Don’t fear the web — Random Task Collective has this online thing figured out.
Random Task Collective coaches scene vets on web
Call it youthful exuberance fearlessness and maybe just a hint of naiveté but Calgary’s Random Task Collective (RTC) has a bold idea for releasing new music: They do it whenever they’ve got something they want people to hear.
“We love to go into the studio whenever we can and whenever we have some new stuff” says RTC bassist and singer Connor Harvey-Derbyshire. When we think we’ve got something solid to get out there we just do it. If we come up with three or four songs that we think are super-amazing we record them and get them out. Really we believe that there should never be a time where we’re not working on new things and advancing our craft.”
The band — Harvey-Derbyshire guitarist Jake Simard drummer Ryan Keddy and guitarist-keyboardist Shawn Savard — will be sharing both music and craft during Sled Island. It’s hosting the Young Buds 2010 stage and will share its knowledge and online savvy during the Mush Digital workshop from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday at Cantos.
“The workshop is going to be all about how to do online marketing how to make people aware of your music and how to get played on online radio” Harvey-Derbyshire says. “The music industry has shifted greatly and we use iTunes and online radio feeds like Jango as a first thought rather than making a new CD. Maybe it’s not anything out of the ordinary for us — we all grew up in the digital age.”
It’s not so much that RTC has eschewed the idea of actual recording. The band has released two EPs — Classified Matter and Certified Organic — and it’s trying to work on a new CD. By most measures it’s a well-established veteran band even though its average age is just 16.
Even at that age RTC’s members are already accomplished players. Harvey-Derbyshire and Simard have both spent summers at Silverlake Conservatory the California music camp run by Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and their developing songwriting cuts a wide swath of likes and influences.
“All of us are huge music fans and all of us have vast and diverse tastes in music” Harvey-Derbyshire says.“Ryan is a huge country music fan Jake really likes ska reggae and fast punk and Shawn is more of a classic rock guy. We’re really open to any and all sounds and I think it comes out when people hear us.”
And people are hearing the band more and more — thanks to its online presence on sites like Jango which has been a valuable springboard in helping the group earn friends and fans throughout the U.S. Japan Europe Sri Lanka and even North Korea.
“Maybe it’s just a few people in each place” Harvey-Derbyshire marvels. “But the way we see it every fan counts.”
The Mush workshop promises to be fast furious and interactive. Speakers and topics will also include Creative Briefs and Other Unmentionables with Sharon McIntyre Tribal Love with Ernest Barbaric and Outlaw Images with Mr. Kelsy Norman and Ms. Twyla Dawn.
“This workshop is not just for bands in Calgary who want to get help getting their word out online” Harvey-Derbyshire says. “Artists and anyone in general who needs a kick start in the world of digital marketing will be informed and entertained.”
