Help get Words versing Verses on a major movie soundtrack

Brisbane band WORDS VERSING VERSES are close to being selected to be part of the soundtrack to an upcoming AMERICAN MOVIE, ‘RENEE’.

Words versing Verses of R&D Records

Selection is based on public voting and, at the time of writing, Words versing Verses were the only Australian band in contention.

The band need support from Australian media and music fans in order to be selected and be showcased internationally as a great example of Australian independent music.

‘Renee’ is an American movie currently being filmed in Orlando, Florida starring Kat Dennings and Chad Michael Murray to be released in 2012.

The movie is based on a short story written by Jamie Tworkowski, the founder of To Write Love on Her Arms (www.twloha.com). He posted the story on MySpace, and to his surprise, found that it resonated with many teenagers and young adults and inspired him to create the successful non-profit group “To Write Love on Her Arms.”

Since 2006, the TWLOHA team has responded to thousands of emails from over one hundred countries asking for help, as well as donating almost $1,000,000 for treatment and recovery.

The story follows 19-year-old Renee (played by Kat Dennings) who has always loved fairy tales: the idea of a princess, a hero and a happily ever after. But Renee’s life is that of a darker tale: she’s a young woman battling addiction, depression and self-injury. In a creative blend of artistic fantasy balanced with harsh reality, the movie follows Renee on her courageous journey towards recovery.

WORDS VERSING VERSES have 3 songs in contention for inclusion in the Soundtrack: ‘Signs we’re still alive’, ‘Warriors’ and ‘Tigers’. Their debut EP was released in 2010, is 5 star rated on iTunes and was described by Rave Magazine as ‘a band you need to hear’.

WORDS VERSING VERSES are an independent band from BRISBANE, AUSTRALIA featuring singer Damion Douglass-Page and guitarist Kevin Leggett. Damion was formerly frontman of MTV Uncharted winning AVALON DRIVE who were signed to SONY BMG and toured with THE VERONICAS, INXS and FALL OUT BOY.

Voting for inclusion in the Soundtrack closes at the end of Monday 30th May and can be found at:

http://www.reneethemovie.com/soundtrack/index1.php?artist=Words+Versing+Verses

A full media kit including this press release, photographs and MP3’s of ‘Signs we’re still alive’ and ‘Warriors’ can be downloaded from R&D Records website at:

www.GreatAussieMusic.com/wordsmedia

Do Androids Dream Of Electric Guitars?

Darren & I often have conversations about where music technology is going to be heading in the next 10 – 20 years. The last 15 years has almost been totally devoted to recreating the technology that preceded it for 30 years before that, the only difference is that it’s on a totally different medium.

Yep, I’m talking about the digital emulation of an analog world. Now for all you tech-heads, this definitely is not a ‘Digital Vs Analog’ argument – there is enough of that horseshit floating around the internet and we are all very bored of what everyone’s opinion of it is. But what interests us is what is coming next that will make us stand up and take notice? Admittedly, I don’t think it’s going to have much to do with the recording medium(s) we use. That will progress much the same way it has been for the last 15 years. I really wonder if it will come back perhaps an innovative new instrument that someone invents.

All you need to do is look at the impact the Piano had when it was invented in the early 18th Century, or the electric guitar in the 1940’s and even the development of the synthesizer in the 70’s and 80’s. You have to remember that BEFORE these things came about, NO ONE could even have imagined what they would sound like, let alone the impact it would have on our everyday lives. Even the concept of stereo (or two channels of audio you hear: left and right) had to be invented and implemented. We just take it for granted!

So what is it? The way things are recorded? A new instrument that takes the world by storm? A new listening platform that plugs directly into our brain and tickles our temporal lobe? Is it the introduction of a microtonal scale that has 24 notes in an octave?

Something is coming – it always does. We would just like to be on top of it when it arrives.

Let me know your thoughts.
Ric

Sound Advice From A Creepy Little Man.

