The Goodness: Reflections by Nstljk! "Esthero Radio"

            I was initially going to write my blog post on acid jazz. I was going to assert that acid jazz is a product of the United Kingdom over a period of 20 years from the 1980's to the late 1990's as a result of looped jazz, funk and hip-hop elements. I was going to inform you that jazz music (or jazz elements) could be fused with electronic dance or drum-and-bass to bring acid jazz to life. I was also going to credit artists like jazz-funk composer Roy Ayers, Indian-born singer-songwriter, Asha Puthli and jazz trumpeter Donald Byrd with being the forefathers (and foremothers) of acid jazz. Instead, I chose to take you on a trip (pun most definitely intended) to open Pandora's box and share with you the endless array of hidden jewels from a genre of music so obscure that it never sees the light of day unless you summon it and its young scions.

            

            Everyday is a masterpiece or a lifelong scourge - depending on whom you ask. To me, life is but a Magnum Opus trying to tell me many different things in many different ways. Whether my day was filled with work, or hip-hop, or my band, or school, or my friends, I come here to escape it all. I still don't know what to properly call this place. As a matter of fact, I don't think the curators know what to call it themselves because unlike many others they do what comes natural to them; they do it without needing to be labeled.
            Shouldn't we call it trip-hop? I mean, you can place any kind of vocalization and instrumentation over a phat hip-hop beat with a healthy bass line; everybody likes a nice phat hip-hop beat and a healthy bass line! Why isn't it called neo-soul? It should be since it's got the funkiest, most passionate guys and gals with the wickedest chops all in one place. I only call it acid jazz because where else can you find the most complex genre of music made up of the most corrosive qualities in musical nature? I do not know what or how you would call it; I stopped trying to figure that out long ago. I just know the sound of it; how sweet the sound when I hear it.
            It doesn't have a name; it doesn't have a face. It's small in stature, built at the edge of the music world. All I know is that it's a little ol' lounge called Esthero Radio over on Pandora named after a beautiful Canadian vocalist that I was too scared to ask to the prom many moons ago. Since you're here, why don't you stay a while and I'll show you around? You can sample the flavors of the day and go from room to room until you find something you like. Oh, and one more thing. There's no clapping at the end; a simple thumbs up or thumbs down shall suffice. Don't fight the feeling; your heart wants what the ears will set their eyes on.
            What is this I hear? This must be Amy Winehouse singing "Stronger Than Me". My musical menagerie is far and wide and there's no doubt that its eclecticism is taboo. Say what you will about Amy but one thing is for sure. Amy is as solid as any artist that ever did it, God bless her little heart. I know she's got a place for me up there, I sure hope so because that girl's got soul! Let's move along.

            Look who it is! John Mayer, I didn't expect to find you here today! "I Don't Trust Myself (With Loving You)" is funky, it's warm, it's rhythmic and it's got all the jazz you need in one place. John, your songs are biopics for the masses that reach people on a worldwide scale but it's so refreshing seeing you crossover to little old us. Stop by anytime!
            Ah, yes! It's Lily Allen! Come quick, let me introduce you to somebody I know. Lily comes all the way from London, that girl does. In fact, she's the daughter of British actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Right now, she's singing "Friend of Mine." That Lily is a firecracker, let me tell you. Songs like "The Fear", "Not Fair" and "F You" each represent something different about her life; subject matter edgy and unforgiving to say the least. This is why I like Esthero Radio so much. You hear all this great music from people who love what they do and do what they feel spur of the moment with little to no regard of what they think people will say about their work.
            And there she is. The main stage; it's Esthero herself. "Strong as an earthquake, bright as a shining star. I remember the fragrance; I just couldn't believe I'd come so far for." When nobody's looking, she takes me down her Fastlane. "Would you let me lick you with alliteration and tie you up with similes? Give you pain and pleasure with soliloquies until you beg me for release. I think we could have the ebonic plague solution. Lace me with your lexiconic seed and in nine months we could start to raise the revolution." Well, I'm not one to kiss and tell so you'll just have to see for yourself how this one ends, friend. Go on. Get out there and create an escape for yourself. The world will be a much better place for it. You'll see.

