cold temperature, we were able to enjoy some elegant and graceful performances from the party hosts and their friends. The heat from the flames was even enough to warm our cold faces.

All around I was very pleasantly surprised to be able to enjoy the company of other like-minded people. It seems that more and more of us are beginning to unite and focus our creativity. Each gathering and each clever idea only builds our community and strengthens our bonds. I truly hope to see more nights like these, and soon!

~Rob

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

Hello Haven Universe,

Somehow new year is always a time for new beginnings. Of course there's the arbitrary passage of time, but I think there's something more. At least for me , the passing the solstice (Dec. 21st) always re-triggers my whole system. The days are getting longer now. My energy is on the up. Spring is only 3-4 months away. All of these feelings are typical for me. But somehow this year there feels something much more...

Maybe it's the new President. Maybe it's the global economic meltdown. Or maybe it's just me. I can't really say for sure. What I can say is that I feel something. A wave of sorts. Without getting too hippy-dippy or metaphysical (and I love that stuff as well), I just have to say that this is the most promising feeling I've had in a long time. It's as if we are waking up from a long dreary nap.

Our President-elect has questioned the status-quo for leadership. Instead of telling us "I'm the Man for the job." he told us "Yes we can!" For the first time in my life we have a leader who realizes that change can only be affected through individual responsibility combined with the power of the community.

The economic crisis is causing millions of people to rethink their material values. We've come to realize that we don't need things to make us happy. We just need each other.

For me personally this has been a year of tremendous change. As I finished my life as a student I have been thrust head first into the "real world." What conventionaly wisdom has told me is that this is the time to settle - the time for me to give up on my dreams and fall in line with the rest. The funny thing though is that I didn't. Instead I tried to think of something bigger. The question was, how could I apply myself and my efforts in a way which not only serves others but also brings me the means to survive? By reaching a little higher I have somehow found my true calling. That calling is Haven.

With each passing day I feel the universe conspiring with me to make this vision happen. By ignoring the conventional wisdom I have found that anything you can concieve, you truly can achieve. My truest hope is that that you too will try to think a little bigger as well into the coming years. This is the only way that we have a chance in hell of overcoming all of the problems which we have created in this world.

But you may be asking yourself- this is a music blog, right? Well yes, it is.

But it is so easy to forget that everything is music. Just as sound waves vibrates the air, your body and actions vibrate the universe. Through our collective actions we compose the symphony of life. Each person is an instument and each community a section. Each moment is one more note on the page. Together we form an orchestra and we can play beautiful sonatas together. Year by year, month by month, day by day, breath by breath we dance with life to the pulse of the songs we create. The only question is: what do you want your life to sound like?

All of these points I have just made are intrinsically linked to the ethos of this company that we have just founded. Make no mistake, Haven is a business in the truest sense of the word. We value our professional conduct as well as our profitability. But just as Obama has shown us that government exists to serve the people we hope to show you that business exists to serve it's community. For us the vehicle is music, and we would love for you to come along for the ride.

~Rob