February 26, 2014
Last week we made the exciting announcement that Give a Beat is the newest member of Creative Visions Foundation's Creative Activist Program and we wanted to provide a bit more background for our supporters about this amazing organization.
Creative Visions Foundation (CVF) is inspired by the life of Dan Eldon, an artist, adventurer and activist killed in Somalia in 1993 while covering the conflict as a photojournalist for Reuters News Agency. To honor his legacy, in 1998 his mother Kathy Eldon and sister Amy Eldon Turtletaub founded the Creative Visions Foundation, a publicly supported 501 (c) 3 organization, to help others like Dan use media and the arts to create meaningful change in the world around them.
Over the past fourteen years, CVF has incubated more than 100 projects and productions on 5 continents, by providing fiscal sponsorship, mentorship, inspiration, fundraising, connectivity, and step-by-step toolkits for launching projects. To date, their creative activists under their umbrella have touched more than 90 million people and raised more than $11.2 million to fund their projects.
Their Creative Activist Program (CAP) serves as a global hub for individuals who are using Arts, Adventure, and/or Activism to create high-impact media projects and productions within our Core Social Issue categories: Human Rights, the Environment, Youth & Education, Gender Equality, and Health & Well-Being. CVF encourages collaboration and facilitate workshops, speaker series, think tanks, and a myriad of community and networking events to serve our community and connect like-minded artists and professionals.
Learn more about their amazing work at creativevisions.org and follow them on Facebook for your daily dose of inspiration.
February 22, 2014
Krewella was one of the generous donors to Give a Beat's online auction last December. Recently, Krewella made it to Beatport's best artist list! Good things happen to those that give back!
Chicago’s West Loop was once known as one of the Midwest’s busiest manufacturing corridors. But soon, thanks to a new EP dubbed Play Hard, it may be known for a sound manufactured by one of America’s most exciting new electronic music acts: KREWELLA.Jahan, Yasmine and Rainman, who live in and create music in the gritty yet artsy neighborhood, burst onto the national stage with their debut video “Killin’ It” in early 2012, racking up Facebook likes and spreading virally around the globe via Twitter as EDM fans swooned over KREWELLA’s unique brand of dubstep- infused electronic music with catchy female vocals. However, KREWELLA insists that they are just getting started.“We get pigeonholed into being 'dubstep' a lot, but only one of the tracks on our EP is actually dubstep,” says Kris Trindl aka ‘Rainman,’ beatmaker and one third of KREWELLA. “People like to put us in a box, but we just like good music....if it’s between 100BPM to 170 BPM we’ll figure out a way to make it work and have a good time with it,” the producer and DJ says. “We just make music that we love.”Jahan Yousaf, who co-writes lyrics along with her sister Yasmine Yousaf, help Rainman create KREWELLA’s signature sound. Tracks from their debut EP Play Hard embody this signature sound, luring in listeners with melody and sensuality before Skrillex-worthy drops send fans into frenetic fits of EDM bliss. Kris’ masculine, pounding beats are offset by cooing vocals from both sisters, often resulting in a dizzying, heady mélange that sometimes veers into pop territory.“Thanks to the internet, we grew up on a plethora of genres...KREWELLA is basically a product of the music that we were raised on—ranging from pop, to punk, to metal,” says Jahan. "Every track on the Play Hard EP embodies a different subgenre of EDM ranging from dubstep, to progressive house, to moombahton." Demand has proved so strong for KREWELLA’s signature sound that they have had to adjust touring plans from small clubs to major festival dates this year.Despite their early success, Krewella continues to viciously commit to one goal and one goal only-- "Making you wet... one song at a time" - Beatport
February 20, 2014
An interview with Georgetown ethnomusicologist and documentary filmmaker Ben Harbert about his work in Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women and Elayn Hunt Correctional Institute for Women where he explored the power and role music plays in women's' lives. Harbert's documentary "Follow Me Down: Portraits of Louisiana Prison Musicians weaves together interviews and performances of extraordinary inmate musicians.
February 19, 2014
The Fetzer Institute fosters awareness of the power of love and forgiveness in the emerging global community.
