March 31st, 2009
Philly Producer Brian McTear Forms New Local Arts Group
Philadelphia producer/engineer Brian McTear — who runs Fishtown’s Miner Street Recordings and has helmed albums by Matt Pond PA, Burning Brides, Espers, the Bigger Lovers, and many more — has teamed up with the Philly arts group PositiveSpace to form a new non-profit organization called Weathervane Music, whose stated mission is to “improve the state of music in our culture, and bolster the career potential of great independent musicians in the process.”
According to a press release issued today, Weathervane intends to annually award “great independent musicians the opportunity to produce recordings in a quality studio with a professional production staff, and the chance to be the primary focus of a series of video projects covering the artists, recording sessions, and studio process, all produced for the web.” The group plans to announce its first projects on Thursday, April 2nd.
Says McTear:
“Weathervane exists to produce and promote great works in independent music. The industry is surely becoming less and less effective for artists, which all but ensures shorter, less productive careers for even the best of the best. Every one of us, music fans and musicians alike, needs to step up and support great music and the people who make the music. Weathervane hopes to lead this effort by providing great opportunity and exposure for its artists, and by providing new ways for music fans to support the making of great music directly, year in and year out. At the same time, we’ll expand the general public’s knowledge and awareness of the recording process and a musician’s vision for his or her music as it comes alive in the studio. We will build a great educational resource for amateur and professional recording enthusiasts by maintaining a detailed music and video archive of the recording sessions.”
More specifics about Weathervane’s projects:
Weathervane Music awards exceptional artists the opportunity to participate in music recording projects and associated music-related video productions. Every year we will select independent musicians and record producers to participate in an annual program of music and video. We will produce and document four recording projects, then promote the music, the artists, and the productions to the public via our website, live performance, and conventional Marketing and PR.
Every year a Selection Committee comprised of company staff and board members at Weathervane will perform the artist and producer selection process for the coming year. This process will be overseen by a different Guest Curator or Curators each year, someone who is well known and respected, who knows music, whose taste for the arts bears its own significance, and whose reputation and participation will speak well for this organization and our mission. Ideal curators could be other well known or famous musicians, a well known or famous film director, popular creative public figures, etc.
For each project, the artists’ vision and the production process will be the primary subject matter of documentary video material presented on our website. The documentary will also cover the mundane events and happenings for the artists while in Philadelphia, and any other significant events surrounding Weathervane. This will provide great exposure for the project, the artists and producers, and will enlighten the public about the creative hard work, the planning and the techniques that go into these projects, and the difference between common music and great works of art.
