Tribehouse Art Leaks Blideo #3 - Peter Helms chats about art & hope

In this Art Leaks blideo, Graham Ord interviewed the one and only Peter Helms - an artist, speaker, philosopher, and international man of mystery with a really thick Dutch accent. He shares his theories and thoughts on art, faith, and hope.




What are your thoughts on this? Agree or disagree?

Blideo #2 - Gabrielle Papillon and Ambre McLean

by Nico Boesten

A few weeks ago I had the pre-show privilege to catch up with indie folk road warrior artists Gabrielle Papillon and Ambre McLean who shared 3 great little secrets about how they survive (& succeed) at being an indie artist:

1. How to book a tour
2. Where to print cheap, short run CDs and
3. How to stay sane on the road when (or if) things don't go as planned.



They played the Streaming Cafe on April 16, 2011 so you can check out their performance(s) out here for Ambre McLean & here for Gabrielle Papillon. Thanks for the interview guys (and by guys I mean gals).

Lottery Grants with CIRAA - C'mon, it's worth a try

by Nico Boesten

There are a few things that almost every independent artist loves: money, winning the lottery & a good acronym. Like CIRAA.

How about having all of them though. Allow myself to explain myself...

I just found a killer new program that the CIRAA (Canadian Independent Recording Artists' Association) is offering to indie musicians on a lottery basis called the Groundbreaker Grant.

Here's how it works:

You play a gig.
You signup and become a member of CIRAA (free).
You type in a couple of quick details about your gig(s).
20 people will be given a $100 grant (yup, free money) per month.

You can get up to $1200 this way per year and it takes like 3 minutes to put your info in there. And it's free.

All mind-blowing details here.

SOCAN also has some cool ways for you to make extra money on gigs you've already played but this is a new thing that's being introduced. Last I checked, CIRAA has about 4000 members so your chances of winning are (insert math equation here) pretty good I think. If you win or apply, let us know.

PS: If you don't know who the CIRAA is, it's similar to the CIA except it has nothing to do with spies, guns, black suits, movies, or highly classified operations. But they are both non-profits that are tied in to the government...

(from their site)
CIRAA is Canada's only national non-profit organization dedicated exclusively to Canadian independent recording artists. They are totally into:

1. promoting progressive Canadian Content rules that will ensure more airplay for emerging Canadian artists; and
2. working to secure increased funding for unsigned artists from government, private radio broadcasters and other players within the music industry infrastructure.

They also have a super helpful podcast where they interview professionals in the music industry who pass on tips about grants, booking, publicity, marketing, and a ton of others here.

Hope you find this helpful. If not, click here for a totally off-topic Sexy Sax Man viral video of the week.

Katalyst Artist Gatherings

Well, about 9 months ago, Graham Ord & Jason Vance started this little gathering meeting once a month at the Streaming Cafe. There have been so many different inspiring artists who have shared about their craft, how they got into it, and a chance to show off some of their work.

Some of the past artists have been guys like Dave Watland (visual artist), Mark Stone (writer), Andrew Smith (musician & rage activist), Coey Doak (musician) and then last night we had an amazing time with some local filmmakers / animation superstars Paul Cotton & Todd Ramsay.

These guys shared some amazing footage of stuff they've shot - everything from Big White promo flicks to seasonal time lapses to animated pickles plucking their nose hairs animated to some crazy bluegrass tune. Basically, for the love of all that is good and decent, check out their site(s).

It was so cool to be able to meet so many new people from the video community as well - there are some serious people in town here that have skills to pay the bills. Thanks again to Paul & Todd for showing off in a really humble way. Solid stuff boys.

Next month on June 2 from 7-9pm we'll be having a few Balfours (literally 3) with Nikki Balfour (visual artist), Jimmy Balfour (musician), and Jessica Balfour (photographer) sharing their brains with us. Should be good.

Remember, it's open to anyone and if there's a Canucks game on we could always stream it on the TVs there like we did this past week...

Blideo #1: Carrie Harper makes iPhone 4 covers from original art

By Nico Boesten
Every once in a while I win stuff. Not the Lotto or anything, but a free Tim Horton's coffee or a vaccuum consultation.

Well, the other day, I got a Facebook message from a rad local visual artist (Carrie Harper from the Pear Workshop) saying "You won an art skin for an iPhone 4". Sick.

It was such a creative idea and way for a visual artist to make money that I had to interview her and find out some more about who she is and what she does. I had met her at Artwalk last year and was super impressed with her unique style but this latest idea was brilliant.

We are now talking about collaborating on an idea that would combine a fundraising event with art, iPhone skins, music, and beverages. More to come, but for now just watch the vid and then check out her site or go and buy one of her iPhone art skins here.

Johnny Cash Bash

Well, about a month after we posted the Johnny Cash Cover song challenge on Facebook,
there were 22 artists from 13 different cities, 3 random countries, and 2 different sexes who posted some amazing Johnny Cash cover tunes.

The rules were to simply record yourself with no edits using a computer or a single camera so the trickery of autotune and super-hero video splice editors wouldn't be able to cover up the raw beauty of artists sharing their tunes. Musically naked.

So, feel free to go through all of the videos here or below and thanks to Google Maps, there's a nice little visual for you to see where all the submissions came from. Thanks Google.








View Johnny Cash Bash in a larger map

A massively huge thanks from Tribehouse to everyone who made this happen. There seems to be a lot of interest in this sort of thing so we may fire another one up shortly. Right now you can find all the events on our Facebook page though.

Ain't No Grave
Arno Jordan (Dresden, Germany)

God's Gonna Cut You Down
Norm Strauss (Kelowna, BC)

The Long black Veil
Sarah Arseneault (Delta, BC)

Give my love to Rose
Graham Ord (Kelowna, BC)

For Heaven's sake
Rachel Taylor (Boston, MA)

Satisfied Mind
Jane Eamon: (Cornwall, ON)

The Wanderer
Nico Boesten (Kelowna, BC)

Jackson
Paul & Betsy Phillips (New York, NY)

Hurt
Dennis Shepit (Abbotsford, BC)

Further on up the road
Bob Oldfield (Vernon, BC)

Boy Named Sue
Blu Hopkins (Salmon Arm, BC)

Folsom Prison Blues
David Blair (Vancouver, BC)

Sea of Heartbreak
Norbert Binder (Dresden, Germany)

The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
Zachari Smith (Vancouver, BC)

Don't take your guns to town
Richard Pepper (Thunder Bay, ON)

Cause I love you
Doug Anderson (Saskatoon, SK)

If I give my soul
Paul Phillips (New York, NY)

It Ain't Me Babe
Darren Foulds (Thunder Bay, ON)

Rusty Cage
Robin Harbron (Thunder Bay, ON)

Personal Jesus
Kevin Boese (Abbotsford, BC)