vapor music – Indie Music Filter

Sync/Master: Project Jenny, Project Jan

IMF: Hey David, have you heard this one yet?

David: Not only have I heard of this song, watch the video daily to wake my ass up, but I am very proud to say that we just had the guys create an original demo for Canadian Mobilty commercial…. and it was fantastic although not ultimately used in the final cut. PJPJ have such a great sound and when I heard this track almost a year ago on some blog, I knew I had to work with these dudes. This is what exciting and unique means. It’s very punchy, unlike anything on mainstream radio but the groove is familiar enough and the rambling rolls into a great chorus that both alt and non-alt-bro can appreciate. This song hits you right off the bat with it’s wonderfully rambled vocals and plotting-deep dance groove. It evokes my favorite elements of Talking Heads, The Stooges and retro dance. I have pitched this song once or twice for commercials and although it was not ultimately chosen, it was always my top choice. No agency is brave enough yet but when someone is, they will reek the rewards because this kind of music demands attention.

IMF: I wonder if its one of those things where if they get licensed once, everyone will jump on board and we’ll hear them in everything? Good buzz on this band and I like the fact that they collaborated on this new EP (Colors EP) with Fujiya & Miyagi, Mixel Pixel, So Percussion, Adam Matta and Clack Singles Club.

David: I do believe that could happen. I bet it will. I just hope I start the trend. Ha! We just recently came off the heals of a Moldy Peaches/Juno-sweep which came after a big Sigur-Ros-sweep…..
The Fujiya & Miyagi remix is mad-hot although a lot of the same from F&M on this track. But I’m into that. A band’s gotta have a sound that they own. Hopefully if this trend hits it will open the doors for punchy Canadian Indies like The Hilotrons (video here).

IMF: Glad everyone is Juno-ed out. Alt, non-alt bros.. You’ve been reading HRO?

David: Who isn’t. Funny shit.

IMF: Btw, P4K has the Fujiya & Miyagi collab, check it out.

David Hayman is a music supervisor atVapor Music His credits include films (Everythings Gone Green, Young People Fucking), short films (NFB, Canadian Film Centre), and advertising campaigns (Virgin Mobile, Toyota, GMC, Coors, MTV). David is also a unicorn-slayer and volunteer fire-fighter by night.*

Sync/Master: Architecture in Helsinki

That Beep by Architecture in Helsinki

IMF: So I had this dream last night. It happened exactly like this. Weird eh? Have you heard this?

David: Yes I know the band, but not huge fan so I don’t know the song intimately. It’s catchy and commercial-friendly for sure. Must have been some dream.

IMF: Where would you try to sync this song?

David: I’m feelin’ it for commercials before I think of it as a film placement. It would also work well in experiential or event marketing as it’s one of those easily accessible songs that has the power to energize people en mass. For that reason it really works best on commercials. It’s like bottling that energy and releasing it to the public for 30-second consumption-boosts.

It evokes the vibe of some brands that we work with like Koodo, Telus or confectionary ads like chocolate bars and gummie-candies. The bop and pop of this track makes it somewhat “quirky” as the ad-folks say, and would make it really work best on ads geared to the younger demographic (mobile phones, candy, gum, compact-cars, energy-drinks…). In many ways it’s also got a bit of a catwalk vibe. If there was a slow-mo-type picture it would also work in a very sexy way.

“You got that beat, that bopopobo!” is a great line for synch because it means nothing (so it won’t alienate) and yet could mean so much (go-get-em-vibe). It’s positive and almost seems to give you energy as you listen to it. However, even with the deep vocals it still wreaks of bubble gum pop.

Architecture in Helsinki has also been great for placements as they are willing to provide instrumentals through their co-operative label, Polyvinyl and have released many remixed versions of their tracks which I can offer to my client as options (and clients need options no matter what they say).

IMF: You always go above and beyond the call of duty with your responses. Any chance you’re supervising an 80’s John Hughes film? I thought it would work in film best there if anywhere. Maybe the song we heard when Gary and Wyatt run computer programs to create Lisa in Weird Science?

David: I try. So funny you say that because I am working on a film right this second called “Don’t You Forget About Me” which is a documentary about a bunch of film nerds who take a road-trip to Chicago to find Hughes and ask him to get back to work. It’s a very good film with Kevin Smith, Allan Ruck, Alley Sheedy, Annie Potts, Andrew McCarty, Judd Nelson and even Kelly LaBroke from Weird Science. Right now I’m looking to replace the obligatory Alphaville “Forever Young” cover by Youth Group (a-la-The O.C.) This song would also work in a Weird Science context but, as this documentary shows, they just don’t make teen-films that good anymore. Ha!

