Putting your music “out there” is simultaneously the most humbling and narcissistic action you can take and it’s ripe with responsibility.

It’s selfless (almost masochistic) because you’re allowing the public to judge your art (and you). It’s also narcissistic because you’re making the presumption that you are “good or even great” or at least worthy of our consideration and (maybe) praise.

I don’t care how you do it: handing out cassettes to friends, using tools like Bandcamp, Tumblr, and Soundcloud, playing club shows or a concert at Massey Hall, getting a record deal, whatever; when you make your music public you must be ready to face the feedback.

So why do it at all? Most people’s automatic response is “for the exposure.” More to the point, without exposure an artist cannot find and connect to an audience, and an artist requires an audience.

If you are still here, you might be thinking, “but I’ve been trying to gain an audience, Dean, and it’s very hard.”

Yes, yes it is. And if you are like me, you’ve read a lot of books and watched a lot of documentaries about your favourite bands. Being a “studio guy” for about a decade I’ve had the opportunity to meet and chat with a lot of musicians (some modestly successful and a few hugely famous). Hidden between the lines of most of these artist’s stories is a common secret ingredient: perseverance.

To the average person an artist’s journey to success may seem very short, maybe even overnight; but in reality, the journey is almost always long and hard – fraught with setbacks and revelations. This brings me to my first example:

THE FLAMING LIPS have been making their weirdly beautiful music since 1983 but it wasn’t until the summer of 1993 (six albums in) that they had their big break with, “She Don’t Use Jelly”. It was The Lips’ first radio hit and it’s still their highest charting single to date. It propelled them from a 30-something band that slept on floors and toured in vans to an international phenomenon complete with a dazzling show on par with PINK FLOYD.

In 1999 they would release a highly influential record, The Soft Bulletin (NME magazine’s Album of the Year), but not before losing a key band member and going through some major creative restructuring. But then again, restructuring is what the Lips had been doing all along.

In their bios, The Lips have often characterized their success as “the accidental recording career” but I believe that’s just a spin – chance had very little to do with it. The truth is, they just wouldn’t quit.

Under the leadership of singer Wayne Coyne, the band has been charting new courses throughout their career – adding and dropping members and making bold musical statements on the way. The progression from Oh, My Gawd (1987) and Hit to Death in the Future Head (1992) is simply mind-blowing.

In the “anything can happen” era of the early 1990s, it wasn’t unusual to see a band like THE FLAMING LIPS suddenly catch the fancy of a fickle public hungry for anything new, but what makes the Lips unique is their ability to sustain interest and still remain true to their weird vision.

A big part of The Lips phenomenon is their perceived caché by both the industry and their audience. Even before their breakout in 1993, they were seen as veterans of an underground post-punk scene (resulting in a major-label singing in 1990) and when they released the difficult four-disk experimental album Zaireeka (1997) – that’s four disks meant to be played simultaneously on four systems – fans and insiders alike saw them as bold and innovative and stuck with them.

I don’t think just any band can release a record like Zaireeka out of the gate, especially on a major label – that takes serious clout. The Lips’ longevity – their perseverance – played a major role in developing that clout. They are here and who they are because they survived; I can think of another similar example: RADIOHEAD (known as ON A FRIDAY when they formed in 1985).

If you haven’t seen it, I recommend you rent THE FLAMING LIPS documentary The Fearless Freaks (2005) (directed by long-time band video collaborator and award-winning documentary director Bradley Beesly).

Next Up >> Perseverance Part 3: Bob’s the Teacher

Stream “Colours” while you’re reading:

With an opening that begs you to listen all the more intensely, Homesick Future – the new EP from Vancouver’s Young Liars (out Feb. 21 via Nettwerk Records) – sees the band tearing into some keyboard/synth-heavy electro-tinged pop rock territories that are sure to be a big hit with anyone who hears it… and if it’s not your cup of tea, then your musical tastes are most likely in serious need of an upgrade.

It seems these days the number of bands with the name “Young” + “insert other word here” is in great abundance – especially in Canada: Young Galaxy, Young Empires, and of course Young Liars among the latest of the bunch.

Thankfully, unlike some other Canadian acts of the late-90s/early-00s era (you know who I’m talking about), they’re not clones of each other and each is catchy as hell in their own right… especially Vancouver’s Young Liars here on their major label debut.

