Home > Archived Issues > 1996 Issues > Issue 2

INTRO TO SECOND ISSUE

UPDATE ON

The CDs have been ordered from the pressing plant. I am going through Crystal because they are the most inexpensive manufacturing plant I could find. If you are interested in making your own CDs and selling them, and want information about how to get in contact with Crystal, email me and I will give you any information I can. I have one of only two copies of the CD currently. My CD is just a one-off that was sent to me by my producer to see if I liked how it sounds. I do. I love how it sounds. It sounds better than I expected it to. The sound is much fuller than the quick mix I got the day I recorded the album, and the effects are really cool, in my opinion, as well. Here is a sound clip from the CD: . Please click on the above banner and read the rest of "Underground Music Monthly," issue 2 while waiting for your RealAudio player to download it. It should only take a minute, and then you can listen to the song as you read the rest of the page. If you want to hear other sound clips from the album, go to Mission Man's soundclips and lyrics page for "Intro To My Mind."

INTERVIEW WITH TODD HARRIE

Now for the Interview:

Q: How would you define your music?
A: Well, its very hard to define music, because then you have set up boundries. I would like to evolve with various styles of music to become a well rounded songwriter with access to any style that best conveys my lyrical ideas. But for "All this time, awaiting more" I ended up writting songs with positive overtones. I was tired of all the negative messages I was hearing and wanted to express a diferent interpetation of the world around us. Maby my next album will have a totally diferent view, I hope to have that freedom and creative licence.

Q: Do you have any influences? If so, who?
A: Of course, I am a student of anyone who has a gift and/or a natural ability for music. People like Stevie Wonder and Prince showed me the aspects of soul and funk. Sting and Steely Dan taught me the beauty of jazz and melody. And kd lang (with too many more singers to mention) have given me the inspiration to be the best singer I can be. I try not to be influenced by other writers (to maintain my originality) But writers like Mary Chapin Carpenter, Lennie Gallant and Tom Waits have shown me the value of telling a story with music.

Q: Where did you get the inspiration for your various songs?
A: Most of what I write about I see around me everyday, either in my life or the diferent lives I see around me.

Q: How long have you been writing or performing songs?
A: Over 10 years.

Q: Who is/are your favourite band(s)?
A: I like anything well done that moves me.

Q: How long did it take to complete this album? From the first day of writing the first song to the delivery to your house of the first order of CDs?
A: Well, the album isnt quite finished yet! But I have been working on it (on and off) for over a year. It should be released early in the new year.

Q: Are you produced under a label? If so, what kind?
A: Still shopping for a label, but that will be later down the road, I am concentrating on the songs and the flow of the album, for now.

Q: Have you done any producing?
A: Yes, I produced and arranged all the songs on my album.

Q: What other (if any) e~zines or cyberzines have you been featured in?
A: Well, I write a music article for a internet news letter called Entertainment Online. It is featuring my music and a column I write on other musicians and album reviews.

Q: Have you written any songs dedicated to someone else? Such as a love song to your girlfriend, or a song in memory of a loved one who has passed away?
A: Any opportunity to communicate a thought in music is what song writers look for. Relationships, Life issues and sometimes Political issues can be the basis of a great song. All of the songs on "All this time, awaiting more" came from a thought in my mind that has emerged from a colourful situation, that invites a story.

Q: What are you future plans for your music?
A: Basically to finish the album with all the songs that I feel best represent the tones of my life and many others. To me music can be the best communicator and that is the emphasis I place on my musical goals.
Todd Harrie's Homepage ********************************************************************

COMMENTARY ON POPULAR MUSIC

Those are some of the reasons I am getting more and more into Underground Music. It seems to be more original, and more creative. Underground artists do not usually have a producer to please and an A & R representative to please. Therefore they are more free to express themselves how they want to. There is very little censorship with Underground Music as well. There's no editing of the word "lick" or "hit it from the back" in underground music because it's not on MTV. I am referring to LL Cool J's "Doing It" with those phrases. Anyone who has seen the video on MTV can attest that they edit half of his words, but he only swears 2 times I believe. Censorship will be another article for another magazine, however, and anyone who wants to add comments about censorship can feel free to email me and I will include those comments in the December issue of UMM.

Underground Music seems to be more positive than popular music. At least in the case of rap and hip-hop. Most popular hip-hop is about girl's being whores, ganster's shooting each other, or how powerful or rich someone is. Let's face it, a song called "Cop Killer" would outsell a song called "Love Thy Neighbor" in a heartbeat. I feel that is starting to change, but for now that is one of the problems with popular music. Artists occassionally do positive songs, such as "Keep Ya' Head Up" by 2Pac, to improve their image with the people who consider them to be bad influences or delinquents. It's great that they do those songs, but the reasons are wrong. They should do songs like that because they really want to make a difference. A lot of rappers say that they rap about hard core situations to raise awareness, but by now they are only adding to the violence. For the first few years awareness raised dramatically and people felt sympathy for the ghetto youth having to grow up the way they do, but now it seems like artists are still just "raising awareness" even though virtually everyone is aware. Now is the time to act to change things instead of "raising awareness" that can't be raised any higher. That's the main influence for the music I wrote for "Intro To My Mind" and the music I'm writing for "Delve Deeper."

Popular music usually isn't very intellectual or profound. The number one jam right now (meaning the last time I watched the countdown, 2 days ago) is "No Diggity" by Blackstreet. There is nothing profound or intellectual about the song, yet it sells a lot of copies. Why? Because you can dance to it. It sounds cool. The lyrics aren't very original, and neither are the lyrics for most popular hip-hop songs. I like to listen to the song to just relax sometimes, but I won't buy it.

One big exception is made to everything I have said about popular music, and that exception is Bone. Bone's style is very original, very melodic. The song "Crossroads" was extremely profound by popular music standards, and pretty profound by any music's standard. Their lyrics are pretty inventive, and so are their beats.

Other than Bone, however, what I have said holds up pretty well for most popular music. I hope it changes, but even if it doesn't, I should hopefully be able to find enough underground music to keep me satisfied, and I always have my own music to listen to.

Email any reactions to this commentary to me and I will include those reactions in the December issue of UMM as well.

Conclusion of issue 2