4 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2014 EDITOR NICK EAGLAND JEREMY MATTHEWS photo Brian Thompson of Thorny Bleeder. Music biz whiz says get online Brian Thompson teaches students how to promote their own music By JEREMY MATTHEWS ever for newcomers, according to Langara instructor Brian Thomp- son. The 22-year veteran of the music in- dustry, who teaches a music business course, said the age of social media pro- vides opportunities to dedicated and open-minded musicians. However, art- ists who refuse to adapt will struggle. “The new industry changes every six months,” Thompson said. “People who don’t want to adapt to the new in- dustry — their careers will die.” Thompson said ‘<“ T:: music industry is better than his course, part of both the singer- songwriter and Peop le who electronic music 3 production pro. Gon’t want grams, uniquely fg adapt prepares budding artists for the mod. £0 the new ern business land- industry _ aA their “At the end of a 14week course, careers students have a will die good idea of what the music industry is like in 2014.” Thompson’s pu- pil Wesley David Scott, a former sing- er-songwriter student, agreed. “He was a fantastic teacher. He taught us the essence of what it is to be a musician in this modern era.” Thompson’s classes focus on band management and social media usage, with lessons such as “How to be a Twit- ter Rock Star.” Those are skills many musicians lack, Thompson said. “Most artists are so focused on their songwriting that they don’t look at the business side. If you aren’t working ev- ery day on the business side of your artistry, it is very difficult to monetize.” His love of music began young, when he listened to the Sex Pistols and the Dead Kennedys. Now, however, he’s moved from his love of punk rock to working with all genres of music and his lessons serve to advance artists’ knowledge of the digital music era. “You need to embrace the online world,” he said. “The old model of ad- vertising doesn’t work anymore.” He never intended to teach, but after years of public-speaking experience, teaching at Langara was a natural fit. When Thompson isn’t teaching at Langara’s Broadway campus, he works as a music consultant with music-mar- keting company Thorny Bleeder and produces a podcast and newsletter called the DIY Daily, which informs musicians about the latest develop- ments in the music industry. BRIAN THOMPSON 83'S GREASE ROCK Director Peter Jorgensen’s production of hit musical grittier, raunchier than film version So " : AOR bees Nea siisisn a ane” MEGA _ a Lauren Jackson and Markian Tarasiuk (top) play Sandy and Danny in Studio 58’s production of Grease. The Grease cast (bottom) sings, dances and gyrates on Studio 58’s intimate stage. By MEGAN BOBETSIS t’s the charming love story mixed with teenage rebellion that made Grease “the word” in film, but it’s the bona fide sexuality and dirty language that makes Grease the musi- cal so much more. Grease the musical is like the film’s raunchy older sibling. It has all the leather jackets, ciga- rette smoke and curled hair you would expect, but there’s a certain authentic- ity about the characters onstage that isn’t tangible in the movie. Studio 58’s production of the original Grease musical captured the essence of the setting and characters in a way only a theatre that size can. Director Peter Jorgensen’s produc- tion was so intimate it was interactive. It opened with Miss Lynch, played by Anthea Morritt, speaking directly to the audience at Rydell High’s class of *59 reunion, a cheeky way to engage the audience and remind us to silence our phones (or radio transmitters). From then on actors would thunder down the aisles to get onstage, their leather boots shaking the theatre’s seats. A stolen hub-cap was deposited in one man’s lap for safekeeping while Markian Tarasiuk’s Danny and Lauren Jackson’s Sandy sang inches from the audience’s faces. Besides the physical closeness in Studio 58, there was an element of emo- tional bonding between the audience and characters. Watching Sandy’s hair go from brown to blonde while Danny stepped out of the tough-guy mould let the au- GREASE Showtimes dience feel as though they were coming of age right alongside the teens. The production also checked the box for impressive choreography and vo- cals. 66 Rama lama lama ka dinga da dinga dong Shoobop sha wadda wadda yippity boom de boom LYRICS FROM WE GO TOGETHER ME thursday, Feb. 20 8p.m. WM Friday, Feb. 21 Although it was 8 p.m. occasionally hard to hear a solo, and ME Saturday, Feb. 22 some of the dance 3pm. lifts were cringe- worthy, it was hard MM Saturday, Feb. 22 not to want to walk 8pm. down the aisle and mo ME Sunday, Feb. 23 join them onstage. uneay, Fe Another notable 3pm. part of the produc- gy tickets tion was the almost $17.25 - $27.75 colourless set, which changed ME angara.be.ca/ from Rydell High to studio-58 the Burger Palace to Marty’s bed- room, but this al- lowed no distrac- tions from the characters’ —_con- stantly gyrating hips and the lewd jokes that warrant- ed the play’s ‘Not suitable for children’ warning. But despite all the forward sexuality, there was something endearing about smudges of Sandy’s red lipstick on Danny’s lips during their final bows. N BOBETSIS photos Rapper's music video shows love for Langara Business student writes song, shoots music video about positive experiences on college campus By DAVID LA RIVIERE hallway, you might think that he has nice facial hair - in which case you would be right — but he’s more than just a beard, he’s a hip-hop artist releasing a music video about Langara. When Uggenti, a business student, was asked to rap at the Langara Social Club’s Culture Shock talent show last year, he performed his song Where I Wanna Be (Langara). Afterward, he decided to go the ex- tra mile and film a video for the song to showcase the school and foster the sense of community at Langara. “The song was derived from my ex- perience, at the time, with the school and the things I was perceiving and the things that were resonating with me. . . it really comes out in the lyrics,” Ug- genti said. “It’s a very positive song.” Uggenti is highly involved in the Langara community and an active member of the Langara Social Club. He volunteers at The Hub, is incom- ing president of the Langara Business Association and does all of this while maintaining a solid 3.33 GPA. The reason for Uggenti’s ambition is simple — he loves being at Langara. “T measure my success quite simply,” Uggenti said. “Happiness . . . and actu- ally, the school provides that. Rarely am I here and I’m unhappy.” Uggenti has also done a lot for the school through volunteer work and ex- tracurricular activities, and grown per- sonally in the process, said Megan Richardson, VOLT volunteer program coordinator. “He’s emerged as a leader,” she said. “T think he’s always had that in him, but I think the more he’s been involved with things the more he’s started to re- alize himself.” If you’re curious about Uggenti’s mu- sic, he regularly posts mix tapes on his Bandcamp page, www.somethinliketh- at.bandcamp.com, and will release the video for Where I Wanna Be (Langara) on YouTube soon. [: you passed Eyren Uggenti in the i DAVID LA RIVIERE photo Eyren Uggenti performed at Mr. Brownstone last Satuday dur- ing a video-release party for a song he wrote about Langara College.