Deftones - The Acoustic Experiment by Eric Dewyngaert

Some of you know that I’ve been teaching a class at Portfolio Center over the past few months. This has been a new experience for me, as I’ve never taught before and it was only a few years ago that I was a student at PC. In my time away from the academic world, I started to miss it. Not only is teaching a chance to “drop-knowledge”, but I find it invigorating and refreshing. Perhaps I’m a huge design geek, but I enjoy talking about design with people who aren’t jaded with the industry. Rather, they are eager to excel at visual communication.

The name of the class is Entertainment Design (a broad name for “The Album Cover Class”). We focus on concept, branding, and typography for artists in the music industry; with the deliverables being album covers, packaging, posters, and various other marketing items. In the 1.5 quarters I’ve taught so far, we’ve had a live project for a major label artist and several guest presentations from my friends who work in the design industry.

I’m putting myself in the mindset of a student (which isn’t hard considering I used to go to school there) and trying to make this class-scenario a “dream class” for anyone with an open mind. If my homework assignments consisted of listening to music, going to the record store, and sketching (sober of course), I would have been more than happy to go above and beyond the call.

I don’t have many examples of student work coming out of my class because most students choose to photograph their packaging towards the end of their student careers. I was able to get one of my students (and new EC web-intern), Eric Dewyngaert, to send me a photo of his album packaging. It’s a new approach to The Deftones, titled “The Acoustic Experiment”. He asked himself, “What would happen if one of the hardest bands out there created an acoustic album?” He was able to track down live-acoustic performances of some of their most popular songs which were sonically peculiar and very intense. As you can see, Eric’s visual-reveal is what I envision being the result of many long recording sessions. Very cool.

Given that the name of the class is Entertainment Design, we may shift our focus in coming quarters to film and other performance arts, although I have a feeling that most of my students get a kick out of discovering new bands and listening to music as homework.

Also, there’s always an open invite to my buddies who want to drop in and give honest feedback! C’mon down…

Check out Don Cannon rocking a Process Love & War shirt at 0:11. Shouts to Joe for the heads up!

Everyone is a rapper or some kind of artist in Atlanta but some of them actually have talent. Def Jam’s newest artist, Cyhi Da Prynce is one of these artists. Check out these 2 videos: Studda & I’m 100. Studda was filmed in our favorite boutique/hangout spot, Standard. Keep your eye out in “I’m 100″ video for some Process gear.

If you haven’t heard of Dreaden, you will soon. I went to Lenny’s the other night to catch their show and I have to say it was awesome. Check out the photos after the jump, Danny the guitarist is rockin’ one of our tees. You can’t see him but Zak the drummer was sportin’ a StreetLocal tee that night as well. Thanks for the support guys.

Dreaden just released their first single “Night Friends” on XTM Online.

Download Here

View photos of Friday night’s show after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

One of our favorite local DJ’s, Cristo Disco, is new to the blogging world. Check out his site daily, as he promises a constant stream of fresh content, music, and photos. Break him in nice and proper with some comments!

Big Boi Ft. Gucci Mane - Shine Blockas (Official Video) from SNORT THIS TV on Vimeo.

A brand new video from Big Boi for a brand new year. You’ve heard the song, now here’s the video straight from Snort This. Big ups to Zach Wolfe for filming and Sumner for editing the video.

Our buddies, Stranger Day & Cristo Disco recently filmed this music video for their collaborative track, Cristo Disco Ball. They were kind enough to fully gear up in PROCESS clothing during their shoot. Enjoy! Warning: Lyrics NSFW!

photo by Mark Adams

Name:
Will Scruggs

Aka:  
CC Booker III

Website:
www.willscruggs.com

Where are you from?
Born in ATL - raised in Raleigh, NC

Who do you work for? 
Myself… I’m a saxophonist, singer, and band leader. I also freelance as a hired gun sax man, teach some private lessons, and I’m sponsored by Jupiter Saxophones.

What are your Current Project(s)? 
I have two projects of my own - Will Scruggs Jazz Fellowship and CC Booker III feat. Will Scruggs. You can find me around town with KINGSIZED, Cadillac Jones, Lloyd’s Rocksteady Review, and the Soulphonics w/Ruby Velle. I also play in a horn section called the FunderHorns… we’ve recorded with Natalie Cole, Dallas Austin, Cee-Lo and Jermaine Dupri, among others. 

Who would you love to work with?
Wow… although I’m a jazz specialist I love many different kinds of music, and I’d love to get outside my genre a bit. Stevie Wonder and Paul Simon are a couple of my biggest musical heroes who are still active. I’d also love to collaborate with someone like Bela Fleck, just from a standpoint of pure creativity of sound. When I was a kid my favorite band was The New Grass Revival (Bela Fleck, John Cowan, Sam Bush). I got to play and record with Cowan this year (he’s appearing on my next CD) but I’ve never met Sam or Bela. 

If you had to give all your sneakers away to charity except for one pair, which ones would you keep? 
Wow, that’s tough. I ran a PR in the ING Georga Marathon last year in a pair of brown on brown New Balance ZIPs. Definitely the most stylish running shoes I’ve ever owned, plus there’s the sentimental value. 

What’s on your iPod right now?
I’m listening to the soundtrack from Rosemary’s Baby… some crazy stuff. Also, Random Abstract by Branford Marsalis and American Song by Andy Bey.

