Before The Music Dies
Posted May 25th, 2007 by jeff in GeneralI saw an interesting documentary last night that ties into some of the things we’ve discussed before here at ye olde vlog. The documentary was called Before the Music Dies. It was hosted at the Arlington Cinema Drafthouse by a band that is friends with g14, The Veltz Family.
The documentary is all about the state of the music business, and how independent artists are flourishing outside of the label system. Anyone who has ever talked to g14 about our “mission” (not to sound pretentious), will understand that this is a message that resonated very strongly with me. It’s a reminder that outside of the mainstream production world of art (tv, movies, music, etc.) there is ALWAYS a strong undercurrent of artists who are doing their work out of love.
A lot of people out there are pouring their heart and soul into what they do. Please try to find a way to support them.
And if you haven’t checked out The Veltz Family, please do. They are the real deal. They understand what the message of the movie is about. They’ve been down the road as independent artists, including having to fight to get control of their music back from a major label (Atlantic). Visit their site, if you dig their stuff, say hi and buy their music. Next time they are in town, head on out to one of the shows. I’m at almost all of them.
And if you want to see a copy of Before the Music Dies, drop me a line. I picked up several copies that I want to circulate within g14. If you dig it though, I’d ask that you consider supporting the team that put it together and buy a copy. At the show last night, it was only $8, and a portion of the proceeds went to support the Veltzes (Veltzi?).
Plus, Erykah Badu is worth the price alone.
May 25th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I watched the trailer and this looks quite interesting.
May 25th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Come on over and borrow it. I certainly don’t agree with everything that’s said in there, but the message resonates quite a bit. I’m sure they are talking about all major label artists EXCEPT Metallica, Gav.
May 26th, 2007 at 8:40 am
I also saw the documentary and, as one who doesn’t create anything, I thought an important takeaway was that the audience suffers, too, when creativity is stifled. In addition to being highly relevant, the piece is consistenly interesting and sometimes funny, too.
Plus, watching the film, you might just find some new artists you really like. Do check it out.
May 26th, 2007 at 11:38 am
Safetysaurus brings up an interesting point– there was a band named “Calexico” in there that’s almost a big brass orchestra. I don’t know how else to describe them. It was kind of cool. It seems their website is down right now, but you can check them out on iTunes apparently.
May 27th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Documentaries are so neat; there were several imaginary discussions I had just watching the trailer. It’s fascinating to me when people describe their creative processes and the music business and how executive types generally kind of suck. Thanks for sharing that, Jeff! AND for posting anew!
May 27th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
For you, JKfDC, anything.