Ep. 4 – Featuring: Andrew Malynowsky, Wayne Michael, Jak

Transcript: Hello and welcome to the Freshstock Posdcast, I’m your host Alex, The Pearly King of Brunswick.

Now, I hate to get down to business so soon into a podcast, but it must be done. I’m all about business here, clearly, which is of course why I have time to sit around making a podcast. I had a wonderful track on last weeks’ show by a band called The Watermelons. In my preamble I announced it as “Eleven8”, no this was actually the track number and not the name of the song. So in the spirit of olive branch extending, here is a big apology and a retraction and I will now tell you the track was called “Gone Hay Wiring”, by The Watermelons. Please have a look at Joshua Caverson’s Soundcloud as a) I need to make it up to them and b) there’s a bunch of great music there.

So, if you want to be in the podcast and have your song titles incorrectly announced, email me, freshstock@post.com.

As usual coming up we have two segments plus three great tracks from new or emerging bands. Just to give you a measure of how much clout I have in the podcasting sphere, I keep putting a call out to you, my dear audience to come up with jingles for my two segments, and the response has been absolutely zero. So, I urge you now, make me a little five to ten second intro for my segments if you can. The first is called “Home Recording Hints”, the second is called “Band Name Generator”. Keep listening if you want to hear these two segments in person.

This isn’t all just me nattering away, there’s music involved to. Here’s Andrew Malynowsky with the broody and evocative and some other adjectives… track: La Torera.

—

There was Andrew Malynowsky with La Torera, he’s actually new in town, just flown in from Canada, so technically this sin’t Australian music, but he made the journey over here with his great music so I say give him a chance and welcome him with open ears. On that note, he is loitering around the Melbourne area at the moment looking for gigs, so if you’re in the gig booking industry, why not get in touch with him on andrewmalynowsky@gmail.com?

If you’ve listened this far hour probably expecting some home recording hints by now so here goes. This is a short one but an obvious one. And actually Ive rejected a couple of tracks based on this one, so beware. This might be more of a gripe from me than a hint, but it’s oh so important. TUNE YOUR INSTRUMENTS.

If you can’t do this by ear, use a tuner. If you can do this by ear, use a tuner anyway. If your instruments are in tune it means they resonate together and will appear louder and more harmonious. If one thing is out of tune, it will kill the track. This includes tuning your drums. If your drummer doesn’t know how to tune the kit, get someone who does. I don’t mean replace your drummer, just get someone in who can tune it before you record… or maybe replace your drummer…

Anyway, that’s enough of a rant for today, why not hear some more music?

A fellow named Wayne Michael sent this on in, it’s called “Worlds Apart”.

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That was Wayne Michael there with “Worlds Apart”. He’s in the Northern suburbs of Melbourne and is looking to add members to his lineup and call it “Rosewood”. He recorded this entire track on his lonesome, so if you like the vibe, get in touch with him, probably through his Soundcloud. Search for Wayne Daniel Michael.

So, with that done and dusted, why don’t we move onto a segment? This segment addresses the listener mail and I call it: “Band Name Generator”. First message

Dear Alex and Freshstock,

My name is Carol Smith and I ‘m head of a group and we want a name like Florence and the Machine where it’s my name plus the band. The band is already called The B-Wing, but I don’t think Carol is evocative enough. Do you have anything that might help? Something like Lorde or Madonna?

From Carol

I must warn you Carol, I could be treading on your parents toes here. One of the conditions of using the band name generator that that it is compulsory to use the name I give you . if you don’t I will sneak into your house and wee into your mouthwash unexpectedly. But it’s too late now, I’m about to rename you.

So you need a single name to go with the B-wings? Ooh, I’m feeling the pressure here, because I don’t know you. I’m going to give you the name Ayida, after the voodoo load or spirit. From what I understand she is half-serpent, half rainbow and her job is holding up the Earth. Done. You are now called Ayida and the B-Wings. Forget Carol, she gone now and Ayida is born.

Next letter.

Dear Freshstock,

I need a band name. My band is a bit like Ween or TMGB.

