ROADSHOW – The Film
So, a few months back I thought it’d be fun to start making videos. We started with a couple Bebo Norman music videos, then a Katinas music video and here we are a few months later with a pretty rad project in front of us.
As most of you know, I’ve been involved with MercyMe and The Roadshow for years, so what’s the next logical step? Produce a film about The Roadshow itself, right? Now, the plan is for this to be a full out, full length, documentary film featuring The Roadshow and all the folks involved to make this crazy thing happen. We’ve had a full film crew out on the entire tour and we’ve filmed literally everything that happens on and off stage in order to give you guys a look into this circus we call home for 2 months out of the year.
We’ve got artist interviews, label interviews, and even some business talks about what makes this thing such a risk to pull off every year financially. I’ve learned a lot seeing this thing from a different perspective and I can’t wait to share it with everyone.
Right now we’re shooting for an October 2013 release, but I’ll make sure to keep this site updated with some cool things when I find the time.
So, here’s where you guys come in. We’ve got this whole tour filmed and are already starting the editing process, but to get this thing to the masses, we need your help. We’ve got a fund-raising campaign going now and could use any help to finish this thing strong. Head to ROADSHOWFILM.com to get involved and pick up some pretty cool things in the process.
It’s been a wild ride and if you guys know anything about me or have followed this blog for any amount of time, one thing you know, is that you never know what will happen. Thanks for joining us on this one.
Political Faith
Remember in 2008 when I asked Christians why they were voting for Obama? Got a lot of spirited answers on that one didn’t we?
I’m not sure what the deal is but all of the sudden today I’ve found myself fascinated with politics. Maybe it’s because the World Series ended. There’s no other “championship” thing going on right now, and that’s when I kinda get into things. Superbowl, World Series, NBA Championships. Wow. That sounded less “un-American” in my head.
Anyway here’s the deal. I didn’t vote last time and I’m not entirely sure I’m going to vote this time. Now, you can call me an idiot, un-American, irresponsible or whatever else you want to call me but let me start this conversation by asking this.
What happens when faith goes out the window because someone aligns with us politically?
“Uh oh. He’s a mormon. It’s okay though, at least it’s better than a democrat.”
“Well I’d rather have someone in there with at least some kind of faith instead of that Muslim fella.”
Yikes.
We live right smack in the first or second hole of the Bible belt and I can’t begin to tell you how many Romney signs are up and down our streets. Now, I’m not saying he’s not the right choice. I’m not saying Obama isn’t the right choice. I’m simply asking what happens when our faith takes a back seat because the guy on T.V. is saying the right things politically?
What’s wrong with voting for the lesser of two evils? Come on, you’ve all said it. See that’s where I find the conflict. I don’t know that I need to choose a lesser of two evils. I don’t know that I need to throw all my chips into a guy that, in a different circumstance would have Christians freaking out because he’s part of a cult.
So here we are again. The chance to exercise my American freedom to not vote, or join the crowd of Christians settling for the guy saying just enough of the right things.
Thoughts?
The Great Health Care Reform Debate
Oh great. Here we go. More politics. More debates. More arguing. No seriously though. If you know me, you know that I’m not a massive political guy. I don’t pay attention as much as I probably should, and probably don’t care as much as I probably should. Sorry about that, to everyone who I just offended.
This morning on our morning walk Kristin and I started talking politics. One thing that came up was this whole Health Care Reform thing. Seems like most people that ‘hate’ Mr. Obama, also think his “ObamaCare” is a terrible idea and will ruin the world. The other side thinks Mr. Obama is great and (I assume) agrees with what he’s doing. Then his wife blogs about it and it’s a big confusing mess.
Now, if I’m honest I haven’t really given the subject it’s due attention, or even really thought about it at all, but it got me thinking. What’s the deal with this thing? I mean what are the nuts and bolts of this plan? What are we getting ourselves into? What’s the good the bad and the ugly with this plan. Does anyone know? And I’m not talking about the slanted Republican, or the slanted Democratic views, but what’s actually happening?
Then we found this video and it sort of explains it, but again, I feel a slight Democratic slant even from this ‘objective’ video. Unless it truly is a good idea:
So there’s the deal. I wanna know. What are your thoughts on this health care thing? What’s the negatives? What’s the benefits? Do you care?
And for real, don’t turn the comments into an “I hate (insert candidate)” stream. Then later we can talk about Mormonism.
Ready? Go.
The Birth Of SkörMedia
So, here’s something cool. If you follow me on Instagram or Twitter you probably saw that I was involved in the making of a couple music videos for a one Mr. Bebo Norman. Bebo’s got a new record coming out and we had the opportunity to film some music videos for the release. Three to be exact.
