Tuesday AM w/ Street Etiquette

TUESDAY MORNING

From our experience, the coolest things usually come when you're least expecting them or not looking for them at all. A few weeks ago on a random Wednesday morning, we were headed from where we live in Prairieville to Baton Rouge for a couple meetings, when our good friend and business mentor, Dustin, hit us up. He asked what we had up for the day, we told him, then he asked us if we had heard of "Street Etiquette". No lie, we had just discovered them maybe a week before when another friend of ours recommended us to check out their stuff. We said yeah we had heard of them, then Dustin asks, "Do you wanna meet em?" We consulted each other for a second and then replied, "Sure." After canceling our prior engagements for the day, we waited outside our local Starbucks parking lot for Dustin and Luke, a mutual friend, to arrive. Once they met us there, we piled into our Accord and headed eastbound to New Orleans, where the city's uptown would be our rally point with the SE guys. We had no idea what was going on or what to expect, so we were just kind of going with the flow while Luke communicated with them to locate exactly where they were. After parking, we set out on foot to rendezvous with them at a record store on Magazine St. As we were right upon the shop, we see two large economy vans and not one, but two RED video cameras. Our first thought was man, they've really got something serious going on over here. Seeing the SE guys pop out of the record store, go back inside, and then mimic the same actions again, using skills acquired from a public school education, we deduced they were the stars of this production. We hung tight for a couple minutes meeting the crew and then the Street Etiquette guys, Josh and Travis, walked out of the record store. Hospitality is one thing that is innate in many southern-raised people like ourselves, so we naturally greeted them warmly, exchanged introductions, and welcome them to New Orleans. Chopping it up in conversation for a few minutes, it was easy to pick that these guys were some cool, laid back dudes. Suddenly the director approaches us from a few feet away to interject himself into the conversation with a request for us and Luke. "Hey do y'all want to be in the shoot?" he said. Not giving it too much thought, we all agreed and were immediately handed some papers to fill out and sign. A few minutes later, we were asked to do the exact same thing we had done earlier, but on camera. As Josh and Travis strolled out of the record store once again, we all caught a good laugh trying to be as organic as the real thing was earlier, giving the customary "soul handshake", saying random things to keep our mouths moving, and walking down the street, while the cameras tailed us. After doing this a few times, we took some stills and were done. We exchanged contact info with the SE fellas and the production team because they had plans to feature us again in a shoot they had planned for later that night. Being still in the dark at this point as to what exactly this shoot was for, we gave a tentative agreement to attend later on, but promised to invite friends, mainly attractive girls who we thought would fit the aesthetic, to be apart of the vid shoot as well. Our group parted ways with their's and we walked back up Magazine street to get some lunch at Rum House. The ride back to our local Starbucks in Gonzales, LA was filled with interesting conversation about the adventurous and accomplished day we had all shared. All of the day's happenings weren't over yet though because that night would surely bear more dopeness… //

MUSIC: Original Bands vs. Cover Bands

Below is the 225 Magazine cover story we were featured in that was published on Friday, May 30th 2014. Written by Maggie Heyn Richardson

Live music is ingrained into the culture of greater Baton Rouge, where bands are an essential part of festivals, outdoor concerts, weddings and even funerals. But as music lovers bask in the rhythms, musicians must make tough decisions about how they'll earn a living: as original bands that write and play their own songs, or as better-paid cover bands that perform someone else's hits.

 After playing in cover bands for a few years, 24-year-old twin brothers Thurman and Torrence Thomas made a conscious decision to perform only their own original music.

 "As a musician, you have to decide between being an echo or being a voice, and we ultimately chose being a voice," says Torrence Thomas. "We have something we want to say, and we weren't going to do that playing covers."

 The Prairieville-based brothers took a sabbatical from performing, and for about eight months, they worked on writing their own music and lyrics. They re-emerged as Ask the Thomas Brothers, a duo with a fresh, edgy brand and a musical style that's been described as Coldplay meets Kanye.

 It's gratifying to play your own stuff, say the brothers, but it's also tough to make a living in the Baton Rouge market that is dominated by cover bands.

 Still, the brothers are resolute. 

"Original music creates culture," says Torrence. "Cover music does not." 

