Columns

• Hometown Heroes
  
  

  The world of independent music is vast, overwhelming, and totally muddled. In the constant, obsessive search for new music, it is sometimes easier to divide and conquer, as it were. And what better way to divide than using good, old-fashioned geography?

  No band is an island: music affects its community, just as the community affects the music. Hometown Heroes is a recurring column devoted to discovering music in its local context. Each issue, we will look at the music community of a different city—: its local legends, its up-and-coming talent, and the labels, record stores, magazines, resources and organizations that contribute to the scene's health and vibrancy. And while a comprehensive overview is unfortunately impossible, we will hopefully get a good sampling of what makes each city so unique.

• Artist's Perspective
  

  These are our artists. We get their perspectives.
  

   

  
  

  Ramesh Srivastava of Voxtrot Danny Seim of Menomena
• It Takes One to Know One
  

  John Vanderslice and St. Vincent

  

   Back in Elementary school, “Takes one to know one!” was an insurmountable retort, but now, many years later, we think it has some validity. For this column, we get one artist to interview another, while we sit back and record. Is it cheating? A little. But we’re really big fans of the results.

  
  

   

• MXMO
  
  

   

   

  Because musicians don't just make music, MXMO (Musicians By Modus Operandi) focuses on the hobbies, habits, side-projects, and signature idiosyncrasies of the artists we love and respect.

   

  
  
  
  

   

   

   

  Jonathan Meiberg of Shearwater

• Label Alert
  

  A (not so) gentle prodding from us to you, labels of the world.

  Think of it as a reverse press release.
  

  One of the best things about working for a music magazine is that we are constantly introduced to new music. A lot of it's unremarkable or downright bad, but some of it is good, and a few artists are actually so great that we want to do everything in our power to help them succeed. This column is devoted to helping such bands take a big step in that direction by getting the attention of the right record labels.
  

  Just like with personal relationships, a good, healthy relationship between an artist and a label can be hard to find. A&R reps are busy and don't have time to listen to every demo that gets sent to them. And even if an artist does catch A&R attention, if they with a label that isn't compatible with their individual style and needs, things can go badly.
  

  Our goal with this new column is to bring the artists and labels that we love together. In that sense, we're kind of like the match.com of the music world: “The music business is complicated. Label Alert is simple.”

   

• Company You Keep
  If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a small army to back a band. Dozens of people at all stages of the process help make a band what they are; we at Soundcheck think it's about time they get some recognition. In this column, we'll profile a different, up-and-coming business that supports the independent music scene, from small labels with impeccable taste, to PR firms who work off of a genuine love for music. After all, these are the people who make possible the music we know and love.
• On The Road
  

  
  Whether the idea of touring strikes you as amazing or hellish, it is an inescapable part of any musician's experience. Between little sleep, sporadic showers, and the occasional police involvement, the time spent getting from Point A to Point B is frequently more eventful than the shows or visits themselves. Every so often, artists we like check in to tell us about their particular exploits while on the road.

• Get To Know...
  

  With this column, we seek to give a behind-the-scenes look of a band we like. We banter with them for awhile, hand them a digital camera, and let them fly free. Each installment includes a free mp3 download, a love of conversational tangents, and, hopefully, a view of the musicians that you wouldn’t get just from their discography.