Track of the Week:
Jumpers perform their single “Fireworks”. Watch as they play the infectious track and work through the best way to record the guitar solo.
Oh, Hello:
Brooklyn-based band Jumpers showcase their love for each other and discuss the perks of being musicians in a big city.
Find out more about the band HERE.
After nearly a year underground (or lurking in the dark corners of who-knows-where), Gorillaz’s Murdoc Niccals has resurfaced and is again wreaking havoc — this time over the airwaves. It seems in fact that, following a dramatic exit from Gorillaz’s Plastic Beach HQ, the miserable despot Murdoc Niccals has created yet another pirate radio station and is now sending transmissions from a brand new mystery location. What’s this all about? Tune in to the weekly broadcasts to find out.
Tuesday, February 14th 2012 : Transmission 4 – With word out about the upcoming 3 Artists, 1 Song track release, Murdoc’s home has become more than he bargained for. Listen in for Murdoc’s plans to turn his mucky situation into something else entirely.
Thursday, February 9th 2012 : Transmission 3 – After weeks of keeping mum (due to the threats, of course), the elusive Murdoc Niccals hits the airwaves to unleash the names of his victims, ahem, artists featured on the upcoming 3 Artists, 1 Song track “DoYaThing”.
Monday, February 6th 2012 : Transmission 2 – After establishing his new radio station, Gorillaz’s Murdoc Niccals now dangles a tasty little tidbit. Supposedly it has something to do with the upcoming Converse 3 Artists, 1 Song track release, but who can be sure with Murdoc?
Wednesday, February 1st 2012 : Transmission 1 – Murdoc breaks his radio silence to let the kiddie-winkles know that he’s created some sort of new monster. Tune in and let good old Uncle Murdoc fill your boots with this sticky bit of news.
Track of the Week:
The newest installment of the short-film series “Track of the Week” also features The Hot Club of Flatbush working on their unique vintage sound in behind-the-scenes footage from their session recording “After You’ve Gone.”
Oh, Hello:
The Hot Club of Flatbush reveals the process behind finalizing their line-up, as well as the Parisian inspiration for their name in this week’s “Oh Hello.”
Track Of The Week:
Watch rapper Cezir get settle into the Converse Rubber Tracks Studio to record the single “Long Time Coming.”
Oh, Hello:
D.C.-born rapper Cezir opens up about his past and how the opportunity to record at Converse Rubber Tracks is helping him grow as an artist.
Converse and Filter have teamed up to bring you Hometown L.A., a series of videos shot throughout Los Angeles that capture some of L.A’s best bands playing in a variety of locations. Shot in black and white, the video’s focus on unique and beautiful locations throughout LA – and the bands that bring them to life. Look out for more videos in the Hometown L.A. series throughout 2012. This time, we catch up with FIDLAR in their awesome studio in Highland Park, performing “No Ass”.
“F it dog, life’s a risk”. That is the best and literal way to describe FIDLAR. Based in Los Angeles, band mates Brandon, Zac and brothers Max and Elvis are all about doing what they want (and what they love). “We were homeless for a month when we were trying to find a space we could use to record,” says Brandon. Their practice/recording space was pretty empty their first year due to lack of funds, but it gave them the freedom to make as much noise and throw as many parties as possible so they could play in front of people. “Only recently we’ve been getting shows at venues, but when we started (and we still do it), we played a lot of house shows until the cops showed up.”
Regardless of cops breaking up their shows, they still love their home. “I love how big it is; it’s huge!” says Zac, “[Elvis and Max] lives in West L.A. and it’s a different L.A. It’s big and small in sections, like Highland Park is its own little section.” Hopefully with all the different neighborhoods, the band can finally play a house show in its entirety. “Hopefully we’ll have better luck next week… follow us online to get the location!” And if all else fails, they can go get some grub, “Tacos, dude. Tacos!”
Hedgehog is a three-piece Chinese rock band from the Beijing indie scene. Formed in 2005, the group is know for their signature sound that verges on the fringe of pop, punk and rock, with a tinge of harmonic nostalgia contrasted with energetic noise rock. The mainstay members of the group are drummer and vocalist Atom (阿童木) and guitarist and vocalist ZO (子健), along with bassist He Yifan who joined the band in 2010. The band has 4 albums under their belt, all written and recorded in China, and toured recently toured the USA.
Track of the Week:
Hedgehog hits the studio to record their track “Dear Boy, I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend.”
Listen to: “Dear Boy, I Wanna Be Your Girlfriend”
Download the track
Oh, Hello:
The Chinese rockers discuss the band’s history and their first experience playing in the US.
