In the last issue of The Dog, a case was made by Alex Marten that collaborative music making was the best form of music expression.  I am here to disagree with him… to some extent at least.

Playing music in a band is the most fun I have with making music.  We get to be creative together, drink together, laugh together, argue together, and generally share great experiences together.  Bands go beyond being just a bunch of musicians playing the same song: there are bigger things at work. To quote Malcolm Mclaren, “Rock and roll doesn’t necessarily mean a band. It doesn’t mean a singer, and it doesn’t mean a lyric, really. It’s that question of trying to be immortal.”  I’d like to think that Alex also drew upon his experience of being in a band in writing his argument; it would be a nice compliment since we play in the same band. (Asazi Space Funk Explosion, in case you’d forgotten.)

However, there is also another part of me that loves making music (or at least trying to) by myself.  Knowing that a laptop and/or any other number of gadgets and gizmos available to musicians these days (paired with some creativity, of course) are all I need, allowing me to express myself whenever I want is extremely freeing.  I don’t have to wait for a band practice, I don’t have to give up or alter ideas due to differing views, and I can create music whenever and however I want.  Maybe it’s my ego screaming for validation; to give me confidence that I alone can make something that others will enjoy. Or maybe it’s just the fact that I can do what I want without the constraints of genre or time.

Over the last 2 years, Red Dog Music and I have run the Unique Beats Electronica Festival. This festival brings together some of the largest manufacturers of recording and music making gear in the world to flaunt their stuff alongside performances from up-and-coming Electronica musicians from Scotland and beyond.  This experience has opened my eyes to the vast amount of tools which are now available to bands and solo artists. I agree with Alex in that there are literally thousands of products allowing people to create music by themselves but surely this is a good thing? To be a bit philosophical and pretentious for a minute, I believe a musician needs nothing more than an idea or a tune in their head to be a songwriter and what these companies have created are tools that allow us to take that idea and turn it into something that can be shared.  We have software that can emulate effects and processes of equipment beyond most of our financial means (such as Ableton, Pro-Tools, etc.), powerful cheap computers (such as Carillon), free software for recording, hardware to make life easier (the APC40, for example)… the list goes on, and on, and on.  Life has never been better for musicians – you can even write songs on your phone, for crying out loud.

Without musicians wanting to do something by themselves we wouldn’t have Nick Drake, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Four Tet, Amon Tobin… Yes, some of them have collaborated with people from time to time and featured backing bands on some tracks but on the whole, they are solo artists. They, themselves, have sat down and written and performed their music and I for one think the world of music is all the better for these musicians.

In this day and age, even if you are producing music by yourself, it can still be a social experience. Uploading tracks to your Myspace, Facebook or Soundcloud page automatically puts it into the public domain and allows you to get feedback from those around you – whether that means one of your close friends or some random from Uzbekistan! Of course, this modern form of musical socialising isn’t restricted to solo artists but it allows us all to get heard, get fans, get feedback and meet likeminded people.  There is no doubt a correlation between the rise of the internet and the number of tools available to musicians with products that are easily downloadable from the click of a mouse.  Of course, some will say that this correlation also directly relates to the decline of music sales and the abundance of home-recorded ‘pop-stars’ flooding the market with musical diarrhea, but that’s a discussion for another article.

Although writing and releasing music from your home studio is all well and good, being a solo artist should not be about being a recluse. The best way to promote yourself in your local area is still, and in my opinion always will be, playing live.  Whether it’s a small coffee shop or a club, playing live is more than worthwhile as it will focus your energies a bit more and provide you with instant feedback from the audience during the performance. Afterwards, you can reflect on what you did right and what needs improving in your songwriting after the performance. Playing live is your learning curve.