Thanks. Dane T.

I like the brevity Dane T. You don’t give much away. So something a bit novel perhaps? I assume TMBG is  They Might Be Giants? So novelty is key here. Whey don’t we go with my least favourite word in the English language: gusset? Bam, done. you are now henceforth called Gusset.

If you’re having trouble naming your band, get in touch: freshstock@post.com.

Time for some more tunes I think, don’t you? This is Jak with Drum off the Album The Ger.

—

Thanks for listening, my names alex dick, you can see links to all the bands you’ve heard in this episode at the show’s blog, freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com, or have a look at my own site, headstockpublishing.com.au. If you want to have your music played, send it to freshstock@post. com, links or files accepted, and you could be in future episodes. Cheers, support new music everyone. Bye!

Ep. 3 – Featuring: John Hunter Combo, The Watermelons, Desmond Mase

Transcript: Hello chums, welcome to the Freshstock Podcast, episode three!! It’s me, Alex, the pearly king of Brunswick. We’re coming to you today in stereo! That’s right, my new mic arrived off eBay, at a bargain price too I must say, so now not only do I have a great USB mic but I can also do field recordings. This means that perhaps in the next couple of eps I might get up off my chair and go search for music on the streets of Melbourne.

As usual we have some great unsigned artists coming up, a little bit of actual information that I like to call home recording hints, and I’ve had a few listeners write in again with their problems in naming their bands in, a little segment I like to call the band name generator.

By the way, if you were wondering who that is absolutely shredding the guitar in the opening title music, it’s me! I’m a bit of a closet musician, but what do they say in all the old texts. Those who can’t, podcast.

Okay, enough about me, to the music! Firstly we have John Hunter with some ole timey blues, and in the eternal spirit of blues, he’s called this track, quite simply “Hey, Mama”. Here we go!

John Hunter there with “Hey Mama”. Don’t that just make ya proud to be an Aussie? He’s on Soundcloud, just search for John Hunter Combo, or likewise go to reverbnation.com/johnhuntercombo.

Well, you’ll have to excuse me today, I’m a bit coffeed up again. I’m living the over-stereotypical Melbourne life, I’m afraid. I was in a café this morning and of course because it’s Melbourne it can’t just be a straight-forward café. It has to be quirky and offbeat, so in this one the tables are made of cut up table tennis… surfaces, and the menus were all made of hollowed out golden books, so just the cover with the café’s menu where the pages of the story would usually be. Does anyone remember these Golden books, you know the kids book series with the golden spines?

I was looking at the back cover and my first thought was “if they tried to print these today, it would be an absolute nightmare!”

On the back they have all these different characters living together that would never naturally be cohabitating in the wild. There’s Big Bird, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, Bambi, Ernie, and Bert himself is actually riding atop the little train that could. Can you imagine pitching and designing that these days? Nightmare! Trying to cross over between all these corporations on the one book cover.

I had a friend who worked for a company, let’s for argument’s sake, and I’ll alter the name, call this company Frisney. And he was hired on a cruise ship for Frisney as a character that we shall call… well, I’ll have to change the name.. Prince Charmington. He was told before he started not to smile too widely when he was in character, because this friend had dimples when he smiled and the Character Prince Charming…ton doesn’t, and they didn’t want him to ruin the illusion for the kids.

Anyway, dig out a golden book and you’ll see what I mean.

Okay, now for home recording hints. If you want to come up with a jingle for any of my segments, or either of my segments I suppose I should say, then email me: freshstock@post.com. You can also apply to be in the podcast too there, just send along a track of original music.

Anyway, home recording hints. I thought as my new mic is in, and it records in stereo, I would talk to you today about stereo imaging.

Stereo imaging is important in music, and largely because it gives the music space, somewhere to breathe. But also because we have two ears as humans, and actually if we didn’t have two speakers or two sides of headphones with slightly different mixes of the same music coming out, it would sound weird.