Lead track “Echoists” immediately gets things off to a danceable start, with a four-to-the-floor kick drum beat that lays the foundation for the electronic bass tones, swirling echo-filled arpeggiating guitar licks and prominent high-pitched synth leads that’ll have you humming along in time. The fact that vocalist Jordan Raine just happens to be asking the listener to “take [him] in [their] arms tonight” alongside this musicality makes the track all-the-more inviting. Just when you think the song might be finished around the 3:30 mark, the synth breakdown outro begins: a solid foreshadowing of things to come later in the album musically.

Though its lyric-laden video has been circulating the net for a few weeks now, lead single “Colours” easily stands alone without the visual to accompany it:

With this lyric-heavy chorus it’s a good thing they made a video that recounts all the words, cause it’d be tricky trying to catch the whole tongue-twister without them being written out. On the flip-side of this – because they made the video, it makes it so much easier to sing along… and aside from the insanely catchy bass and guitar leads, it’s the lyrics that leave this song begging for sing-a-longs.

By the time “Navigator Island” starts, you may have begun to notice the Paul McCartney quality to Raine’s voice… and if Wings were around today, they’d surely be trying to capitalize on the electronic resurgence in popular music in some fashion with a similar dance-y musical flair.

Follow-up track “Marathon”, and the titular “Homesick Future”, both continue to accentuate this McCartney-ness vocally. The former starts off with a heavy bass dance beat and quickly escalates things through the roof with a headbob-inducing rhythm; the latter keeps that punchy bass groove that permeates throughout, but tones things down a bit to give the guitar and synths more prominence alongside the vocals.

While the minute-long “Great Green Light” allowing the listener to float off into the ambient distance at the end of the record, its immediate predecessor “Newton, Forgive Me” is the true closer to the album – featuring a opening drum rhythm the members of Stomp would be proud of.

Ultimately though, if the band has any one GREAT strong-suit in particular it’s that they write a mean bridge/breakdown in each of their tracks… which, depending on the circumstances for the live setting, could be extended in great abundance to please an eager and riled-up dance-loving crowd.

Based purely off its name, Homesick Future might be interpreted as that introspective album concerning the gut-wrenching reflections one has when trying to sort out the possible life paths they could take ahead of them. But Vancouver’s YOUNG LIARS have turned that sensation into a danceable set that pelts you in the face and doesn’t let you come up for air until they’re done having their way with your eardrums.

With their debut full-length announced for release in 2012, YOUNG LIARS best not be themselves the deceivers of their namesake, or it’s almost certain that there are going to be some pretty disappointed – and deprived – people out there.

They’ll be setting out in March for a few sporatic Eastern Canada dates before heading home on a Western Canada tour in support of the release (see dates below). In case you’re not familiar with the band, that earlier quote comes direct from singer/rhodes/hammond frontman Dan Moxon himself who graciously provided us with the 52nd installment (and one-year anniversary edition) of the 7-Day Mixtape.

Stream the BEND SINISTER mix and read up on some of Dan’s thoughts on the tracks below. Be sure to get acquainted with the band at their links below too – that Bandcamp link features full streams of all their releases, so it’s well worth your time.

ALABAMA SHAKES – Hold On
I love this song, rare when a new band comes around with such soul. She’s got a great voice.

DEEP PURPLE – Speed King
Just a classic from Deep Purple that I’d be ashamed if you’ve never heard before. From the album In Rock – a must have.

THE WAKING EYES – Wolves At The Door
This Winnipeg band never made it, and it’s sad with such a great song as this… You can hear members in ROYAL CANOE though, their new band.

DR. DOG – Hang On
This has been almost my #1 favorite new band for the last three years. The album Fate is amazing from start to finish.

DIRTY PROJECTORS – Temecula Sunrise
I love this band. It may take a few listens to fully appreciate the intricacies of the song, but at first listen the drums’ changing time patterns for even just a bar is awesome. They rule.

HALL AND OATES – You Make My Dreams
A bit of an aside on the mix, but a couple years ago I rediscovered HALL AND OATES and they are some of the most soulful white dudes alive, though you do have to pick and choose from their extensive catelogue. Definitely a ‘best of’ kinda band.

CREEDENCE CLEARWATER REVIVAL – Long As I Can See The Light
What better way to end a mixtape? This song is one of the best and most underrated CCR songs.

