August 25, 2007
The Producers Conference, Toronto, Canada
The Canadian Propellerhead distributors - Music Marketing - hustled up 180 Reason users and Hip Hop crew from the sprawling Greater Toronto Area and hosted an absolutely awesome Producers Conference at the Drake hotel in downtown Toronto.
The air was electric and the crowd was glued to the words and performances of each and every conference presenter.
Everyone was packed into the Underground Lounge on Saturday afternoon - a smaller sized, intimate club that the Producers Conference commandeered for the day. This one-room facility complete with a massive sound system, 3 separate video projectors and a fully-stocked bar turned out to be the perfect venue to pack in more than 180 people. The club ran out of chairs and the staff dragged in everything from couches to bar stools and even though a full third of the crowd had to stand no one complained; people were just happy if they could get into the sold-out show!
James Bernard did amazing things with Reason software and he mesmerized the crowd with his sound design skills and his ingenuity with Reason. Thor was sounding particularly sweet in the room. James pumped it up good and loud, and taught the guy running the club sound system new a thing or two about frequency and amplitude - the bass was powerful! And with all the human bodies in the room to soak up energy, the sound was just incredible. It was a real treat to hear the RPG-8 arpeggiator do its thing as well!
Hank Shocklee totally inspired and entertained the audience with his industry knowledge his positive attitude and his fantastic sense of humor. Shocklee's down-to-earth and personable nature encouraged an interaction with the audience that was worth the price of admission alone. As a producer, he really stressed the importance of networking, and as an example pointed out that if everyone at the conference networked just with the other conference attendees in the room that day, they could probably find all the people they would need to get their music produced. If all the producers, musicians, and business minded people at the Producers Conference simply networked with each other there would be enough talent and connections in the room to make great things happen.
Rockwilder, also an inspiration to the audience motivated the crowd with frank and forthcoming advice on the business of music. People soaked up every single word uttered by the man and he really brought spirit and good vibes. He backed up Shocklee 100% on the value of networking and shared his conviction that everyone has to take charge of their own success and their own business. The youngest attendee that day took Rock's words to heart; 13-year old Cooper McGill boldly stood up in the crowd and asked Rockwilder for an intern position! Rock responded..."If you come to New York - just for the effort alone I'll do something for you... Serious!"
Lucas Rezza demonstrated and proved that Canadians go toe-to-toe with their U.S. neighbors when it comes to musical talent, spirit of enterprise, and sense of game. Lucas handles U.S. sales for Music Marketing, and he and his brother Adrian Rezza also write and produce their own music. With the opportunity to travel between Canada and the states he sees the differences between the 2 nations. Lucas pushed Canadians to stand up and hustle the music business like our American neighbors.
Other Canadian speakers, Saukrates, Dan Kershaw from SOCAN, and MC Micheal Williams all found resonance with the audience as they contributed their combined wealth of knowledge and experience, truly delivering an exceptional conference and an exciting event.
Everyone at the show gave props to Propellerhead, the driving force behind the Producers Conference. Canadian sponsors; Steves Music Store, Trebas Institute, Music Marketing, Inc. and Universal Music really added to the day with tons of giveaways - a 25-CD music collection from Universal was won by conference attendee, Eugene Laskiewicz; and $1000.00 of studio time from Trebas Institute was won by conference attendee, Femi Akande.
Music Marketing extends a huge thank you to everyone who attended the event, and Toronto Canada gives it up for a particular star of the Producers Conference - REASON 4!!