This week I thought I’d talk about a quote that R&D’s partner, and very good friend Nick Christy had told us about a while back. It’s a fairly simple saying and at first it doesn’t have an earth shattering effect on the mind, but I’ve come to notice that this particular little ditty can be so very applicable to musicians; and anyone in the arts for that matter. Hopefully it will give you some inspiration: it’s from the really fucking bizarre mind of Woody Allen and the quote is:

“80% of success is just showing up”

Now the first time I read it I wasn’t that fussed with it, I found it moderately amusing. I also thought that the Dalai Lama would have some more profound sayings that you could probably bust out when picking up chicks. Especially when as a musician you may think, ‘I turn up to the gig every second Friday… what’s the problem?’ Let me explain…

The ability to follow through with things that are essential to success is quite often lacking with people in the music industry. So the quote could be applicable to a musician in the following ways:

“80% of success is just showing up” to…

• the piano/guitar everyday to do scales.
• the computer keyboard EVERY DAY to do some promotion
• the pad and pen to write a new song once a week
• the phone to book some shows
• the van and spend 5 hours putting posters up around town
• the practice room to revise the same songs you’ve played for 5 years
• the forums to network with other bands
• the alarm clock to set a time for an early start rather than sleep in for 3 hours
• the kitchen table to write a business plan for the band
• the Baked Bean specials at Coles so you can put more money towards the next photo shoot.
• WordPress to write your weekly blog

… you get the idea.

It will take more than good music to get a fan base of ten thousand people and a national tour. So when you can’t be fucked doing a few things to get that band/solo career rolling… maybe think of that quote. Hope it works for you.

Ric

Brisbane’s R&D Records Helps Bands Raise Money to Record & Tour

Tina Dico - PledgeMusic Success

Brisbane’s R&D Records, an independent music production company and recording studio, announces that it is partnering with PledgeMusic, the world’s leading direct-to-fan platform for raising funds for musicians to record and tour.

Ric Parker of R&D Records says ‘Raising money to record is one of the hardest things for bands to do. Bands raise money by selling their music and touring – but you can’t do that until you have the music recorded. It’s a catch 22 situation that no-one has really overcome before. PledgeMusic solves that problem by providing Bands with a structured and simple method to engage their fan base and raise money to record by offering those fans a number of exclusive opportunities.’

‘Some of the existing artists on PledgeMusic have offered fans such things as a personal concert in their living room, appearing in a music video and singing backing vocals on an album.’
Ric Parker – Producer, R&D Records

‘Some of the existing artists on PledgeMusic have offered fans such things as a personal concert in their living room, appearing in a music video, singing backing vocals on an album and signed copies of the instruments used to record an album. Anyone who pledges to help a band will always get a digital copy of the resulting EP or Album. It’s simple, it’s brilliant and it’s fun to be a part of for both the bands and the fans.’

‘We had one artist make $93,000 from 1,300 fans. That was a huge success. She did a bunch of touring and had her record distributed by a big label.’
Benji Rogers – CEO, PledgeMusic

Benji Rogers, CEO of PledgeMusic, and the first musician to use the service said ‘We tried the system on my own EP. I saw in my head a way for musicians to be able to make a living by engaging their fan bases and giving them something really cool and fun to do, as opposed to just selling CDs and downloads.’

‘We had one artist make $93,000 from 1,300 fans. That was a huge success. She did a bunch of touring and had her record distributed by a big label. We’ve had about three or four artists get signed to deals. We’ve also had artists that started off with barely any fan base who made enough money to record and master their own records.’

R&D Records will be offering the PledgeMusic option to all future bands and artists who work with them and who are serious about building their musical career. ‘It doesn’t matter if you don’t know how you will pay for your next EP or Album’ said Darren Parker of R&D Records ‘If you believe in yourself and your music and you want songs that are radio play quality, then come and talk to us. We will show you how PledgeMusic can answer the money question for you.’

About R&D Records
R&D Records is an independent music production company with a beachfront recording studio 45 minutes north of Brisbane, Australia. R&D Records is owned and run by the producers Ric and Darren Parker who have been song writing, performing and producing music for over 10 years in Australia and the USA. R&D Records focuses on song quality not quantity and their studio environment is designed to help artists feel relaxed, inspired and to enjoy the whole experience. In addition to recording and funding services, R&D Records also offer full international distribution and promotional packages.