The Thomas brothers, however, are quick to acknowledge the level of talent required to play in a cover band, which must be nimble enough to play anything a crowd wants to hear. That means belting out Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and "Happy" by Pharrell Williams in the same night, while sounding as much like the original recordings as possible. 

"You have to be a skilled musician to do that," says Thurman. In their cover music days, the Thomases performed occasionally with one of the most established cover bands around, MoJEAUX. The band plays about four gigs a week and has a set list that could fill 60 pages or more, says general manager Kellie Solari-Autin. 

MoJEAUX plays weddings, festivals, fairs and events all over the U.S. Solari-Autin says they have talent and a strong business model.

"You can have cream-of-the-crop musicians, but you also need strong management so that you're focused and successful," she says. 

Playing in a popular cover band makes it possible for MoJEAUX's singers and musicians to follow their passion while getting paid. And even though they're not expected to write their own music, they do get to exercise their talent by learning and practicing new popular songs all the time. 

"You would not believe the amount of stuff they can play,"she says.

Cover Story

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Grab a copy of the latest 225 Magazine and you'll see some familiar faces in the center spread! S/o to 225 Mag and big thanks to Jeff Roedel for hooking it up. 

We'll have it transcribed on here soon for you guys to read it! 

ALL NIGHT

Ladies and Gents, without further adieu, we present to you: DM! Check out our big bro's BRAND NEW single below and take advantage of a FREE download of it here. This one's a hit folks!

LIVEINTHESKY Part Deux

Early last week, we were presented the opportunity to host the second installment of "LIVEINTHESKY 225", which happened Sunday, May 18th in downtown Baton Rouge. LIVEINTHESKY is a local social event curated by artists for artists, and those who admire the arts. Live music, displays of paintings, and beautiful people are all staples at this monthly event. On this particular occasion, speaking in terms of the temperature, to say that Sunday was a scorcher may be an understatement. Sweating through our suits when playing a show is one thing, but neither of us were prepared to do so while carrying out our hosting duties of announcements and being cordial (lol). Once the heat started to dissipate around 6:30pm, the golden time of day joined in a sweet union with a frequent breeze coming off of the mighty Mississippi River, which made the event feel absolutely lovely. The musical entertainment for the evening was provided by two New Orleans based acts; one being @neyahsohle_music and the other, @t_raytheviolinist, who in our opinion, stole the show. The visual artists whose works were being showcased were @melontao, @saymikey, @starkobsession, @beckyfos, @artbybryanbrown, & @gurrero_gold. We can't forget to mention @djautomatik who set the tone for the evening thru his excellent DJ-ing and Ms. @letdatgircook aka "the pan whipper extraordinaire", aka "the propane princess", who had our taste buds singing with her imaginative and delightful selection of eats. Overall the event was a win and we want to send a shoutout and a big "Thank You" to Society's Secret for selecting is to host. // (All photos c/o Mosaic by Michelle Gerard)

NOLA 05/20/14

Spent the day in New Orleans with this thang to the right! I always find it refreshing to make the fifty sum-odd minute drive to the Crescent City because it has such a different vibe than Baton Rouge, where we spend most of our time. I can't visit the downtown area without stopping to holla at Jason Pham, a friend of ours who owns a budding mens boutique, Aristicracy NOLA. My time in-store always consists of catching up, some talk about what's hot, and me leaving with some dope streetwear to add to what I've already got. Today I copped a pair of handmade sunglasses by this cool company named "Raen Optics" and a pair of Naked & Famous "Super-Skinny Guy" jeans in their deep indigo wash. With these buys both being out of necessity, I was patting myself on the back as I walked out of our 45 minute retail therapy/hangout session. After Aristocracy, we wanted to peep Exodus Goods, a hipster/boho-chic ladies' boutique, co-owned by the lovely Solange. After three (not kidding) failed attempts to see what's inside, we gave up on that one. Apparently whoever was working put up a "be back in 15 min" sign and didn't come back over the span of an hour and some change. On to the next for us meant taking a joy ride thru the Bywater area to simply soak up the vibes and let our eyes wander. After that, we crossed the bridge to Algiers, where snoballs were 'the wave'. I don't usually like to order specific flavors, which may seem kinda weird, but I prefer to request colors instead. So my order went something like, "Aye bruh, can I get red, blue, and yellow? I ain't particular about the flavor." The guy made it how I wanted and I was good. The rest of our evening consisted of big chillin which is always alright and needed.

