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Interviews

Chocolate Chip Cookies; Family Recipe& Quirky Playlist

Read our Switching Styles article below to get Jade Ireland’s delicious family recipe for chocolate chip cookies as well as a fantastic chocolate chip-themed playlist.

Introducing Jade Ireland and Her Chocolate Chip Cookies

Jade Ireland is a fun-loving person who enjoys everything to do with the kitchen. Most importantly she loves to cook, bake, and create culinary artwork. Some of her main focuses include Sustainable Life, cooking for Diabetics, Permaculture, and Clean Food. Switching Styles has reached out to Jade to discuss how music combines with her culinary passions and asked for some of her favorite recipes. Below is Jade’s family recipe for chocolate chip cookies.

Photo by Anete Lusina on Pexels.com

 Sometimes it’s hard to know what to make or bake in this case. In an interview with Switching Styles, Jade Ireland explained that it’s hard to pick a singular favorite recipe.

“I find this to be very hard, what’s the setting? Who is it for? What type of food do the people you cooking for like? I love to cook with an Asian twist, but nothing beats a choc chip cookie I make every Sunday and give to the people I love. I find they make Mondays better.”

Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe 

Photo by Brigitte Tohm on Pexels.com

Here’s a recipe to make your Mondays or any day of the week a little bit better.

Chocolate Chip Cookies Ingredients

150 grams of butter, softened
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup caster sugar
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup milk chocolate bits, plus 1 tbsp extra
1 egg
1/2 cup dark chocolate bits, plus 1 tbsp extra

 Step 1

Preheat oven to 180C or 160C fan forced. Line 2 baking trays with baking paper. Using an electric mixer or whisking, hand, beat butter and sugars, and 1-2 minutes or until smooth and well combined. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.

Step 2

Stir in flour. Stir in dark and milk choc bits. Roll 2 level tablespoonfuls of mixture into balls and place on prepared trays, 3cm apart. Press down slightly. Decorate with extra choc bits.

Step 3

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until lightly golden and cooked. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

Baking Chocolate Chip Cookies With Music 

Chocolate chip cookies are certainly a classic. What about baking these classics with a fantastic soundtrack?

Cookie Dance By Chip Chocolate

“Share It Maybe” By Sesame Street

“Faraway Cookies” By Caitlin Mc Ewan

 “Who Stole The Cookie From The Cookie Jar?” By The Jaynetts

C Is For Cookie” By Soul Sanctuary

Final Thoughts

Thank you so much for reading Switching Styles. Check out our blog for a range of different topics. We’ve got many more fantastic articles to keep you on the edge of your seat. Check out articles like Today we’re discussing Chickens, Mac Sabbath: Fast-food Fun for the Whole Franchise, Defining Covers And Parodies and a whole lot more!

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Interviews Reviews

Interview With Notedead

Are you ready? Are you sure you’re ready for this? We don’t think you are, but you better get ready. Switching Styles has the answers you need with this interview with Notedead.

Introductions All Around!

Max Preuss (drums) and Trymer Martin (guitars/vocals) combine to form the band, Notedead. It all started where all great bands start, with a passion for music. The band found their start during the 2020 global COVID-19 pandemic, despite the hardships. Everything was rough. That didn’t stop them. For Notedead, this was a new beginning. The band formed in 2020 and has been rocking the world since.

Q&A Between Switching Styles and Notedead!

In an interview with switching styles, they’ve opened up about their band, their process, and their goals. Read below to get to know Notedead even better!

What is it about music that makes you feel passionate?

 Music emits emotion. I long to feel what the artist felt when they wrote the song and kind of experience it together. Music is also everywhere, from malls to elevators. And rhythm is in footsteps and your heartbeat, it’s everything.

 The emotions a song can put you through makes me feel alive

How did Notedead start and how did the Covid 19 Pandemic impact your band?

 Early on in Covid times when everything stopped and when we couldn’t jam with our bands Trymer started writing his own stuff and asked Max to write drums along with it. We both quickly realized that our writing for our respective instruments clicked together.

We started ripping out songs super-fast, so we decided to continue writing under our own band together which is Notedead.

How is being an Edmonton-based band impacted Notedead?

 It’s funny because only half of the band (Max) is Edmonton based and the other half (Trymer) is from Lacombe so it’s almost a long-distance type band relationship.

 The local music scene in Edmonton has a great group of people who support and encourage us, and we are forever grateful.

What inspired you to start playing and making music?

Trymer:

 Before I got into my own music I listened to my dad’s classic rock/metal, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Foreigner, ZZ Top, etc. Anyways but I’m in grade 5 I had some project to do at school and there was another classmate who did his project, but his was on Sum 41 and it caught my eye, so I got the CD “all killer no filler” at a Walmart in Manitoba, and that cd changed me.

From there I adopted my first taste of music away from my parents and it inspired me to want to play guitar, the ball started rolling from there!

Max:

Rock band. I loved the game because I was able to some of jam along to my favorite songs while simultaneously learning a basic version of the drums. I got very good at that game, and it made my transition into real drums very easy.

My music teacher in junior high band class then asked if anybody knew how and I volunteered to learn some percussion. The rest is history, between drum lessons, drumming for my high school jazz band & winning jazz artist of the year, it’s safe to say I’m a real drummer now

What bands or genres inspire your sound?