Upcoming BEND SINISTER Tour Dates:

03-01: KELOWNA – The Habitat
03-02: OLDS (alberta) – Tracks pub
03-06: MONTREAL – L’Esco Bar
03-07: KINGSTON – The Mansion
03-08: LONDON – Call The Office
03-09: WINDSOR – The Dugout
03-10: TORONTO – Cherry Cola
03-13: WINNIPEG – The Pyramid *
03-14: REGINA – The Exchange *
03-15: SASKATOON – Amigos *
03-16: CALGARY – The Gateway *
03-17: EDMONTON – The Starlite room *
03-18: BANFF – Wildbills *
03-19: JASPER – The Horseshoe Club *
03-20: FERNIE – The Northern *
03-21: NELSON – The Hume Hotel *
03-22: KAMLOOPS – Catus Jacks *
03-23: VANCOUVER – Venue *
03-24: VICTORIA – Club 9one9 *
03-26: WHISTLER – Garibaldi Lift Company *

There’s a great lyric from THE WALKMEN’s song, “We’ve Been Had”:

Sometimes this verse epitomizes how I feel about music. Every so often I’m hit with what I call The Big Why – basically, that moment of existential crisis when you ask yourself, “why am I still doing this?” If it hasn’t happened to you yet (oh fellow indie musician), I guarantee it will at some point. It might be on some sore and hung-over morning after a tour or during a family function when your cousin (twice removed) asks why you’re over 25, not in school, and still working at Starbucks.

Let’s face it – being an indie musician these days can seem like a lot of hard, thankless work (e.g., countless hours of writing, rehearsing, recording, promoting, being your own roadie, plus not getting paid). For every fresh band starting up in this city there are probably two who are imploding.

I thought a good way to start this column, a sort of weekly indie-rock survival guide, would be to take on this important, often perplexing, issue. When I sat down to plot this essay I realized I’d have to get pretty philosophical, so I divided this first topic into several bite-sized 500-word installments.

OK, before I continue I have one caveat: I don’t claim to be some guru with all the absolute answers. I think each person’s Big Why ultimately comes down their unique circumstance.

Your answer might even be: “I really should quit this before I end up dead or in rehab.” However, I’ve been asked to write a column and to keep it positive – besides, they say you should write what you know (or at least what you believe you know), so here goes.

What follows in the next 8 installments or so is purely opinion (backed up with a few quotes and case studies). My hope is that if you happen to be struggling with your Big Why this might be helpful.

Anyway, end of caveat and onto my first point: music is Art. I have about 300 words left, so I need to keep this short. I think popular music, regardless of genre, is capable of being a legitimate art form.

Frankly, I believe music is THE art form – it’s modern alchemy – the closest thing to magic in our world. Yes, some music is merely craft (or crap), sort of like how some paintings are “purely commercial” while others are “fine art” and some manage to be both – but I believe that we (indie musicians) intend to make Art (with a capital ‘A’) even if we don’t necessarily frame it that way.

So if you have gotten this far you might be thinking, “yes, we’re with you Dean, we are in it for the Art, whatever that is.” Very good indeed, but believe me there has to be more to it than that.

First, this begs the question, “well, what is Art then?” In short, I don’t know. Nobody really does.

In Understanding Media (1964) Marshall McLuhan wrote, “I think of art, at its most significant, as a DEW line, a Distant Early Warning system that can always be relied on to tell the old culture what is beginning to happen to it.”

Leo Tolstoy in his essay, What Is Art (1897), said something like (I’m paraphrasing): “(Art is) human activity in which one emitter, by means of external signs, transmits, through infectious means, previously experienced feelings, creating an emotional link.”

Both gentlemen are hinting at the idea that Art is supposed to show us something hidden about our world – something we either can’t say or won’t say in more direct means.

I can buy that.

This line of thinking also posits that Art requires an audience – and that’s really what I’m driving at here. Personally, for music to qualify as something better than “an exercise” (and thus satisfy my Big Why), it should achieve (or should strive towards achieving) three fundamental qualities: an audience (aka recognition), subversion (aka a message), and authenticity (aka personal meaning).

So you see, this is really just an introduction, because in the next four installments I intend to discuss recognition. And, to narrow things down even more I am going to focus on what I believe to be one key component to obtaining recognition: perseverance.

Next Up >> Perseverance Part 2: Accidental Flaming Lips

It’s been a long time in the works, but after the final 12-hour code stint over the long weekend, The Indie Machine v.2.5 is reasonable close enough to unveil to you all….

….He says as the server crashes (*knock on wood*)

We’ve taken in a lot of feedback over the past year and have tried to implement that in the latest design and layout.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the article pages are completely revamped to allow for better readability, more straight-forward page elements, and the proper crediting for our ever-expanding team of writers and photographers here at The iM.