People across the globe, from all cultures and traditions, embrace love and forgiveness in daily life. These values are universally viewed as central to the fabric of humanity. Yet, the emerging global community has few institutions dedicated to deepening the understanding and fostering deeper awareness of these values. In this context, the Fetzer Institute pursues a unique role—working to investigate, activate, and celebrate the power of love and forgiveness as a practical force for good in today’s world. They are interested in how people truly experience and understand love and forgiveness from their diverse points of view, especially from the perspective of their daily work in the world.
Learn more about the Fetzer Institute on their website and follow them on Facebook for daily inspiration of the power of love and forgiveness.
February 18, 2014
Ronna Kaplan M.A., Music Therapy and the Military, The Huffington Post, Jan. 2, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronna-kaplan-ma/veterans-music-therapy_b_2361076.html.
The article discusses the recent announcement that a music therapy program would be created at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, which is the first point of care in the U.S. for the wounded, ill and injured from global conflicts. The opinion piece written by Ronna Kaplan M.A., past President of the Music Therapy Association, provides interesting background on the use of music therapy on veterans. The practice "began after World Wars I and II, when community musicians performed in veterans' hospitals and medical professionals noticed patients' positive and emotional responses to music." By 1995, therapists were using drumming with Vietnam veterans diagnosed with PTSD as "[m]usic therapy utilizing improvisation on hand drums helped veterans modulate their 'often misdirected, exaggerated, and unrecognized emotions,' with the goal being generalization of these skills to everyday life. Drumming provided an opportunity for the men to express and control their feelings and helped build a sense of connectedness and group mission." Read the article here.
Ronna Kaplan M.A., Music Therapy and the Military, The Huffington Post, Jan. 2, 2013, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/ronna-kaplan-ma/veterans-music-therapy_b_2361076.html.
February 15, 2014
Protohype is another awesome talent that joined us in teaching DJ fundamentals to youth in the Los Angeles foster care system last December.
Max Hype is Protohype. Originating in the hip hop world, 22 year old Protohype's fusion with bass music has created a new genre, Dub Hop. Combining the gritty low end of dubstep with trunk rattling hip hop drums, a sound is born like nothing else. His progressive sound has lead him to new heights in both the bass music community and the hip hop world. His massive collection of free music floating through the interweb has gained him respect not only from other DJ's, but from fans across the country. Be on the lookout for Protohype, coming to crush a city near you. - Beatport
Protohype is another awesome talent that joined us in teaching DJ fundamentals to youth in the Los Angeles foster care system last December.
Max Hype is Protohype. Originating in the hip hop world, 22 year old Protohype's fusion with bass music has created a new genre, Dub Hop. Combining the gritty low end of dubstep with trunk rattling hip hop drums, a sound is born like nothing else. His progressive sound has lead him to new heights in both the bass music community and the hip hop world. His massive collection of free music floating through the interweb has gained him respect not only from other DJ's, but from fans across the country. Be on the lookout for Protohype, coming to crush a city near you. - Beatport
We can't believe that we haven't already shared all of these exciting updates with you all.
Earlier this year, Give a Beat joined the Creative Activist Program of the Creative Visions Foundation! We are so happy to be part of this amazing program with so many other awesome organizations and can't wait to share our future collaborations with all of you.
We also received our official 501(c)(3) status.
AND...we got a new logo! What do you all think?
AND...we got a new logo! What do you all think?
February 11, 2014
Robert J. Zatorre, Why Music Makes Our Brain Sing, NY Times,
June 9, 2013, http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/09/opinion/sunday/why-music-makes-our-brain-sing.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1&.
We are all familiar with "that moment when you feel a chill” of pleasure to a musical passage." This article explains the brain chemistry behind it, most interestingly, the release of that dopamine high during an anticipation phase rather than during a "peak emotional moment". Read the full article here.
February 10, 2014
For as long as I can remember, music has been in my life. My parents showed me their love for music which has rubbed off on me in a very good way! Music was always being played in the house, day and night, weekdays and weekends. Even at the young age of 4, I attended my very first concert as a child, which will forever be etched into my memory. This moment opened me up for many more music filled times. Since I expressed to my parents my love for music, concerts had become a regular occurrence in my family. Traveling the United States and parts of Canada on family trips allowed me to hear what others listen to and has opened me up to various genres. I feel that music is necessity in my life to perform my everyday tasks. It is also something I use to calm myself in stressful situations. Even what I listen to reflects what mood I'm in. I don't know what I would do without music in my life. It is what keeps me going. Forget a television, just give me a radio and I'm set for life! Music is something that I cannot live without.
