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Crescendo! Opens in Northridge
By Staff Writer

To celebrate the recent finish of the Powerhouse performance room "Crescendo" in Unit 18 at 19520 Nordhoff Street; an open jam will be hosted on January 28 and every Thursday night from then on from 7:30 to close in Northridge. Crescendo is a fantastic location to play music because it was built on the dreams of teenagers with the financing of a former rocker. "The room just has great sound!" says Phil Ernst who is the head music director and head of several bands in the Be in the Band program at Powerhouse Music, Acting and Dance Lessons. "We brought in a 24 channel board because everyone knows how to use it" continues Ernst, "so when local bands come in to play from around the area it'll be a breeze."

Brent Nelson built the system using one of the highest rated speaker lines in the industry. EAW Speakers (Eastern Acoustics) serve as the mains in a four way system producing crystal clear highs and slamming low end, Crown Amplifiers, DBX signal processing, and Yamaha Mixer. The monitor system is JBL on the floor and side fills. Brent completed the system and remarked, "Should handle about anything that we give it."

Whether it's our weekly jam sessions that are open to musicians, band showcases, variety shows, piano recitals, or dance parties, the fun is part of just saying Rock and Roll! "It's the perfect place to take A&R people to for showcases. It is discreet, off the street and offers plenty of parking", says Monica Margolis, CEO of Powerhouse, Music, Acting and Dance. She exclaims "If you break a string we're in the same plaza as Guitar Center."

Interest about Crescendo has been building from alcohol free dance parties on Friday nights that are either hip hop or techno events for teens. "It's chill because you can see up and coming artists like Little Sammy launching their careers" says Papa Coast who books the room. Crescendo also serves as fantastic rehearsal space with all the bells and whistles. "It works really well for rehearsing my act!" Says Deion "We'll be touring the local high schools promoting the Soul to Soul program this spring and Crescendo has a stage with a PA system and also a 20-30' dance floor with mirrors.

Crescendo also has dance classes that are for people interested in hip hop and ballroom dancing. "The neat thing is that capturing the energy of these young people and moving them through our performance programs. For instance, the last Variety Show included a ballroom dance exhibition, a girl who sang while accompanying herself on Acadian, a couple of teens on guitar playing a metal instrumental piece, a pianist who delivered a great rendition of a video game theme song and the list goes on." Says Kate Nelson who MC'ed the most recent Variety Show.

Comedian Maz Jobrani
By Jonathon Freeman-Anderson

Local, family man, comedian, Maz Jobrani, performing Saturday, January 23 at The Wiltern believes that if there's a dream to succeed and a drive than "what you do won't feel like work."

Originally born in Iran, Maz graduated from UC Berkeley and enrolled in a PhD at UCLA. While going there Maz was encouraged to pursue his comedic abilities to do what he loved. Going one step further Maz enrolled in some improvisation and stand-up classes and pursued the stage at clubs like the Comedy Store and the Laugh Factory.

Nearly a year ago, Maz recorded a hilarious DVD, "Brown & Friendly," which is still picking up popularity as Maz plays to larger audiences. Covering topics that range on a personal level from his wife to the nuances of his culture, and the beauty of growing and working in the U.S. Maz says, "It's funny, I'm a celebrity in the Middle East and people are just starting to get to know me in the states. It's like I'm friends with the King of Jordan, but I still go to Burger King."

Maz is a terrific example of the success of the American dream with perseverance, intelligence, and talent, side-splitting, gut-busting, roll-in-the-aisles talent, that achieving a desirable goal in the entertainment world is not only possible, it's profitable. Able to support a cool Indian wife; "I married tech support," and now, a year-and-half old baby, Maz is walking in the footsteps of comedy greats like Eddie Murphy and George Carlin. "I'd like to put out a comedy special every two years like Carlin. People come up and ask me why I don't do new stuff while the DVD is still popular with the old stuff. So, I'm working on new stuff too at the Laugh Factory, these last few weeks, on Wednesday s at Kevin Nealon's new material night. It's been a long time since Brown & Friendly was recorded. I think I'm ready for another comedy special. Maybe I'll get another one out this year."