 Counterparts, Napoleon, Dance Gavin Dance, to name a few… but it’s really so hard to say what inspires our sound, so many bands growing up shaped us into the musicians we are and what our preferences are as well.

We also use it a lot! Of dead notes haha

Describe your creative process when you write new music.

 We both write our music on Guitar Pro. being as we are far away from each other, and we both enjoy the punctualness we can read. Trymer usually comes up with the first riff and then sends it to Max and Max writes the drums and then we work together from there, writing the song section by section.

Sometimes there will be a pre-discussed idea before we start on our next track, but we always write song by song and never add too much to our plates.

What’s your favorite venue for performing? Why?

 We don’t play shows as we are only a 2 man band writing songs to share with people, but if we could Trymer would want to play the St. Andrews United Church in Lacombe as he used to play local punk shows there growing up (it’s kind of odd I know, but it was so much fun!) and Max wishes we could play at Polar Park Brewery in Edmonton but it unfortunately just closed down.

What are some of your current projects?

 Currently, we have some new music in the bank but nothing to confirm aside from our new album “Separate Paths”. However, Max is in 2 other bands, Withered Days and Sol Runner.

What advice would you give to musicians just starting?

 Listen to music as often as you can. Find something that you wish you could make your own and take that drive to make your own with your inspiration and feelings

 Don’t give up, you’re going to suck at times, but music is a lifelong partner if you let it be.

Is there anything you wanted to mention that I didn’t ask about?

 Yes, our new album ‘Separate Paths’ is out September 9th

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Interviews Reviews

Featuring Notedead

This content was sponsored by Notedead. Thank you for supporting local music blogs like Switching Styles!!

Are you sure you’re ready for this? Are you ready for truly hardcore music? We don’t think you are, but you better get ready. Notedead is one of the most hardcore bands in the province, and they’re not stopping any time soon.

Introductions

The band formed in 2020 and has been rocking the world since. They’ve been releasing music since their debut in 2021 with the release of their Best Wishes EP. Then the single “Labyrinth” was released a year later.

Max Preuss (drums) and Trymer Martin (guitars/vocals) combine to form the band, Notedead. It all started where all great bands start, with a passion for music. Despite the hardships, the band found their start during the 2020 global COVID-19 pandemic. The covid pandemic was a tough time for Canadian musicians. Venues were closed. Live performances were limited. Finances for everyone were rough. Everything was rough. That didn’t stop them. For Notedead, this was a new beginning.

Getting Started.

Trymer started writing instrumental tracks solo during the quarantine. Channelling the pressure, uncertainty, and anxiety into the melodies, he created three of Notedead’s first songs. But something was missing, and that something was Max. As a drummer, Max had felt the impact of the pandemic firsthand. Trymer reached out and Max took to his role like a fish to water. They both quickly realized that their writing was an amazing match. That’s the exact moment that Notedead was created.

You may think you know the post-hardcore genre, but not like this. Max is a drummer, not only for Notedead but also for Withered Days and Sol Runner. His skill combined with Trymer’s artistry makes entirely unique music. This band brings something fresh to the post-hardcore genre. The band is inspired by classic rock and metal legends; Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Foreigner, and ZZ Top. That’s not all. Notedead’s influences also include contemporary bands such as Counterparts, Napoleon, and Dance Gavin Dance. Notedead is breathing a new kind of life into the genre with its music.

“A dynamic, immersive, and progressive assimilation of heavy influences. Rangy guitars work that balances urgent and melodic astutely and a pummeling vocal delivery intertwines deftly with the instrumental unit”

Raves Katie from Carry The 4 PR.

Their Music

This post-hardcore Canadian band is bringing out all the stops in their music. Notedead is bringing forth impressive drums, emotive lyrics, and an emotional connection to each one of its listeners. All their music has such a profound level of depth to it. Each note, each strum, and each word have a meaning and a purpose. That purpose is to connect with the listener within that moment.

Their most recent release is an album called “Separate Paths.” This album of 11 hardcore songs has been available as of September 9, 2022. Not even one of the album’s songs is flat when it comes to emotions. The songs all tell a story of humanity and share a part of the human condition. Pain, anger, joy, rage, and misery, it’s all there in their music.

Notedead is aiming to be one of the greats coming from right here in Edmonton, Alberta. The goal was never to impress people. It never has been. It’s been about the music. The real goal is to write great music that speaks to the human heart. Find their music online on Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube, and Bandcamp.

Check them out and let us know what you think!!
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Covers Remixes Reviews Switching styles

Reviewing “Overwhelmed” By Royal and The Serpent

Bringing you relatable feelings and anxiety is Royal and the Serpent. Switching styles is reviewing the song “Overwhelmed”.

Introducing The Overwhelming Topic

To get started here is the original song by royal and the serpent. If you haven’t watched the music video, you certainly should!

This is such a wonderful song. It’s not just that this song is popular on Tik Tok. And it’s not about its eleven million views on YouTube. It’s not just that the music video was artistically shot on Kodiak’s 16 mm film. All of those are damn impressive elements but the aspect that stood out to me is the feeling of the song.