February 8, 2014
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Mr. Choc was one of the awesome artists that came out today to teach music production and DJ'ing on a variety of platforms to youth in the Los Angeles foster system.
Born in Fresno, California and raised in Bakersfield, California, Mr. Choc's success comes from a lifelong passion for music. Introduced to hip-hop culture as a break-dancer, he was intrigued by the power the DJ had over a crowd, fueling his transition from B-Boy to DJ.
He focused on developing his DJ skills and by 1993, he ran two separate three-hour mixshows, one with fellow DJ C Minus in Bakersfield at KKXX, and another in Arizona, Power 1490. By 1995, he was picked up by Los Angeles' Power 106, making him a go-to guy at three stations in three cities at the same time.
Within six months, Choc focused his energies on his work at Power 106, where he was doing overnights and weekend mixes. The following year, he became a member of the World Famous Beat Junkies, one of the most respected DJs crew in the world. In 1999, Choc became the mix-show coordinator for Power 106, and also took over the high profile 2 hr traffic jam drive time mix earning the station No.1 for his time slot for three years straight during his seven-year tenure. After working with Power 106 for 11 years, he currently carries on his radio presence on Soul Assassins radio with DJ Muggs of Cypress Hill on XM 66, Shade 45 every Monday from 7pm-9pm.
February 6, 2014
Sam Cooke and the Song that 'Almost Scared Him', NPR Staff, NPR, Feb. 1, 2014, http://www.npr.org/2014/02/01/268995033/sam-cooke-and-the-song-that-almost-scared-him.
Earlier this week, NPR featured a beautifully written short piece on Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come”. Catch the full article and podcast here.
"It was less work than any song he'd ever written," [Cooke biographer Peter] Guralnick says. "It almost scared him that the song — it was almost as if the song were intended for somebody else. He grabbed it out of the air and it came to him whole, despite the fact that in many ways it's probably the most complex song that he wrote. It was both singular — in the sense that you started out, 'I was born by the river' — but it also told the story both of a generation and of a people."
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"A Change Is Gonna Come" was released on the album Ain't That Good News in March of 1964. The civil rights movement picked up on it immediately, but most of Cooke's audience did not — mostly because it wasn't selected as one of the first singles and because Cooke only played the song before a live audience once.
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Guralnick says "A Change Is Gonna Come" is now much more than a civil rights anthem. It's become a universal message of hope, one that does not age.
"Generation after generation has heard the promise of it. It continues to be a song of enormous impact," he says. "We all feel in some way or another that a change is gonna come, and he found that lyric. It was the kind of hook that he always looked for: The phrase that was both familiar but was striking enough that it would have its own originality. And that makes it almost endlessly adaptable to whatever goal, whatever movement is of the moment.
February 3, 2014
February 1, 2014
DJ Klever was one of the awesome DJ's that joined us last month in Los Angeles with We Are The Movement to teach foster children DJ'ing fundamentals.
DJ Klever was born on the fourth of July in 1977. Before he could even walk, let alone strut, Klever was spoon-fed the world of rhythm by way of his father, famous blues musician, Juke Joint Johnny. At the age of four years old, Klever received his very first drum set, a “Manimall”. Muppet Show kit that he practiced playing until the skins busted.
Flash forward to 1997, Klever began relentlessly competing in every DJ competition possible, where he linked up with the “Third World Citizens” – Faust, Shorty, Shotgun, Craze, and T-Rock. In 2000, Klever seized the national DMC championship title and while at the international DMC competition, he was inducted into the world famous Allies crew, consisting of world-renowned turntablists Craze and A-Trak. Shortly after, Klever began traveling the globe with Craze during so, the two released a now cult classic “Scratch Nerds”. In 2001, Klever successfully defended his national DMC title. He then represented the states in London for the international tittle.
Klever began to produce prominent break records for battle Dj’s and producers in the early 2000′s, releasing two immensely popular battle break records with DJ SHOTGUN (former Dj for Goodie Mob), Dirty South Breaks and Get Crunk Breaks. More commercially, his talent can be also heard on various production: Rob Swift..s (X-ecutioners) album – Sound Event, Bubba Sparxxx.. – Deliverance. To NBA BALLERS 2: PHENOM.
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