Some may say that the internet and social media has created a more accessible venue for those in need of sharing their talent. However, have we become so immediate and overloaded with constant accessibility that we don’t truly care anymore?
Alley CB Flynn has recognized an overabundance of musicians hitting up youtube and constantly sharing on facebook and twitter has made it difficult for the artist who has made their project into a true labour of love.
“The industry is so overly saturated and flooded with new music and artists that it’s completely overwhelming. With the ability of anybody and everybody to easily build a studio for a few hundred bucks and spam the internet with sometimes amazing but at most times mediocre music, it has become near impossible to break through this dense musical fog it has created,” said the 31-year-old hip hop artist, also known as Alex Gillard.
That being said, Flynn decided to take matters into his own hands and create a video. His Hip Hop duo Dark Planet Collective includes Flynn and Adam Caines, better known as AC Glowbrain. The first video released was “Stand Up,” from the album Blue Wolf Chronicles.
Dark Planet Collective is a hip-hop version of broken social scenes, as Flynn describes it. He came up with the name, the concept, the artwork and created the first few songs and the album Blue Wolf Chronicles and eventually convinced Caines, a childhood friend to start creating beats as well.
“The Blue Wolf Chronicles and music videos were recorded, written, edited and produced by myself while my partner in crime, Adam, has his first debut album titled ‘Gridlock Galaxies’ is in the process of being completed as we speak. I also have a band I perform with and there are a few cats involved at this point for sure and it will probably continue to evolve,” explained Flynn.
Rather than producing an album once a year and continuously harassing people to possibly listen, Flynn said he intends to release only his best music paired with a video every month or two to keep the public interested. After a few videos are out in the public, Flynn will compile those tracks into an EP.
“It was time to make a little plan and develop my own strategy for cutting through the noise a bit. It is hard to get people’s attention, I personally feel you have to make people genuinely care and get behind you as a person before you can expect them to care, support or actually invest solely in your art form,” explained the Corner Brook Artist.
“So for me the music videos are a way for people to do just that, get to know me more personally and create a connection. They feel like they are helping you and are part of something special in the process. At the end of the day, maybe I can start standing apart from the noise a bit and develop my own frequency that people will start paying attention to. Quality over quantity and keep the bar high,” he continued.
Flynn had no experience with filmmaking, editing or even how to operate a camera. For months, he researched and studied the craft, including many online tutorials about production and filmmaking.
“I watched everything I could totaling hundreds of hours just learning the ins and outs from how to use editing software, camera settings, colour grading and building my own camera rigs out of random stuff around the house,” said Flynn. “ It definitely took a lot of time, patience, trial and error before I finally started seeing I could semi-mimic a pro-look closely enough to shoot a decent video.”
Dark Planet Collective has released three music videos so far and has a new video and track titled “For the Love of Hip Hop” that is near completion but will not be revealed for a month or two.
Flynn has been involved in music since he was a young child. He has a chest full of cassette tapes filled on both sides with ideas and songs that he has wrote over the past twenty years.
“I also came from a very musical, dysfunctional and artistic family and basically grew up around recording studios, musicians, artists and alcoholics. It’s been my life blood forever and it’s all I have ever really known,” said Flynn. “I am also a singer, vocalist, drummer, bassist and guitarist.”
Flynn has also released an album under the name X.E-L.A. and the UFO Acid Godz, outside from his work with Dark Planet Collective.
Flynn received a grant from the government to open his own production company called MadRock Film and Audio.
“If I had to conceive what is next besides more Dark Planet Collective Videos, I would have to say anything and everything is on the table and completely possible,” said the musician. “I can say for sure that I will be heading into the studio to record a bunch of collaborations with some of the finest hip hop cats on the island.”
Flynn plans to record a brand new full-length Dark Planet Collective record produced by Caines and another album recorded with a full live band which includes members of the Music NL Award winning Hip Waders, a jazz funk trio.
Please check out this really talented hip-hop folk artist and continue to be inspired by all that he does with Dark Planet Collective.
Check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DarkPlanetCollective
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