David Gielan - The Indie Music Bus™ April 2014 Artist of the Month

April 6, 2010. It was within one month of that date that my outlook on mainstream music would forever change. April 6, 2010, is the day that the Indie Music Bus™ April Artist of the Month, David Gielan, released his album The Imperfect Tense. To say that I've become a fan of his over the past 4 years is somewhat of an understatement. On the off chance that you haven't become a fan yet, tonight just may be your night!

Returning to MY Indie Music Blog yet again is Los Angeles, California, USA based indie singer/songwriter David Gielan. David runs the gamut of indie music when it comes to what he has offered us over the years. From his first release, 2005's jazz infused rocker Idea Lab, to the aforementioned The Imperfect Tense, to a slew of singles ranging from hip-hop (yes, he has serious hip-hop cred!), to adult contemporary, to soft rock, to flat out knock you on your ass alternative rock (as a member of alt/rockers Oh Crap! Ninjas), to his most recent offering, Wading Through the Bracken, Part 1, David takes you on an emotional roller coaster ride by leaving his heart and soul in every recording he writes, records, produces and scores. Oh, you didn't know he was a producer, too? We'll get to that in a minute.



It's going to be hard for me to pick just a few recordings to share with you here. I honestly don't think (contrary to what he will tell you himself) that David has ever had a bad day in the studio.



In addition to being a top-notch recording artist, David is also making waves in the entertainment industry as an entrepreneur. He is the owner of Melody Maker Productions, located in downtown Los Angeles, as well as MMP Audio (a full service audio post-producton company) and the newly formed AudioProDB (more on them in a moment, too). MMP is where musical nirvana happens on a daily basis, as David has produced music for the likes of Poor Yorick, Lorelei Carlson, Wayne Stylez and Brandon West, to name a few. This also includes producing all of his own material as well as musical scores for placement with television and films.



2014 has also seen David nominated for three awards by the Artists in Music Awards as singer/songwriter of the year, adult contemporary artist of the year and producer of the year, ultimately being a finalist in the adult contemporary and producer categories. While he didn't bring home the trophies this year, the exposure was worth the efforts put forth by his fans to secure the nods for him. I'm already looking forward to next year's awards!



Let's not forget the epic collaboration between David and another indie favorite of MY Indie Music Blog, the 2012 Indie Music Bus™ Artist of the Year, David Geftakys. Their song, You're Alive, is a song about love, hope and seizing the moment to be who you're meant to be.



Congratulations to David on being named the Indie Music Bus™ April 2014 Artist of the Month! You can check him out all month long on the Bus's official website and anytime on David's ReverbNation page.

Indie Music Bus™ official website

Follow David Gielan on Twitter

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David Gielan ReverbNation page

Give back to the artist, download music by David Gielan on iTunes

Melody Maker Productions official website 

David's newest venture, AudioProDB, is looking to revolutionize the music business by creating a online audio credits database.

(A note from Founder David Gielan) As an audio professional for the last 25 years, I am tired of not having this as a resource for my career. I have worked as a composer, recording engineer, music producer, sound designer, etc. and the only way you are going to know what I worked on is by going to my personal website and if you don't know my name, you are never going to find me. When I want to know who an actor was in a film, I go to IMDB.com. Why can't there be something for music producers and alike on the web? Now there is.

A stop over to their IndoeGoGo campaign page explains the concept in more detail. Give his campaign video a watch and pledge if you can!

AudioProDB IndieGoGo campaign page

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Marathon

I often find myself wondering how I got to be as fortunate as I have with the path I've chosen with this blog. I think back to just a few years ago, before indie music became such a huge part of my being, and wonder how many indie artists I missed out on. One thing that I was never cognizant of was how manipulated I was being by the mainstream. I was one of the flock, following along and listening to what I was being given to listen to. Little did I know that there was a whole other world of music out there left undiscovered. I was never aware that there was such a diverse group of artists all over the world putting out music that I never knew I liked. Until now.

Tonight, I give to you, Lebanon, Pennsylvania, USA's very own, Marathon.

I'm going to be the first to admit that when this band first came onto my radar, I had no idea what I was in for. I don't ever recall having purposely listened to a ambient indie rock/dream pop band before. I'm sure that at some juncture, there have been artists with some semblance of this sound in the repertoire. But would I have ever picked them out of the crowd? Something tells me I was destined to wait for something really special to come along. That something special, I believe, is Marathon.