So how can this help your home recording? Well, let’s for arguments sake say we’re recording a band, vocalist, two guitars, a bass, and a drum kit. My best tip is to say: leave room for the vocals. In our scenario the vocalist gets one mic, the guitars and bass get a mic each on their amps, then we put mics on the snare and bass drum, as well as two overhead mics to catch the rest of the kit. That’s about 8 microphones. Now, we can just record them and have all 8 mics coming out of both sides of your headphones equally, but this would be weird and oppressive to your ears. You want the listener to think they’re in the room with you, and when you’re in a room the sounds have a bit of direction.

There is a knob called PAN in any worthwhile sound equipment, analogue or digital. Have a play around with this. You can pan all the way left, or all the way right, plus anywhere in between. Imagine the band is set up on stage. For our scenario, let’s keep the vocals unpanned and in the middle, and the snare and bass drum fairly close to the centre. The ambient mics on the kit could pan one halfway left, and one halfway right, so it’s fairly wide across the stereo image. The two guitars can pan out even further, although if there’s a big solo I’d put that on centre again. Maybe oan the bass off to the left a little from the vocalist, wherever they would stand in a live situation works well I guess. Have a listen and tweak, you’ll know when it’s balanced because there won’t be anything distracting you from listening anymore. Anyway, this is just an example of how to set up your stereo image, there are no hard and fast rules.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, then listen next time you have headphones in, and try and imagine where on stage the instruments are from the stereo imagery in the mix. There’s a great album “Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia” by the Dandy Warhols, the stereo imagery on that is mesmerising. Have a listen, and listen to what they put in the middle of the mix and when! It switches between guitars, keyboards, vocals and even egg shakers as the focus.

Blah, blah, that’s enough information for you today, here’s some music. This is The Watermelons with there own bit of stereo imagery, “Eleven8”.

Well, that was Perth band The Watermelons, currently on hiatus as one of the members Josh Caverson is trying his luck in Melbourne. Josh has a few ambient tracks up on his own soundcloud, soundcloud.com/joshua-caverson. have a look, definitely worth a listen, in fact I may even play one of his ambient tracks in the coming weeks.

That’s that, and that must mean its time for the band name generator. Thanks to everyone who mailed in, I can’t reply to them all but I will pick two of the best each week.

Now remember you can send in with your band naming woes to freshstock@post.com, and if you’re lucky I’ll answer, but remember if I do suggest a name for you, it is compulsory to use it. If you don’t use it, I’ll come around your house and leave cloves of garlic in all your dairy products.

First email is from Suzy:

Dear Alex and the Freshstock team, well I’ll stop you there Suzy. The Freshstock team is me. Alone. Solo. I do everything. Oh, and the bands that supply the music of course, but they’re more part of the family than the team. I digress…

Dear Alex and team,

I’m starting an all girl band that will be sort of shoegaze, sort of new wave post punk kinda thing. We have come up with a bunch of names but we’re not happy with any of them. Help!!! (help there with three exclaimation marks)

From Suzy in Byron Bay,

PS keep up the good work, loving the show so far.

Thanks Suzy for the compliment, very kind, or over kind perhaps. So you want something edgy, perhaps the kind of name that would have come out of Manchester in the late eighties? Okay, let’s think. These are tricky, they have to sound tough, but they have to have some kind of historical or literary reference in them too. Seeing as you’re from Byron, let’s get a quote from Lord Byron. I did a quick google search on this for you earlier, and the best Byron quote that fit was Cheap Medicine. So from here on in, you and your band are known as Cheap Medicine.

Okay, one more email.

Dear Alex,

Me and my sister want to start a folk duo, and we thought perhaps a biblical reference would be good. I can’t be bothered reading the bible though, so I thought I’d just email you. Thanks.

Trent.

Well, thanks trent, good to know you’re committed to the band. Now, I must stop you here though before you make a big mistake!! Too many folk artists have listened to too much Johnny Cash, and think a reference to the bible will get them through. Big mistake! Cliché alert! Instead you want to go for another cliché and refer to a famous cowboy outlaw or a southern town in the US. Today I’ve compiled the two for you. You are now called Hoodoo Brown County. Hoodoo Brown after the famous outlaw, and County just because it makes it sound American. There you go, problem solved.