Always busy, Maz has a pilot in the works, as well as, some show ideas for comedy central. "Well, it's not like work for me. People think it must bother me to spend money on something like headshots, but its part of the business, and I love it."

The work effort is obvious, but also the material is brilliant. Focusing on all of the little multi-cultural nuances in our society, Maz says, "It's about time, with the roots of immigrant cultures having established themselves for over 30 to 40 years. The first generation comes in and gets the small stores and the trade jobs, the next generation become doctors and lawyers, and the third have a choice, and so on." Maz was working at an ad agency when one of his co-workers saw him doing a dub-over for a play. The older co-worker said that Maz has good comedic timing. "I got lucky in that way where I could work during the day and do shows at night. I realized early on when I had got work in the movie Friday after Next and clips were put on YouTube how powerful the internet was for getting your name and material out there."

"I love L.A. because it's so diverse and people know that there are so many shows available to see on any given night here. To perform in L.A. with a solid fan base crowd, as well as, a good amount of people that have chosen your show over the million other shows going on throughout the Valley, L.A., and the Greater So Cal area is a blessing, an honor, and a great opportunity to bringing them a little hope in these dark economic times."

Laughter is healthy for everyone. Maz is a comic genius with already ten years working with a long, ridiculously hilarious career ahead. According to Maz, "the whole world has changed to being culturally more accepting, embracing comedy. Whether it's Cleveland or Bahrain, audiences want fresh, new entertainment and they're not biased because of how well we all are connected with Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook as they used to be. Just never give up on what you love to do." For more information on Maz, go to MazJobrani.com. Tickets are still available for the upcoming Wiltern show presented by Live Nation Entertainment, Saturday, January 23. Check out "Maz Jobrani: Brown & Friendly" today.

Need to Record a Music Demo? Learn Ten Pitfalls You Must Avoid When Recording Your Music Demo!
By Arty Skye

Recording a music demo is the most vital step in pursuing a record deal..

1. Be careful of music producers with no real music industry experience.
Look for a music producer that has actually worked on records with signed artists and record labels.

2. Beware of producers who want to record your music demo in their "home studio".

There is a vast difference between a home studio and a professional recording studio. A home studio will often make many compromises in sound quality and flexibility.

3. Watch out for producers who want you to sing in their closet or bathroom.

You need a studio with space to move around and you need to be comfortable when you sing. In addition, the poor acoustics of a closet will give you a very undesirable vocal sound.

4. Be skeptical of music producers who claim to specialize in 7 or 8 styles.

An experienced music producer may do a few related styles, but beware when they claim to 'specialize' in Rap, Country, R&B, Folk, Rock, Club music, Blues, Polka, etc. This is like casting a net out to see who bites.

5. Use a professional engineer to record and mix your music demo, not an amateur.

Professional engineers have worked with hundreds of artists and music producers and have learned individual techniques from each of them. You can have the best producer in the best studio in the world, but with a bad engineer the music will sound like garbage.

6. Be careful with producers who want to charge you by the hour.

While occasionally an hourly rate can be appropriate, it is NEVER done in the real music industry. The music producer is paid a flat fee by the record label to give them a fully produced song for their artist. When a producer charges by the hour, you become the one producing your own track.

7. Watch out for producers who claim they will shop your demo.

Find out exactly what this means. If they have any genuine music industry contacts, they could not possibly have them very long if they promise to shop every artist they produce before even hearing them.

8. Be cautious of producers who emphasize equipment over credentials.

Why do people think that buying a mixing board makes them an engineer or a music producer? It doesn't.

9. Listen to the music.

Listen to examples of their work and see what moves you and which music producer you connect with. Does the music producer listen to you and share your vision? Do you feel comfortable with them? Do you enjoy being in their studio? Do you trust them?

10. You get what you pay for.

Music Demos are NOT like McDonalds hamburgers. They are not massed produced and they are certainly not all alike. While cost is a concern when doing a music demo, you must realize that a bad demo is worse than no demo at all. A bad demo will close doors for you that you may never be able to open again. For an experienced music professional, you may end up paying more than that with a bargain basement dirt cheap producer. But if you're really serious about pursuing a record deal you must present yourself in a professional light.

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