Don’t mind me getting personal with my readers. With someone with anxiety, ADHD and depression, the highs, and lows of the song itself are very reminiscent of when all the mental illnesses combined. There’s a lot of high energy and repetition, and then it’s quiet for a little bit. This is what goes on inside my head. Royal and the serpent nail it.

“All I wanted really to do with ‘“Overwhelmed” ’ was to give it to people to hopefully make them feel better,” Says Royal In An Interview With Marni Zipper Of Audacy.

What Do I Do If I Relate To “Overwhelmed” By Royal and The Serpent”?

The first step would be to take a deep breath. Talk to someone you trust. Ideally, this would be a doctor but sometimes that’s not very possible with timing, schedules, finances, jobs, and school. Some of the things that are making you anxious, upset, or even plain unsettled. In the short, it’s valid to relate to music. Heck, it’s encouraged. With mental illness, it helps to talk about it and to relate to others that know how you’re feeling. Because you’re not alone. Not in the slightest.

What Even Is Mental Health?

Mental health is someone’s emotional, mental, and sometimes spiritual wellbeing. It’s important for a list of varied reasons; better coping strategies, improved relationships, a feeling of purpose and potential, increased productivity, and better physical health.

Did you know that mental disorders and mental illness can raise your risk for physical health concerns including ulcers, migraines stroketype 2 diabetes, and heart disease?

What Do I Do If I Think I Have Anxiety Like in The Song?

If you think that you have concerns about mental health, a call to your doctor is a great first step. If you find yourself struggling with mental health, there’s never a right time to get help. Don’t wait for the right time. Reach out for help when you need it.

There’s also no right way to get help. Talk to your friends and family. Get a therapy appointment. Discuss your feelings with your doctor. Download CBT workbooks. Try mindfulness meditation. There are so many different options that work better for different people. Find what works for you to be the best version of yourself.

Cover Songs to Bring You a Smile

Here’s what the readers are here for, to be encouraged and given some amazing music.

Now the question is, can other artists make the same impact with the song? There’s an almost overwhelming amount of amazing cover artists out there. (Pun intended, I’m not sorry). Here are some covers of the song “Overwhelmed.”

“Overwhelmed” Covered By Emma Hamel

“Overwhelmed” ” Covered By Living in Fiction

“Overwhelmed” Covered By【 Slow Tea 】

“Overwhelmed” Covered by Zizoucorn Ft Robert Grace and Luxcity

“Overwhelmed” Covered By Rubychan’s Nightcore

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Interviews Reviews Switching styles

Featuring Adan Meza

Adan Meza is a Chicago-based musician with academic history.

Introduction To Adan Meza

As a proud Latin, Chicago native, and pre-service teacher, he didn’t start as a musician.

“I didn’t consider myself a musician” he explained. Although he was friends with many musicians growing up, it never quite stuck with him. Until one day, it did.

Adan is a relatively new musician. Adan began as a musician about 2-3 years ago. It wasn’t until 2015, that he started creating music. Starting his music career 2 – 3 years ago, he’s gained online traction with the band “Almost There But Not Really” between 2017. He’s shined as their bassist.

Recently, he left them to focus on his projects. He learned more about himself and more about the art of music itself.

Adan M. Music Key Projects to Date

Current projects that he’s working on include continuing his studies at the University of Illinois Chicago, as well as teaching bass to music students. As a bassist teacher, he’s bringing a lot of experience and expertise to the next generation of musicians.

Though Simbi, he’s teaching people from all around the world with topics including proper playing technique, the names of notes on the fretboard, practicing short basslines and finally digging into the scales.  Using Ariane Cap’s Music Theory for the bass player as a base, he brings his expertise and simple music theory to each of his lessons. One of those lessons is even available on switching styles. One of these lessons is published right here on Switching Styles!

As a bassist, he considers it an important part of any song. There is a difference between the guitar and the bass. For the rhythm of a song, “bass and drums are so monumental.”

Adan Meza’s Academic Journey

Bass lessons aren’t the only thing that Meza does with his time. Meza brings forth his experience and his heritage into all his projects. He has quite a range of experience beyond that of a musician with experience as a debate coach at Chicago public schools, a volunteer assistant at neighbourhood schools program at the University of Chicago and a graduate student that studied international studies at the University of Chicago.

He’s also a graduate student at the University of Illinois Chicago and the college of liberal arts and sciences. He currently has his B.A. in international studies from the University of Chicago and MAT history program with an expected completion of fall 2021.

“I grew up on the southwest side of Chicago and attended Chicago public schools before studying at the University of Chicago. I saw history as a way to explore my cultural roots as a Mexican American and now I hope to use it as a tool for advocacy. My love for teaching developed during my time in the neighbourhood schools’ program where I tutored primary school students,” Adan Meza explains in a bio.

“In 2015, I became the debate coach and head tutor at king college prep before going abroad on a Fulbright in 2017. Before starting my mat program in the fall of 2019, I finished working as a student advocate at Malcolm x college under gear up. I am now sponsored by growing your own Illinois which helps students of colour become students in high need areas. I hope to teach in a public school back in my neighbourhood, so I can contribute back to my community.” continues a bio from the university.

Final Thoughts; What’s Next for Adan Meza?