If you want to make music, go ahead and make music; whether it’s in a band or all by yourself. Making music shouldn’t just be confined to those who want to be in bands that want to take over the world and get drunk every night – it should be enjoyed by absolutely anyone, and now it can be. I strongly suggest you check out Red Dog Music’s Hair of the Dog Sundays Open Couch Session if you fancy having a bash at playing live in front of an open and friendly crowd.  For electronica musicians, check out www.uniquebeats.co.uk for info about featuring on our podcasts which are heard by over 3000 listeners, as well as being in with a chance to perform live at one of our Unique Beats events.

www.REDDOGMUSIC.co.uk

Presents

Unique Beats v2.0

1 Day Electronica Festival

Edinburgh’s festival of electronica, dedicated to promoting all forms of electronic music-making

Workshops, demo stations and performances will be running from midday until 6pm, hosted by:

• ABLETON
• AKAI
• ALESIS
• BOSS
• CAKEWALK
• DIGIDESIGN
• KORG
• M-AUDIO
• MOOG
• NORD
• NOVATION
• NUMARK
• PRESONUS
• PROPELLERHEAD (REASON AND REASON RECORD)
• ROLAND
• UNIVERSAL AUDIO
• YAMAHA
  

Exclusive deals from Red Dog Music will be available throughout the day, and we’ll be giving out prizes worth well over £1000- to be in with a chance you must come to the venue before 3pm!

Live performances throughout the day and evening from over 30 acts including:

Unique Beats (hall) stage:

Frog Pocket (live)

Lamplighter (live)

IG88 (live)
AsthmaticAstronaut (live)
B-Burg (live)
Chief Of Belize (live)
Ibitron (live)
Cracked World Foundation (live)
Deaf Professor (live)

Monosynth Orchestra (live)

Federology (live)

Guga
Project Dataline
Anonymi
3rd Mountain
Phiktion
Plan29
Spectralisis
Psience
Swede
+ LL vjs.
Slo Mo DJ’s
Pulse DJ’s (Darrell Harding/Andy Hay/John Gerard)
Dee-Mond
James Carroll
+ more to be announced…

Here is the line-up to the 14 hour (1pm till 3am) Free electronica event we are putting on as part of the Fringe festival in Edinburgh.  I thought I’d write a little bio and some tasty info on these guys to get you that wee bit more excited…this is gonna be a stonker of a show. Oh, and one last thing…IT’S FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!KUNG (World Exclusive!!! All will be revealed…)

!Kung is the new name for an artists who is very closely connected to Unique Beats and has released one solo electronica album already about 2 years ago which is quite simply a staggeringly original and emotive record.  A multi-instrumentalist the artist has taken on a new pseudo-name of !Kung for a one off live performance which is sure to be pretty amazing.  At the moment, he has no clue what he will be doing in his set but we are certain it will be amazing.

Alex Tronic (rare live appearance)

Paul from Alex Tronic Records is the artist Alex Tronic.  As head honcho of Edinburgh based Alex Tronic Records he has been at the core of all things Electronica happening in the capital and the rest of Scotland.  He also has a reputation as being a great producer and musician and we are honoured to have him play a set at the event.  It is also nice to know that Unique Beats has caught the attention of the label and we hope this will be the start of more collaborations in the future.

Engine7 (back by immense demand!)

Engine7 make some of the most beautiful music in the world..FACT!  Returning to the UB stage after playing at our festival back in May I am personally very excited about this for a number of reasons.  Firstly, I’ll get to sit down and enjoy there set instead of running around mental, and really soak up the atmospheric sweeping vibes these guys kick out. Secondly, back in May due to the amount of acts we had playing I was forced to put Engine7 on the 2nd stage.  Unfortunately this stage was not overly well promoted and therefore was  a little too quiet for all those performing (which we have of course learnt from for next year) and the reaction I got from the all those who I spoke to after the Engine7 set was so overwhelmingly positive and joyous I wished I could of had him play on the main stage so more people could have enjoyed the gig.  Thirdly, main man Alan from E7 played a solo set at our festival but this time he’s bringing an additional female singer to add an additional element to his already immense sound…one day we hope we can give him enough space and time to bring his full 7 piece band!

no !i input – Live A/V set (will blow your face off!)

These guys are legends…  Back in December 08 when UB Fest was a distant dream these guys got on-board to do the visuals for what was going to be a small event, as things progressed and the event got even bigger they designed the flyers for us, then they designed the website for us, then they designed all the banners, then they designed the adverts for us, willingly, under pressure and unpaid they are possibly the most amazing people that ever existed and took on the challenges with eagerness and skill and created the way the UB brand looks.  They then did all the visuals on the day too! Wow!!!  We knackered them out though and now they are taking a new direction and wanting do something more performance related utilising their skills as musicians and visual artists.  What better place for them to debut there new project than at this event…this will be a visual and audio treat for you, trust me.

