Being an artist isn’t always as easy as people think. It’s not all colors and tambourines. It comes with many challenges and sometimes unforeseen obstacles. An artist must be fearless and willing to attack these challenges. When it comes to music there is quite a long road to climb up.
When Staring a new musical project it is imperative that you isolate your specific sound and am image that represents what your sonically producing. Finding your voice, so to speak, and what makes it unique. Like in all industries there are steps on this road to having the world hear and recognize your music.
We have started a new series here at CMF to talk with up and coming artists and what they are doing to carve their way in the music world. Then coupling their thoughts with Artist that have made their mark and are working in the industry now.
This article will start with two part series that will first feature a local Chicago group named Purple Tokyo, then will be followed up by an interview with the one and only SAVOY.
Recently we found Purple Tokyo when turned on to their Instagram by a dear friend. We were pretty impressed by their marketing technique and thought to it would be awesome for them to talk a little bit about how they are pushing their project.
CMF: Who is Purple Tokyo?
PT: Purple Tokyo is an exploration of the mind’s mysterious places that are somewhat dangerous and dark while maintaining a sense of fun, feel-good excitement.
CMF: When you started this project what was the theme or goal you had in mind?
PT: Initially, it was an outlet from a previous project. I felt I had gotten away from my roots, and I just wanted to feel a bit more in control. I wanted to be me again. At first it was just DJ-ing stuff that I liked for fun, but in the back of my mind I always wanted to play drums for our live shows, focus on original production, and create a signature sound in both Spanish and English. Specifically a sound that would cross-over genres and emotions.
CMF: Was it a collaborative concept?
PT: Purple Tokyo was a collaboration from the start. As my brother and I started to finalize the music, it quickly grew and became more of an art project. I wanted to create an experience alongside the music and began to form a larger team behind Purple Tokyo—a team of designers, illustrators, photographers, videographers, developers, and other musicians.
CMF: You’ve created a unique form of marketing your artistry. Could you please talk a little bit about that?
PT: I have always admired bands/groups who have a very defined image. Nowadays, it is as important as the music. I wanted Purple Tokyo to be well branded. I began to explore the idea of creating a symbol for the name instead of just some cool font for the name. It began to be developed further with each release.
CMF:How did you develop a concept?
PT; The concept all came together from our instrumental debut, “Deities”. We wanted an image to accompany each song, releasing one song a week over Instagram. However we thought it would be overkill to create new album art for each release. That’s where the idea sparked to break up the original album art into 15 sections, one for each release, to form the big picture. We continued to collaborate with other musicians to make these instrumental versions into actual, finished singles. After shooting a video for the first single, it just clicked. Why not use the initial sections we posted of each instrumental to tag a new profile? That way our followers could go and preview the video as well as the music.
CMF: Why did you feel that this was the best way to begin the group’s promotion?
PT: People are already glued to their phones. Everyday apps, such as Instagram, allow our followers to easily preview our upcoming releases. We innovatively utilize the tag-function to enable further exploration of our visual art and videos for each single.
CMF: You’re opening for Savoy next week. How was your group given this opportunity?
PT: I have been working my ass off to make this project come to life. Deciding that I needed to go full throttle, I quit my full-time architecture job. It became about taking every opportunity to become further involved in the local scene, whether it was selling merch, managing hospitality, booking local acts, taking event photos, producing, or handling the settlement with venues/artists at the end of shows. This gave me a full industry perspective that I could put in use when on the other, fun-side of things.
CMF: There are a lot of artists out there that are looking to get a gig such as yourself. What advice can you give to artists that are looking to do the same?
PT: First and foremost, be yourself; make music because you love it not because it is what’s “cool”. Second, create your own sound. Be authentic, innovative, and wear as many hats as you can fit. If it doesn’t fit, then find a way to make it work. Be in it for the long run, and do your homework. It is all about how bad you want it.
CMF: If you were to ask any of your biggest musical inspirations what they did to hone in their sound what would you ask them? And who would that be?
PT: It would have to be Pink Floyd. I consider them to be pioneers when it comes to having a timeless sound and image. I want to know what they struggled with before finding their signature sound, and what they would consider their perfect-imperfections within their music.
CMF: How do you plan on moving forward after this show?
PT: Purple Tokyo is in its infancy. This show is a great opportunity and stepping-stone; we are really looking forward to the response from this live show, and hope to connect with new people and grow in our fan base. Moving forward, we want to portray both a consistent image and a flexible sound to our fans. We will continue to have a new release every month until the end of the year. It is very exciting to expand on the first phase of this project and see our Instagram world collide with our live show.
