Olivelife

I'm just a girl in the world, that's all that they'll let me be. But also I'm Olivia and I love music and food and photography and I hope to share that passion through this blog.

[olivelifenyc-blog]

Day two of CMJ and SISU is on almost everyone's most see list. SISU, which coincidentally or maybe not coincidentally is described "as a Finnish term loosely translated into English as strength of will, determination, perseverance, and acting rationally in the face of adversity,"is the solo project of Dum Dum Girls drummer Sandra Vu. They are an L.A. based band catching a lot of mainstream attention at the moment and with songs like "If You Don't Cry" it's pretty obvious why. They have already been confirmed for SXSW so make sure to catch them before then, picture with remaining CMJ dates below. Give the track a listen and fall in love, after all it is cuffing season. 

[olivelifenyc-blog]

What is CMJ

It is the second week of October and my inbox is flooded with invitations to showcases and mixers all for this glorious thing called CMJ. For those who don't know CMJ stands for College Music Journal. When people say, tweet, hash tag CMJ or CMJ2013 they are refereeing to the five day almost non-stop music marathon that takes place here in NYC. Thousands of bands and music industry professionals come together for shows, panels and the occasional open bar. It's a wondrous collusion of almost everything I love. By that I mean there are tons of free, free being the key word here, or at least very cheap shows. Live performances take place all over Manhattan and Brooklyn covering variety of genres including but not limited to indie, rap and EDM. CMJ caters to acetic music aficionados with their extensive line-up of mostly emerging artists. However there is that oh so sweet rare occasion when a more established artist will come out of nowhere and mess up everyone's schedule because when Arcade Fire has a secret show you go. If you buy a week long pass, which is moderately inexpensive if you buy early enough, almost all the shows are open to you for free. Now if you're not 21 CMJ might be a little difficult as most of the shows take place in bars. My suggestion scout out the must see performances and arrive to the venue as early as possible. A lot of venues don't get a bouncer until 9 or 10 pm so if you get there before hand you're in the clear. Either way check out the venues that are all ages because they too will have some pretty choice shows. If all else fails fear not because panels are open to all badge holders regardless of age. This is the time current industry professionals share their knowledge with anyone who will listen. This is a great chance to meet and network with some of the most influential individuals in the music business today. Lastly and most importantly CMJ just brings people who love music together and opens up conversation while listening to bands like Bear Mountain and Ghost Wave. Five years from now you'll be laughing about your delightful sense of musical pretension, "oh Kid Karate? Yeah I saw them in this little hole in the wall before they were even a thing."