The main page hub and sidebars will see their own restructuring in the coming days – it’s nearly there – but for the time being they’ll be fairly familiar to those of you who’ve been visiting the site for a while.

We’d also like to take this rollover opportunity to launch The iM’s latest initiative: our weekly columnists.

As one of our greatest supporters over the past year, we’re pleased to announce that Toronto-based musician and producer Dean Marino (Papermaps, Wendy Versus, Tin Star Orphans, Chemical Sound Recordings) will be joining The Indie Machine as a recurring columnist with his CAN’T MAKE A LIVING series about life in the music industry – he’ll be starting things off with a five-part series called “Perseverance” over the next week. Additional columnists are in the works, so stay tuned for lots of great music industry insider tips, tricks, commentary and stories that are sure to be informative, funny or absolutely ridiculous… or some combination thereof.

Finally – to those of you who’ve only recently learned of The iM: thanks so much for visiting; we hope you’ll stay awhile and hang out with us.

To those of you who’ve continued to visit the site over the years – some of you since our very first radio show on July 2nd 2009 – you are the reason we keep going, and we hope you’ll keep tuning in for more great music news, videos, tracks, interviews, live events and general music coverage.

There are plenty more great artists out there just waiting to be heard, and there are a lot more goodies coming down the iM pipeline: we can’t wait to share them all with you.

This is only the beginning for The Indie Machine.

We mentioned Vancouver’s YUKON BLONDE on the site a little while back as they prepare to drop their upcoming LP Tiger Talk on March 20th via Dine Alone Records.

Earlier today the band debuted their new video directed and shot by Toronto’s Joy and Justin Broadbent, for the album’s lead single “Stairway”; a video that sees guitarist/vocalist Brandon Scott in a weird dream-like state as he performs chores around an apartment… things get a little weirder from there.

The band explains via release: “[the video] features Brandon in a dream like state, remembering and longing for all the wonderfully mundane things you do at home like cleaning or washing dishes. In the dream he also finds these ‘apparitions’ which seem to be memories of people and places he misses from home, from which he feels slightly detached from being away so long, and yet he can always return and connect with them in the end. Or something like that.”

What do you think it all means? Check it out below.

In other news, the band is currently on tour somewhere within the boundaries of the great landmass that is Europe, though the quartet is set to hit the road on home turf with appearances at SXSW 2012 and across both the US and Canada through to the end of April before hitting the UK again in May (tour dates below).

To keep tabs yourself on these crazy Vancouverites, hit them up online here, or give them a ‘like’ over on Facebook.

Upcoming Dates:

February 17 – Paris, France @ Fleche D’or
February 18 – Utrect, Netherlands @ Ekko
February 19 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso (upstairs)
February 20 – Hamburg, Germany @ Kulturhaus III&70
February 22 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Debaser
February 23 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Stengad
February 24 – Berlin, Germany @ Privat Club
March 5 – Seattle, WA @ Sunset Tavern
March 13 – 18 – Austin, TX @ SXSW
March 22 – Edmonton, AB @ Pawn Shop
March 23 – Saskatoon, SK @ Amigos
March 24 – Winnipeg, MB @ WECC
March 26 – Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock
March 27 – Chicago, IL @ Beat Kitchen
March 28 – London, ON @ Call the Office
March 29 – Guelph, ON @ The Vinyl
March 30 – Montreal, QC @ Casa Del Popolo
March 31 – Kingston, ON @ Grad Club
April 02 – Quebec City, QC @ Le Cercle
April 04 – Charlottetown, PEI @ Hunters Ale House
April 05 – Fredericton, NB @ The Capitol
April 06 – St. John’s, NL @The Rock House
April 07 – Halifax, N.S. @ Reflections Cabaret
April 10 – New York, NY @ Pianos
April 11 – Philadelphia, PA @ Kung Fu Necktie
April 12/13 – Toronto, ON @ Lee’s Palace
April 14 – Ottawa, ON @ Ritual
April 16 – Sudbury, ON @ The Townehouse
April 18 – Thunder Bay, ON @ Crocks
April 20 – Regina, SK @ University of Regina Multipurpose Room
April 21 – Calgary, AB @ Palomino
April 26 – Victoria, B.C. @ 9ONE9
April 27 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Commodore
May 10 – Great Escape, Brighton UK
May 19 – Liverpool Sound City, Liverpool, UK

Kingston ON two-piece PS I LOVE YOU have been on anything but a gradual ascension over the past year.

