PART ONE
Pop vs. UDM and the Influx of Hybrid
Recording Artists
An inside look into the perplexing world of an "Underground" Dance Music performer
By: Amunet Shah
For years I’ve been experiencing the chasm between mainstream and dance music recording artists first-hand, including the cultural implications which accompany these differences. Also, by dance music; I’m referring to Underground Dance Music not EDM. And for this piece, by recording artists; I’m referring to those who can write, sing, produce and perform their own original material, which is not the norm, nor is it the standard definition of the term.
Historically, the umbrella of the mainstream music industry was split into segments, which is obviously important concerning royalties. It’s pretty complicated so I’m not going to go too in depth here. In essence, you were either a writer/author; referred to as the lyrical “songwriter,” the producer and/or engineer; the one who composed/produced the musical backing track to a song. Or, the artist; the singer who brought the song to life via a sound recording and stage performances, i.e. Rihanna etc.
But what if you’re all of these things? What if you’re the singer/songwriter/performer/artist AND the DJ/producer/engineer?
After all, this is the DIY world of UDM we’re talking about here...
Sure, there aren’t many, but we do exist and we’re becoming increasingly more common. For the purpose of this article I’m going to refer to us as “Hybrid Recording Artists.” Bob Moses come to mind as a splendid example of this type of band/artist. They recently won a Grammy, which I was very excited about, yet they originally sprung forth from the underground, which is why I’m mentioning them now. (Also, just FYI, it was RAC's remix of one of their songs that received the Grammy).
Hybrid Recording Artists are a direct result of the DIY framework of the underground and Indie world.
But there has yet to be a defined territory and outlet for these types of artists to perform live. And although I recently coined the term, “Hybrid Recording Artists,” many of the major labels have already had subsidiaries in place for years, with the sole purpose of signing and exploiting underground artists. But let’s be real here, their musical preference is still some form of commercial friendly EDM and trendy House, i.e. the festival circuit.
Times are changing though, and we’re seeing a large influx of Underground artists permeating the commercial world. The lines are becoming very blurry now, and I do believe it’s our time to shine. But there are still some roadblocks firmly in place.
Here’s an example, I recently had a meeting with one of the most important people in NYC nightlife. We caught up and talked shop, I showed him my music video (watch it here: http://bit.ly/2ntWD9z) and he LOVED it. Then he proceeded to tell me, “But in UDM you’re either an artist or a DJ, you can’t be both.” And then he said, “The general consensus in professional club land is that an artist who’s also trying to DJ is up to something and people in the “DJ world” have a negative attitude towards those who can who do both.” He also said. “Everybody wants to be a DJ, but not everyone can do this (as he points to my music video).” He told me to just focus intensely on making music videos and release as many as possible (which I plan to do).
But I’ve been a DJ for half my life. So why would I stop now? Plus I’m finally learning how to integrate this facet into my live show.
Historically, the umbrella of the mainstream music industry was split into segments, which is obviously important concerning royalties. It’s pretty complicated so I’m not going to go too in depth here. In essence, you were either a writer/author; referred to as the lyrical “songwriter,” the producer and/or engineer; the one who composed/produced the musical backing track to a song. Or, the artist; the singer who brought the song to life via a sound recording and stage performances, i.e. Rihanna etc.
But what if you’re all of these things? What if you’re the singer/songwriter/performer/artist AND the DJ/producer/engineer?
After all, this is the DIY world of UDM we’re talking about here...
Sure, there aren’t many, but we do exist and we’re becoming increasingly more common. For the purpose of this article I’m going to refer to us as “Hybrid Recording Artists.” Bob Moses come to mind as a splendid example of this type of band/artist. They recently won a Grammy, which I was very excited about, yet they originally sprung forth from the underground, which is why I’m mentioning them now. (Also, just FYI, it was RAC's remix of one of their songs that received the Grammy).
Hybrid Recording Artists are a direct result of the DIY framework of the underground and Indie world.
But there has yet to be a defined territory and outlet for these types of artists to perform live. And although I recently coined the term, “Hybrid Recording Artists,” many of the major labels have already had subsidiaries in place for years, with the sole purpose of signing and exploiting underground artists. But let’s be real here, their musical preference is still some form of commercial friendly EDM and trendy House, i.e. the festival circuit.
Times are changing though, and we’re seeing a large influx of Underground artists permeating the commercial world. The lines are becoming very blurry now, and I do believe it’s our time to shine. But there are still some roadblocks firmly in place.