Okay, that’s nearly enough from me, but before I go, one more tune. This time it’s Desmond Mase with “Still Burn”

There you go, Desmond Mase with “Still Burn”, and as is the trend he’s got plenty of great tracks and new releases on his Soundcloud, do a search for Desmond Mase, that’s M A S E.

Thanks for listening, my names alex dick, you can see links to all the bands you’ve heard in this episode at the show’s blog, freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com, or have a look at my own site, headstockpublishing.com.au. If you want to have your music played, send it to freshstock@post. com, links or files accepted, and you could be in future episodes. Cheers, support new music everyone. Bye!

Ep. 2 – Featuring: Mikael Isnt, WhiTe NoySe, Lucas Bell

Transcript: Hello chums, welcome to the Freshstock Podcast, episode two!! It’s me, Alex, the pearly king of Brunswick. What’s a pearly king, you may ask… well it’s not what it sounds like, Pearly King is an old cockney tradition, every borough in London has a pearly king and queen, they’re basically just respected members of the community, denoted by their distinctive. So, Brunswick here in Melbourne town was missing a pearly king, so, like the despot I am, I crowned myself pearly king of Brunswick. I’m still awaiting the costume.

Coming up, we have a little bit of actual information that I like to call home recording hints, and I help out a couple of my listeners with their band naming woes in the first proper version of the band name generator.

Okay, enough about me, to the music! Firstly we have Michael Isnt, with a quirky little track which at the moment it just simply entitled Untitled Glitchy. Here we go!

https://soundcloud.com/mikaelisnt

Michael Isnt there with Untitled Glitchy, and if you liked that there is an extensive list of great tracks on his Soundcloud. Have a look.

So what has old Alex been up to in the week? Good news for the listeners, I bought a new mic on eBay, still waiting for it to arrive in the post, unfortunately. But you can look forward to next week when my voice will be captured by this new golden brush of the wind.

That leads me nicely to my segment full of actual information, home recording hints. Today’s episode is about choosing the right microphone. Okay, there are two main categories of microphones, they are dynamic mics and condensers. Dynamic mics usually cope with louder sounds, they’re good for close miking a guitar amplifier or a snare or a bass drum. A dynamic mic is the kind you’d usually see used for live vocals, not so common for studio vocals though. How can you tell if your mic is dynamic? Well, generally speaking it will be cheaper, sturdier and it wouldn’t need power running to it. In fact, if you plug your headphones into a mic socket, you’ll find it works as a dynamic mic.

Condenser mics, most mixers or audio interfaces would have a little button called phantom power or +48v, and if your mic won’t work without that on, chances are it’s a condenser mic, likewise if you have to put batteries in it. These ones have a much higher output because they’re much more sensitive, great for studio vocals usual, or picking up anything that requires subtlety. Don’t put them right on a drum or you might kill it, but it can be good to have a stereo pair in a room to pick up a whole drum kit and get a bit of the room sound in.

Anyway, that’s the actual information for today’s podcast, on with the music. Next up, we have White Noyse with Edge.

http://www.whitenoyse.com/

White Noyse there. Errol writes/produces/mixes/records all his own music out of his bedroom of a friends house and releases it all for free download on his site WhiteNoyse.com.  Check it out, he’s just moved from Brisbane to Melbourne, and he has a new album coming out in September. Don’t forget to check the blog for links if you like the music in the show today, freshstockpodcast.worpress.com.

Now, that’s White Noyse, Noyse with a “Y”. It’s important in hip-hop not to spell your whole name correctly. That’s how you pick your hip-hop name, just think of something cool and alter or add some of the letters. It’s lucky that Snoop Dogg is talented, because it’s pretty much the laziest hip-hop name up there. He must have been up all night thinking of where to put his extra letter. I would have gone for three “o”s in Snoop personally. On the flipside, my favourite hip-hop name is Ghostface Killah. How good is that, you can’t get any more badass than that, especially considering a google search has revealed to me that his real name is Dennis.

