AND BEYOND 2 Bolic: America Elected Its First Black President
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Arts & Entertainment A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture, books and more, edited by Elizabeth Schwyzer by Elizabeth Schwyzer 008 was a year of global shifts. Some were sym- AND BEYOND 2 bolic: America elected its first black president. Others were literal: China suffered the most devastating earthquake in decades. The most dramatic shift of 2008 was economic: The burst of the U.S. housing bubble and widespread failures in finan- cial regulation swept economies around the globe into crisis. Beyond the worlds of politics and financial markets, a subtler but no less radical shift was tak- ing place. In time, it would touch one billion people across the plan- et. It’s epicenter was the Silicon Valley. YouTube made the video star On a Wednesday evening, Stan- ford music program graduate Jack Conte (class of ‘06) is giv- ing a talk in the studio beneath Bing Concert Hall on campus. A small group has gathered to listen as Conte discusses his lat- est creative projects, including his band, Pomplamoose, formed with fellow Stanford grad Nataly Dawn in 2008 (the duo has a gig on campus Nov. 1). Dressed in a close-fitted tee and a trucker hat, with a boyish face and a lean frame, Conte looks closer to 20 than 30, though a bushy beard Jeffrey Marini lends him a certain hipster gravi- tas. Stanford grads “In 2008, if somebody sent Nataly Dawn Pomplamoose rejects record labels in favor of the Internet you a YouTube link to a cat video and Jack with 500,000 views, you’d watch Conte founded low-budget music videos on the has built on the popularity of its lightfully ironic cover of “Video it, ‘cause that would be some Pomplamoose then-relatively new video-sharing Beyoncé cover with more rendi- Killed the Radio Star” includes funny shit!” he exclaims, stab- in 2008. website. Their channel garnered a tions of well-known hits spanning shots of the projector and screen bing the air for emphasis. The small but loyal following. Then, the decades. Among their recent and features Conte’s shadow audience twitters. “But in 2014,” in September 2009, they posted videos are a remix of Irving Ber- scurrying along carrying a cam- Conte continues, “I’d want to see an understated indie remix of Be- lin’s “Puttin’ on the Ritz” and a corder. Even if you’re not a fan of at least a few million views. The What: Pom- yoncé’s hit single, “All the Single mashup of Pharrell Williams’ Dawn’s soft crooning backed up currency of the view has totally Ladies.” Within weeks, their vid- “Happy” with Daft Punk’s “Get by a blend of folksy instrumentals changed.” He goes on to share a plamoose eo — shot in Conte’s bedroom Lucky.” These aren’t straightfor- and electropop stylings, it’s hard television versus YouTube stat: Where: Bing and featuring footage of Dawn ward covers; though they tend not to be charmed by the Pom- AMC’s Mad Men has 2.3 million Concert Hall, in a batman T-shirt and shaggy to borrow the basic melody of a plamoose brand: They’re silly, viewers; little-known YouTube pixie cut spliced with Conte at the preexisting work, Pomplamoose smart and startlingly transparent. vlogger Charlie McDonnell has 327 Lasuen St., piano bobbing his head in time alters everything from instrumen- 2.4 million. Stanford to the beat — had more than 10 tals to syncopation, key and lyrics The poster kids of the creative class “It’s easy to think in terms of When: Satur- million views. to create something more like a views, comments and users,” For Conte and Dawn, it was the tribute to the original. Together, Conte and Dawn Conte adds. “But you gotta re- day, Nov. 1, at beginning of a new era. YouTube At least as important as the constitute the poster couple member it’s people on the other 8 p.m. drove traffic to their website, tracks themselves are the clever for the “creative class:” a term side of it all.” Cost: $30 gen- which drove up sales on iTunes, videos that include no dubbing or coined by social scientist Rich- This, as much as actually mak- which lead to “real” money. hidden sounds. If Dawn’s voice is ard Florida and reclaimed by ing music, is what occupies Conte eral admission, “In one month, we sold 30,000 recorded twice and harmonized others to describe the writers, these days: the power of YouTube $15 Stanford songs and made $20,000,” Conte with itself, viewers will see two artists, designers and musicians to transmit original creative con- students with ID remembered. “That’s when we re- Dawns singing