‘Words can’t describe the awesome experience of working with R&D Records. I walked out of their studios with an amazing sounding EP, new knowledge of the industry and the confidence to pursue my dream further. I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done for me and my career. They are an amazing team.’
Scott Couchman – The Drive

About PledgeMusic
Pledge Music was founded to give bands a true DIY option for pursuing their careers. The business was designed to be transparent and open, while benefiting musicians and fans. Musicians get the funding and promotional support that they need and get to keep complete ownership of their music. The fans get the music and artist interaction that they want at the price that they want to pay. PledgeMusic have created a system in which everyone wins.

Photos
For a higher quality version of the included photo please follow the link here

Contact
For more information on R&D Records contact:
Ric Parker
Tel: +61 7 3103 3075
ric@r-and-d-records.com.au
www.GreatAussieMusic.com

For more information on PledgeMusic contact:
Benji Rogers
Benji@PledgeMusic.com
Tel: +44 207 420 4335
Skype: PledgeMusic1
www.pledgemusic.com

Blog Numero Uno & The Golden Globes!

This is the first of what is to be a weekly scribble of thoughts regarding all sorts of things that regard music and the music industry, or anything that may enter my life here at R&D Records. The topics will be anywhere between “Hard & heavy” and “Deep as a cat’s bowl” and I encourage anyone and everyone to make comments and have discussions.

As many of you who know me are probably already aware, I’m much better at constructing sound than I am at constructing sentences, so if you feel the urge to say something like; “Hey Ric! That’s the wrong use of a semi-colon in the second paragraph!” then you can straight up fuck off. I am most probably going to get my girlfriend to look over these blogs as she has a much better grasp on the English language than I do, so hopefully a lot of grammatical errors should hopefully be sorted. Having said that, I nearly beat her at iPhone scrabble last night so it either means that a) I don’t give myself enough credit, or b) she wrote me off thinking I’d suck terribly and slipped in over confidence.

I personally am going with b)

I watched a fair bit of the Golden Globe Awards the other night and must say that I think it can be more of a social experiment for the media than anything else. For anyone who saw it would note, Ricky Gervais was as insulting and in-your-face as anyone could possibly be, making everyone extremely uncomfortable and cringing in their seats – including the home viewers. Now who could think for one minute that the organisers of the awards weren’t aware of the way Ricky was going to handle himself? That was a rhetorical question by the way…. I think they knew EXACTLY what they were doing making him host (again), because as the number of viewers was falling every year, they had to resort to the style of television they know people just can’t look away from – train wreck television.

I know the Golden Globe Awards have nothing directly to do with music, but I think the same thing happens with award ceremonies in the music industry as well. Just look at a certain Australian Music Industry night that was televised just recently. Although I’m not sure the organisers planned THAT one intentionally….I know LOTS of people who will be tuning in this year – just to see if it could possibly get any worse!

Anyone have their de-butt album coming out soon?

Get Avalon Drive on the My Chemical Romance Tour

Avalon Drive in concert

As the pending announcement of My Chemical Romances Australian Tour in 2011 Brisbane band Avalon Drive would love to live their dream and support them. Please sign and let them fulfil this dream.

Click the link below to be taken to the GoPetition.com page to add your signature.

Get Avalon Drive on the My Chemical Romance Tour

WORDS VERSING VERSES SIGN WITH R&D RECORDS

Words versing Verses in the studio

WORDS VERSING VERSES – UP COMING DATES:

WEBSITES

CONTACT
For more information on Words Versing Verses and R&D Records Please Contact:

R&D RECORDS/WORDS VERSING VERSES
RIC PARKER
m: +61 439 672 227
e: Ric@R-and-D-Records.com.au

AAA ENTERTAINMENT
Marc Mancini
PO Box 1119, Parkridge, QLD, 4125
m: 0402 257 148
e: Marc@aaaentertainment.com.au
w: www.aaaentertainment.com.au

MARKETING & PR + EVENT & CONCERT MANAGEMENT + ARTIST DEVELOPMENT