Inside Story with Blue Vein

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Inside Story with Blue Vein

Blue Vein is the stage name of Spanish Singer and Songwriter Alex Gonzalez. He is based in Zaragoza, Spain and performed his new track ‘Catharsis’ in the JAM Festival collaboration in April.

Alex is sat in his living room, his signature long dark curls framing a cheeky smile which delightedly remains throughout the interview with team Jeeni member Kate.

Kate asks what the story behind his latest release is.

“Basically, I really really liked a girl,” he says smiling, “I wanted to express and portray in a song all these feeling that I was going through, the song talks about that, it’s something that lots of people can relate to, and also the phrase in the chorus ‘this is my catharsis’ [refers to] the fact that no matter how sad I am or what difficult times I’m in, my music and writing songs is always there for me and it’s so liberating and a key element for me to have [in my life] in order to be happy.”

The video that accompanied the track was a brilliant and eclectic mix of colour and movement. When asked about the creative process behind making the video, his response was, “It was a bit chaotic because at first I was very lost, I had in mind the vibes that I wanted for the clothes, but that was it so normally when you do a video you have in mind the order that you want the shots to be in and you create a storyboard, but, I didn’t,” again he laughs, “and so yes it was very chaotic. What I did was buy the clothes, and a huge reel of green fabric to create the comic effect via a green screen, and then I shot everything in a bit of a rush, using different camera angles, and then in post editing I chose the shots that I thought fit the best.”

Despite the chaotic nature of the video shooting, we all agreed it was a huge success and loved the feel that the video gave alongside the track.

Alex is also a member of two other bands, The Sun Above Us and Shut, despite this, he continues to release music as a solo artist as well. Kate asks why he decided to make this decision.

“I love being in bands, I think that playing with and creating with other people that you love and that inspire you can be the most enriching thing, but our friend Covid”he grimaces, “came and there were no rehearsals, no concerts, so we barely play now.” The disappointment is evident on his face and it’s so sad to see. He continues, “so the Covid situation made me write more songs on my own, and actually it made me worry less, “his smile returns, “as when you’re in a band you [tend] to stick with a certain genre and even a certain language as I also write in Spanish [so this allowed me more freedom].”

Alex is from the North East of Spain, a country which has so many distinct musical and cultural influences, Kate asks how these influences have shaped him as an artist.

“To be honest I don’t know! I’ve always listened to Spanish music, my parents always played me rock from the 70s, 80s and 90s and I guess I’ve been influenced by choice of melodies and sounds and in that way that’s how I think it has influenced me.”

One thing that we notice throughout the interview is that despite Alex’s heritage, he has a very clear English Accent, Kate asks how he came to develop this.

Alex throws his fantastic head of hair back and laughs, “Thank you! I don’t know, I’ve always really liked the British accent, so I just practiced and tried to imitate it, but does it sound real, do I sound fake?” Kate smiles and says that she thinks he sounds like David Bowie which I am in complete agreement with!

They both laugh and smile at this and Alex blushes a little at the compliment.

“Did you always know you wanted to make music?” Kate asks.

“Yes! Since I started playing it was like a dream. With Blue Vein I can mix it with my other passion, which is film making, I suck a bit at that but it’s fun.”

When asked if he had the opportunity to open a show for any musician, alive or dead, who would it be, he answers, “Well, I don’t think it would fit [very well] because of the genre, but Architects…a British metalcore band in Brighton, they’re basically my favourite band, and even if it was just so I could see them live, I would die to open for them!”

They both laugh at the fact that despite Kate attending University in Brighton, she is bashful that she hasn’t heard of them before but promises Alex, she’ll give them a listen.

For new artists that are just starting out and who in the future could take part in events such as Jeeni’s JAM Festival, Kate asks what advice Alex would give to them.

“It might sound a bit cliché, but you really have to believe in what you do, and understand why you do what you do, because having a defined purpose is going to [allow you to] be driven by it, and not just be motivated to get to an end point, but if you are driven by it, you’re not going to let anything stop you. That and a lot of love and effort. I’d love to give you advice for social media but [I’m not big enough for that yet].” He laughs.

Finally, Kate asks what we can expect from Blue Vein in the near future.