1SP (1SP dans la maison y’all)

French MC Jean-Marc a.k.a.1SP is a true performer.  With the energy of a 12 year old on Buckfast he’ll be laying down the beats and rhymes form his forthcoming and long awaited debut album.  His set is sure to get you dancing, laughing and have a good fucking time.

Brainstormer (drum’n'bass jumpy jumpy music)

Another act returning from UB fest. Tucked away in the Bowery bar downstairs was the eclectic and very entertaining Laptop Lounge crew.  Spilling out a everything from strange ambient to drum’n'bass the room was constantly packed with drunken and dancing electro mentals.  Brainstormer was one of the acts kicking up an audio storm playing his blend of old school techno and drum’n'bass tunes he’s written from the 90′s onwards, this guy has definitely been around the block and knows what he’s doing.  He’ll be closing our event in August with a bang so expect a rousing, dance inducing close to the festivities thanks to Brainstormer.

Freemoore (experimental electro genius)

A multi-instrumentalist who’s played with the likes of Edinburgh legends The Ruffness and prone to jumping on stage with the Dresdon Dolls’ Amanda Palmer with his trumpet Andy Moore a.k.a Freemoore is certainly exciting to watch mainly because his sets are completely improvised!  Utilising Ableton Live, trumpets, guitars and an electric double bass Freemoore will take you along on his journey of musical exploration and every time I have seen him perform I’m always glad I’ve taken the ride with him.  Who knows what will be created this time but trust us when we say whatever it it is will be awesome.  Freemoore is a Unique Beats institution now, having played at all our previous events…we wouldn’t keep inviting him back if he wasn’t this good. Simply unmissable!

Asthmatic Astronaut (big big hip-hoppy beats)

A while ago I saw a band called the Underling, hailing from Dumfermline and mixing funk, hip-hop soul, jazz and pretty much every other genre into one almighty live experience, I thought that they were one of the best bands I had ever seen.  After purchasing the album a bit of research later I found the solo efforts of the Underling’s DJ. Asthmatic Astronaut now getting some great exposure as a solo act and deservedly so. Mixing hip-hop and electronica to come up with some very original genre blending tunes he returns once again to join UB on our journey to conquer the world.  A later set this time than at the festival means he’ll be focussed solely on getting you up off your assess and dancing like it 2057…YES!!!!

B Burg vs Astroboy(smooth hip-hop/jazz dance floor noodlings vs. Departure Lounge legendary DJ)

Another musician who originally cut his teeth with a hip-hop band is B-Burg.  Former guitarist for Edinburgh legends LiveSciences, sound engineer extroadinaire, Unique Beats freelance chief driver and all round nice chap, B-Burg is also a demon for the hooks.  So expect catchy breaks, hip-hop infused beats and jazzy noodlings on his beloved Epiphone.  Not only that but he has joined forces with Astroboy.  Astroboy is organiser of the amazing Departure Lounge monthly nightclub at the Caves venue (now in it’s 6th year!) as well as creating the very popular Kelburn Garden party Festival, Astroboy is certainly great company to have…not only that but this guy is a dab hand at picking the tunes to get you on your feet and dancing whether he’s playing at the caves, Jazz bar or in your front room Astroboy was born to DJ.  He’ll be laying down the beats, B-Burg will be laying down the funk, you won’t be lying down at all until there set finishes and you get to collapse on the floor in a heap of ecstatic joy!

The Amazing Rolo (music with a Wii remote..ace!!!)

Yan Seznic a.k.a. The Amazing Rolo is clever.  We’re talking uber clever, borderline geek clever but instead of using his intelligence to solve the financial meltdown, or to forge world peace he’s using it for something so much better…music!  Not only is he a seriously good piano player but he has also used his colossal brain to write a computer program which allows people to use Wii remotes to control audio loops.  This isn’t some gimmicky little game either, this is a serious piece of kit and he’s written some stonking tunes using it.  At UB Fest some of you might of seen Rolo on the video screens given a performance and workshop on his software…whilst that was amazing we didn’t want to stop there and he’s coming back to a do a live performance.  Don’t stand too close though..being cracked round the head with a Wii remote hurts!  Fuck Wii Sports if you really want to get fit with your Wii and play some badass music to boot then get yourself a copy of Wii Loop Machine!

