There’s been a lot of talk in the last few years about age in music. These days, your parents haven’t heard of most of the artists you like, not because they’re particularly uncool (admit it — you pilfered all the Beatles and Velvet Underground records from your dad’s collection, and you’re not sorry), but because these new artists are 20 years old. Why this sudden influx of near-babies on college radio? Now that you can release an album without ever touching a guitar, we’re all superstars.
So maybe that was all a tad unfair. But things are definitely easier for kids — in Brooklyn, anyway. Converse recently announced the grand opening of a recording studio, Converse Rubber Tracks, for fledgling musicians in Brooklyn, scheduled for sometime before the end of 2010. Upon applying, bands and musicians can leave the garage and receive free studio time in a space on par with professional recording studios, equipped with local engineers to boot.
Do you want to buy a new pair of Chucks yet? Well, maybe this will help make hand meet wallet: the bands that earn the privilege of recording in Rubber Tracks won’t just be recording in a Garage Band vacuum. Converse will feature both confessional and rehearsal videos (Real World style: “Dude. Practicing today was hard.” and VH1 style: “We’re the Pomo Promotors — take two, ‘The World Is a Vampire from True Blood’!”), as well as “track-of-the-week features” and “behind-the-scenes footage.”
First Converse brought together Best Coast, Kid Cudi, and Vampire Weekend’s producer/guitarist, and now they’re offering free studio time to future Vampire Weekends in Williamsburg. Converse may be corporate, but I guess you can’t fault ‘em for at least trying to be cool.
So move to Brooklyn like you always said you would, apply for studio time, and make that Half Japanese tribute band a recorded reality!
• Converse: http://www.converse.com