What A Friday It Was

Ok, we'll admit it...we're both guilty of overusing the word "dope", but to be totally fair and honest, it's the first and best word that naturally comes to mind when thinking back to Friday's show at The Varsity. That night we were slotted to open for Houston-based rockers, American Fangs and Baton Rouge legends, Meriwether. We agree that this show was our best yet, with our on-stage performance being solid and getting to connect with people throughout the evening definitely scores this one as a win. Both of the bands that we opened for have been in the game for over a decade, so it was definitely a pleasure just sitting and talking with the guys, shooting questions off of them and receiving post-show feedback about how we can do what we do better. So like we said, the show and it's post happenings were all around dope, but everything pre-show—not so much. Thursday evening, the night before, I broke the power supply cable to my digital effects pedal board (Line 6 POD HD 500), which was literally hanging on by a thread. Truth be told, it was only a matter of time, but it just really sucked that it had to happen less than 24 hours before a big show. This may not sound like a big deal, but in reality, it was a huge one because there's no way I can get the sounds I need without it. The way our thought processes work when problems surface is to simply find a solution ASAP. With a broken power cable, here were our options:

  1. Order another one from Line 6, the manufacturer
  2. Try to find a replacement at Guitar Center or RadioShack
  3. Start building a new pedal board with borrowed analog pedals from friends

Talking over some things about the set with our big bro DM. Dwnld his latest single H E R E for free and if you enjoy it, let us know!

Solution #1 was out of the question because we didn't have time to wait and receive the new power cable in 3-5 business days. Solution #2 was our first go-to. Friday morning, Torrence sped over to Guitar Center only to discover they didn't have that specific power cable, but they kindly referred him to RadioShack. At RadioShack, he was able to find a similar power supply cable with the right connector and the same voltage as my old one. This wasn't a time to celebrate because I still wanted to try it before I got too hyped up about it, so I decided to keep Solution #3 on my mind just in case that power cable from RadioShack didn't work. That afternoon, we rendezvoused at church to pick up some things for the show that evening. I tried the power cable from RadioShack and like I suspected, it didn't work! With solutions one and two foiled, Solution #3 was my only choice. I told our big bro DM about my emergency and he gave me some money to pick up what I needed from Guitar Center. At this point, I believed the Universe was telling me it was time to make the switch to analog effects pedals, a simpler, more expensive, but more reliable way to make cool noises with a guitar. Going this route I knew I needed a Voodoo Labs power supply to power the analog pedals, but most importantly, I needed some effects pedals. Fortunately, I already owned a nice rack to put the pedals on. I called a good friend of mine, Matt Cloessner, a certified guitar gear-head, and headed over to his place to borrow a few of his pedals. By this time, I was really pushing being on-time for soundcheck, but I'm thankful that I was able to slide over to Guitar Center to get the Voodoo Labs power supply, then zoom over to Matt's to scoop up some pedals without being super late. I got to the The Varsity around 6:45ish and I still had to mount my brand new power supply to my pedal rack and then attach the effects pedals to the rack. I was thinking this can't be too hard at all, but as I opened the box for the power supply and scanned the mounting instructions, I knew it wasn't going to happen because the instructions were really confusing and from the looks of it, I needed a power drill, which of course isn't something I carry around with me in my car. Throughout this whole scrambling ordeal, I believe God gave me this uncommon peace and I just knew that everything was gonna be alright. I didn't know how, but I just knew. Slightly disappointed that my running around and recent purchases were of no avail to me in those moments, I walked from backstage onto the stage in The Varsity and lo-and-behold, Chris, one of the guitarists from American Fangs, was playing a POD HD 500, just like the one I played! I know these are popular for live playing, but I've never actually seen anyone else besides myself use one, until now! I asked Chris if I could use his power cable during our set, he graciously obliged, and the rest of the night flowed smoothly. Thanks to American Fangs and Meriwether for having us and we also want to send a huge Thank You to everyone who came out to support! Unitil next time peeps. // ATTB