Posted by jessica on March 24th, 2010 | 0 comments
Below are pictures from the Plutopia event that took place on Monday, March 15th. It sended up being a cold, slightly rainy evening, but that didn’t stop Open Labs from bringing the gear, or from the crowd checking it out!
If you don’t already know, Plutopia 2010 was an extravaganza of music, performances, art, and talks based upon “The Science of Music,” and the headliners included DJ Spooky who presented the world-premiere of a new piece based on Brian Greene’s book “Elegant Universe”, renowned SciFi/cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling and more.
Posted by jessica on March 15th, 2010 | 0 comments
This week during the SXSW festival that takes place here in Austin, TX, Open Labs will open our studios to special guests that will share their musical talents with O-Live and the rest of the World!
Dave Schulz has toured with the Goo Goo Dolls and currently leads a monthly residency at The Mint in LA (first Thursday of each month). He will be the special guest artist on O-Live Wednesday, March 17th from 4-5pm (all times are Central time).
Also on Wednesday, March 17th, from 5-6pm, we will have artist Zakee on O-Live. The West Philadelphia born and bred Singer/Producer is exploding on the music scene with his melodic voice, emotional lyrics and left field production. Zakee’s music unleashes a fantastic collision of dub, afro-beat, hip hop, punk and World music.
Also, special friend to Open Labs and O-Live, Roc Box, will make a guest appearance Friday, March 19th from 4-6 pm. Roc Box will perform his beat boxing skills with Ed working the boards.
Posted by JasonMcKenzie@OpenLabs on March 11th, 2010 | 1 comment
Next Monday, March 15th, on the final night of SXSW Interactive, our very own Open Labs DBeat will be featured in the SwitchedOn booth at the wildly popular Plutopia extravaganza at the Mexican American Cultural Center. SwitchedOn is Austin’s brand-spanking-new cross-genre music store that caters specifically to artists and producers working with electronic gear.
Rumor has it that 2 of our fantastic employee artists will be on hand to perform and give interactive demonstrations of the DBeat as part of SwitchedOn’s presentation, which will also include some amazing displays driven by a visual synthesizer creating effects from the audio off the DBeat.
If you don’t already know, Plutopia 2010 is an extravaganza of music, performances, art, and talks based upon “The Science of Music”, and headliners include DJ Spooky presenting the world-premiere of a new piece based on Brian Greene’s book “Elegant Universe”, renowned SciFi/cyberpunk author Bruce Sterling and more.
According to Plutopia lore, “What was once the (maybe not so) mild-mannered SXSW Interactive EFF-Austin Official After-Party has morphed into a multifaceted extravaganza called “Plutopia”, an exciting convergence of technology, DIY, music, art, and academics. In addition to standard party fare, performance and the arts will play a major role alongside exhibits and talks in presenting the ideas in a way that will make this yet another memorable, stimulating, and fun SXSW after-event.”
Posted by jessica on February 24th, 2010 | 2 comments
Award-winning keyboardist and singer/songwriter Dave Schulz is showcasing three different times in two days at this year’s SXSW Music Festival.
Schulz, who has recorded and toured extensively with the Goo Goo Dolls, Berlin, English Beat/General Public, The Rembrandts, Fuel, Fastball and numerous other acts, will be playing songs from his debut CD, Connect. The project features Dave joined by special friends: Daniel Lanois, Bernard Fowler, Tony Levin, Mike Porcaro, Robin Dimaggio and Randy Cooke in addition to his band. Among the
sophisticated pop/rock jewels are standouts “Everything,” “Stray” and “Perfect Day.” Connect also sports a very twisted – but compelling – cover of the Jimmy Buffet classic “Margaritaville.”
Dave Schulz will be appearing Thursday, March 18, at 9:30pm and again on Friday, March 19, at 7:30pm at the Lucky Lounge. Cover is only $1.00 at one of Austin’s most convenient showplace locations.
Earlier on Friday, March 19, Schultz and his band will be appearing around 2:00pm at the Official SXSW Music Stimulus Party 2010 at The Parish. The showcase runs noon through 5:00pm and features seven acts, a Mexican food buffet and an open bar with no cover charge. An RSVP by March 16 is required for this event.
A well-established session and touring musician in Los Angeles, Schulz released “Connect”, his debut as a singer/songwriter, in late 2009. The instantly infectious rock/pop tour-de-force features extremely well connected players Schulz has admired for years, including Daniel Lanois (U2, Bob Dylan, Scott Weiland, Peter Gabriel), bassists Tony Levin (King Crimson, John Lennon, Yes, Pink
Floyd, Seal) and Mike Porcaro (Toto) and drummers Robin Dimaggio (David Bowie, Paul Simon) and Randy Cooke (Ringo Starr, Dave Stewart). Three tracks were produced by another longtime Schulz associate Matt Gruber, whose credits include everyone from Carrie Underwood and LeAnn Rimes to Queensryche.