Big Dreamers & Kickstarters

            I was a kid once. I had big dreams of super stardom at a real young age. I watched MTV's The Grind with the hopes of seeing those same people partying it up to one of my songs during their Spring Break in Daytona Beach one day. If I didn't spend the good part of my 20's fishing for a record deal in all the wrong places without a formal education to back me up, things might've been a little different but I'm here now and things worked themselves out the way they were supposed to. Who needs a record label, a distribution deal, a publisher and such when you have yourself, a few friends to join the cause and a little effort to achieve the impossible? If you told a big dreamer like myself that all I was going to need was a Kickstart to get my career going, we would have looked far and wide between every rock and hard place there was. Well, now we don't have to.
            Kickstarter is a Manhattan based private for profit crowd funding company launched in 2009 by Perry Chen, Yancey Strickler & Charles Adler. Kickstarter allows for the funding of a seemingly infinite array of ventures from all sorts of music, fine art, games, films and even food to name a few. These projects are big and small; they can be fairly inexpensive to multimillion dollar operations put forth by celebrities. The beauty of being the biggest crowd funding company of its kind is adopting a business model and safeguards that prevent individuals from investing in projects and pocketing earnings. Kickstarter also encourages hard work, fosters an entrepreneurial spirit and requires a certain degree of humility by bringing yourself to a backer's level with a tangible reward (like free tickets, a signed copy of the product, free posters or thank you letters) that supporters will walk away with to signify personal ownership of that project.
            If this system is confusing, overwhelming or too good to be true at first glance, all questions and concerns will be addressed upon entering Kickstarter's website. Kickstarter prides itself on its all-or-nothing business model. Though, there is no clear cut guarantee that any one project creator will meet their backers' expectations, use the funders' money on their project or even complete it for that matter, the creators must set a realistic funding goal and deadline and are bound by legal damages should they fail to deliver on a particular project. There are skeptics on the validity of Kickstarter and backlash from those disagreeing with celebrities participating in crowd funding but one thing is for certain: Kickstarter has revolutionized the way creative works are funded forever. Not having enough scratch to fund your next album, film, graphic novel, or new line of jerky products is no longer a viable excuse. You too could have been that kid that I once was and the next one to Kickstart your dream into a reality.

What We Love About Music

            Music is all around us. There's no getting around it; there's no getting away from it. Music is our whole life; music is our livelihood and I'm excited to finally be a big part of making it. Music has been the cornerstone of many cultures and civilizations and can be traced back to prehistoric times (Tecumseh, 2006). There are many things about music that we love, enjoy and make us the people that we are today.

            For one, music is a therapeutic outlet and an avenue to channel our strengths, weaknesses and full range of human emotion. During my research for this assignment, I discovered many stories on how music has touched people and helped them heal from a variety of ills. A recent story from BBC News Northern Ireland documents how music has helped Cuan Mhuire centre participants kick their drug and alcohol addictions. About 80 individuals got together for a total of eight weeks to assist in their rehabilitation. "There is no mood-altering substance that can ever make you feel the way we did after the concert and while making this CD," says participant Mavis Scott. Another recent story came from the Capilano University Music Therapy Student Association, who spearheaded Music Heals: a new program that consists of gathering unwanted iPods that gather dust and putting them in the hands of music therapists, senior homes, rehab centers and even at-risk youth once a year. "We want to educate the public on what music therapy is and that, hopefully, will get them more invested and will allow us to do fundraising," says executive director Chris Brandt (McPhee, 2013).

            We love music because it allows us to be ourselves and it allows us to enjoy being around like-minded people. As musicians, producers, bands and the like, we find ourselves in a familiar place when we find ourselves in a group of individuals that are like us in certain ways. When we find ourselves doing something that we enjoy so much, it becomes more of an obsession than simply a means to support ourselves; who needs a job when you're doing what you love? "Playing bass made me feel good," explains Brian Minato, Vancouver-based musician, producer and bass player for Sarah McLachlan. "Learning how to figure out songs made me feel good. Hanging out with other like-minded musicians made me feel good."

            With so much competition in today's music industry, it remains crucial for an individual or group of people to reinvent the wheel, so to speak, in order to set them apart from the rest of the music community. Creativity is limitless and just so happens to be another thing about music that we love so dearly. Progressive rock group Coheed & Cambria did something no other band before them ever thought possible. Coheed & Cambria's musical concepts are derived from "The Amory Wars", a comic book series written by lead singer Claudio Sanchez. Every album is part of the overall science fiction story based on persons, places and events from the successful series and has spawned countless graphic novels and a large following; if you don't grab Coheed & Cambria tickets right away, they are prone to sell out crowds with tons of energy (Harding, 2010). In 2011, progressive dream rockers Angels & Airwaves released a deluxe edition double album called Love that included their award winning independent film of the same name. "It's super conceptual and highbrow in many ways, very artistic, very Stanley Kubrick," explains front man Tom DeLonge, who also fronts pop-punk band Blink 182. "It's not a rock opera. It's a very modern version of what could happen when you blend the film industry and the music industry together in a very...arty, kind of cool way with professionals involved all along the path." (Graff, 2009.)
            Last but not least, music is everywhere and we love that! There isn't a day that goes by or a place in the world that music can't be found. Some of the best places that I like to find great music are in video games. Bioshock Infinite, which was quite arguably the best game of 2013 thus far, wouldn't have been the storytelling epic it was without the score to amplify the experience (Goldfarb, 2013). Then, there are games like the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises that consumers can play to foster competition between one another or encourage them to learn how to sing or play real instruments. "Anything that advances music is really interesting. It's better than all of those shoot 'em up, blow 'em up, kill 'em games," exclaims Roger Daltrey of The Who (Halperin, 2008). 