Pandacetamol (ethereal organic atmospheres)

A last minute addition to the original UB Fest line-up Pandacetamol certainly didn’t let us down.  Using old school and new school tech to create beautiful, spacey and complex audio these guys mesmerised us with their tight and melodic performance and we’re uber please to have them back.

4ward Play (smooth and mellow)

4Ward Play is certainly a rising star in the world of Electronica, from first chatting to her when she was “playing around with Ableton” to now being signed on to Alex Tronic Records in the space of 6 months.  Come see what all the fuss is about as she lays down some seriously hip chilled vibes, simply perfect for the summer.

7VWVVW (multi keyboard analogue mayhem)

Our opening act of the day.  We thought we’d start the day really chilled and build it up, then we thought fuck it, lets start with a bang and continue in the same vain for the rest of the day.  We welcome 7VWVVW a.k.a MAMMAL on to the Unique Beats stage with open arms and plenty of DI boxes as they plug in their multitude of analogue keyboards and effects and bring some retro chic dirty electro to the masses.  Every time I mention these guys to someone there response is always “oh yeah, I’ve seen them, they were wicked” so seen as I may be the last person in Edinburgh to see these guys live I’m especially excited.  Grab their Vinyl or free download of the album a.s.a.p…it’s amazing.

Chief of Belize (dirty sounds and big beats)

Fellow Unique Beater and co-host on our podcast COB loves bass…I mean he really really loves bass, it has to be phat and loud so expect a stonking, non-stop, body shaking set from the drum’n'bass new kid on the block.  A debut live set from the former DJ, we are more than proud to have one of our own making you tremble spasmodicly (it might also be called dancing).

John Gerald (artist formerly known as Gerry Mawhinney) (in your face, electro techno!)

Gerry has a long history with Electro as part of the infamous Vinyl Club on Leith FM.  This is gonna be old school techno with modern influences and bags of originality. Welcome to UB Gerry, enjoy the ride.

Kenny Breaks (Leith FM RSI maestro ‘aves it large)
Darrell Harding (Leith FM Vinyl Club mashes it up)

What’s the point in having a CD for in-between sets when we have great DJ’s chomping at the bit to get involved?  None!  This literally will be a non-stop day and night of music and these guys will keep you going whilst we’re busy setting up the next live act.   As part of the RSi and Vinyl Club shows on Leith FM they bring a real taste of eclectic Electronica from Scotland and beyond and they’ll be doing exactly the same here…NICE!!!!!

Turning the Roxy Arthouse in to a workable space for the event was no mean feat and many thanks to Rhuari and the noinput crew, Sam the lighting man, Shane the sound pimp and fellow Unique Beats creator, Alex from Red Dog Music,  Melvitronica, Laura,  Dan Gorman, Ross, Henry and any other people who stopped by to lend a hand…you guys are legends.

 Well done to all the acts, you were amazing! Many thanks also to the companies who came down and contributed their time, money and ideas.

 So take a look at the pictures and you’ll see what happened, and let me tell you now that this will be happening again next year and it will be even bigger!!

 Ok Unique Beats crew are currently hatching plans to bring you a monthly smaller events and we’ll let you know where and when these are happening- they will be in Edinburgh and will continue to feature some of the best up-and-coming and more established Electronica names from around the world….expect many a surprise (good surprises that is).

 The podcast is taking off nicely and it is a great way for people to get their tracks heard by a wider audience so if  you write your own tunes are unsigned (or signed with express permission to use your tunes) then please send in your submission tracks as mp3 format or WAVS to: podcast@uniquebeats.co.uk  make sure you give us some information about yourself, your tunes, what equipment you use, website addresses and anything which is interesting!

 We are also about to start our Unique Betas Presents video’s where we invite artists and bands to come and have a chat with us about their music, how they make it and also to give us a small performance.  The line-up is looking great for these already and they are shaping up to be interesting and entertaining.  We are always on the look out for more talent (and we know it’s out there!) so if you want to feature on our video series then please contact us at@ info@uniquebeats.co.uk   Please note that you will either have to Edinburgh based or willing to travel to Edinburgh and these are non paid!

p.s. We have recently been asked to put on a special Unique Beats Edinburgh Fringe Festival Electro Extravaganza (phew!) on the 22nd of August at the Forest cafe from 1pm until 3am.  Entrance is free!  We will keep you update with any developments as and when they come in.”