Newscast (Project 6)

Our last project of the year, featuring yours truly voicing a short mock news segment.

"Tell the World" Ad (Project 5)

Here's an ad I voiced for Eric Hutchinson's new album/tour. It's meant to follow the format of an online radio ad for services like Pandora or Spotify. Enjoy!

Hello Professor Weiser!

Hello, all! As you may or may not know, this blog is sort of an ongoing archive of assignments for my multimedia class at my university. It’s been great, and I’ve had the chance to learn lots of different methods of writing, recording, interviewing and editing, all very important in the communications field, a place I hope to become a part of in the near future. I was lucky enough, for half the semester, to have sports broadcaster Seth Everett as a professor for this course, until he landed a job touring with the Mets. But not to worry, he’s left us in good hands.

With that said, I wanted to give a warm welcome to our new, equally distinguished professor, TV news broadcaster Jeff Weiser. This post is a way of giving you an idea of what to expect from my blog and me over the rest of the semester. I’m a sophomore majoring in advertising and I hope to one day work in copywriting and other creative outlets of the communications field. I chose music as the topic for my blog because it’s my absolute passion and something I realized I simply couldn’t shut up about. To be more specific, and as you might’ve gathered from reading previous posts, I’m very interested in reporting and reviewing alternative, indie and local musicians whom I hope to give the recognition they deserve. Any amount of exposure my blog gives these diamonds in the rough will give people an idea of just how vast the music world is, which grows and grows by the minute. The mainstream Top-40 songs can be great – they’re popular for a reason aren’t they? But what you hear on major radio stations by huge artists only skims the surface of what’s out there. I’m here to dive a bit deeper. 

The Pumpkin Kings (Pr. 4)

Photo by Paul Elledge

Hey everyone! Today I wanted to share some news with you that I was really excited about, and I think most millennial alt-rock fans will be too. With their famously distorted guitar tone and heavy, impactful lyrics, Smashing Pumpkins have been back on their game lately, launching a new website called The Panopticon. Referring to it as Smashing Pumpkins’ Official Nexus, it’s a blog of sorts that started just last week, back on March 25, with a special announcement. Come 2015, we can expect the release of two new albums, currently running under the titles Monuments to An Elegy and Day to Night. This was published in the very first post on the website by frontman Billy Corgan. He went on to describe what they were trying to do with their new ‘nexus’, which has since included daily updates of writing, editing and recording.

“Additionally, this stands as the initial post on a new nexus: The Panopticon, which through its simplicity should better address the speed of modern life. A continuing feature, items regarding each day’s recording will be shared that same evening, with song titles, lyrics, poetic impressions, pictures, sound clips, studio gear and the like offered for a circuitous, bird’s eye view of the process as it unfolds,” writes Corgan in his inaugural post. The step towards a more modern, immersive approach to interacting with their fans and updating them in real time is sure to be well received and build the anticipation for the future of the band.

They announced they’d again be working with producer Howard Willing who produced their 1998 album Adore. This was the bands fourth album, and while Corgan would later go on to describe it as “a band falling apart,” it was extremely liked by critics and was even nominated for a Grammy. Fans of this should definitely keep an eye out for their two new LPs next year. In the meantime, since recording has already begun, the band expects a single to be released by year’s end. We’ll be anxiously awaiting the Pumpkins’ follow up to their wildly successful 2012 EP Oceania. If these next two albums share anything with the last, my only hope is that it maintains Corgan’s original grungy, vicious sound he introduced us to in the early 90’s*.


*While we wait, let's go back and remind the world why they're such a killer band - maintaining originality while still giving Fleetwood Mac a run for their money with one of the best covers to date. 

Midterm Interview with Seth Everett for lightning bug

Ty McLaughlin Interview

Thanks so much to Ty McLaughlin for letting me interview him. Check him out on his Facebook fan page as well as on Twitter @GuitarGuyTy and Instagram @officialtmc.

Blues Brother

Ok everyone, it's time for another guest intro! A while back, we got to get to know Allies, the alternative rock group from Long Island, so now I'm giving you guys a bit of a different taste of what my lovely home has to offer with an up and coming blues artist. Say hi to singer-songwriter Ty McLaughlin from Hicksville, NY!

At just 20 years old, he's a newcomer on the music scene, but it hasn't stopped him from making waves. Between his bands unique fusion of sounds and his uncanny guitar skills, Ty is certainly one to look out for. Stop by lightning bug very soon to see an exclusive interview where you can hear more about his story and perhaps even some exciting news! Until then, go ahead and check out his latest single here. I promise you, you won't be disappointed!