Two bands to watch including Night Riots & Step Rockets will perform at the Knitting Factory in Brooklyn this Monday on October 20th.

Night Riots has been building a buzz receiving love from critics including MTV, FUSE, Huffington Post, All Things Go, NYLON, AV Club, Rolling Stone, Filter + more. Their new single “Contagious” can be heard here.
Contact: amber@bigpicturemediaonline.com

Step Rockets who we featured as a top 8 emerging artist continue to build momentum after creating much noise with the song Kisser which hit #1 on Hype Machine and with over 700,000 Soundcloud streams. Their new single “Heart Attack” can he streamed here.
Contact: brady@steprockets.com

Buzz Track: Magnesium Dream

Portland alternative act Rags & Ribbons has become a Kings favorite. They play melodic rock anthems driven by classically-inspired piano. Progressive and post-rock influences by way of Queen, Muse, MEW and Sigur Ros color these intricate pop songs, expressing desire, yearning, regret and joy like only pop can. For this relatively new band they scored a big win opening for the successful Alex Care US tour. This is a band to watch.
Contact: ragsandribbonsmusic@gmail.com

Buzz Track: Animal

Kings favorite Say Say will perform the KROQ “Locals Only” at The Slidebar in Fullerton, CA. Nov 13th. The single Animal is currently being played on KROQ, and they plan to release new music on October 21st. This indie pop duo could be compared to Capital Cities offering an infectious mix of synth-heavy dance pop. Say Say started out as a solo project for Reiter in January 2013 but quickly became a passion for Gurtis, who’s DJ background helped to complete the sound. Say Say is a Kings artist to watch.
Contact: aaronemorgan@gmail.com

Every Idea Is A Good Idea is the most useful book I have read in a very long time.

It is a book you won’t want to put down, but that you absolutely must. You must stop reading so you can process and maybe even record the thought bursts that undoubtedly explode, setting off a ripple of “thought harmonics.” It has large margins so you can do exactly that, actually. One moment you’re reading about the natural genius of Itzhak Pearlman and then suddenly you have figured out how to fix the broken gate in the back garden without spending any money. You’re reading about Dr. Dre’s creative process and you finally totally get why Jeff was disappointed in the project you handed in 8 years ago. Where did that come from? Tom Sturges is like a wizard.

Well, actually he’s just been paying attention and asks a lot of questions. He is enticed by the mystery of creativity and has dedicated a rather large portion of his adult life to working with creative people and learning more about how they do what they do. As a Senior Executive with the likes of Chrysalis and Universal, signing some massive acts, Tom Sturges has been up close and personal with some of the most prolific creative minds in the world today. They are the wizards and they have more wisdom for us than they probably even realize. God bless Tom Sturges for writing it down.

Every Idea is as much inspirational as it is educational, each section triggering new thoughts and ideas or drudging up memories. While songwriters are the primary subjects of his case studies on creativity, what he uncovers are universal truths. It is all at once a book about how to succeed in business, how to have a stronger marriage, how to make friends, how to be a better parent, how to know yourself in a profoundly spiritual way, and yes, also, some tips on encouraging your artistic self. Creativity is a necessity for humanity, but how to access our creativity is an ability so few of us learn. Perhaps we don’t even realize how badly we need it.

This book provides one epiphany after another as he names and explains the aspects of creativity and success that are so often left solely to instinct. In the A&R business, or really the music business, in general, we know greatness when we hear it. We can tell when a new artist has the potential to be successful based on very limited information, and we know when an artist simply doesn’t have what it takes. In Every Idea Is A Good Idea, the distinction is made clear. The markers that A&R folks see instinctually and can rely on sensing are given names and descriptions. Creativity isn’t magic, and those who have a road map to their creative well and understand their personal process are simply more likely to succeed. It’s that easy.

But beyond understanding why things are the way they are, Sturges is a motivational speaker. Understanding creativity is only useful if it can be used to spark more creativity. Throughout the book he provides a series of exercises that get the brain in gear and help fire off creativity, and these exercises absolutely work. You must do these things. You must read this book. Regardless of your profession or season of life, we all could use a bit more creativity to help navigate the waters we’re in. But creativity is so much more than imaginative problem-solving. Creativity is freedom. The ability to access our creative center, no matter how we go about it, can be the most liberating and life-changing thing we ever learn.

I cannot recommend Every Idea Is A Good Idea enough. We should leave it on people’s doorsteps instead of the phone book.

Buzz Track: Chemistry

Plaid Brixx has become a Kings favorite and the band has been added the 2014 CMJ Music Marathon. They will perform October 22nd, at the Living Room. Their debut EP, Chemistry, which was co-produced by lead singer Chris Duggan and producer Richard Baronenk was highly received by Artist Direct where the band exclusively premiered the lyric video for the title track. Duggan has worked and studied with well-known industry figures such as Grammy Award winner Carl Glanville (U2 – How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb) and Neil Perry (Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness) and gained performance experience at NYC venues such as Arlene’s Grocery, The Bowery Electric, Piano’s and Tammany Hall, to name a few.
Contact: erika@bigpicturemediaonline.com