Here’s an example, I recently had a meeting with one of the most important people in NYC nightlife. We caught up and talked shop, I showed him my music video (watch it here: http://bit.ly/2ntWD9z) and he LOVED it. Then he proceeded to tell me, “But in UDM you’re either an artist or a DJ, you can’t be both.” And then he said, “The general consensus in professional club land is that an artist who’s also trying to DJ is up to something and people in the “DJ world” have a negative attitude towards those who can who do both.” He also said. “Everybody wants to be a DJ, but not everyone can do this (as he points to my music video).” He told me to just focus intensely on making music videos and release as many as possible (which I plan to do).
But I’ve been a DJ for half my life. So why would I stop now? Plus I’m finally learning how to integrate this facet into my live show.
So how did I get here exactly?
Well basically, if you want your UDM music and performances seen and heard by the world, then you’d better learn how to do it all on your own, without the image development and financial support of ANYONE let alone major record labels - at least, initially...
And before I continue on, I’d like to give a brief background on my history as a singer, DJ, etc., and explain the experiences which led me into the complex role of a “Hybrid Recording Artist.”
I began singing with my Father when I was 5 years old. He was involved with the famous 60’s band; “The Mamas and The Papas,” and has a very in-depth history in the music biz. I grew up singing all different genres; Folk, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Soul, Samba, Reggae etc. I even sang the National Anthem for my high school. But eventually I settled firmly into the Underground world as a vocalist/dancer around 17 years old, right around when I started playing records and devoting my youth to the club/rave scene.
A lot is different in UDM now compared to the 90’s(duh). Back then it was pretty rare for a DJ/Producer to know his or her way around recording/editing/mixing vocals. This took a certain level of expertise, which the average DJ/Producers just didn’t have yet. This is still somewhat prevalent today, however now we have much better, more accessible technology.
To make a long story short, two vocal releases of mine, which I had written then performed in the producers’ studio were released with errors in the recording. The first one was a track written when I was 18 years old. One of the notes in a take was flat, and I guess the producers were too tone deaf to hear it, and just released it like that anyway. I was in shock they’d left it like that. Had I been given the opportunity to actually review the recording of my own vocal takes I would’ve informed them of the error and re-sang the part. But I wasn’t given that chance, nor did I hear the finished recording until shortly before it was released.
My input didn’t matter anyway.
For the next release - a similar thing occurred. However, this time the producers kept a scratch vocal of me merely warming up my voice on the mic, then turned around and actually used it in the final master recording which was released on a popular label at that time. When I finally heard the song (again, right before it was released), I couldn’t believe they used this scratch vocal. Honestly, that one bad decision on their part changed the validity of the entire recording for me, and other people as well. I was seeing the negligence first hand.
These instances would not have happened had I been working with mainstream/commercial music engineers.
This is when some deep learning lessons surrounding the topic of this post began to burrow into my psyche, eventually leading me to become an audio engineer so I could create all of my own backing tracks, and never depend on anyone else ever again.
However, even with the education I still knew I’d always be a UDM artist. I was heavily into DJ’ing at this point and my heart and soul bled for the underground. I also knew that because of this I might never have access to the major record labels, or the support from them to reach the level of success I was capable of, even though I had the talent to do so. This caused me much hardship over the years, resulting in a hyper focus on DJ’ing, which eventually led to a full-blown nervous breakdown. (See this post for details on that: http://bit.ly/2DpEMVO)
In mainstream music (which includes EDM now), successful singers receive respect from all facets of the industry; from the spectators, audio engineers, producers, record label executives, managers, and most notably venue staff, etc. There are many reasons for this, and I believe it starts with the education.
To expand on the subject from my angle, I’ll speak a bit about my experience as an audio engineering student at Full Sail University.
While in school we were trained to do exactly what I mentioned above. We were taught to understand the intense courage it takes for singers and musicians to put themselves out there as a performer and the immense vulnerability and responsibility that come along with it. And subsequently, we learned the importance of bringing the best performance out of them during recording sessions by making them comfortable enough to do their best. This paradigm of thought was thoroughly instilled in our work ethic as young engineers.
Unfortunately, this is not relative to what I’ve seen throughout my experiences as a singer in UDM. In many cases, though not all of them, I’ve endured the exact opposite. I’m accustomed to perfunctory sound checks, general apathy towards my importance, disrespect, and power dynamics.