Zach Wager, vocals/guitar; Erich Wagner, guitar/vocals/percussion; Robert Battle, bass; Paul Winter, keyboard and Ricky Kreiser, drums, are the players responsible for pushing the envelop of musicianship that is Marathon. Once you press play, you're instantly hooked. There are times when other artists allow themselves to be overshadowed by the production of their music. This is never the case here. The artist and the production value compliment each other flawlessly. There's a cohesiveness from start to finish that allows you to immerse yourself in the artistry and get lost in the music. 

Head over to the band's official website now to download their self-titled debut album. Although they're offering it for free, remember, it wasn't free for them to record it. Give back to the band.

Official Marathon website

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Support unsigned artists... give indie music a chance.

Palaye Royale

My journey of indie music discovery started roughly four years ago. In that time, I've seen more than my fair share of indie artists come and go. Some have affected me more profoundly than others have. The one thing that they all had in common was a lack of a dedicated fan base, regardless of the size. There was never a lack of or a question of the artistic ability, they just couldn't seem to grab a hold of the smallest fan base there is in music today, the indie fan.

Well, my world has been turned completely upside down over the course of the past few months. If you're an indie artist yourself reading this, pay close attention to the band I bring you tonight. It's time for you all to meet Palaye Royale.

I first came across the music of the Las Vegas, Nevada, USA, based band a couple of months ago as a panel judge for the Indie Music Bus™ Artist of the Month/Year act. The band was up against some pretty stiff competition that particular month and just missed out on making it. They garnered another shot by the Bus last month and walked away with the honors as the March Artist of the Month. I want to apologize to both the band and the Indie Music Bus™ for missing out on getting this post done in time for them to be properly recognized for that achievement. In light of recent events, which will be explained to you in just a few moments, the band deserves their space here on MY Indie Music Blog in a HUGE way!



The current incarnation of the band is made up of Remington Leith, vocals; Sebastian Danzig, guitar/organ  and Emerson Barrett, drums. With a somewhat throwback sound that's described as fashion art/rock, the guys are making huge waves in the world of not just indie music, but the industry as a whole thanks to a stint in the current MTV News Musical March Madness contest. In the process of making it to the FINAL FOUR, they have knocked off (and pissed off the fans of) some mainstream radio heavy hitters, such as Vampire Weekend, Coldplay, Bastille and Tokio Hotel. For a complete DIY indie act, this is quite an accomplishment! And this is also where the aforementioned fan base comes in to play. The Soldiers of the Royale Council are burning up MTV's voting site to make sure their band succeeds. And it's not just this contest that they're turning up in droves to support the band in. The video for their single Get Higher is now closing in on the benchmark viewership total of 1 million YouTube views (currently knocking on the door of 900,000 views). This is nearly unheard of for an indie artist!



Oh yeah, there's also the worldwide ad campaign for Samsung featuring the band and Get Higher. No biggie, right?!



Not too shabby guys. Not too shabby.

Head over to iTunes now to download the band's debut EP The Ends Beginning as well as Get Higher and their single Morning Light. They've quickly become a favorite on my iPod. From start to finish, Palaye Royale is good old fashioned rock n roll. And that's just the way we like it here at MY Indie Music Blog!

The official Palaye Royale website

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Download music by Palaye Royale on iTunes

Click here to vote for Palaye Royale in the MTV News Musical March Madness contest

Click here to hop on the Indie Music Bus™

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The Sunpilots

Good Sunday evening everyone! I trust you're all doing well. I've got something very special in store for you all tonight. This may very well be the best kept secret in music that you're about to discover with me here at MY Indie Music Blog. Strap in now, because you're about to be blown off your indie music loving asses with this one.

I give to you, for your listening pleasure, The Sunpilots!

Coming to us from Sydney, Australia, the Sunpilots are Raj Siva-Rajah, vocals; Bob Spencer, guitar; Kay Ketting, drums and Adil Baktir, bass. One of the hardest working bands in not just indie music, but music today, the band has been on a near non-stop tour of Europe since 2010, playing shows in the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Latvia and Lithuania. Next up? North America this coming fall and the States!!!

This is easily one of the most successful indie bands on recent record. Since their inception in 2008, the band has racked up awards nearly unrepresented for an indie artist. Their 2009 debut, Living Receiver, was the recipient of an MusicOz award as well as Australian street press awards for Album of the Year as well as a couple of Album of the Week awards. North American college radio soon picked up on the phenomenon and they became a quick favorite on the way to winning Best International Artist at the Toronto Independent Music Awards as well as single of the year for Spotlight in the Sun at the L.A. Independent Music Awards. WHEW!

But what about the music you ask? I'm glad you did. Their latest offering, King of the Sugarcoated Tongues, is slated for a release later this year and is probably one of the finest examples of what a fiercely independent artist will give you. Take a listen...