Since releasing their debut Meet Me At The Muster Station, Benjamin Nelson and Paul Saulnier quickly found their raw gritty effect-laden garage-rock style in high demand (and based on our encounter with the duo back at NXNE 2011, it’s no wonder)

Earlier today, the band put out a link for a FREE ALBUM DOWNLOAD called Muster Sessions – comprised of Meet Me At The Muster Station tracks from various live engagements and interview sessions. Fill out your info in the widget below and you can snag yourself a copy.

In other news, PS I LOVE YOU is set for a pair of appearance at this weekend’s Wavelength Music Festival ahead of the impending May 8th release of their sophomore LP Death Dreams via Paper Bag Records. For more info, hit them up online HERE, but get out and catch them live if you can; you won’t be disappointed.

Album Tracklisting:

1. Subtle & Majestic (KEXP Session)
2. Meet Me at the Muster Station Part 1 (Daytrotter Session)
3. Breadends (KEXP Session)
4. 2012 (CBC Radio Q Session)
5. CBEZ (XM Session)
6. Little Spoon (XM Session)
7. Leftovers feat. Diamond Rings (Daytrotter Session)
8. Starfield (CJLO “Hooked On Sonics” Session)
9. Butterflies & Boners (CBC Radio Q Session)
10. Scattered (CJLO “Dirty Work” Session)
11. Facelove (CBC Radio Q Session)
12. Get Over (Daytrotter Session)
13. Meet Me At The Muster Station Part 2 (Daytrotter Session)

Upcoming Dates:

02-17 – Toronto @ The Garrison (Wavelength Music and Arts Festival 2012)
02-19 – Toronto @ The Garrison (Wavelength Music and Arts Festival 2012)
03-23 – Toronto @ Lee’s Palace w/Big Scary, Caveman, Doldrums

Rhythmic, catchy, boundary-pushing pop music is how some would describe Winnipeg sextet ROYAL CANOE. Here at The iM we just like to use the word ‘fun’.

The Matt Peters-fronted (The Waking Eyes) six-piece electro-tinged pop-rock outfit is getting set to independently drop their new EP, fittingly titled Extended Play (which is what EP stands for… as if you didn’t already know) on February 21.

Being based in Manitoba, the band confesses they’re often torn between the dichotomy of Winnipeg’s “euphoric summers” and the “harsh, bitter…’you’ve got to be fucking kidding me’” winters; admitting their music is “in part, an effort to make sense of resentment and romanticism of the city’s divergent identities”. Check out the latest of those tracks, “Hold On To The Metal” off their new EP in the embed below – it’s also a FREE DOWNLOAD!

In other news, the band is set for a Western Canada/West Coast US tour in support of the release throughout February and March (with a stopover at SXSW) before hitting Toronto for Canadian Music Week at the end of March.

Until then, get better acquainted with the group by hitting them up on Facebook HERE, or take a gander at their latest video “Nightcrawlin’” also below.

The Deets:

WHO: The iM with friends – JAMES AND BLACKBURN, ILLITRY, DOG IS BLUE and HUE!
WHAT: A rock show
WHEN: Doors at 9:00 p.m.
WHERE: Rancho Relaxo, 300 College St., Toronto ON
WHY: Because you’d be crazy not to.
MORE INFO: on Facebook here.

Nearly a year after releasing, touring, and promoting their spring 2011 LP Walk Into The Sea – including a spot on England’s End of the Road Festival alongside indie heavyweights Mogwai, Okkervil River and Joanna Newsom – Saskatoon indie-rock collective SLOW DOWN, MOLASSES are getting set to drop Bodies Of Water: Remixes – a new EP of reinterpreted tracks off that album.

Featuring remixes and re-imaginings by Factor, Foam Lake, Message to Bears, Mehta, Form, Light Fires, Economics, and Sebastian Reynolds, the EP is set for digital release Feb. 21st for FREE DOWNLOAD via Bandcamp.

You can check out the first single off the release, a subtly amped-up version of “Light” where it’s gentle ambiance gets a mellow electronic groove thrown into the mix, in the embed below. It makes for a really engaging listen, and while it’s not enough to make you dance, you’ll still be bobbing your head along with it.

In other news, SLOW DOWN, MOLASSES recently dropped an animated video directed by Andrei Feheregahazi for “Bodies” off Walk Into The Sea (see below), and are preparing to embark on a UK tour centered around an appearance at The Great Escape Festival.

For more info on SLOW DOWN, MOLASSES check them out online HERE, or hit them up with a ‘like’ on Facebook.