Student Spotlight: Benjamin Roustaing on Streaming and Success
We chat with one of 2019’s break out artists, Benjamin Roustaing, on his songwriting, his thoughts on streaming, and his 2018 Soundfly mentorship session.
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Student Spotlight: Eva Grill on Her Mentorship Experience
In this edition of our Student Spotlight series, composer Eva Grill recounts the changes she went through during her recent Soundfly mentorship session.
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Student Spotlight: Mark Richardson on Music’s Role in His Sobriety
In this edition of our Student Spotlight series, musician Mark Richardson shares stories from his life, including how music helped him beat drug addiction.
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Ariel Utin: “Good Songs Come out of Genuine People”
Sergio Carrasco, Malik Fakiri (Faki), and Ariel Utin are the co-founders of La Leche, a Brooklyn-based production company that hosts the “Hangover Sessions” — an intimate and inspiring performance series on Saturday afternoons. I caught up with Ariel recently to ask about some of her most memorable performances, how to write songs listeners love, and how to cultivate a…
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William Ryan Fritch’s Unusual Path to Film Scoring
William Ryan Fritch is a composer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter who has been making music for film and releasing records professionally for about 7 years. I only came across his music recently but was immediately taken aback by his wide range of sounds and compositional tactics, that despite their different origins, all feel distinctly and familiarly…
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How to Improve Your Well-Being through Music
Dr. Victoria Williamson still remembers the first time she saw the brain scan of someone who was listening to their favorite piece of music. The scan showed a scene of intense activation — it looked like the entire brain was lit up and buzzing. The moment confirmed something she’s always believed and has since spent…
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Musicality and Improv at Tiger Speak’s Hip-Hop Jam
Carter Lee and Michael Summer are the minds behind Brooklyn’s Playground Sessions Hip-Hop Jam and its host band, Tiger Speak. The concept behind the jam is an intriguing one — a live band, complete with vocals, horns, and a rhythm section, plays a set of music tributing a hip-hop legend and then the stage is opened up…
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Jen Baron Wants Girls to Rock
About a year ago, I was fortunate enough to meet Jen Baron — a remarkable musician and passionate educator. Her zeal for teaching music as a means of building confidence and fostering self-expression in her students is nothing short of inspirational. Jen launched the Santa Barbara branch of Girls Rock just a few years ago and already it’s given hundreds…
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Allen Tate on San Fermin and Sleeping on Couches
Allen Tate is best known for his distinctively baritone serenades as one of the lead vocalists for San Fermin. Their self-titled first album was released in 2013 to rave reviews. It is an operatic musical journey of serious proportions, not least because of the full complement of orchestral instruments they employ, but also the male…
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Madam West on How to Hustle as a Musician
A couple weeks ago I got an email out of the blue from Sophie Chernin of Brooklyn band Madam West. Little did I know at the time that I was just part of her daily ritual—send one press email, one booking email, and one studio or engineer email every day. In fact, the more I…