side by side. In a who create original content that tent to its one billion users across alized this might be a real thing blatant rejection of the traditional can be propagated online. What the globe. Info: Go to live. that people actually wanted.” high budget, smoke-and-mirrors exhilarates Conte about the rise It wasn’t so many years ago that stanford.edu or So far, that prediction has prov- style of MTV, Conte and Dawn of the creative class, he explained, Conte was working part-time as a call 650-724- en true. Pomplamoose (the name make no effort to hide their meth- is that it puts power back in the tutor, playing music with his girl- is an Americanized spelling of ods of production — in fact, they hands of individuals rather than friend Dawn and posting their 2464. the French word for grapefruit) often highlight them. Their de- corporate groups. Page 32 • October 24, 2014 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com Arts & Entertainment “We’ve turned down record sustainable sources of revenue. deals with all of the major re- YouTube alone won’t cut it; the cord labels” Conte said. “We’ve two or three million views they all seen the trajectory of most get each month account for musicians,” he added, using his roughly $200 of income for the finger to indicate a sharp rise and band. Yet YouTube has been the fall. “Why do you think that’s the foundation for iTunes sales, brand model? I think it’s because artists deals (including a lucrative series don’t know how to do it for them- of ads commissioned by Hyun- selves.” dai) and most recently, patronage. Though posting DIY music Last year, Conte joined forced videos online might seem less with a software developer to glamorous than the rock-star found Patreon, a crowdfunding trope of being whisked around in site that helps artists earn a salary a limo, having your gigs booked based on pledges by fans. To date, by a tour manager and letting PR Patreon has raised more than $17 take care of the marketing, Conte million for 40,000 musicians, says he’d rather be forced to learn webcomics, vloggers and other than to be at the mercy of a la- members of the creative class (in- bel. It’s a start-up mentality, and cluding Pomplamoose). Though Conte sees it as part of the deal prospects look good, Conte said for the post-recession generation much of their recent tour went on Harvest.Fest Saturday, October 25 th of creative professionals. credit cards. “We’re always uncomfortable,” It’s impossible to predict the Live Music • New Fall Product • Food & Drinks he acknowledged, grinning. “It’s future, but the band says some 278 University Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301 always hard.” things are certain. Conte is clearly the extrovert “We know we’ll continue mak- of the pair, but Dawn is far more ing music and videos,” Dawn than just a pretty face. She does said. “We’d also like to experi- the majority of video editing in ment with spending more time addition to taking the lead on and resources on better videos musical arrangements and lyrics. and learning a new program for Over the phone last week, still editing. And I really want to work recovering from Pomplamoose’s on putting together a European third and largest-ever tour, she tour.” spoke about various behind-the- Like Dawn, Conte sees a range scenes aspects of the job. of possibilities for Pomplamoose’s “I’ve learned a lot of what goes future. He reeled off a few in the into the back end of doing a tour form of questions rather than an- and how many moving parts there swers: “A chat show? Another re- are,” she said. “There’s so much cord? More music videos?” that happens to run a business. But what seems to motivate the Yet when it’s time to make mu- duo more than long-range com- sic, Dawn and Conte say they’re mitments or external markers good at taking off their business of success is the ability to keep hats and dropping into a more learning and playing together playful, creative mode. That’s an while challenging the old modes essential skill for the success of of music and video production. the band, as well as for their re- As Conte sees it, Pom- lationship. plamoose’s story is part of some- Where scholarship and values matter “When you’ve been together for thing much larger: the age of con- this long, working in tight quar- nections between musicians and ters, you get a pretty good idea audience members, artists and of what makes the other person patrons, creators and consumers. tick and how not to push their “This is a cultural movement, a buttons,” she said.