Keep up to date on his upcoming projects via his online presence on LinkedIn, or Simbi.

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Covers Interviews Switching styles

Covid-19’s impact on YouTube Cover artists; Interview with KDrummer 16

KDrummer 16 Is a drummer working on his music career during the pandemic. Below he dives into your questions in a Q&A with Switching Styles.

Photo by Josh Sorenson from Pexels

Introduction

The covid pandemic has impacted so many different aspects of the world. The Coronavirus pandemic has made it hard for many citizens around the world to function day to day. The pandemic has interrupted normal functions such as work, school, visiting family, recreation, entertainment to name only a few.

The music industry is one of the hardest-hit industries. Musicians throughout the world are feeling the hardships due to the Covid-19 lockdowns. KDrummer 16 is just one of the artist’s being hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

KDrummer 16 provides “Fun, entertaining, and unique drum covers of hard rock and metal songs from various artists”. With drum covers such as “It is the End” by Ice Nine Kills, “Riot” by Three days grace, “Ticks and Leeches” by Tool, and so many more!

 

 

Interview with KDrummer 16 and Covid-19

Below is a Q&A with Switching Styles and KDrummer 16 where we delve deeper into how the Covid-19 pandemic has impacted him and his music career.

 

What has your experience been during Covid-19?

My experience with Covid-19 has been luckily minimal with bad news, but it has definitely impacted my life. I’m currently in school right now, and all of my classes are now online. My job is taking all the proper protocols to present the spread of the virus, and it’s been months since I have seen certain friends and family. For my musical pursuits, I’ve been fortunate enough to work in time to see my band a few times a month up until recently, when cases began to increase once again. My band, The Extremity Complexion, formed just before Covid-19. It’s been quite an interesting journey trying to write original material, perfect cover songs, and even promote ourselves. Luckily, we’ve put out quite a bit of material given our circumstances, and I’m hopeful for the future that lies ahead with the band!

 

How has it changed since March?

Right now, not too much has changed for me since March. With case numbers rising again, we were put on quarantine for another three weeks. With that comes limited contact with my friends and family as it was like in March. However, during the summer months, I lived a semi-normal life again, which was very nice! I practiced with my band, started a new job, and was able to do short vacations throughout those months. Wearing P.P.E has become a new normal for me, and even though it’s been almost a year, not too much has changed with the state I’m living in and how I view this whole pandemic.

 

What impact has it had on the music industry?

Unfortunately, Covid-19 has had a huge impact on the music industry. Bands are unable to tour, and some are unable to record new material. With all of this time now available, many bands have written entire albums to generate revenue once again, which is good. Musicians had to make a shift on connecting with their fans, and many have done it well; live streams, drive-in concerts, and virtual performances are now a new normal. For new artists, to be discovered requires an expansive social media outlet compared to the normal playing gigs and becoming known approach.

 

What are the supports available for musicians?

Supports available for musicians ultimately boil down to the fans and followers. To make a career out of music involves other people to enjoy what one puts out, creating a dependency on the artists from the fans. For these artists to have support during these unique times, fans need to purchase merchandise and to show that they still want to hear from the artists. In turn, the artists will put out new material creating a cycle of buying and selling that the music industry needs to thrive.

 

Are the supports enough?

In my opinion, the supports are enough given the circumstances. Some fans can’t afford to support the artists the way they want to because of the financial pit they may be in. With many people on unemployment, spending money on wants instead of needs isn’t logical, and that causes the support musicians need to not be as good as it could be. But it’s enough for the musicians now because they too are struggling during these times.

 

How have you seen the music industry change or adapt?

As mentioned before, I’ve seen the music industry shift toward social media and virtual forms of material. Instead of playing live, bands are now doing virtual and live streams to connect with the fans. But live performances are still happening, with drive-in concerts becoming quite popular.

Since March, I’ve watched about three virtual concerts, and I enjoyed all of them because it gave me camera angles unable to be seen experienced at actual concerts. However, nothing is quite as exhilarating as the actual in-person concerts that so many people are missing during these times.

 

What advice would you give to musicians that are struggling?

The advice I’d give to musicians struggling during Covid-19 is to just keep trying to promote yourself on all forms of social media.

Even if you start with small amounts of likes and views, the more material you put out, the more followers and fans you’ll gain. People are desperate for entertainment now. If the material you put out is something people are interested in, I guarantee the views will begin to climb!

 

Concluding Thoughts

Being a musician during a pandemic is a difficult thing to maneuver. Whether it’s attempting to book shows as they’re constantly being cancelled or having to reschedule for some time in the far distant foggy future, it’s rough. Live music has certainly taken a hit throughout the world.

Follow Switching Styles and KDrummer 16  to keep up to date on current projects.

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Covers Interviews Reviews Switching styles

With Ether Q&A

With Ether has been rocking the internet with their skillful and intricate guitar arrangements both original and covers.

Below is an interview between With Ether and Switching Style’s very own Dylanna Fisher. Interviews such as this give a great insight into the heart of the music industry, our musicians. Check out With Ether’s work on YouTube, Spotify, Deezer and so many more.

 

How did you each get started in music?