In celebration of our new article series (which we will be following up with Part 2 in an interview with Savoy this weekend) and the upcoming show for Purple Tokyo and Savoy (presented by Silver Wrapper and React Presents) we are doing a surprise giveaway for two tickets for you and a guest to attend the show. In order to claim it you must Follow Savoy, Purple Tokyo, and CMF and repost the featured image with its hashtag on either Facebook or Instagram. Chances double if you post on both. So, for those over achievers here is where you can really make it happen.
Tag: chicago music festivals
Riot Fest 2015
Chicago, IL
Sept 11th- 13th
Riot Fest 2015, this summer, stood as an homage to that sacred fight against the “Establishment” over the past 50 years. There were key faces, reunions, and debuts much like they have had in years prior, but something this time was different. Now, it very well could be the change in overall scenery since the venue moved, although, the 12th and 24th ward held its own. Somehow it just felt like something was missing. Even with a more accessible and simple lay out of Douglas Park, celebrated by the crowd over all, the tragically scenic bottle neck passages between stages in Humbolt were missed. There was something else though; something almost a bit more elusive. It felt like passion wasn’t fully there. Not from the festival itself, per say, or the organizers really, they dealt with quite a bit to keep it in the city, but more so from the city itself. As a whole the masses felt somewhat benign, due to what I wonder, in a way that contradicted the theme of the whole event to “Riot!”
Now ironically this is the type of crowd that would bring their kids to a carnival while System of a Down was raging in the background on a Saturday night. (I mean I know I would. Start ‘em young). But, children sometimes don’t always know how to play nice with others, as was the case with Steve Sneider during that set. “At least he’s still breathing.” I mean it’s a rock show, but really they were only ones that I could see getting anyone pumped. System carried what looked like to me as one of if not the largest crowds of the entire festival. To get across field took over 20 min when earlier in the day it took 3. That’s cool. That’s how it’s supposed to be. But, what with the rest of the fest? I mean the line up was sick. The acts are all world class, having left their mark on music history for decades beyond their inception. How is it that the city just seemed so distant?
Let’s look at the positives No Doubt was a treat giving us the sound and style we all anticipated. Tenacious D was for sure entertaining. Rancid killed it though you could just barely tell from the crowd (This one kind of threw me off)…
Flogging had a fun little mosh pit circulating but rocking just like I remember in high school.
Alkaline was definitely making moves.
Coheed and Cambria destroyed the stage, looking like a real life version of “Blanka” from Street Fighter. (His sounds revitalized the reasons why I am a fan.) Rodrigo y Gabriella took a minute to get off the ground, but as soon as they hit their Megadeath cover it felt right on track.
Alexisonfire, Ice Cube, Damian Marley, Billy “fucking” Idol, I could rattle them all off, but you get it. This is why we go. We dance, we thrash, we cheer, drink beer and all the while we bond with the people around us, kind of. See this is not a festival like all of its other psychedelic peers. Oh there were party favors; let’s be real, it’s a festival. But, not the type you see more and more of now a day. No, this is the Whiskey slamm’n, joint flick’n, beer mongers that we all know and love. Just this time it felt like they were ready to call it a night by the time the cops shut down Snoops set. And, when I say shut down I mean on the DOT.
Your choice of food was either fried, fried, or triple fried anything. Not complaining when you’re drunk, but the badass food trucks were left tucked away by the Riot Speaks stage. Now, RIOT SPEAKS, this was cool. Getting some insight to the inner working of what’s going on around you is not something you get anywhere else. So, hell yeah to that! After getting some knowledge laid down, you could find a donation run Arcade just around the corner. That’s right they had Rampage! Winning! Then to top it off you got a sideshow circus. Legit freaky deaks! Um, Awesome! So, what’s the deal then? Why wasn’t the crowd beside themselves with child like glee from the sick and twisted carnival that they all came to see?