A unique multi-episode series in which viewers will see into the life of a touring band on their way to Converse Rubber Tracks. The series will feature a tour of each band’s hometown and the different experiences they encounter on the road to the studio – from living in a van on the road to the shows they perform en route to Brooklyn, NY. The Rubber Meets the Road series kicks off with Chicago based experimental rock band YAWN.
Rubber Meets the Road: Part 3
In this last episode, up-and-coming Chicago-based band YAWN finally dig into recording at Converse Rubber Tracks. Watch this rare footage of the diverse group of musicians as they explore a new sound, become acquainted with the studio space, and delve into the meaning behind some of their lyrics before laying down original music and heading back to Chicago.
Rubber Meets the Road: Part 2
The second installment of the short-film series “Rubber Meets the Road” shows Chicago-based band Yawn on their journey to the Converse Rubber Tracks Studio, making stops along the way to play a show in Pittsburgh, indulge in motel breakfasts and play mini-golf. Between go-karting and dealing with a broken down van, the band opens up and discusses their well-established dynamic and previous experiences of recording in a studio.
Rubber Meets the Road: Part 1
Check out Chicago-based band YAWN in Part One of our new Rubber Meets the Road series, as they prepare for their adventure from the Midwest to Brooklyn to record at Converse Rubber Tracks Studio. “Knowing that there are going to be cameras in our face the whole time is kinda nerve-wracking,” said multi-instrumentalist Adam.
Watch as the guys perform at their jam-packed album release show, load up their stuff and wave goodbye to their moms in the first episode of this three part series.
Stay tuned for Part 2 and Part 3 of their journey coming soon…
Listen to: YAWN – “Magician”
Download the track
Converse Rubber Tracks engineer Alex McKenzie leads a tutorial on how to use a mid-side drum mic set-up for a bombastic sound, with awesome instructional animation from designer Matt Watkins. Wondering how musicians create that huge orchestral sound? Watch to find out.
Converse and Filter have teamed up to bring you Hometown L.A., a series of videos shot throughout Los Angeles that capture some of L.A’s best bands playing in a variety of locations. Shot in black and white, the video’s focus on unique and beautiful locations throughout LA – and the bands that bring them to life. Look out for more videos in the Hometown L.A. series throughout 2012. This time, we catch up with Hands in Angelino Heights.
Geoffrey Halliday, Ryan Sweeney, Sean Hess and Alex Staniloff make up the Los Angeles based band, Hands. Originally a two-piece from Philadelphia, Geoffrey and Ryan moved west and the band has been making music as a quartet ever since. With distinct strengths and disciplines from each member, Hands has had a good run opening up for many top acts around the country and most recently during festival season in NYC. Needless to say, they’ve experienced a lot in 2011 and are ready for whatever 2012 may bring them.
Playing on the rooftop of Alex’s home may be a first for the band, but the backdrop of Echo Park means more to them than just beautiful scenery. “A lot of the venues around here are places that we’ve frequented; both to see shows and play them,” says Geoffrey. EchoPark (Alex’s home is in a subset, called Angelino Heights) is home to many talented individuals as the band points out. “There are just a lot of people creating stuff all over the place,” says Geoffrey, “there are filmmakers, fashion designers and painters… it’s a nice artistic community over here, for sure.”
Converse and Filter have teamed up to bring you Hometown L.A., a series of videos shot throughout Los Angeles that capture some of L.A’s best bands playing in a variety of locations. Shot in black and white, the video’s focus on unique and beautiful locations throughout LA – and the bands that bring them to life. Look out for more videos in the Hometown L.A. series throughout 2012. First up, The Knux.
The Knux, made up of brothers Kentrell “Krispy” Lindsey and Alvin “Joey” Lindsey, grew up on the tough streets of New Orleans. Their mother, a big inspiration to their love of funk, classic rock, R&B and cool pop music, helped open their eyes to a world beyond where they were growing up. Because of her, they got into playing music, discovering cool rock n’roll and staying out of trouble.
Three years later, the Lindsey brothers are settled in the Eastside of L.A., mainly Echo Park, and they couldn’t be happier. “There’s just a lot of cool, down-to-earth people on the Eastside. A lot of dive bars, real rock ‘n’ roll here,” says Krispy. And that’s exactly why The Knux have chosen The Echo for the first of our sessions. This Eastside venue is one unique hot spot; able to book up and coming bands as well as veteran musicians to play.
“When you were young, you hear about artists we look up to playing here. Every night is very creative; very different, “ says Krispy. “One of the first big shows were did was at The Echo. There’s no ritz or glitz to this place. It’s just black! Standard rock ‘n’ roll and it fits us.”