Simon: I grew up in a family of musicians, dad was a rocker, mum was a classical guitarist, my musical tastes were shaped by what my dad used to put on the car stereo on the way to school, mainly classic rock bands and artists like deep purple, The Eagles, Joe Satriani etc. Started playing drums at 4 years old to be part of the family band, then picked up a guitar at 12 years old.

Al: I come from a somewhat musical family. My mum played piano and my dad was a champion player of the erhu, a classical Chinese stringed instrument. I had taken piano and violin lessons, even erhu like my dad as a young child but never really took it anywhere. When I was 14, I made the mistake of choosing music as one of my elective subjects at secondary school which required me to perform a recital at the end of the course in the exam, while not being able to play any instruments well at all. I’d been into Rock and Metal music for a little while then, and I’d always wanted to learn guitar but had been embarrassed to admit it, and so I took my school music course as the excuse to start taking guitar lessons.

 

How would you describe your sound?

Al: It’s always difficult to describe your own sound when there aren’t other groups or artists doing it, especially when the influences are so broad. I personally tend to think of what we do as ‘Contemporary Acoustic’, but I’ve read comments describing us as ‘Acoustic Metal’ which is not entirely inaccurate I suppose.

 

Who are your musical influences?

Al: Our personal influences are so wide-ranging we couldn’t possibly name them all, but for what we’re doing in the duo, we were initially very inspired by what the artists at CandyRat Records were doing, particularly Jimmy Wahlsteen, Andy McKee, Don Ross, Antoine Dufour, etc. Those guys’ influence very obviously all over our whole catalogue of music, with the guitar body percussion and use of harmonics. We’ve also been influenced by Japanese guitar duo Depapepe, who some of our viewers have flatteringly compared us to.

As you could probably tell, we’re also heavily influenced by Rock and Metal. As Simon mentioned he was influenced by Joe Satriani and Richie Blackmore (Deep Purple). When I first got deep into guitar, I was into Heavy Metal guitarists like Alexi Laiho (Children of Bodom), Randy Rhoads and Zakk Wylde (Ozzy Osbourne), James Hetfield (Metallica) and so on, and learning their styles helped me get a solid grounding in the physical aspects of guitar playing.

In terms of our arrangement and composition style, we’re influenced by the same composers who compose the music we rearrange. Nobuo Uematsu, Akira Yamaoka, and so on. We learn from the masters.

 

Why perform under the stage name With Ether? Where did the inspiration for the name come from? What does that mean to you?

Al: When we started the duo, it was originally a side project to the Metal band that we were in, and so our idea was to go in the opposite direction with this project and create a kind of tranquil ‘healing’ music for ourselves and others. Simon started floating the word ‘Ether’ around, a typical name for a healing potion in RPG games. After we’d brainstormed for a while, we decided ‘With Ether’ was nice and snappy, and communicated what we wanted to do with our music.

 

Why did you start on YouTube?

Al: The original reason we started uploading to YouTube was really only to have links and examples of our playing to send to music venues and event promoters so that we could get gigs. It wasn’t until we started getting more popular with the rearrangements that we really considered ourselves ’YouTubers’ as such. When we started the channel, uploading videos to YouTube wasn’t really thought of as a career path by most people.

How do you think YouTube functions as a platform for musicians?

Al: I think YouTube is a very useful tool for talented musicians to get themselves out there and show their skills if they’re trying to get hired. However, attracting lots of viewers to your channel does require you to be a ‘content creator’ and not just a musician, and as we know the YouTube algorithm is not always predictable or in our favour all the time.

How do you feel about the internet in the music business?

Al: For us personally, the internet’s influence on the music business has been positive. The ability for us to release music and garner an audience without having to go on the road, to collaborate with each other from halfway around the world, to even get financial support from our fans from all around the world directly through album sales and sites like Patreon. Saying that we aren’t a part of the ‘record industry’ as such, and YouTube is not a primary source of income for either of us. Perhaps if we were making and selling albums through the older medium of recording contracts and labels, we’d have a different opinion, but overall, it’s been a positive experience for us.

What are your thoughts on copyright?

Al: As far as copyright is concerned, I personally don’t have a problem with a portion of the ad revenue of a cover version or rearrangement we’ve released going to the copyright holder. It is their intellectual property after all, and they have a legal right to it. Some copyright holders can be excessively litigious and unreasonable, but that’s not a problem we’ve ever been faced with too much and we’ve never had a video taken down over copyright issues.

Why do rearrangements in particular?

Al: From our perspective, taking pieces from widely varying genres and arranging them for two acoustic guitars is a lot of fun and a great creative exercise.

How do they tend to compare to the originals?

Al: Comparing to the original largely depends on the piece. In general, our arrangements end up relying more on groove and a bit of backbeat, especially when it comes to the big orchestral themes such as Monster Hunter, Final Fantasy or God of War. With only two guitars, it’s not possible to replicate the magnitude and scope of these huge orchestral arrangements, so it’s important to take advantage of the unique aspects and physicality of the guitar to give the arrangements its own twist, rather than be married to the idea of sounding just like the original. You want to be faithful to the original, but you want to create something people will want to listen to based on its own merits as well.

What is the typical process?