What’s your Favorite ATL food?
Miss Anne’s World Famous Ghetto Burger. Or the smoked wings at Fox Bros. And my really guilty pleasure is Wing and Philly on the corner of Moreland and Memorial (I’ve gotta eat greasy after a long run).

What’s your Favorite ATL hangout?
Blue Frog Cantina dollar tacos - Mon/Tues in East ATL.  Or Churchill Grounds on weekends.

What are your Pet Peeves?
Ankle Tendonitis. The BCS. Glenn Beck, Hannity, Rush, and similar haters. Unexpected traffic (it’s not so bad if you’re ready for it, like at rush hour).

Shout outs?
CC Booker CD release party Friday Feb. 26th at Eddie’s Attic. Book it! 

Rehab just released this exclusive remix via their twitter account. I changed the colorway of the single art I created a few weeks back for this track. Falcons throwback helmets anyone???

Download: Rehab - 1980 (Steaknife Remix)

Photo by: Oh Snap Kid

Name:
Anthony Rotella

Aka:  
Mayhem / Rrrump

Website:
http://shadowlawrecordings.com
http://myspace.com/mayhemslr

Where are you from?
Atlanta, GA born in Knoxville, TN. Gentlemen by choice, Southern by the Grace of God.

Who do you work for? 
Me, myself and I. Always Never, Ram Records, Atlanta Dubstep, and 404 Audio.

What are your Current Project(s)? 
I run two Drum + Bass record labels. My main one is Shadow-Law Recordings (SLR) and I’ve started a second one, Aesthetics, for rising international talent. I run two monthly nights at El Bar. One is Drum + Bass, entitled Tambor Y Bajo, every 1st Wednesday and the second is Dubstep, entitled Sub.Traction, that I promote with Atlanta Dubstep every 3rd Wednesday. I also am a resident at Fuck Yesss every 1st Thursday of the month with Le Castle Vania and Oh Snap Kid at the Drunken Unicorn. Outside of promoting parties, I try to stay as busy as possible in the studio recording Drum + Bass, Dubstep, and Electro tracks for several national and international labels. My largest project at the moment is an album entitled “Into Oblivion” which will be released on my own label, SLR, hopefully sooner than later.

Who would you love to work with?
Big Boi, Andre 3000, Ludachris, Killer Mike, Joker, Rusko, Scuba, Maynard James Keenan, Gravious, 2562, Pill, Hollyweerd, Ed Rush + Optical, Matrix, Optiv, Apex, Spor, Nike SB, 10 Deep, and Kaws.

If you had to give all your sneakers away to charity except for one pair, which ones would you keep? 
That’s like only choosing one family member to keep! I’d say it would have to be my Tiffs.

What’s on your iPod right now?
Joker, Rusko, Outkast, Ludacris, Scuba, Helmet, and Tool amongst others.

What’s your Favorite ATL food?
Favorite restaurants are Nan, JCT Kitchen, Eugene, JR Crickets, Marco’s Pitas, and Graveyard Tavern where you can find a hoagie named after me.

What’s your Favorite ATL hangout?
El Bar and Graveyard easily. It’s like Cheers for me.

What are your Pet Peeves?
I can’t really think of any besides sleeping in too late.

Shout outs?
My son Giovanni, Moms, Dads, my sister Kathy, 404 Audio crew, Atlanta Dubstep crew, Evol Intent boys, Ewun/Kill The Noise, Le Castle Vania, Oh Snap Kid, Phace, Misanthrop, Noisia, The Upbeats, Bulletproof, Cern, 12th Planet, Gridlok, Dieselboy, Skapezilla/The Hydrilla, Rob and Rosa Wonder, Philip and Tara Christensen, All the Graveyard staff, All El Bar staff, Justin Bright, Drew Van Atten, Ron and Christina Madison, Adam and the soon to be Cristen Darby, Josh Clark, the Atlanta Hawks, Inca Kola, summers in Jersey, my Grandmothers and Grandfathers RIP!, Birdalupe, Aireon Himes, Eric Martin Burgos, Chris Houston, and of course my homies at Process!

I recently worked with emerging iPhone app developer, Khu.sh, on the branding and interface for their company and it’s new product, LaDida - a reverse karaoke app. You sing, and it makes up the music to accompany your voice. You can choose a genre of music and a tempo for each tune you sing. One of the greatest features of the app is that it allows you to share your tunes on social-networking sites such as facebook and twitter. Future updates will include more music genres and perhaps auto-tune.

This was my first time to work on anything for iPhone, but I found the experience very enjoyable and similar to web design, except you’re dealing with a much smaller canvas.

Download: LaDiDa.

We Are The Process present’s Cristo Disco’s new live mix. One of many takes to come. “One Track, No Touch ups, No computer Tricks, Some Down South Shit to ride to.”

Download: Cristo Disco - Money Cristo Live Mix

Kicking off the campaign for their soon to be released album, Cycles, our buds in Cartel have released their new video for the single, Let’s Go. Check it out at 1:56… ATL representin’!

Here’s a new track from Big Boi’s latest LP, Sir Lucious Leftfoot, which is supposedly coming out soon. This track brings back the all-too-familiar pace that sets him apart from the rest. Instant classic! Gotta love the East Point shout out at the end!

Thanks to Dax from SnortThis.com for keeping us in the loop!

Download: Big Boi - Shine Blockas ft. Gucci Mane