Speaking of band names, its time for the first proper episode of Band Name generator. I’ve had two emails this week, and of course I’d be glad to help. Remember, if I do come up with a band name for you, you must use it or I’ll come around and leave salami slices in your formal shoes.

The first is from Bill in Albury-Wadonga.

Dear Alex,

I’m wanting to start up a banjo choir, which is actually proving rather difficult to find members for. I think if I had a good name for it I would be able to find more banjoists in the Albury-Wadonga area who are keen.

Thanks,

Bill

Will, Bill, I like your optimism. A whole banjo choir would be not only tricky to assemble, but possibly trickier to attend. Okay, let’s see… whin I think banjos I think deliverance, so I hearby dub your choir: The Delivery Boys. Even if that name is already taken, you must use it. Done.

Second email from a concerned listener:

Hi Freshstock,

I want a name for a punk band, so what’s the most punk name you can think of? Thanks.

Okay, this is a tricky one, so I’ve decided to come up with a selection for you here. Feel free to make a choice:

-The Goat Tusks

-The Fart Baskets

-The Fleshlights

-The Granny Tippers

-The Cheese Whisperers

-The Night Emissions OR

-The Unexpected Kernel Trap

So, you must pick one of those and use it. If you’d like a band name sorted out, email me: freshstock@post.com, and I will bestow a name upon you, or sort out any disputes.

Enough of me blabbing around, we’re getting close to the end. Here’s some more music, this time it’s Lucas Bell with She Knows it’s Not Right

https://soundcloud.com/lucas-blue/

There we have it, Lucas Bell, with Tim Folliot of the Melbourne band Tell Amarosa, with Tim there producing and playing guitar, drums and bass, and Lucas on guitar and vocals. I’ll put links for it up on the blog.

Thanks for listening, my names alex dick, you can see links to all the bands your heard in this episode at the show’s blog, freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com, or have a look at my own site, headstockpublishing.com.au. If you want to have your music played, send it to freshstock@post.com, links or files accepted, and you could be in future episodes. Cheers, support new music everyone. Bye!

Ep. 1 – Featuring: Alex Brittan, The Badenvilles, Jai Sounds

Transcript: Hello chums, it’s me, Alex, welcome to the Freshstock Podcast, episode one!! Firstly, congratualtions on making it this far, not just in the podcast, but in life. I commend you for it.

Coming up i’ll be bringing you a veritable smorgus of music, I’m also starting up a band name generator. This means if you’re having trouble finding that catchy name to put on your posters, I’ll give you a hand, if you can’t decide between two, I’ll help you pick, resolving what could be the first in a string of arguments leading to your break up. As this is Episode 1, I don’t have any entrants yet, so please contact me on freshstock@post.com with you band name worries. Gimme a hint about which style you’re working in and listen in next week for your own personalised band name.

Also coming up, I’m going to be having some actual information. That should be nice for you. This week it’s in the form of a home recording hint, so keep listening if you want to know about how to give your work a professional polish.

Okay, i’ve waffled on for long enough, time for some music. I thought we’d start with something a bit poppy and we’ll penetrate the depths a little later on. This first one is called “Outer Love” by Alex Brittan. Here goes!

https://soundcloud.com/alexbrittan/

https://www.facebook.com/alexbrittanmusic

There you go, Alex Brittan their with “Outer Love”, off his upcoming EP Thirsty Bird, and I quote “a collection of tracks inspired by terrible tinder dates, social anxiety and relationships on the brink; a colourful mix of tropical synths, sparkling percussion and glorious pop falsetto. “ If you liked that track, check out his Facebook and Soundcloud, that’s Alex Brittan, Brittan with an ‘a’.