Al: Our process ever since we’ve been separate has been fairly simple. One of us will create a full arrangement on our own, and then send the separate parts with metronome for the other to record over. Once that’s done, audio and video get sent over to mix and sync up, and it’s all done. When we get together in person, we like to create arrangements and write songs in a collaboration, but since we live halfway across the world from each other this process is much more efficient.

You’ve been revered by composers such as Akira Yamaoka, and Noriyuki Iwadare. How did that come about?

Al: If anyone’s doing the revering, it’s definitely us. We have been very lucky to receive praise from several composers of the themes we’ve rearranged, such as Akira Yamaoka and Noriyuki Iwadare as you’ve mentioned. We’re not entirely sure how they caught wind of our work. Most likely one of our fans must have gotten in touch with them via Twitter and showed them our work. It’s a surreal experience to get noticed and encouraged by these composers who we admire and are inspired by.

With Ether also performs original music as well as arrangements, why do you choose to

have both?

Al: As I mentioned earlier, when we started the channel, it was really just a tool to have our songs and performances on video so that we could send the links to venues and promoters in order to get gigs, so for the first few months of the channel existing all the material was original. We didn’t start doing video game rearrangements until Simon one day came up with the Metal Gear Solid Medley, and since people enjoyed them, we continued making more. Our channel is about doing the music that we both enjoy, and if a song takes our fancy, be it original or cover, there’s no reason not to do it.

How do they differ?

Al: The processes of writing the rearrangements compared to originals aren’t too much different from each other. When it comes to originals, obviously you have the freedom of creating the music from scratch, which could be a plus or a minus depending on who you ask. For me personally, there’s an intellectual challenge involved with creating rearrangements, especially highly complex orchestral pieces with lots of moving parts when you’ve only got two guitars. Deciding which elements of the original to draw from, what to leave out, what to add your own personal spin to, all these little things make rearranging a bit more challenging.

What is the importance of music?

Al: The importance of music is immeasurable. Outside of YouTube, we are both music teachers. Learning music even as only a hobby is a great experience for children and adults alike. Even just listening to music has been a transformative experience for countless people.

Do you notice a difference between online music and live music?

Al: Online music and live concerts are obviously very different from each other. There’s something unique about being in a room watching a musician play, and that experience can’t be replicated at any other time or place. Being able to record and upload your music online is obviously a great thing, especially now in these times when a lot of us are still forced to stay home, but there’s something exciting about being at a live show that film can’t capture.

What are some of your fondest memories throughout your music career?

Al: There were many great moments early in our YouTubing days. One that stands out to me is the time we crashed London’s Hyper Japan festival when we scored performer’s passes playing guitar for our violinist friend Masa in 2012. In the process, we managed to get on Nico Nico Douga’s (popular video streaming site in Japan) live stream of the event and performed the Metal Gear Solid Medley. Almost immediately after that, our subscriber count shot up by about 200 in the space of maybe 30 minutes. Right then we realized we were on to something with these rearrangements.

Other than that, my fond memories are just us goofing around making the arrangements, keeling over laughing at the dumb mistakes we would make after 20 takes.

What are some obstacles throughout your music career?

Al: I’m not sure we’ve experienced any great hardship or obstacle as a group. One challenge we did face is when Simon initially moved from the UK back to Thailand and we first started doing videos in split-screen, it was a challenge working out the system of how we would do it. If there was ever an obstacle, it may just be us finding the time to write and record the arrangements, as our lives have gotten far busier from the time when we were students, which is why sometimes we’ve gone as long as 6 months without releasing a video.

What advice would you give to musicians just starting out on YouTube?

Al: For any young musicians just starting out on YouTube, just keep making the best stuff you can and putting it out there. Any YouTuber much bigger than us will tell you; you just have to be consistent.

 

What are some projects you have in progress right now?

Al: We always have new projects on the way, but we don’t want to spoil any surprises. You’ll just have to visit our channel, subscribe, stay tuned, and stay ethereal!

 

 

Keep an eye out for more of their amazing content by following both Switching Styles and With Ether on social media.

Categories
Interviews Remixes Switching styles

Students during Covid – 19 Q&A with Kassandra Chadd.

Students during Covid – 19; Q&A with Kassandra Chadd. This is also published on Also published on fundyourcollege.com.

Kassandra Chadd (She/Her) is a 24-year-old student currently taking her Bachelor of Arts in psychology at Concordia with classes mostly online.

Students During Covid – 19 have more than just a full load to deal with. Students have a full load when they take on school; exams, studying, assignments, extracurricular. They do all this while balancing a healthy life, and a job. Add in the pandemic, and it’s a whole new story.

Please describe your classes

So, all of my classes are online now but not all classes at my university are online. So, for most of my classes, you go at the class schedule time and it mostly on google meet the teacher shares their screen so we can see the PowerPoint and they teach like a normal class and answer any questions. But then other classes are set up where you watch a video of the teacher teaching that they have recorded before and then go to class once a week to just talk

In what ways has the pandemic improved your learning?

I have a lot more free time, not having to stress about going to school and if the lectures are recorded I can go back if I missed something or don’t understand

In what ways has the pandemic made learning harder? 

It is really hard to pay attention in an online class, the people interaction is not there so the discussion isn’t the same. Some teachers don’t care as much. A strong Wi-Fi connection is a problem at times

Are you able to participate in extracurricular activities? If so, what are they?