Alternative rock, progressive rock, concept rock, a rock opera for a new generation. Call it what you will, but this, my friends, is rock n roll. If the other 170 posts in this blog haven't convinced you of the merits of independent artists and the music they create and inspire us with, then the Sunpilots should be your calling card.

While the band is in the studio preparing to record their next album, they are offering King as a free download (in advance of its aforementioned release) on their SoundCloud page. All they ask in return is that if you like what you hear, you shout it from the rooftops and help spread the word! Seems like more than a fair asking price to me!

The Sunpilots official website

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Download Living Receiver on iTunes

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Broken Romeo - What Are You Looking For?

I am here tonight to bear witness to the rock n roll supremacy of one Broken Romeo.

And I brought proof.

Regular readers of this blog should be well versed on Tuscon, Arizona, USA's Broken Romeo. We were given our first taste of their upcoming EP, Side One (2014), when the guys released the first single, Broken Man, which was quite the satisfying appetizer.

Now, we've been given the first course... and what a helping of rock n roll the guys put on our plates! Feast your ears on W.A.U.L.F. (What Are You Looking For?)!





Broken Romeo has succeeded in taking the "modern" tag out of the rock genre and just flat out rock their collective asses off like no one's business. Period. 

I can't say enough times how much I absolutely love this band. Every new song they give us just proves what I've know all along, and what it's time for the rest of the world to find out. Broken Romeo is the real deal. End of story.

Head over to their BandCamp page today to order your copy of W.A.U.L.F. as well as Broken Man. Once you're done there, get your ass over to their ReverbNation page for some true BR classics... then hit up iTunes and Amazon to get your copy of Depseration Daze. DO IT NOW!

The official Broken Romeo website

Broken Romeo on BandCamp

Broken Romeo on ReverbNation

Broken Romeo on iTunes

Broken Romeo on Amazon.com

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Spider Rockets

Alright, it's time for me to stop being greedy and finally share with you something VERY special. For those of you who know me on a personal level, you know of my fondness for female fronted rock bands. No, it's not for the obvious reason (although, the obvious reason is a nice perk!), it's because, well, who doesn't like a badass female fronted rock band?!

Tonight, I've got one of the baddest of the bad for you right here on MY Indie Music Blog. Ladies and gentlemen, I give to you, for your listening pleasure, Spider Rockets!

The Spider Rockets come to us from Hazlet, New Jersey, USA,  and are made up of Helena Cos, lead vocals; Johnny Nap, lead guitar/backing vocals; Dan Prestup, drums and Greg Manning, bass guitar/backing vocals. There's a slew of musical influences to their sound, and the band does an incredible job of tying them all together in one loud, rocking package that leaves your earholes begging for mercy while begging for more!




The band recently got a huge boost in exposure when WWE up-and-coming diva Charlotte chose their song Going Down as her ring entrance music. This has huge potential for the band as the WWE is one of the premiere entertainment shows on TV today, with weekly viewership numbers well into the tens of millions!




I've been infatuated with their latest album Bitten for some time now. There isn't a missed moment on the entire album as the band shows off their rock chops from track to track and everywhere they can fit a note in between. They've definitely taken the genre and turned it on its collective ass to shake it up. There isn't another band out there on mainstream radio that can pull off what Spider Rockets has. The sky is without a doubt the limit for this band, and I for one can not wait for them to catch on. In a HUGE way!




The official Spider Rockets website

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When Particles Collide - Constant Disaster

What's this? ANOTHER post about When Particles Collide? Well, considering they've released the first single and video off of their upcoming album Photoelectric, YOU'RE DAMN RIGHT IT'S ANOTHER POST ABOUT WHEN PARTICLES COLLIDE!

You're going to be seeing the picture above frequently in the weeks to come. With a June 10th release date upcoming, anything and everything to do with the release of this album will be shared, blogged about, posted on Facebook and Tweeted as often as it needs to be to get the word out! I was one of the lucky ones (READ: SMART) who pre-ordered my pink vinyl copy of Photoelectric and was rewarded with an early download of Constant Disaster prior to its official release. It's been stuck in my head for the better part of 2 weeks now. I don't see it leaving there anytime soon either.




Sasha and Chris are really on to something special here. I CAN NOT WAIT for Photoelectric to be released in all its vinyl/digital glory. There are even rumors of a hidden track on the vinyl album. You really should have ordered a copy!

In the meantime, enjoy Constant Disaster and keep checking back with me here at MY Indie Music Blog for anything and everything you need to know about WPC... they're about to reach Lit on the Flash status as my most blogged about artist!





WhenParticlesCollide.com

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