In the late 90s, when he was one of Buffalo’s most popular young keyboardists, Schulz got a call from his old friend, bassist Robby Takac from the Goo Goo Dolls, who asked him to join them on their famed “Dizzy Up The Girl” tour. Suddenly, thanks to a connection made long before, Schulz went from playing in front of a few hundred patrons at a local Buffalo bar to jamming at Woodstock for 60,000 and touring the world for two and a half years during the band’s heyday.
Schulz later immersed himself into many diverse musical circles in Los Angeles. He hosted all-star jams at numerous clubs, including Ian Copeland’s Backstage Café. He soon became one of the city’s most in demand behind the scenes forces, adding constantly to a mile long touring, performing and recording resume of artists from across the spectrum: Bo Diddley, Fuel, English Beat, General Public, Berlin, Ryan Cabrera, Phil Upchurch, The Rembrandts, Eric Sardinas, Fastball, Glenn Hughes, The Fizzies, Jay-J, Bran Van 3000, The Smart Set, and One Tribe Nation, to name a few.
Branching out as a solo performer, Schulz was nominated for Male Vocalist of the Year at the 2005 Los Angeles Music Awards, and received a batch of accolades from the 2006 All Access Awards: a win for Best Keyboardist of theYear and nominations for Song of the Year (“Planet 39″) and Album of the Year (for his work with One Tribe Nation). Schulz also received “Honorable Mention” for both the 16th Annual Billboard World Song and 12th Annual Unisong International Songwriting Competitions for 2009, for the song “Everything” from his debut album “Connect”. Schulz was Inducted into the 2008 Buffalo Music Hall Of Fame.
Current projects include a new record with trip-hop/lounge/experimental band “The Smart Set” featuring producer/guitarist Rick Torres (Supreme Beings Of Leisure, Bittersweet), vocalist Brandi Emma, and bassist Wayne Lothian (English Beat, General Public), and keyboard sessions for releases by House Music legend Jay-J , Outkast producer/vocalist Sleepy Brown, Power Pop troubadours The Fizzies, Montreal’s Bran Van 3000, The Rembrandts, singer-songwriter Miranda Frigon, Dobro wiz Eric Sardinas, as well as new artists Hensley, DJ Eric Ill, Courtney Fine, John Romano, Mesner, and Elyse and the Aftermath.
Please support Dave’s new release entitled “CONNECT” featuring Open Labs products and a host of guest stars. Digital album or physical CD can be purchased at www.daveschulzmusic.com and on CDBaby and ITunes.
Open Labs Donates NeKo XXL to Texas Rockfest Giveaway With Shine Drums, Andreas Dawn Guitars
Event to feature over 200 live bands, proceeds of raffle donated to Dart Music International
March 3, 2009 – Austin, TX. Open Labs, the leader in computer enhanced musical instruments, will be donating one NeKo XXL to the 10th annual Texas Rockfest live music event on behalf of Dart Music International. Texas Rockfest takes place in Austin from March 18 through March 21. The NeKo will be raffled off at the event, along with a full set of Shine drums, Soultone Cymbals, and a custom-made Andreas Dawn electric guitar. Proceeds of the raffle will be donated to Dart Music International, a non-profit organization that brings international musicians to Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. The winner will be announced at the Texas Rock Fest main outdoor stage area on the corner of Neches and 7th Streets on Saturday, March 21. The venue is in the middle of downtown Austin, and is expected to have heavy foot traffic from the thousands of worldwide fans coming to South By Southwest and other music events held in Austin during the same time. Texas Rockfest is free, open to the public, and will feature hundreds of live bands and artists.
The retail value of the entire raffle prize is worth over $15,000, and the event will also be broadcast live on the Internet by Ustream.tv.
Open Labs endorsed artists that will be performing at Texas Rockfest include Recorder and 100ft. Snowman. Check the Texas Rockfest website for exact times and dates. ArcAttack, an Austin-based band that uses singing Tesla coils, will also be present at Texas Rockfest, using an Open Labs MiKo to power their performance.
Raffle tickets are currently available online at www.texasrockfest.com, and will be available at the event as well. For more information on the raffle, please visit www.texasrockfest.com.
About Open Labs:
Headquartered in the heart of “the live music capital of the world,” Open Labs™ develops customized, computer music instruments suited to fit every studio and stage need imaginable. Our instruments combine studio and computer technology with keyboard hardware to create a multi-functional studio, a multi-faceted keyboard, and a complete PC setup all in one machine. With a single piece of Open Labs gear, our customers can play any organ, piano, synthesizer or virtual instrument on the planet, create any beat, tone or sound imaginable, manipulate every parameter, record it in a multi-track system and burn it to a CD/DVD. For more information on Open Labs, please visit www.openlabs.com.
