Skope: What are you currently promoting the most via an , tour, single etc?

VOICE IN THE ATTIC: ‘Shark Rider’, the new EP. It’s available from all major online mp3 stores and there’s a physical product coming soon as well, a limited An Artist to Watch: digipak edition I’m currently working on with a graphic designer.

VOICE IN THE ATTIC in Interview Skope: Does it bother you when fans with Skope Magazine download your music without paying?

VOICE IN THE ATTIC: Well, John Lennon once said: “Music is everybody’s possession. It’s only publishers who think that people own it.” Lennon’s right, of course, and I’m all for giving the fans freebies. But the problem is that you need money, obviously, to do what you do best. Unfortunately, the Lady Gagas of this world are sending out the wrong signals by giving away whole for (next to) nothing. Consumers get the impression that songs are fruits dropping from trees, which is not true. I’ve written (and recorded) more than 30 tracks in the last months, only the best of which are on the new album. And the production of Shark Rider, involving musicians, engineers and producers from two continents, cost thousands of dollars. That’s peanuts for corporate businesses, but independent Skope: What does it mean to be an A2W artists must shoulder the costs artist? themselves. If you get absolutely no compensation for what you do, if you VOICE IN THE ATTIC: It means a lot to cannot so to speak ‘harvest the fruits of me. Browsing through all the options for your labour’, the question is how long can features and reviews my sonicbids you keep it up if you want to make music Electronic Press Kit gave me, I thought professionally. On the other hand, I can “Being featured on Skopemag would be fully understand that people do not want to great. Let’s give it a shot and apply for pay for something that seems as their A2W feature” – and got selected! ‘insubstantial’ as mp3s or that they say There are many music mags but few music’s a service not a product, see serious publications. Skope is one of Lennon. It’s both, which is the them. So I’m proud to be here! predicament. Skope: What drives you everyday to play good work by serious artists who really & record music? care about their audience. Not all is dark, though: bands like the Foo Fighters prove VOICE IN THE ATTIC: I can only think of two that you can be hugely successful and motivations for doing that. One would be to maintain your credibility. write, record, produce songs targeted at the mass market because you want big time Skope: What is coming up for you & money. So what you do is, you analyze and where you at online? imitate the sound, style etc. of a famous artist, sample bits of smash hits from the VOICE IN THE ATTIC: You can listen to past, mash it all up and – voilà! – you’re into the full album on our facebook profile at the epigone business. Two, by contrast, is my http://www.facebook.com/pages/Voice-in- way and that of several artists I adore. the-Attic/126788950669321 Heather Nova sings on one of her songs, I think it’s called ‘Not Only Human’, “Life is We’re also on iRadio LA (Indie 104), the something set to music / I can hear it when world’s most popular independent radio I’m sad / There’s a chord in every muscle / station. Request our songs at Every kiss you ever had”. That applies to me http://indie104.serveftp.com/playlistV.html. as well. You either express yourself in an artistic way because you sense that it brings A new official music video will be out soon you closer to the mysteries of the universe – plus we’re playing a couple of local gigs at or you don’t. So the short answer to your the moment and I’m already writing the question is, it’s part of my personality next songs – so stay tuned in! Best way to structure. keep track is to subscribe to the newsletter on our home base at Skope: Do you feel shows like American http://voiceintheattic.com/fr_uptheattic.cfm. Idol and The Voice are legitimate and Doing that will give you a free download would you ever go on the shows? plus lots of inside information.

VOICE IN THE ATTIC: That’s a tough one. On the one hand I know people who have produced the first American Idol winner, and those guys are nice hard-working, serious musicians and producers, many of them Berklee grads. But this part of the industry is also a farce and a slap in the face of musicians writing their own material who are serious about communicating through music. And no, I would never ever go on one of those shows. Friends of mine suggested I ought to but no way. Hell, I was born in the 70s when music had the power to change societies! I believe it still has that power. Only, you must look – or listen – harder. It’s not self-explanatory anymore. There’s so much ‘ado about nothing’ these days and it functions like white noise blocking out the