So, you may have noticed that i’m also called Alex, so who am I after all. I’m a media student and a music enthusiast currently living in Brunswick, Melbourne. I always defend brunswick saying it’s not too hipstery, but just today I was on the tram looking at a guy in a beard, a kilt and a Brian Jonestown Massacre T-shirt (possibly home made), and he’s carrying a six pack of Bonsoy. And the most hipster person I’ve ever seen was on the main street in Brunswick, Sydney road. Forget what he looked like, imagine any bearded, beanied hipster in overalls. Your bog standard hipster. It was what he was riding… the best way i can describe it is as a skateboard, with an exercise bike screwed onto it. He was riding this in traffic, and of course it didn’t cross my mind to push him into it. Meh, who am I kidding, i’d go hipster too if I didn’t find beards so itchy.

Now to one of my regular items, home recording hints. Feel free to send in a jingle for any of these by the way, including a new opening song for the whole thing freshstock@post.com.

So, without getting too technical, let’s have a quick talk about compression. For those yet unskilled in the art of compression, it’s a great tool to add a professional sheen to you home recordings, and these days most software comes with a range of presets so you don’t even really know how to adjust it. What does it do to the sound? Well, you know how it always seems like the ads are louder than the programs on TV? Well, they’re not really, they just have more compression. It’s basically about squishing the dynamics out of a sound by turning up all the quieter sounds so they’re closer to the volume of the louder sounds. Have a listen to any modern pop and you’ll notice how loudly everyone breathes in between the phrases, that because of compression. Have a play around with it, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Okay, that was the actual information i promised earlier, now to more music. Something a bit more lo-fi and garagey, just the way I like things, this is The Badenvilles. Enjoy!

http://thebadenvilles.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/thebadenvilles

That’s The Badenvilles with “Coffee Shop”, who are currently in the studio working on some more tracks, check out the blog for the show freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com, where you’ll find transcripts and links to all the acts you hear today. And remember, if you want your track featured on the podcast, email it to me on freshstock@post.com, please make sure you own all copyrights.

Well, we’re nearly at an end already, but before that I have promised a band name generator. This involves you, the listeners, sending me an email to freshstock@post.com telling me about your band naming issues, then tuning in the next week to hear what I came up with for you. If you do use this service please note it is compulsary to commit to the name i come up with. If I find you’ve deviated, I will come round your house and sprinkle powdered milk into you laundry powder. To get you started though, here are my first three suggestions. Just to get the ball rolling.

-The Eastminsters, this would be an indie kinda group, kind of noel gallagher types I reckon

-The Isoscoles, this one is more for your electo pop duo

-and finally, and this one actually came from my brother, The Sunday Night Karate Machine. This would be more like a group of rappers who band together into a supergroup I reckon.

Okay, one last bit of music before you can all go on your merry ways, this time from Jai Sounds, with the track “Attonbitus (two)”.

https://soundcloud.com/jai-sounds

https://www.facebook.com/jai.waves?fref=ts

Thanks for listening to my first podcast ever guys, my name’s Alex Dick, you can see links to all the bands your heard in this episode at the show’s blog, freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com, or have a look at my own site, headstockpublishing.com.au. If you want to have your music played, send it to freshstock@post.com, links or files accepted, and you could be in future episodes. Cheers, support new music everyone. Bye!

Callout Ep.0

Transcript:

Hello chums

Well ladies and gentlemen, have we got a show for you… have we?

Well, actually no…

Which is why I need your help. This is a callout for all those garage Gotyes, all the daylight Dylans and the bedroom Biebers. That’s right, I’m looking for unsigned Australian artists armed with home recording for this new podcast, giving you free exposure and a chance to get your hard work and skills displayed on this wonderful new invention I like to call the internet.

I’ll be bringing you the best unsigned Australian acts, of course, home recording hints, a band name generator and disputes hotline, and if things go well, maybe even some special guests.

Get in early before things get too hectic here at Freshstock, and remember, you retain all copyright but you must own rights to lyrics, composition and the recording, I can’t afford to pay a record company, what are you nuts? I’m a student!

Send your submissions to freshstock@post.com. I accept files or downloadable links.

In the meantime check out the blog, freshstockpodcast.wordpress.com or have a look at my website headstockpublishing.com.au.

Thanks guys, get into it, get some free exposure for your music and subscribe at the iTunes store . I’ll speak to you in the coming weeks. Bye!