Well, if you paid for any of the levels of VIP then you may have had a reason since it was pretty lack luster for the price. You still had to by drinks and wait in long lines for food. But, you got a nice limited seating Lounge area to mellow or watch the bands from a live stream. (If that’s your thing) The top level Super VIP felt like something that I experienced at a North side Bar mitzvah. Easily expensive, so don’t get me wrong, but cookie cutter. It almost felt like a statement was being made about the price I could have paid. Sorry, Sean and Mike, gotta be real here. If you are gonna put massage chairs, lounges and short cut access out there for what you are clearing after over head, you gotta give some more love to the creative lay out of it. Press was ultimately not allowed in the VIP, so, technically I wasn’t supposed to me there but just goes to show you where you can find yourself when making new friends. Thanks Frank. Upon entering the forbidden zone with our newfound friends I realized very quickly, how luck we got, and that in order to maneuver the grounds freely you needed a combination of bracelets. Sixteen if remember correctly. Credentials for days! Every area was ruled by another bracelet. But, only “One to Rule them all!” Our locally hired crew from S3 controlled the flow of the population and made a valiant attempt to hold the lines but people were still jumping fences. Can’t shut a poor rocker down! They plugged that hole quick though, so, hats off.
If you were lucky to get back stage or even on the stage during the sets you had to have super special bracelets to make the cut, other wise you weren’t going up there and that’s that. Even the photographers were not allowed to have their allotted 15 min under the artist in the pit during the Headliner sets. No, those spots were then reserved for the uber special bracelets. I couldn’t understand this move, really; I chuckled to see iPhones instead of Pro-cams taking shots of the headliners so I thought it was slightly ridiculous, but who am I to judge? I didn’t have to pay $180,000 to prep and repair a city park, after getting kicked out of my home, and negotiating with a hospital board to let me move in next-door with ten’s of thousands of my friends. I have no clue what it takes to run a multi-million dollar machine. But, it was fun and I had a good time. One better be enjoying themselves at a fest, other wise go home!
All in all it was well done even though it was a quiet Riot compared to years past, but it held it’s own in its new home and I got to interviewed Gwar! Heck yeah!
Check out the entire photo album from Riot Fest 2015 here!
Phases of the Moon encompassed everything that is right within the festival community: Beautiful people coming together to celebrate life, art and music.I left the festival feeling grateful, enlightened, and inspired. The sense of community circulating the festival grounds was undeniable and incredibly moving. The crowd was a seamless mix of young and old, each generation bringing something different to the table. Throughout the entire weekend, energy levels were high and minds were in sync. This defined unity became the underlying melody that played throughout the weekend.
Upon entering festival grounds, I was greeted by an array of colorful ribbons and silky fabrics weaved across the sky in an intricate design, creating what was called, The Sanctuary. The Sanctuary was a dream-like oasis, which offered various transformational workshops throughout the weekend. This allowed people to escape from the festival frenzy and focus on relaxation and rejuvenation, through healing practices like yoga, and meditation. Aside from the sanctuary, there were various other art installations scattered among festival grounds, along with a huge field designated for disc golf.
Yes- the waiting situation the first night was a bit irritating, but it was hardly the calamity social media made it out to be. By the time Friday rolled around, yesterday’s line was merely a distant memory; a minor hiccup in the execution of a magical fest. Given the circumstances of the storm the night before, the festival crew did an amazing job turning the weekend around. Their continual effort to keep the ground dry and mud-free far exceeded my expectations. In fact, the bales of hay and scattered mulch only added to the ambiance, bringing back childhood memories of hayrides and corn mazes.
Sitting in the grass watching Gov’t Mule was unlike anything I had ever experienced. I breathed in the crisp September air while the lingering summer sun warmed my bones. I saw two old men digging with twigs in the dirt, giggling with each other the way small children do. A scene so ridiculous, you couldn’t help but join in their laughter. I watched a dozen different people pause to play soccer with a wandering, yellow-haired toddler, spilling their drinks and goofing around just to make the boy smile. Something about the look in his eyes took me back to summer nights playing kick-the-can in the old neighborhood. A shirtless man teetered across a tightrope, wooing the crowd with his meticulous turns and tricks. Meanwhile, a band of gypsies draped in fringe and lace danced through the crowd, turning heads and breaking hearts with dazzling eyes and mischievous smiles. Mesmerized, I gazed on as young lovers embraced one another and aged lovers shared a dance.
Time stood still as I idled somewhere in between nostalgia and unimpeded bliss. It felt like coming home after a long trip, or a glass of wine after a tough day; like playing catch with your dad or hearing your favorite Led Zeppelin song on the radio—it just felt right. In that captivating moment, I felt alive. It was god damn beautiful.
Phases of the Moon held moments like these; timeless moments that remind us to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. Appreciate all that you have, and seek meaning with each rising sun. Smile as often as possible, and spill your beer if it means making a kid laugh. Be good to yourself and be good to each other. And always take time to cherish those special moments that make life worth living.
Article written by Stephanie Bacos