You Gotta See This!

Posted September 4th, 2010   No Comments »

What’s better than a Stevie Wonder jam? Check out this cover of All I Do this week in the video player.

Know of another good live performance? Send it to seethis@findingthebside.com.

Catching Up With Fave

Posted September 3rd, 2010   No Comments »

Dantrel Robinson, better known as Fave, brings a fresh, fun and creative perspective to music. This Houston-based “cross-functional aficionado of soulful expression” has many talents, including his work as a designer, writer, producer and photographer. I first heard about Fave through his excellent podcast, the Friday Favecast, which was voted Best Podcast by the judges of the 2010 Black Weblog Awards this week. The Friday Favecast does exactly what he intends by entertaining, encouraging and uplifting listeners. Fave has a gift for combining positive messages, comedy, special guests and even health tips with playlists that always include something for everyone. In fact, after listening to the Favecast for over a year now, I can say that each episode has included at least one song that I’ve never heard before.

Fave also shares his creativity and love for music through his concert photography and web comic, A Pug Named Fender, which has had several witty episodes with our favorite artists including N’dambi, Eric Roberson and this week’s story arc with Lalah Hathaway.

Fave and I had a great chat about the independent music movement, how he blends his many interests and what he hopes to accomplish with his work. Here’s the conversation.

Mimi Soul: How did you decide which of your creative expressions to share with the world?

Fave: It chose me actually. When I was a kid, I used to draw. When I became a teenager, I kinda put the drawing down and started doing music. Then, as an adult I chose marketing as a career and that’s what I went to school for. So, I found a way to do public speaking, graphic design, music and writing and I wanted to channel all that. So, I use the tools like writing, music and visual arts to express the things that I see in the world. I mean, the world is alot bigger than wherever we are from so that’s why I decided to try to capture all of it through those mediums.

Mimi Soul: Your photography, web comic and podcast all seem to fit together like a really cool puzzle. Did you have a strategy for that or did it just kind of happen that way?

Fave: A little bit of both. They are blessings from God, not something that I really practiced and studied for hours out of my life. I feel like the Favecast is something that I birthed out of boredom because I was trying to do the marketing thing and I just really wanted a creative outlet. The photography is something that goes back to the visual arts because of the things I see. It’s just another medium to use so I try to do that more by capturing music, particularly concerts and things like that. And with the web comic, I hadn’t drawn in years. I would do a logo here and there but I hadn’t actually done a hand drawing in at least 10 or 12 years. So, what happened with that is my dog died. I used to call him the mascot for my podcast because when I used to work on my podcast, he would always be in the room with me. He died suddenly and he was only two years old. So, I decided to do a web comic.

The strategy for me was just to present it in a way that has some type of direction. For me, the direction is to do things that are fun. It all points toward encouraging people or uplifting them. If you can look at a clip of a comic strip and chuckle for a minute or two, that’s a minute or two that you didn’t spend worrying about whatever situation you’re going through.

The Favecast has been therapeutic for me. In addition to sharing artists and music, I know how excited I get and how fun it is to discover new music and support artists that are doing great work. It used to be hard to connect the dots between people and artists but now you can do it much easier through the internet and social media. So, that’s another way to kinda build that camaraderie and then say “while I got you here, here are a couple thoughts to share”. read more »

You Gotta See This!

Posted August 26th, 2010   No Comments »

ShaShaJones has a beautiful voice! When I found her cover of Karina Pasian’s Slow Motion, I had to share it with you.

Know of another good live performance? Send it to seethis@findingthebside.com.

Catching Up With IAmDanielMoore

Posted August 19th, 2010   1 Comment »

As we’ve read and seen over the years, the artists who attain longevity in the music industry have a obvious level of excellence in their work. IAmDanielMoore is such an artist. He has worked with several soul and gospel greats including Anita Baker, Jennifer Holliday and Richard Smallwood and he earned a Grammy nomination for his production work on Sheri Jones-Moffett’s album Renewed. You may also recognize him from two BET shows, as he appeared on Sunday Best and is the keyboardist for Big Jim’s Penthouse Playas on the Mo’Nique show. He also released his self-titled EP earlier this year. I’d say that’s enough to make the argument that whether he is producing, directing or making music, IAmDanielMoore knows what it takes to be successful.

IAmDanielMoore states in his bio that “people STILL like good music”. He is certainly delivering it because I enjoyed the songs on his EP (Say Something, Half Way Love and Imagine), so much that I had to request an interview. We had a great conversation about his musical influences and experiences.

Mimi Soul: I’m sure people tell you often about how your music makes them feel. Could you tell us about your songwriting process?

IAmDanielMoore: With my music, I always say it’s therapeutic for me. I take personal experiences and create them in a song. I think the realness aspect is what people relate to.

Mimi Soul: Since we’re talking about making music, in terms of a song recipe, what would you say are the main ingredients of a good one?

IAmDanielMoore: (laughing) Well, I don’t cook but it would probably be the flavor. I would be making sure everything sounded authentic. So, that would be the seasoning.

Mimi Soul: Is there one part of being an artist that you enjoy more than another? For example, being in the studio versus on stage?

IAmDanielMoore: Not really. The studio is what gets us to the stage, you know. I was fortunate enough to do what I like to do in the studio. For me, it was one and the same.

Mimi Soul: I must admit that when I saw you on the Mo’Nique show, I was slapping my forehead and asking myself “Have I been under a rock or something?” (laughing)

IAmDanielMoore: (laughing) You know, I get that alot. I’ve been in the industry a long time. This is my first time stepping from behind the keyboard and showing the artistic side. It’s about connecting the dots.

Mimi Soul: How did you choose the three songs on your EP as your introduction to us as an artist?

IAmDanielMoore: Well, I’m always working for the people. Those three songs were really what the people loved in the show. So, we just wanted to give it back to them so that they would have a piece of the live show to take home with them.

Mimi Soul: In one of your blog posts, you said that “the way to find success in the music industry is to craft your art to where the average consumer will purchase what you put out”. What would you say is your target audience?

IAmDanielMoore: My target audience is definitely the females and it’s a wide range of ages from 21 up to about 45. Some of them remember Stevie Wonder and El DeBarge but for others it’s an introduction to that sound and that feeling. With that particular quote, I just found that in my own career, at first I was just recording things that I liked to hear and that I wanted to do. I had all these complex chords and all that kinda stuff and I noticed that the people couldn’t sing along with me. When I started playing for Anita Baker, I realized how many songs she had. I mean, the songs had wonderful changes, wonderful lyrics and everybody would sing along with her for 90 minutes straight. So, I said to myself, “We have to bridge that gap.”

We get so upset with the industry for not playing our music and we allow that to affect our songwriting. That’s unfair to the consumer because they wanna hear it but they have no idea how to find out about it because we sometimes won’t make those small changes for people who may not be singers and musicians but are doctors, lawyers and teachers that just like to hear good music. So, I’m always thinking with that in mind. read more »

Eric Roberson – Still

Posted August 13th, 2010   1 Comment »

In case you haven’t seen it already, here’s the video for Still, from Eric Roberson’s album Music Fan First. In addition to the great work from Cris & Blaq, the video has a very important message. I’ll warn you now that it will tug at your heartstrings.