The Leadership Of Jimmy Iovine

            Jimmy Iovine began his fruitful journey in the entertainment industry after befriending songwriter Ellie Greenwich who got him a cleaning job at the studio she recorded at (Fricke, 2012). By 1975, the Brooklyn native began producing for some of the biggest names in music with "the magic ears that can hear what you're thinking" (¶ 1). After producing and engineering for some of the biggest legends in rock music like John Lennon, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, U2, James Brown, Patti Smith and many others, Iovine co-founded Interscope Records in 1990 with Ted Field, which is now home to over 150 artists and more than 10 associated labels (Wild, 1997). As of January 2013, Iovine has since stepped away from his post at Interscope and made way for a new CEO/president that will enable Iovine to take on new adventures related to his number one passion and talent (Fricke). Jimmy Iovine has demonstrated effective leadership by developing people, developing his staff and putting into motion the strong vision he has for them.

            Iovine prides himself on his knack for artist/producer chemistry. When asked by David Fricke of Rolling Stone Magazine how Iovine makes their records better without producing them, Iovine replied, "Very simple...I use my producing skills in an A&R capacity." Iovine is known for experimenting with different artists to yield unlikely results, as is the case with 2001's "Let Me Blow Your Mind", a duet that saw rapper Eve and No Doubt rocker Gwen Stefani flowing over a signature Dr. Dre beat. "Those are my skills. I know who can work together. If I hear a writer and a producer, or a producer and a track, I go, 'Do it like that'" (Fricke.) Iovine also co-produced award winning films like Eminem's 8 Mile, the LeBron James' documentary More Than A Game, and 50 Cent's Get Rich Or Die Trying; films that allowed fans to delve deeper inside the lives of their favorite figures.

            Jimmy Iovine is an effective leader because he constantly adopts a vision consistent with what he wishes to accomplish. Immediately after he signed on to American Idol two seasons ago, Universal Music Group (Interscope's father company now responsible for the distribution of American Idol winners) saw a drastic increase in record sales. Both season 10 winner Scotty McCreery and season 11 winner Victor Phillips surpassed the expectations of season 9 winner Lee DeWyze, selling 1.2 million and 3.3 million on Interscope, respectively (Gallo). Iovine and hip-hop superstar Dr. Dre have also joined forces in 2008 to introduce Beats by Dr. Dre, a product that grosses approximately $500 million in annual sales (Martin, 2011). There have been mixed reviews about Beats by Dre and lawsuits aimed at Monster (the company who manufactures the headphones) but one thing's for certain: Beats by Dre isn't just a listener's apparatus, it has become a fashion statement and a way of life for its consumers. Furthermore, Iovine and Dre's Beats Electronics recently acquired MOG, a music streaming service that currently boasts more than half a million users, for $14 million (Raymundo, 2012).

            Lastly, Jimmy Iovine has learned one of the most crucial lessons of leadership, which comes in the form of staff development. Because Iovine wanted to extend his "magic ears" toward other ventures, he needed to find a replacement for Interscope Geffen A&M that shares the same vision for success that he does. Iovine chose John Janick for the job and is seemingly pleased with his decision. Janick co-founded a subsidiary of Warner Music Group based out of New York City called Fueled by Ramen, which spawned emo-pop groups like Paramore, Fall Out Boy and Panic! At The Disco (Gallo, 2013). Iovine places emphasis on new emerging artists and is confident that Janick has the know how to get the job done.

            In closing, Jimmy Iovine has demonstrated throughout his career that he knows the recipe for building a fruitful and successful legacy by developing people, developing his staff and promoting a strong vision for them for years to come. Iovine recalls that he didn't know how to do anything as a kid and that he didn't learn one thing in high school; he had to get a job at the A&P to learn how to sweep (Fricke). There is one thing he was good at from the jump and that was speaking his mind; Iovine wants things done one way and that's the right way. When all is said and done and Jimmy Iovine looks back on his career, it will be from atop the fifth level of leadership. This is where people follow you and buy into your system because of who you are. Today, Iovine belongs to this level because he has "spent years growing people and organizations" (Maxwell, 1993).