My school is doing a lot of the activities on google so I don’t feel like I am missing out, but I was not too involved before the pandemic

What advice do you have for other students?       

Set up your own space, make sure you’re studying between classes like at school, and I bought any other monitor so that I can still take notes and be on the Google meets

How do you think this pandemic would change learning in the future?

Yes, it has my school and other schools are talking about doing a blending learning with some classes online forever

Here’s the musical element of the students’ experience for your listening pleasure. Enjoy these remixes for all your studying needs both during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic!!

“Simpson Lofi Mix 2021” By Lofi Fan

“Arabic Trap Music Mix” by Inkyz

“Cavaliere Angelo Boss Theme From Devil May Cry 5” by Symphonic Brush – Music, Art & Memes

“Pirates Of The Caribbean” by Froto

“Keihatsu” By Mr_Momo Music

Check out more of our articles about students and Covid-19 right here on Switchingstyles.ca!!!

Categories
Interviews Remixes Switching styles

Students during Covid–19; Q&A with Bryann L.

Students during Covid-19; Q&A with Bryann L. This is also published on fundyourcollege.com.

Students During Covid-19 have more than just a full load to deal with. Students have a full load when they take on school; exams, studying, assignments, extracurricular. They do all this while balancing a healthy life, and a job. Add in the pandemic, and it’s a whole new story.

Bryann (She/Her), is a 28-year-old student currently taking her business administration-management at NAIT. These Classes are mostly online.

In what ways has the pandemic improved your learning?

I like the online classes and I find online teach lead classes are easier for me to follow than a traditional classroom.

In what ways has the pandemic made learning harder?

There is no interaction with other people.

Are you able to participate in extracurricular activities? If so, what are they?

No, I am not able to.

What advice do you have for other students?

Going to school during a pandemic is hard but there are many resources you can have you just need to find them.

How do you think this pandemic would change learning in the future?

I think this is going to open a new online chapter for schools, from kindergarten all the way to post-secondary it is convenient for a lot of people.

Here’s the musical element of the students’ experience. Enjoy these remixes for all your studying needs both during and after the Covid-19 Pandemic!!

“Epic Post Malone Mashup” by Sickick

“Hip Hop/Trap Instrumental Beats Mix 2021” By Nicop Records

“Trapanese Hip Hop Mix” By Mr_Momo Music

“Don’t Look Back” by Iwasanavocado Jr (Feat. Kotomi & Ryan Elder)

What study advice do you have for your fellow students during Covid-19?!
Categories
Interviews

Music piracy amid a pandemic; Interview with Cody Blakely

Cody Blakely is a local musician and recording engineer, who has seen the impacts of the pandemic firsthand from finances, to live music, to a lack of both.

This Corona pandemic has also made music at the media forefront. This includes getting music online both from streaming and illegal services and encouraging a conversation on music piracy.

Below is an interview between Blakely and Dylanna Fisher from Switching Styles.

Do you think Covid-19 has impacted the conversation about pirated or downloaded music?

That is a whole conversation that will get my blood boiling. I get right now it would be foolish to assume everyone has extra money they can spend buying records. I haven’t purchased a record myself in a bit and I subscribe to a streaming service. I am not exactly helping the situation, but I also feel like I buy a lot of music right from the bands.

Plus, with record shops being closed down or having limited access it’s tough to acquire music. It’s a tough situation. Some people haven’t felt a loss in income and if they can help support a local band by buying some of their merchandise, it would mean the world to them.

But I don’t think people understand exactly how much money musicians invest into their own music, or how much money is invested. I say money, but also at the same time, becoming a musician that people, care about is not an easy thing.

It’s a 10,000-hour job. It’s just like any other trade anything like that just even the way record labels and whatnot sort of conduct their contracts and why not it borderline in a lot of ways makes it impossible for musicians to make money. For every, every Platinum-selling artist that you have, there are 10 million bands that are rubbing pennies together try to afford to make a record.

I think a lot of the problems with pirating a lot of it just kind of comes from people not necessarily, thinking about essentially what goes into making a record or being a musician and whatnot. But I also think that the record labels themselves they’re not helping the cause. Even if pirating wasn’t the thing, I still don’t think that there’d be a tremendous amount of wealth shared with the artists

Why do you think that that kind of sentiment is there in the music industry?

The economic aspect of that alone, why there’s not any sort of laws against pirating or anything like that is crazy. And a lot of people say they pirate movies and whatnot. And that’s true. I do. I do agree with that. However, when people are not understanding how a record deal works, versus like a movie studio or anything like that, they’re going to be making billions of dollars potentially off of a movie where, you and I both know, what’s a record. The amount of record sales that it’s actually going to take for the artist to make a profit, is it you need to sell like at least eight times what the value or how much you invested into the record just for anybody to make money.

People often overlook when it comes to paying artists is, even sports, you can put as much work into being a musician as you do to an athlete. And these I mean, there are people dropping 1200 dollars for one night just to go to like a hockey game or something like that. Like I was mentioning earlier that Derek filled a brand or whatever his name is. He can’t be bothered to pay $3 to support 10 bands.

