June 1, 2005

Making the Loudest Sound DVD.

What does an independent band on an independent label do, when night after night, fans are asking for a dvd?

We do not have a record label that is going to fund tens of thousands of dollars to film one show and record it to make a "concert" video.

So we thought about it. What could we do that may be different from other band’s dvds.
We have no camera crews, and no money to hire a team to film one concert.
When we really thought about that kind of video, and actually, having watched other bands' "concert" videos/dvds. We realized that we think those kind of dvds/videos are sometimes
kind of boring.

How much more fun to see lots of shows, filmed at both large venues and small venues.
For crowds of 15,000 or crowds of 15, we still bring the rock, and it would be great to see
that side of an independent band that works as hard as we do.

So we decided to film our own shows. Night after night we placed cameras on stages and
filmed anything we could off stage or backstage.
The on stage cameras we thought would be fun to see rather than just a shot from a camera crew, why not just a shot from Michael’s monitor, by Doug’s pedal board, on top of Black Cherry’s amplifier or from behind Jason’s Hi-hat.

This seemed a far more interesting road to travel than to see one show. And neither the artist, nor the fans want to see some camera guy running around a stage at a show or on a dvd.
So we tried to keep that to a minimum.

Then as we started editing it, and started putting together all the footage from so many
different shows, we realized that not only were seeing us in a different light, but now you
were seeing the audience in a different light. For a band that relies on ‘word of mouth’ for promotion and publicity, how cool would it be for some of the fans who have supported us at these shows to see themselves somewhere on our dvd. This is far more appealing to us than the standard ‘concert video’.

During our tours we found one place that we could actually record one of our shows and we were able to take those tracks and mix them.

We matched the live recording together with our footage from shows all over the world.
Similar to videos by 'Muse' and other bands. We also included in our audio recording some
of the audio from the cameras on stages and so sometimes you may actually hear the audience singing from more than just one show.

This is the independent way.
Record yourselves, film yourselves. The only way we know how to do it.

We worked hundreds of hours over the past two years between tours, putting it together to make it look as good as it is.
All with a budget of zero dollars.

We think it looks pretty darn good, especially with our budget, and we are proud to sell it to our fans who want to support us, and who are looking for a glimpse of all of our shows.

It’s easy to look good standing on a big stage with big lights, and it's harder to rock for
smaller audiences. But, we wanted a dvd that showed us rocking for anyone who would
have us. Playing for any size crowd, any size venue, any stage lights, or no stage lights.

Of course there are always a few who are fans of the stand alone "concert video". They may not enjoy this style of dvd. But, we think that if they actually give it a few views they may
find our dvd to be pretty cool. Plus, it's a great way to support independent music.

I like our band, and I like our record label.
We work hard to give people the best we can with the resources we have available.
Our label does the same. I am more proud of the roster of Northern Records than of
most other labels. One thing they do have is great artists. Great artists who do the best with what they have .

For us, creating a live dvd, we wanted to do something different, and something that we
think gives a completely different look at a band that spends much of it's time touring throughout America and Europe.

A band that is more than one 'staged' night on one 'concert' video.

Looking back at it for us gives us great memories of so many places we have played, and
so many fans that have supported us. I am sure that there are many fans who will actually
see themselves on our dvd. Who actually were at many of the shows that are featured on
the dvd. We find that more valuable then a video/dvd from one concert.
And let’s face it, the extra’s contain some amazingly fun footage.

The Loudest Sound in My Heart.
We love it, and we hope you will love it to.
thank you for supporting independent music

sample videos: check out moon radio or rocknroll star here
the cd: listen to tracks from the cd here
order here

chris buelow and michael,
rocking in minneapolis


michael and black cherry.


black cherry rocks in his
birthday ensemble


michael in the crowd