Coming from a film background, David Hayman started music supervising for a Canadian tv series called The Eleventh Hour. Now at Vapor Music, David has his hand in supervision for films (Everythings Gone Green, Young People Fucking), short films (NFB, Canadian Film Centre), and advertising campaigns (Virgin Mobile, Toyota, GMC, Coors, MTV). David is also a unicorn-slayer and volunteer fire-fighter by night.*

Sync/Master: The Tallest Man On Earth

A Field of Birds by The Tallest Man On Earth.

IMF: Think I heard this one first from Said The Gramophone. Its a great little song written and performed by Sweden’s The Tallest Man On Earth for The Yellow Bird Project (we wrote about it here). Its currently the theme song for the charity. Dave, what do you think?

DH: Gotta love the Swedes. This is a great song to open our discussions with because this track would be stunning as a film-opener. I love that you found this through Yellow Bird. My favorite album last year was actually a charity comp for the Daily Bread Food Bank in Toronto called, Friends in Bellwoods. Check it out for sure.

A Field of Birds by The Tallest Man On Earth reminds me of some of the tunes I was hearing up in the Yukon this summer (http://www.dcmf.com/) and some of the new stuff bubbling to the surface here in Canada (The Acorn, Brian Borcherdt, Chad Vangaalen). I love the intimate, singular and almost empty-sounding production. This DIY sound works for me on so many levels when dealing with music placement. I really tend to gravitate towards intimate and honest songs like these for single-character-films which we seem to get a lot of. Some people in the ad industry love to call this sound “Organic” but to me that just sounds like it’ll go bad in a week. These tracks sounds classic to me and would hold up against so many different character-types.

The track would work in many sync-situations but with the perpetual roll of the guitar, it is definitely built for a montage. A film set-up song for sure. I can see a lone man wandering train tracks to walk right into the cliche but I also think it would work great as a song for the every-man as we enter into his world either through a city-street-walking montage or maybe a good-morning montage. The juxtaposition of the simple song and the complex big-city would collide quite beautifully.

Alternatively this could be an Act-3 song as it would also work nicely on a downfall, through a fight montage and the aftermath or a confrontation with a son or father or even a lover. What hits me right away though is the whimsy. The first line “A Little Bird came up to me” sets up a whimsical introspective mood and the continued roll of the guitar keeps the vibe optimistic but delicately balanced with the interesting vocals which, although constantly trembly and vulnerable like Daniel Johnston, never falls over into desperate or whiney like, well, Chris Martin of Coldplay.

I don’t love the end of the track as it meanders through the obligatory breakdown and re-build, but chances are in a synch situation you would take the song from the head of the track and run it with the scene until the finger-picking crescendo kicks in. At that point the song would likely fade out to start the act. The protagonist would have “arrived” and then the song would taper out beautifully.

I would have loved this song for a film we just supervised called COLE. The song would have fit in nicely with the texture of the other tunes in the film. Stay tuned at vapormusic.com for soundtrack details.

Until next time. Ho Ho Ho…. Happy Hanukkah!

David

Coming from a film background, David Hayman started music supervising for a Canadian tv series called The Eleventh Hour. Now at Vapor Music, David has his hand in supervision for films (Everything’s Gone Green, Young People Fucking), short films (NFB, Canadian Film Centre), and advertising campaigns (Virgin Mobile, Toyota, GMC, Coors, MTV). David is also a unicorn-slayer and volunteer fire-fighter by night.*

*taken word for word from his bio

Vapor Music Showcase Jan. 25th

Have you noticed that there seems to be a lot better music in commercials these days? Whether its an ad for the Sony Bravia television featuring Jose Gonzalez‘s cover of the Knife‘s Heartbeats or those rocking Yaris ads with music from The Deadly Snakes, television (and commericals specifically) are surely becoming a great medium to discover new music.

One company in Canada that is really making waves in this field is Vapor Music. They represent a hell of a lot of Canadian indie bands and labels (Maple, Arts and Crafts, Paperbag Records) and work to find placements and opportunities in the commerical world for these artists. Now, they’re going to be moving into the world of putting on concerts, set to deliver their first annual Vapor Independent Music Showcase.

Great lineup, great cause (*all proceeds to The Hospital For Sick Children). Check it out. Tickets are $10 if you e-mail Vapor or $12 at the door.