Here is the final version of a song I recorded for Andy De Decker. Andy is part of the Belgian band Ionic Vision. He put together a compilation to be released later this year all about sex. From a production standpoint one thing interesting about this song is many of the sounds were recorded into Ableton Live live from my iPhone.

Blow the Kiss – The Horrorist by thingstocome

“Cut the wrist. Blow the kiss. Blood bubbles. Trouble trouble. Trouble trouble!” – The Horrorist

For more info: www.dsbp.cx/ionic/

Photo credit: Amodiovalerio Verde

One of the best ways to promote a band on your record label is to create a video interview with them. It really doesn’t take much skill, time or money. In fact, the video above was shot using the video mode on a single point and shoot cheapo camera. I used iMovie08 which uses Core Video so any image adjustments, transitions and titles all happen in real time, no rendering! This makes the entire process actually a lot of fun. Sure the video would be better if I was using a better camera, external mic and some lights but you know what? If I had to lug all that stuff to the club I probably would not have bothered. Showing up and creating something is the most important thing. I actually own quite a lot of video equipment including Final Cut Pro but workflow always wins in my book so I went for the fastest way to the finish line. I mentioned before on this blog I love Creative Commons and here’s why: See the images I cut during the interview? They are all CC licensed so I’m not stealing anyone’s art to create my own.

The style was characterized by hard and often sparse danceable electronic beats, clear undistorted vocals, shouts or growls with reverberation and echo effects, and repetitive sequencer lines. At this time important synthesizers were Korg MS-20, Emulator II, Oberheim Matrix or the Yamaha DX7. Typical EBM rhythms are based on 4/4 beats, mainly with some minor syncopation to suggest a rock music rhythm structure. – wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_body_music

Sven Lauwers and Andy de Decker are great live which is extremely important for an EBM band. Be sure to check out Ionic Vision’s release on Things to Come Records: Beatport, Junodownload, Things to Come Records

For more info about the event they played:
www.myspace.com/crossingtheparallel