Livication Media started with a show in far-off New Jersey, thanks to our good friends at Nice Guy Booking and Front Row For Life. It took place at Championship Bar in Trenton, a small bar with a back room and a stage for putting on shows. A lot of family and friends from the area showed to support Livication artists Law of Poe and Forgotten Citizen, as well as a handful of local acts from the Philadelphia/New Jersey area, who brought along their respective group of friends and family. All in all it was a great time. Since we already work heavily to promote our own artists, we’ll focus this article mainly on the local acts that were kind enough to join us for our eager beginnings. We do have some cool pictures of all the bands thanks to Jesse Simmers Photography, a good friend of mine with an incredible eye.
A Storybook Ending
Photo courtesy of Jesse Simmers
Doug Cassel started off the night with his acoustic project, A Storybook Ending. His night started with a dilemma in the form of a forgotten capo, but as they say, the show must go on! He managed to rig a pencil and rubber band to be a decent substitute, and made it work the best he could. From what I hear, this was only the third show for A Storybook Ending, surely made more nerve-wracking by being the first act of the night. For some reason, playing to a small crowd of few people who came out early can feel the same as playing to a packed house. You feel obligated to make the night worth it for the people who came out extra early. Yet despite the relatively empty room and the improvised capo, Doug put on an impressive show, leaving only his slightly trembling hands as any hint of nerves. In the video below, Doug lends an explanation of his song before he plays it – a story many of us musicians know very well. “If anybody’s ever been in a band, then you know how you become like a family, and all of a sudden one day it just seems like your family just fades away. This one’s a little song that I wrote for a family of mine.” Maintaining a band can certainly be difficult; it’s like being in 2 or 3 relationships at once. Breaking up a band can feel very similar to breaking up with a significant other, and sometimes it’s even harder to rebound, considering you can’t usually just go out and meet some slutty bass player at the bar for a one night jam. I sure hope Doug has been able to maintain a friendship with his former family, because like relationships, sometimes band conflicts can ruin friendships. Either way, Doug seems to have found another door to open, and a new path to go down with A Storybook Ending, and his song writing definitely has potential. If he’s only been playing guitar for three months, then I can’t wait to see what the next 3 months brings out!
Check out A Storybook Ending:
A Storybook Ending on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/astorybookendingband
Law of Poe
Photos courtesy of Jesse Simmers
CL Sosa + Bodega
Photo courtesy of Jesse Simmers
After Law of Poe finished off the acoustic sets for the night, CL Sosa + Bodega was up with some electronic spacey hip-hop. Their live show consists of CL Sosa spinning tracks on a set of decks while the two other guys (Bodega) jam out on guitar and bass. CL Sosa’s lyrics are on par with some of modern hip-hop’s greatest. During a trip to the bar at the front of the venue while these guys were playing, I overheard somebody comment, “That guy sounds like Wiz in there!” I had been thinking about why his style sounded so familiar and suddenly my accidental eavesdropping had my brain reeling with comparisons. CL Sosa’s tunes would be received very well by fans of Wiz Khalifa, Drake, and Kanye West. The flow, production, and lyrics are all on par with the best. By themselves, CL Sosa’s songs are highly impressive, but it’s really cool to see Bodega back him up live. The bass guitar mostly follows the bass of CL Sosa’s track, but adds a really big presence to the live performance. The guitar provides groovy chords with a spacious and reverberating atmosphere, and together the three make seeing CL Sosa + Bodega’s live show a really mellow and absorbing experience.
Check out CL Sosa at http://www.clsosa.com
CL Sosa + Bodega on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/CLSosaMusic
CL Sosa Soundcloud - http://www.soundcloud.com/clsosa
Forgotten Citizen
Photos courtesy of Jesse Simmers
Sincerely, The Alchemists
Photo by Jesse Simmers
The fifth band of the night was an electro/synth pop group by the name of Sincerely, The Alchemists. Their live show consists of three members whose duties may not be completely apparent during their live show. Behind the strong vocals of their singer are two members who to the untrained eye seem like mad scientists tinkering with various musical lab equipment. They use various gear including synths, stage lights, and sound and light mixers to put on a show that is uniquely their own. The crowd in attendance was mostly pressed up against the wall and bar of the back room at Champ’s, but StA’s singer Marc filled the space nicely by making it his own extended part of the stage. Jumping and dancing around, and often singing to the other two members, his energy contrasted nicely with the seemingly calm and calculated Alchemists on stage. Their music is really in a league of its own and these guys really have a unique sound that is unmistakable. The instrumentation is driven mainly by synths and drum machine programming in poppy, electronic dance songs. Marc has a very distinct voice that adds a lot to the unique arrangements and beats by Dave and Justin. The structures are well thought out, flowing nicely through the different parts of each song. Overall, The Alchemists do indeed play quite Sincerely when it comes to playing from the heart, which is exactly what it takes whether there is a crowd of 10 or 10,000.
Check out Sincerely, The Alchemists
Sincerely, The Alchemists on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/fromcoaltogold
Sincerely, The Alchemists Soundcloud - http://soundcloud.com/sincerely-the-alchemists
Woodland Ave.
Photo by Jesse Simmers
It’s pretty rare for a standard three-piece band to really stand out after the days of Nirvana, Sublime, Meat Puppets, The Police, and countless other power trios that have set the bar for rock music over the years. When a trio can have a really full and powerful rock sound, you know they’re doing something right, and Woodland Ave is definitely doing something right. You can tell these guys really nailed down the tone on their instruments and worked hard to make their set tight and fluid. Even changing tunings sounded like a segue into the next song (see the beginning of the video below). Somehow, even if their guitarist stopped playing completely and just sang, their sound was still huge. I’m sure it has to do with the pounding polyrhythms and complex bass lines that these guys churn out. When the guitar does come in it just gets even more intense. I was fortunate enough to get a demo CD from these guys when I talked to them, and found it to be a great CD for putting on repeat during long road trips, on which I was embarking quite often during my stay up north. One thing that impressed me about their CD is that the quality was kind of raw and not over-produced, and that made it sound great. It was truly an excellent CD without needing the bells and whistles of a production job with a hefty price tag. No apparent overdubbing or background vocals, everything sounded as it would when you see their live show. Actually, that may be a slight stretch, but only because their live show was really awesome. They had just the right amount of power and energy in their songs to close out the night with a bang after a long night of great music that may have otherwise left us worn out by the end of the night. Definitely check these guys out.
Check out Woodland Ave. at http://www.woodlandave.net
Woodland Ave. on Facebook - http://www.facebook.com/woodlandave
Woodland Ave. Soundcloud - http://www.soundcloud.com/woodlandave
Thanks again to everyone who came out to make Livication’s startup party a great night. We had lots of fun and look forward to having the opportunity to meet more and more bands in the future and try to help them as best we can.