I don’t understand why there’s such a lack of faith in the music community is as a form of entertainment.

Maybe people just haven’t done the research. Maybe they just don’t understand.

But when it comes to music, it’s almost like people the wallets immediately put away And I’ve never personally understood why. I’m the furthest thing from a social expert but it’s definitely something that I’ve noticed, and I hope that it goes away, record sales are back up with vinyl. But how many people are shopping, right from the band or going to a record store and purchasing vinyl? Either way, most of the money’s just going to go back to the label and not back to the artists.

One thing that a lot of artists that I’ve talked to mention is ways that online music services can help. Watching it or listen to music on Spotify.

What are your thoughts on that?

Streaming services are an incredible discovery tool.

I think we can all think of a band that we had no idea existed before. And then when Spotify or whatever streaming service you use came into play, the amount of music we’re able to consume is, it’s overwhelming, almost, especially considering where we are in Edmonton. It’s no, it’s no secret that we’re not a major tour stop.

That’s the best way to discover bands. And if you discover a band that you like, if you reach out to them, and you ask them to buy some of their merch, they absolutely crazy to turn that down.  It happens all the time where we’ll have people from like Poland discovering us. We’ve said that merch overseas before and it’s extremely appreciated.

You do make a tiny bit of money and that’s nothing you can obviously live off of, but it’s a fantastic tool for discovering new dance music.

Why would you want music lovers and musicians to kind of know about the topic?

I think the important thing to realize is that even with standard 12 point deals that Generally the artist, their record is going to need to usually make eight times what the budget is for the making of the record, just for the artist received a pennyworth of royalties.

I’m the worst at math. I like to use basic numbers. If you’re working on a $100,000 budget for the record, for an artist to receive a penny, they’re generally going to need to make $800,000 on album sales.

And I can’t think of a single industry where it’s like that. If you went and bought a car and they told you that, yeah, we can get you a $20,000 car, but you’re going to have to pay $160,000 for this car. Would anyone seriously consider purchasing that? Personally, I don’t want to believe that there are people that are purposefully pirating music.

I just don’t think that there’s enough education that goes into exactly how much goes into making a record. The lack of education is a big one. That’s also not just with music lovers,  musicians as well. There need to be better resources for them to understand how much they should be investing in their own music as well. If they’re wanting it to be commercially accepted.

What kind of resources?

Alberta music, that’s kind of the first one. If you want to know the information, it’s easy to find on the internet. Like there are many sources out there.

[Check out some financial aids for Canadian Musicians]

People, just from my experience, need to take a little bit more initiative and perhaps creating education for those musicians. I find you can Google for an hour and the amount of information that you’ll learn is astonishing. Oh, well.

With people not having extra, spending cash if they’ve been laid off. It is going to affect pirating music. I mean, there’s still there are still records coming out. And if you’re not part of a streaming service, well, the only way that you can really, listen to that now is going to be pirating everything. I do understand And I am sensitive to that, that, there’s I don’t think that there’s a single record out there where it’s, missing all your bills for. I totally respect and understand that.

There’s a lot of bands that are starting to stream them play shows and whatnot. I think there’s a lot of steps in the right direction. , and until, there’s going to be a lot more people normally losing their income. It’s going to it might be the norm for a bit, unfortunately.

Streaming services before COVID-19 were Increasing quite amazingly, it seems to have kind of plateaued, not decrease, not increase just stayed the same. Right after COVID-19, What do you estimate will happen with streaming services?

Wow, that’s a really good question.

It’s always going to be used as more of a discovery tool. I can’t see a way for streaming services to get any bigger. Even TV streaming services and they’re in the same boat, they’ve kind of plateaued as well. I don’t necessarily see them getting any bigger. That there’s only much you can do with a streaming service. If you’re using it as a discovery tool, please be my guest. But at the end of the day, if you want music to join and new music to be made, you got to invest in it.

Provincially something’s going to have to change during COVID-19 preventing us to stay alive realistically

It’s a satellite business astronomy map between, people going to shows going to restaurants before the concerts. If you have somewhere like starlight room, for example, that’s hosting multiple 500 plus shows a week. , bringing that money downtown. People coming from out of town and bringing money into Edmonton to let something like that go, while we’re investing in pipelines that are still not going to go through,  is incredibly short-sighted. That’s pretty much how you turn Alberta into a corporation.

The big thing that I find is that a lot of people, we can just be honest, a lot of people in Alberta. I don’t think cultures are overly grasped by the arts or take too much interest in it. And it very, very quickly becomes something that people need to realize that it does no matter what you do. Everything about your life is going to be affected by some sort of art. , whether you’re watching TV, whether you’re watching a movie, wherever you’re, you’re throwing on the radio, the clothes that you wear, those were made by a designer. Even if you’re watching the Oilers play someone had to design that logo. For people to overlook the arts as not a major industry, just because it wasn’t anything that you can, drive your car with or anything like that. It’s not oil.

Alberta music needs to do a little bit of tightening up. That there needs to be more education for musicians to they don’t, they don’t get taken advantage of because I feel like a lot of musicians get taken advantage of.

To be totally honest with you. I see nothing but potential for Alberta music.

Comment below your thoughts about the pandemic’s impact on our musicians!!