Pre-nervous breakdown and post-nervous breakdown – the Underground dance music sector is still the same culture…
(On a side note, I’d like to give a heartfelt shout out and public thank you to the sound crew at Output. When I performed with Kate Simko on The Roof there, I was given a thorough sound check, access to a private room where I could be alone to warm up my voice and get focused, and most importantly, was treated with attentiveness and respect. Is it a surprise I did an amazing job that night? A little support goes a long way. Thank you Output. <3)
Well basically, if you want your UDM music and performances seen and heard by the world, then you’d better learn how to do it all on your own, without the image development and financial support of ANYONE let alone major record labels - at least, initially...
And before I continue on, I’d like to give a brief background on my history as a singer, DJ, etc., and explain the experiences which led me into the complex role of a “Hybrid Recording Artist.”
I began singing with my Father when I was 5 years old. He was involved with the famous 60’s band; “The Mamas and The Papas,” and has a very in-depth history in the music biz. I grew up singing all different genres; Folk, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Soul, Samba, Reggae etc. I even sang the National Anthem for my high school. But eventually I settled firmly into the Underground world as a vocalist/dancer around 17 years old, right around when I started playing records and devoting my youth to the club/rave scene.
A lot is different in UDM now compared to the 90’s(duh). Back then it was pretty rare for a DJ/Producer to know his or her way around recording/editing/mixing vocals. This took a certain level of expertise, which the average DJ/Producers just didn’t have yet. This is still somewhat prevalent today, however now we have much better, more accessible technology.
To make a long story short, two vocal releases of mine, which I had written then performed in the producers’ studio were released with errors in the recording. The first one was a track written when I was 18 years old. One of the notes in a take was flat, and I guess the producers were too tone deaf to hear it, and just released it like that anyway. I was in shock they’d left it like that. Had I been given the opportunity to actually review the recording of my own vocal takes I would’ve informed them of the error and re-sang the part. But I wasn’t given that chance, nor did I hear the finished recording until shortly before it was released.
My input didn’t matter anyway.
For the next release - a similar thing occurred. However, this time the producers kept a scratch vocal of me merely warming up my voice on the mic, then turned around and actually used it in the final master recording which was released on a popular label at that time. When I finally heard the song (again, right before it was released), I couldn’t believe they used this scratch vocal. Honestly, that one bad decision on their part changed the validity of the entire recording for me, and other people as well. I was seeing the negligence first hand.
These instances would not have happened had I been working with mainstream/commercial music engineers.
This is when some deep learning lessons surrounding the topic of this post began to burrow into my psyche, eventually leading me to become an audio engineer so I could create all of my own backing tracks, and never depend on anyone else ever again.
However, even with the education I still knew I’d always be a UDM artist. I was heavily into DJ’ing at this point and my heart and soul bled for the underground. I also knew that because of this I might never have access to the major record labels, or the support from them to reach the level of success I was capable of, even though I had the talent to do so. This caused me much hardship over the years, resulting in a hyper focus on DJ’ing, which eventually led to a full-blown nervous breakdown. (See this post for details on that: http://bit.ly/2DpEMVO)
In mainstream music (which includes EDM now), successful singers receive respect from all facets of the industry; from the spectators, audio engineers, producers, record label executives, managers, and most notably venue staff, etc. There are many reasons for this, and I believe it starts with the education.
To expand on the subject from my angle, I’ll speak a bit about my experience as an audio engineering student at Full Sail University.
While in school we were trained to do exactly what I mentioned above. We were taught to understand the intense courage it takes for singers and musicians to put themselves out there as a performer and the immense vulnerability and responsibility that come along with it. And subsequently, we learned the importance of bringing the best performance out of them during recording sessions by making them comfortable enough to do their best. This paradigm of thought was thoroughly instilled in our work ethic as young engineers.
Unfortunately, this is not relative to what I’ve seen throughout my experiences as a singer in UDM. In many cases, though not all of them, I’ve endured the exact opposite. I’m accustomed to perfunctory sound checks, general apathy towards my importance, disrespect, and power dynamics.
Pre-nervous breakdown and post-nervous breakdown – the Underground dance music sector is still the same culture…
(On a side note, I’d like to give a heartfelt shout out and public thank you to the sound crew at Output. When I performed with Kate Simko on The Roof there, I was given a thorough sound check, access to a private room where I could be alone to warm up my voice and get focused, and most importantly, was treated with attentiveness and respect. Is it a surprise I did an amazing job that night? A little support goes a long way. Thank you Output. <3)