“Literally anything! When I write songs, I don’t think in any genre, I have deathcore songs, I have soft Spanish ballads, I don’t want any limits on my creations…The next song is going to be an acoustic version of ‘Catharsis’, then a rock ballad in Spanish, and I want to try release soe of my Spanish songs in English as an alternative as well.”

To find out more about Blue Vein, listen to his music and invest, please visit https://jeeni.com/showcase/bluevein/

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06
Jun

Meet The Curators Behind Spotify Playlists - the A and R Dictatorship

Landing on an official curated Spotify playlist is for many artists a holy grail. To provide some insight, we hear from a Spotify editor about how they find the songs which eventually make the cut. Spotify seems to be the opposite of Jeeni, where the process is democratic and those artists that start trending are based on real votes, and whilst technology has moved on they are still in the dark ages where their music is still decided and dictated by A&R agents. And unlike Jeeni.com, with Spotify if they don't like the look of you, then you're not coming in! Guest post from Spotify for Artists by Khalilia Douze A Spotify editor explains how they discover songs to include in their curated lists. Being added to a Spotify playlist remains the dream for most emerging artists, as it exposes their work to some of the most-clicked on playlists in the world. But for many musicians and their teams, the behind-the-scenes process still feels shrouded in mystery. While there’s no formula for scoring a coveted slot on Pollen or RapCaviar, there is rhyme and reason to how the massive team of editors curate tracks. We spoke with one Spotify staffer, who helps oversee R&B playlists such as the genre flagship Are & Be, The Newness, Soul Coffee, Soul Lounge the Black Lives Matter playlist and more, to learn about their process and tips on how musicians can stand out when pitching unreleased music through Spotify for Artists. Spotify for Artists: What strategies do you use to curate playlists? The strategy is based on the playlist itself. Each has its own hypothesis, theme, or audience that we’re thinking about. If it’s one of the genre-specific playlists, like Are & Be, that’s the home for the current, biggest songs in that space. The Newness is new releases or developing artists. Chilled R&B, Soul Coffee, those playlists have a mix of current and some legacy and catalog artists. It really all depends on what the goal of the specific playlist is. What are you listening for when you’re curating? I’m listening for lyrics. I’m listening for melody. A lot depends on the playlist itself, and sometimes that’s the filter that I have. When I’m listening, [I’m like] Oh, this song would do good in this playlist or, This song could fit here for this moment. A lot of it is based on the audience. You have the specific genres, but then there’s a lot of cases where those lines are blurred. The instrumentation and the beat can determine an audience, so [we think about] where we believe the audience is for that particular song. Does song length play a role in how you’re curating? It depends on the playlist. Soul Coffee is more of a relaxing [vibe]. In our minds, that’s one of those where you would just get up in the morning and that’s what you throw on while you’re getting ready, eating breakfast, or reading a book on Sunday. I know that the people will just have it on, so that playlist has a longer time spent listening as opposed to the flagship, Are & Be, and The Newness. For The Newness, when people are listening to that or one where it’s developing artists and new releases, that’s more about discovery. People may not spend a lot of time listening to that playlist—it’s about skimming and seeing what’s out. Can you walk me through how you use the submission tool to discover music? Labels pitch to us every week. We’re able to get their submissions through there, but they also communicate with our Artist Label Partnership team. We’ll talk to them [about] what their plan is for their priorities. There’s a ton of music—it’s countless. That’s pretty much the majority of Mondays and Tuesdays, listening to the pitches that come in for that week. It goes to our whole team. We listen to everything. The rest of the week is updating the playlists and finding the space for them, reviewing what songs are already in the playlist, looking at the performance, and things like that. When it comes to tags in the submission form, what advice do you have? People should be as specific as possible and fill out every single thing to make sure it goes to the right people. Different editors might have different filters to differentiate. I’m listening for if it’s a cool song first and foremost, but past my opinion of it, do I know if there’s a home for it? It’s about being able to find it and [seeing] where it can fit. I’ve seen entries where it would literally just be the artist name and their title—that’s how it gets lost in the abyss. We’re not omnipotent, so we don’t know what we don’t know. Are there any rules about how many times an artist can be playlisted? No. Every curator is different and has [their] own philosophy on what songs are in a playlist. There’s no concrete rule. Click HERE to visit or return to jeeni.com

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Jun

Spotify Billionaire CEO Daniel Ek is out of touch with reality.

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14
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Pat Spencer & JoeSach - ‘Alive & Surviving’ EP Review

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