Blog
Blog of the Week: Hidden Currents
Our second Blog of the Week has to go to the wonderful Hidden Currents. They are a real all-inclusive blog that considers any new music, news and debate as long as there's a passion to write about it. Instead of being reviews focussed, the guys at Hidden Currents have turned their attention to more industry based news, something which not a lot of blogs are doing at the moment.
Hidden Currents in their own words:
Hidden Currents is a new blog dedicated to exploring the use of imagination and invention in the new musical landscape.
Focusing on bands, musicians, labels or anyone else who are doing something different, doing something new, in order to make themselves heard against an increasingly noisy background.
How did you guys come together to create Hiddent Currents?
Hannah and I met at Unconvention in February. One of the chief topics on discussion on the day was around how artists can stand out in an increasingly crowded musical landscape but Ito cured toys no one was really blogging about it, so the seeds of the idea that became Hidden Currents was planted.
There are lots of music blogs out there, how d'you intend to have Hidden Currents stick out from the rest?
We're hoping that the content itself will help distinguish the site. Yes, it is kind of a music blog but unlike most we're not writing about albums, live performances etc but about the promotional, marketing & innovation side of the industry which no one else seems to be doing. Also we're focusing on bands themselves that are doing something different, not just today's 'buzz' bands.
Who are your favourite music bloggers out there at the moment?
We're big fans of Amanda Penlington who writes for a number of sites, she's a great intelligent writer. Also, A Negative Narrative is a blog we're really keen on, they are doing something really unique over there. Honourable mentions have to go to The 405 and GoldFlakePaint as good examples of people going about things in the 'right' way.
Many proclaim "the music industry is dead" - what do you say to that, do you agree?
Without wanting to be rude, we feel calling the music industry 'dead' is utter bollocks! The industry as was commonly perceived; majors picking up, using and abusing artists, may be in decline but underneath that their is still a vibrant ecosystem of bands and venues. The onus now has shifted to the bands and artists themselves to be innovative and do things to make them stand out from the rest, hence us starting Hidden Currents.
Are there any bands or musicians you're fans of whom you've found on music blogs like yourselves?
Pretty much all of the bands we're fans of we've found either on blogs or through Twitter. Her Name Is Calla, Alright The Captain, To Bury A Ghost and Black International are all bands we probably would never have come across in the pre-Internet days but are all awesome and deserve to be heard by a wider audience.
The obligatory ABoF related question... which of artists are your favourites?
We're big fans of a lot of the ABof bands. Ex Libras, Architects of Grace, Esperi and
What are your plans for Hidden Currents' future?
We're still at a pretty early stage with Hidden Currents, the site's only been running for a couple of months, so plans for the future are still embryonic. We just want to carry on publishing interesting pieces that give readers an insight in to some of the more innovative artists currently around and see what happens. We are looking for more people to contribute and more artists to cover, so if anyone wants to contribute or have something they think we should cover, they shouldn't hesitate to get in touch.