On top of taking a step in the direction of something I have always wanted to be involved in, this week was a much larger step in the life of SkörInc. With these videos and a couple others under our belt, I’m thrilled to announce the birth of SkörMedia. Armed with a handful of cameras and the talent of Mr. Ryan Slaughter, this addition to SkörInc is a long awaited one.
Along with websites now, SkörInc can now offer EPK’s, Music Videos, ‘The Making Of” videos and any other film related products. I couldn’t be more excited.
This has been a pretty major week for us, and there’s still a ton on the way. Lots of crazy stuff in the works. I’m going to try to be more active on here, so keep checking back for updates.
AFTER
Recently I’ve had the massive opportunity to work with a local film company run by Ryan Smith called Seabourne Pictures. They have a movie in theaters tomorrow called AFTER and you people need to check it out and see if it’s in your city. Kristin and I got to go to the red carpet premiere the other night and had a blast.
I’m not totally sure why I look like a serial killer in this picture, but Kristin makes up for it. Anyway. Check out the movie in select theaters this weekend.
The Making Of The Hurt & The Healer
So, I know it’s been a while since I’ve been on here and I’m working on ‘repurposing’ things around here, even if that means getting back to just adding content on here. For now, I figured I’d let you in on a little something that I’ve been working on since, well, October I guess.
Back at the beginning of the recording process for MercyMe’s ‘The Hurt & The Healer’ I thought it’d be cool to try and capture the entire process. It was just me and a camera so I shacked up with them for a few weeks in the studio. The result was nearly a terabyte of video footage and really no plan for what to do with it.
My friend Ryan and I started talking and decided that if we got a little live footage, and sat down with the band we could have ourselves a pretty cool little documentary… or… soft-rockumentary… or something. Since Ryan likes to edit video and I like to tell people what I think is cool, it worked out pretty well and I’m pretty happy with what we came up with. In the end it’s over thirty minutes of studio footage, photo shoot outtakes, interviews, behind the scenes junk and some live performances.
Now, I’ve never really “directed” anything before and honestly I don’t even know if that’s what I did on this. On top of that I’ve never really “filmed” anything for more than silly YouTube videos so this was a bigger project than I anticipated, but I think it turned out pretty cool. So here’s the deal. This thing is available Tuesday for sale on the band’s website so go over there in a couple days and check it out. I’m curious what you all think.
The Hurt & The Healer
So check it out. This record is easily MercyMe’s best record. I’ve had a blast doing all sorts of different projects on it from filming the entire process, art directing the packaging, filming the photo shoot, designing merch, and now working on what’s possibly going to be a music video. These guys are some of my favorite out there, and it’s a blast working with them.
Pre-Order this record now. Trust me.
A Streaming Debate
Let me start by saying, I already know that several of you will disagree with me and that’s fine. This is my opinion on how I have decided to spend $10 a month and you can feel free to spend your $10 however you want.
It took me a long time to jump on the subscription based music thing. I’m honestly still trying to wrap my head around not “owning” music anymore, but that’s another thing. For months now I have had the free versions of both Rdio and Spotify. I played around on both of them this whole time and enjoyed playing ‘free’ music…. until I was on a plane and didn’t have the new NEEDTOBREATHE record that I wanted to listen to.
I have this weird thing in my brain that almost instantly categorizes whether something is a “PC Version” or a “Mac Version”. Wal-Mart = PC, Target = Mac. Almost everything can be divided into these two categories…. except Starbucks. Typically, the PC version is more popular, more manufactured… like an assembly line. It’s usually more cost effective too. And then the Mac version is a little better quality, more expensive and typically that’s done intentionally. The more you think this way, the more obvious it becomes. Toyota = PC, Lexus = Mac. Kroger = PC, Whole Foods = Mac. Foursquare = PC, Gowalla = Mac, Winter Jam = PC, Roadshow = Mac. Applebee’s = PC, Chili’s = Mac. I could do this all day.
So here we are back at subscription based music. In my opinion, Rdio =Mac, while Spotify = PC. Sure Spotify is massive. It’s everywhere and everyone is using it. That’s fine. It’s the PC. It’s the Internet Explorer. And I don’t really want that. Now I’m not saying that Spotify is bad, and I don’t think that everyone should stop using it, but the design and functionality of Rdio has a much more thought out ‘feel’ to it. Both pay roughly the same to labels, (which may or may not trickle down to the artists) both have the same playlist capabilities, offline playing ect. Rdio just ‘feel’ cleaner to me. So that’s it. I went with them.
Now, I also am using iTunes Match, but I don’t know if that will last. I think that’s just iTunes moving into the subscription game. And at that point we’ll have a clear “Mac Version” so we know where I’ll go.
Thoughts?
Tree Rings Into Music
Ok, if this is legit, it’s pretty awesome. Check out the whole article here.
